A Harmless Lie and a Dangerous Spy

by Lori Bond

  “My lord,” Wellburn started, “this is your first time on the front lines, as it were. Your father sends no one into the field for their first time without assistance. He most certainly would not send his beloved heir into danger without several lines of defense.”

  “Certainly, my lord,” Mrs. Turnton said in her brisk manner. “We are nothing more than your faithful lieutenants to your leadership. Faithful lieutenants with years of expertise you would do well to heed, I might add, but faithful lieutenants is all.”

  Jerry cast a skeptical glance in her direction. “So, you’re not here to clean up the mess when I fail?”

  Mrs. Turnton and Wellburn shared a glance that Jerry found less than encouraging. A gentle tug on his sleeve had him turning to Caroline. “What makes you so certain you will fail?” She tilted her head to one side. It was similar to the overly-innocent manner she used for her Mrs. Wickingham persona, but in this moment, Jerry knew Caroline exhibited real curiosity.

  He opened his mouth to make a trite response, but then snapped it closed. Why was he so sure he would fail? He wasn’t prone to failure. He had done well at his studies and university. He had handled every responsibility his father had ever thrown at him. Even the small estate he had been gifted on his twenty-first birthday thrived.

  “You’re right,” Jerry said. His confidence had by no means been fully restored, but the flame had been reignited. He would find the spy and the plans. He would show his father his worth.

  “We have three sets of suspects: the actress Miss Hayes, the couple of possible art smugglers the Kimbleys, and the suspicious servant Hillard. That’s four possible agents and four of us. Let us see what we can learn before dinner tonight.”

  Chapter 23

  Caroline slipped around a corner. She walked as if she belonged in the hallway, although since she was a woman visiting a fellow woman’s cabin, there was no reason for her not to be in the hall. The fact that said woman was currently taking tea upstairs and that Caroline would be visiting the room without the occupant’s knowledge could not affect the pleasant smile she fixed on her face.

  She greeted Jerry as he passed her in the hall. He had agreed to play lookout for her while she snooped through Miss Hayes’s things. Jerry would pace the hall as if always in the process of either coming or going. If he saw Miss Hayes approaching, he was to warn her.

  As bold as if she were approaching her own stateroom door, Caroline pulled the room’s key out of her pocket. It seemed that among his skills, Wellburn was a master pickpocket. He had abstracted Miss Hayes’s key from her reticule while Mrs. Turnton distracted the woman. The lift had been so masterful, that Caroline was not quite sure how it had been accomplished despite the fact that she had been staring quite intently at the two the entire time.

  She turned the key in the door and opened it just far enough to peek her head in. The room was empty. No maid stood laying out a dress for dinner or tidying the space. In fact, based on the general disarray of the room, it was entirely possible that Miss Hayes did not travel with a maid at all.

  The room was laid out just like Caroline’s except there was only the single bed. The bed, the sofa, and nearly every available surface had been covered with various items of clothing. Miss Hayes seemed to have draped her entire wardrobe around her room. Dainty lace underthings a good deal more attractive, and more expensive, than the utilitarian ones Caroline wore sat in a huddled heap in the center of the dressing table. Caroline swallowed hard. She was supposed to be looking for the bayonet plans or any other incriminating item that might link Miss Hayes to the Russian cause. In such a wreck of a room, it was impossible to tell where Miss Hayes might keep or even conceal papers. On the other hand, everything was in such disarray, it was unlikely that Miss Hayes would notice that someone had been snooping through the room.

  Caroline blew out a deep breath and got to work. She had perfected snooping in her father’s office, but her father maintained a meticulous order that bordered on compulsive. This was more like going through the contents of her older brother’s room.

  She sorted dresses and corsets and crinolines but found nothing of any value—at least when it came to their investigation. Caroline regretted having a moral center that maintained stealing was wrong. She ran a beautiful water silk dress through her fingers and wished for such a gown. With a sigh, she set it back in a heap on the floor where she had found it.

  Finally, Caroline found a small cache of letters bound together by a silk cord and shoved into the far corner of one of the trunks. Caroline pulled out the first and within sentences realized she was reading an exceedingly lewd love letter. Despite Mrs. Turnton’s lecture earlier that day, there still much about the marriage bed that Caroline did not know. That did not seem to be an issue for the gentleman who had written the letter. He seemed intimately acquainted with a variety of activities, all of which he seemed to wish to do with Miss Hayes.

  Caroline had never thought herself particularly missish, but these letters had her mouth gaping open and her cheeks flushed. Each letter seemed more scandalous than the last. The last one, which made arrangements for the lord’s future bastard, provided the child was not born in England, appalled Caroline. The cold tone in that one was so at odds with the hot, almost fevered tone of the letters before that Caroline nearly wanted to weep. From the blurred ink on the page, it appeared that Miss Hayes had.

