The earl uncocked the weapon’s hammer.
“Sorry to be late,” added their friend as he rushed into the room. “I have something to tell you—” The sight of the deadly serious faces that turned his way brought him to a skidding halt. “Has there been another murder?”
Before anyone reacted, Cordelia shot back with an answer. “The only thing that has gone to the grave is the notion that Lord Taviot isn’t rotten to the core.”
Sheffield appeared shaken. “W-What have you discovered?”
“That Taviot is a treacherous snake who betrayed his country six years ago, during the retreat of General Sir John Moore’s army in Spain.” Wrexford went on to explain about the missive from the former French intelligence officer confirming that Taviot was guilty of passing him British military information.
“Good God,” whispered Sheffield. “That would mean . . .”
“Yes, that would mean that he’s responsible for my brother’s death,” finished the earl.
“However,” added Charlotte, “Wrex feels we don’t yet have enough solid evidence to prove him guilty.”
Henning put down his empty glass. “Actually, Grentham and his lackeys couldn’t give a damn about solid evidence. Pass on what you have to the minister, and if he feels it’s credible, Taviot will simply suffer an unfortunate accident.” A shrug. “Or fatal heart spasm.”
“You’re likely right,” said Wrexford. “Still, I intend to gather the proper evidence and present it to the authorities. Otherwise, it’s vengeance, not justice.”
“As to evidence . . .” Sheffield cleared his throat. “I was in a rush to get here because I, too, have discovered some information about Taviot.” He shot a guilty look at Cordelia. “I was an arse to ignore your warnings, but I wanted so much to believe that the consortium’s grandiose promises were true.”
“And you now have reason to believe their promisesarelies?” demanded Wrexford.
“Not exactly. But given what I recently overheard, I have my suspicions that something devious is going on.”
Sheffield angled another glance at Cordelia, whose sphinx-like expression was impossible to decipher. “I was invited to a meeting this morning with Taviot and several of his most prominent charter investors in one of the private upstairs salons at White’s. I knew that they were going to press me to put money into the business, and, well, a part of me was flattered to be asked to join such an elite group of entrepreneurs.”
Wrexford noted that Cordelia refused to meet Sheffield’s eyes.Not a good sign. He could only hope that Sheffield’s unflinching show of loyalty during Cordelia’s blackest moment would remind her that while her fiancé’s judgment was not perfect, his heart was always in the right place.
“And indeed, they were quite aggressive about asking me for a decision,” continued Sheffield. “Taviot sent the others away and made a final personal appeal, which I put off by promising him an answer by the day of the gala reception. But as I headed down the stairs, I passed Maitland going up. The fellow looked agitated, and on impulse I waited until I heard him enter Taviot’s meeting room, then crept back up to the adjoining salon.”
“Where you pressed your ear to the connecting door?” guessed Charlotte.
“Yes,” admitted their friend. “Ungentlemanly perhaps, but sometimes one must slither with the surrounding snakes.”
“Get to the point, Kit, and tell us what you heard,” urged the earl.
“Maitland sounded awfully rattled. I couldn’t catch everything, but he seemed to be very worried that the distraction they had planned as their momentous announcement for the gala reception wasn’t going to be enough to satisfy the increasing number of questions about the progress on a prototype for their oceangoing ship,” explained Sheffield.
“Thedistraction,” repeated Wrexford.
“That is the exact word Maitland used,” confirmed Sheffield. “Taviot calmed him by saying that there was no need to worry. He said that he and their other partner had come up with an idea that would buy more time.”
“What other partner?” asked Charlotte.
“I don’t know,” answered Sheffield.
“And he didn’t elaborate on what he meant by the distraction?” inquired Wrexford.
“No.” Sheffield cut off any further questions with an impatient wave. “But that wasn’t the most important discovery. I also learned that they have another laboratory, one that seems to be where Maitland does his real experimental work. And before you ask about its location, Taviot mentioned that a new shipment of coal was being delivered to Dowgate Wharf so that Maitland could begin his testing of the new condensers. Which means the laboratory has to be in one of the buildings surrounding the wharf.”
The earl took a moment to consider the news. “It might behoove us to have a look—” he began, only to stop short when a flutter of movement in the corridor caught his attention.
“Weasels!” he barked, though there was no bite to his voice. “You can stop skulking in the shadows.”
“We weren’t skulking,” said Raven.
“And we weren’t slithering,” chimed in Hawk. “We followed Mr. Sheffield to see if you had finished your private meeting with Mac.” He craned his neck to look through the door and gave the maid a beatific smile.
