Ignoring that jab, he thought about it.
“I’ve just thought of something,” Zach said from his position lounging in his chair, long legs dangling over the side, bare feet swinging back and forth.
“Good Lord, have you really?” Michael opened an eye. He was lying on the floor, stretched out facedown by the door. “Imagine you being able to draw a rational thought.”
“At the Russell ball, I found her walking down the stairs. And we’ve recently learned an important journal was stolen that night.”
“Surely not?” Michael raised his head.
“Soft and gentle Miss Carlow stealing documents?” Gabe scoffed. “Why would she?”
Christ, could it be true?And furthermore, why did he not find it as farfetched as he should, Nathan wondered.
“Let’s look at the facts,” Michael said. “She left you because apparently she couldn’t stand to look at you another day. Three years later, she suddenly reappears without her father.”
“Who the man in the theatre that night said was sick,” Nathan added.
“She was seen on the same floor Russell has his office the night papers went missing. She was at the theatre, and Nathan heard her speaking to some man whom you believe was threatening her. Did anything that you overheard lead you to believe she was being blackmailed?’
“Christ,” Nathan hissed.
“Not finished yet,” Michael continued. “She was there today, which might or might not be coincidence. I’m going for the latter, and let us not forget her interest in Valentine, who just happens to be our king’s close confidant.”
“You know her better than anyone, Nathan. What do you believe is going on?” Gabe asked.
“I think she and her family are in trouble. She told me to stop asking her questions and to keep my distance from her to keep us safe,” he said slowly.
“Geraint said there is an English spy that he thinks may be working with the Russians to infiltrate society. Someone who is stealing important documents—”
“Surely you don’t believe Beth could be responsible?”
“I don’t honestly know, Nathan,” Gabe said.
“She’s… well, she’s Beth.”
“So therefore incapable of stealing and treasonous behavior?”
“She was sweet, a bit innocent, and often shy. I don’t think she…” His words fell away as he remembered her words in the carriage ride to her house.
“I was a foolish innocent three years ago whose only worry was to make sure I was everything you wanted me to be. I am no longer that woman.”
“Surely it’s not possible,” Nathan whispered, working through what he’d learned about Beth since she’d returned to London.
“Lord Lithgow had his papers stolen while he was in a brothel. As yet, there is no connection to Miss Carlow. I say we go and ask there, see if anyone saw a woman that night other than Nathan’s Hungarian-Russian-German one,” Gabe said. They were interrupted by a knock. “Enter,” Gabe responded.
“Mr. and Mrs. Huntington have called, my lord,” Fairfax said, entering. Stepping forward, he walked over the prone Michael without blinking. “It appears she has something she believes will set Walter to rights. Do you wish for me to take them directly to his rooms?”
“Why am I not surprised Walter now has rooms?” Zach said.
“I’ll come and meet them,” Gabe said.
Fairfax bowed, then walked back over Michael and out the door.
“Maxwell Huntington. Entrepreneur, one of the most wealthy men in the United Kingdom, and connected by marriage to the Sinclair family,” Michael mused. “I’ve only met him once, as he does not attend many society gatherings unless, from what I gather, his powerful brother the Duke of Raven insists upon it.”
“I learned something odd about them.” Zach swung his legs again.
“What?” Nathan asked, still thinking about Beth and how ridiculous it was that he could even contemplate her being a spy.