  A sharp knock on the door sent Caroline scrambling. It was the signal from Jerry. She stuffed the last letter back in the bundle and ran for the door. Jerry already had it open and was beckoning her to hurry. They slipped out the door, but there was no time to lock it or dart around the nearest corner. They could hear Mrs. Turnton’s strident tones conversing with Miss Hayes’s softer ones. Any moment the two would turn the corner and find them standing in front of the unlocked door in a most suspicious manner.

  Jerry had the look of a cornered rat. Caroline suspected she looked the same.

  “There’s nothing for it,” Jerry said. He grabbed Caroline by the waist and pulled her to him. She gave a most un-ladylike grunt as she slammed into his chest. She didn’t get a chance to protest, though, before his lips met hers.

  Chapter 24

  To make the kiss even more awkward, Caroline stared at him in wide-eyed shock for a moment. Jerry figured they wouldn’t pass as an amorous couple eloping if she acted as if she’d never been kissed before, so he pulled her closer and exerted himself to his fullest. He might not be experienced in the greater debaucheries, but he had at least kissed before. He reached up and cupped the back of her head, deepening the kiss. Caroline’s eyes fluttered shut, and a small sigh escaped her.

  With that sigh, Jerry forgot about spies and stolen plans and Crimean Wars. He forgot about his father’s approval or Mrs. Turnton’s disapproval when she saw them any moment now. He forgot about everything except the soft lips kissing back.

  And she was kissing back. Caroline had been cautious at first, but that was to be expected if this was her first kiss. Jerry had no doubt that a girl as secluded as Caroline had never been kissed. Now, though, her lips moved with the same passion, if not skill, as his.

  For a moment, the other world seemed to intrude, and Jerry thought someone might be approaching. It was hard for Jerry to focus on anything but Caroline. His world seemed to have shrunk to the pair of lips on his.

  It wasn’t until the end of something sharp jabbed him in the ribs that Jerry realized that Mrs. Turnton and Miss Hayes must have reached Miss Hayes’s door.

  Jerry opened his eyes and with a last peck broke away from Caroline. He turned expecting to find two irate ladies ready to berate him for taking advantage of Caroline in the middle of the hallway where anyone could see.

  Instead, Miss Hayes looked indulgent, if sad, and Mrs. Turnton was failing at looking indignant. The old bat looked positively gleeful.

  “I see the rumors of an elopement are true,” Miss Hayes murmured. “I never would have thought it of a Danvers.”

&
nbsp; Jerry flushed. He turned to make sure that Caroline hadn’t been offended, but she stood as if in a daze, her hand against her mouth. Jerry frowned, worried that he had been too presumptuous in assuming she had enjoyed the kiss as much as he had. Caroline looked like someone had forced her to reconsider the entire universe from a different angle—like she had just learned that the planets circled the Sun or that the Earth was a globe instead of a disc. Jerry wanted to make sure Caroline was all right, but Mrs. Turnton didn’t give him a chance.

  “Eloping to America?” Mrs. Turnton snorted, forcing Jerry to turn back and pay attention to the conversation. “Whoever heard of something so ridiculous? No, these two ran off to Scotland before boarding this ship. They are trying to hightail it to the States before the duke catches wind of their little stunt. The duke was fine with marrying the viscountess, Mrs. Wickingham that was, to one of his distant relatives, but he was less keen on forming a closer connection.”

  At this point Jerry feared his cheeks might set the nearby wood paneling aflame. If the ship could have conveniently floundered that moment, Jerry would not have minded a watery grave.

  Miss Hayes shook her head in sympathy at Caroline. She touched her stomach for a moment as if pained before giving Mrs. Turnton a weak smile. “The aristocracy can be very small minded at times.” She gave Jerry a small nod. “If you don’t mind, I would like to retire to my room.”

  “Of course,” Jerry said with a bow. Caroline did not seem to attend to any portion of the conversation.

  “You’re blocking my door,” Miss Hayes prompted when no one moved.

  “Oh,” Jerry said as if he had no idea where he had been compromising Caroline. “I apologize.” He stepped out of the way, and Mrs. Turnton nudged Caroline along, much like a shepherdess with an absent-minded lamb.

  Miss Hayes stared at her door knob for a moment. She seemed surprised to find the door unlocked. She gave a small shrug and stepped into her room.

  “Children,” Mrs. Turnton hissed. Although made to sound as if she were whispering, her voice seemed to carry down the entire hallway. Clearly her performance was not for their benefit but for anyone who might be listening, like, say, an actress behind her closed stateroom door. “I realize you are newlywed. I also realize that this is serving as your wedding journey in many ways, but you must act with at least a measure of decorum.” Mrs. Turnton smiled as if she couldn’t help herself and gave the couple a subtle wink. “This is a respectable ship, and you are both expected to act like the respectable Viscount and Viscountess that you are.”

  “Yes, Mrs. Turnton,” Jerry answered in a dutifully chastened voice.

