He arched a brow and turned to face her, his broad shoulders just as imposing from the front as the back.
She trained her eyes on his, waiting.
“I returned to the area we visited last night and came back with several observations that seem to coincide nicely with what you’ve learned.”
“Ah, how convenient.”
“I rather thought so.” He grinned. As he proceeded to list the information learned, Jaxsen grudgingly gave him credit for a job well done, even if the credit was only given in her mind. He was correct; there were several connections between her gleaned information and his.
“So, we unearthed why they are convening in the textile district, and we know that they are using Volland’s merchant vessels to transport… something.”
“I’m assuming dresses.”
“No.” She frowned and leaned forward on the smooth wooden desk.
“Tea?” Emerson’s voice intruded on her thoughts.
“What? No, why would they use tea?” She gave a confused glance to him, then belatedly noted he was offering her a cup, rather than offering an answer to her question.
“Yes, please. Two sugars, cream. If I must drink tea, it has to be masked as dessert.”
“Ah, so you want some tea in your sugar. I understand,” he smirked.
“I like my coffee black, and tea must be compensated for it’s lack of being coffee, by the addition of sugar.” She stated with false sweetness. “Is that a problem? Are you out of sugar?”
“Fully stocked sugar cup.” He winked. “Lucky you.”
“Then I’ll have three,” she replied playfully.
“Are you sure you don’t just want sugar and cream? There will scarcely be room for tea.”
“I have faith you’ll figure it out.” She turned her attention back to her previous line of thought. “It’s the raw textiles. They are bolted, are they not? So, the wooden spools… It would be quite simple to enclose a note or even use the spools themselves.”
“And no one would suspect.”
“Exactly.” She frowned. “But why? What good do messages do if there’s but one goal, and it needs not an army, but a small group of men to perform?”
Emerson handed her a cup of tea, steam absent in the wake of the cream and sugar present. She sipped it slowly, savoring the delightful sweetness that she loved so much.
“I think we’re looking at it incorrectly.”
“Go on.” She motioned with her hand and took another sip.
“Napoleon will need the weight of the people’s allegiance in order to make a grab at the throne. The current king will need to be overthrown, and that means a coup.”
“Yes, so you think the meetings, the messages, and the textiles conveying them are a way of notifying the people?”
He sipped his tea and waved a free hand. “Why not? Isn’t Napoleonic France about the power of the common man? Why not give that power a test, eh?”
Jaxsen paused mid-sip. It made sense. So, they weren’t on the trail of the men trying to free Napoleon; they were on to the revolutionists who were trying to set up a coup to keep him in power after he was freed.
“Good Lord,” she whispered.
“My thoughts exactly. We’ve been misinterpreting the trail.”
“So Wessix—”
“Is attempting to put Napoleon back in power, not by rescuing him but by inciting the French. The question then is why.”
