“These names are priceless.” She tapped a finger against the parchment. “Imagine the possibilities.”
Evie licked her dry lips. “What possibilities?”
The Baroness merely offered a thin smile. “You have done good work.”
“May I go now?”
“Not just yet. I would like to discuss the possibility of you joining our organisation as a permanent member.”
“I appreciate the irony, but as I believe I pointed out at our last meeting, I am not a widow yet.”
“It is truly a shame. But you are right. Well, Lady Evangeline. It has been a pleasure.”
Dismissed. Evie turned to leave, her mind whirring at the sudden lack of ceremony. She reached for the door handle.
It would not budge. She rattled it, but the lock held fast.
“Oh my,” the woman murmured, directly behind her.Evie whirled around and found herself staring down the length of a very small, very steady pistol.
Evie froze.
“How very clever of you to bring me a tampered list,” the Baroness said. “I very nearly did not notice it was false.”
“It is not false. It may not be the original, you are right, but it is complete. I saw it at the inn.”
“What did you do with the original?”
“I burned it.”
She hissed.
“But as I have an excellent memory, I was able to reconstruct it. I even included my brother’s name, though I might easily have left it off.”
“That does not change the fact that you deceived me.” The Baroness stepped closer. “I find myself wondering why.”
Evie’s heart began to hammer. She prayed that Hartenberg had followed her and was just outside the door. Could he hear what was happening inside?
“I did not deceive you,” she said, raising her voice. “I never lie where my brother is concerned.”
“You are a sly little thing, are you not?” The Baroness tilted her head. “And I daresay you did not come alone.”
“My companion is with me, naturally,” Evie replied coolly. “One cannot visit coffee houses unaccompanied. It is not ladylike.”
“There was an unusual amount of activity outside. The street is swarming with agents.”
Was it? Evie had not noticed.
The woman laughed softly. “How clever of them to send you in as bait, imagining that sort of manoeuvre would work with me. They have clearly underestimated me.”
Evie’s fingers cramped around the Manton inside her muff.
“But your dear betrothed did not consider one thing.”
“What?”
“That by sending you in here alone, you are virtually on the sacrificial plate for me.” With a movement as swift as a cobra’s, the woman’s hand slashed out and pulled her close, just as the door crashed open and Hartenberg and his men stormed in.
Evie felt the cold barrel against her temple. But she had expected that move. She drove her elbow hard into the Baroness’s ribs, twisting her head clear in the same instant. The grip loosened for a single fraction of a second, and that was enough.
