“The question is why you agreed to it.” Hartenberg’s brows drew together. “You are the sister of a duke. You had only to ask for protection. Instead, you chose to face them alone. Why?”
“Before I answer that, I need to know why you are looking for the list. I won’t say another word until you tell me the truth.”
The two men exchanged glances. “This is highly classified information, my lady,” Schneider began.
“Then we have talked enough.” Evie got up.
“Sit.” The word cut through the air like a sword. Startled, Evie sat.
“Surely you will understand that I am not about to share with you highly classified military intelligence, not when you have proven yourself to be less than trustworthy.”
“I am the most trustworthy person in this entire house,” Evie flared up.
“You must admit that past evidence has proven the contrary.”
“I think I will wait outside,” Schneider mumbled. “Call me when you need me.”
“Stay, Schneider. Take notes. This concerns military intelligence,” Hartenberg snapped.
Evie glared at him. She pointed at the paper and pen on the table in front of Schneider. “There. Write. I want you to note this down. I swear on the life of my brother that what I am saying now is the truth.” She paused and rubbed her forehead, as she recalled the events.
“That first night at the inn, I saw a lady in Miss Honeywell’s room, dressed all in black. She bent over Clara in a way that I found ominous and it became clear to me that shewas mistaking her for me. Yet I had never seen that woman before. Are you writing all that down?”
“Yes, yes,” Schneider said, scribbling eagerly.
“I then managed to get a room for myself. But when a woman with her children entered, I thought that she needed that room more than me. So I gave it to her.”
“That was most uncommonly generous of you, my lady.”
“The laundry maid then approached me, thinking I was a servant as well, and offered to share her room with me. I thought that was kind of her and since there were no other rooms left, I took her up on the offer. That night I could not sleep and while lying on the floor on that threadbare mattress, between the shelves, I saw a piece of paper stick out at the very back of the shelf. I pulled it out, thinking it was a laundry list. It was an odd list. It was full of names.”
“Zeus’s beard,” Schneider breathed, forgetting to write.
“Evie.” Hartenberg gripped her hands. “Never tell me you found the list?”
“It was certainly a list. I do not know whether it is the one that you are looking for. I also do not know its significance.” She hesitated. “I would have discarded and forgotten it, save for one thing.” She paused. She could not bring herself to say it.
“Julius’s name was on it,” Hartenberg said softly.
She drew in a shaking breath. “You can call me anything you want, but I am not a fool. If there is a list of names, with my brother’s name on it, hidden away in the farthest corner of the laundry room of a seedy inn, in times like these...” She shook her head. “I won’t have it. I won’t. It cannot be good.”
“What did you do with it?” he asked heavily.
Evie licked her lips. “I burned it.”
Hartenberg fell back in his chair.
“Zounds, my lady.” Schneider shook his head. “Zounds. What now?”
“Continue your tale.”
“Well, you know what happened next. I returned to Vienna. Lady Castlereagh dragged me all about Vienna, and at an outing to theconfiserie, I ran into the lady in black again. She told me she is a baroness, part of an organisation. And she told me that unless I helped her find that list, a copy of which was in your possession, she would expose Julius as a traitor and spy in theMorgenblattthe very next day. She gave me a time limit and unless I gave her the intelligence she wanted, she would do her best to ruin him.”
Hartenberg pulled his hand over his face. “It is worse than I feared. So instead of trusting me and coming to me, or Julius, with the information, you of course agreed to help her, even though you knew I did not have the list.”
“There are several things wrong with that statement. Firstly, why would I trust you? You have not earned my trust.”
Schneider tilted his head. “She does have a point, sir.”