  Caroline still didn’t answer. Mrs. Turnton led the girl down the hall and towards the girl’s room. Jerry hovered anxiously outside the door for a moment, unsure whether he should apologize or fetch a doctor. He hadn’t kissed many women before, but none had acted like this afterwards. He was beginning to worry if her wits had wandered—not from being kissed, that would be preposterous—but from nearly being caught snooping. He had assumed Caroline to be of sterner stuff than that, but perhaps she was not cut out for the more clandestine operations.

  Mrs. Turnton came back out of her room and shooed Jerry away to dress for dinner.

  “But is Mrs. Wickingham all right?” At the last moment Jerry remembered to use her alias and not her real name.

  Mrs. Turnton patted him on the shoulder. “She’s fine. A little overwhelmed but fine.” Mrs. Turnton shook her head in disgust. “I don’t know what her mother was thinking keeping that child this ignorant. Your bride,” the matron added with emphasis, “had not only never been kissed, she’d never even seen one before, not even a maid sneaking a peck from a servant.”

  Jerry stood there aghast. Had never even seen a kiss? And he’d all but seduced her in the middle of the hallway? No wonder she had been suffering from intense shock. She must think him the worst sort of cad.

  Chapter 25

  Caroline leaned against the shut door to her room still staring into space. She’d managed to answer Mrs. Turnton’s questions and to share the discovery of Miss Hayes’s delicate condition. Mrs. Turnton had been unsurprised by the coming babe. Caroline had even been able to craft coherent answers when Mrs. Turnton queried her about the kiss. Caroline had managed to convince the older woman that the kiss, although a surprise, was not regretted.

  Mrs. Turnton had finally left to change her own dress for dinner. Since Olive slept peacefully, the matron promised to send her own maid to help Caroline dress.

  Caroline shut her eyes now that she was blissfully almost alone; Olive asleep in her bed didn’t count. She ran a finger over her lips in awe of the moment she had shared with Jerry. Yes, she had read about kissing in the countless novels she and Olive had devoured over the years. Yes, she had dreamed of someday being kissed, but she could never have anticipated such a moment. Even now, sometime after the kiss had passed, her lips still tingled as if she’d rubbed them in peppermint.

  A knock on the door startled Caroline out of her daydream and back to reality. She opened the door to find Mrs. Turnton’s maid bobbing a curtsy in the hall. She ushered the girl in, but throughout the ordeal of dressing, she couldn’t take her mind off Jerry and his magical kiss. For the first time since she’d been given her first long dress, Caroline didn’t care about her appearance or the style of her clothes. Instead, she wondered what it would be like if she kissed Jerry first. Would he enjoy the experience as much as she did?

  At some point, the maid must have finished and left, but Caroline hadn’t noticed. When another knock sounded at her door, she nearly fell off the sofa she had sat down on at some point. Hurrying before the knocking woke Olive, Caroline pulled the door open only to find Jerry on the other side.

  “I’ve come to escort you to dinner,” Jerry said. He appeared flushed, as if he had run down the hallway instead of coming from next door.

  “Of course,” she said. She pulled the door shut behind her and took the arm he offered. Caroline smiled at him, excited to see him again, but Jerry didn’t smile back. A little wrinkle had formed between his eyes as if some worry was bringing him down. Caroline did her best to clear her mind of Jerry kissing her earlier and to focus on the Jerry before her now.

  “I must speak to you.” Jerry’s hand closed into a fist. Caroline wanted to take it, to relax the fingers, but she knew such an action would be much too forward. “About before,” he all but whispered.

  Caroline’s eyes fell from his face to the floor, and her innards fell with them. She had been reliving their kiss, hoping that there might be a chance to repeat the experience. What if Jerry regretted kissing her? He had only done it to distract Miss Hayes from the fact that they were standing before her door. What if Jerry hadn’t enjoyed the kiss? A truly horrid thought struck Caroline nearly bringing her to a complete halt. What if she was a terrible kisser?

  Jerry seemed to sense her discomfort. He reached up and patted the hand resting on his arm. He even left his hand there, encasing hers. Perhaps he didn’t find her repulsive after all. It was only her abysmal kissing that disgusted him.

  “I owe you an apology.”

  “Apology?” Caroline looked back up at that. Jerry was still a bit pink around the edges as if suffering from acute embarrassment but trying to hide it.

  “Apology.” Jerry emphasized the word with a nod of his head that looked more like he was being jerked by the neck. It was a far cry from his usual regal nod. “I must apologize for taking liberties with your person back in the corridor.”

  Caroline’s mouth dropped open a bit. With great presence of mind, she managed to shut it before Jerry noticed. “You can take liberties like that anytime,” she nearly said before realizing how that would sound. Instead, she garbled out, “It’s all right. You didn’t have a choice. Miss Hayes was coming, and we had to distract her somehow.”

  Jerry seemed to cheer up almost instantly. He gave her a weak smile, the first since the ill-fated kiss. “You’re
right. I didn’t have a choice.”

  Caroline’s smile was just as weak. She couldn’t muster anything more with her heart currently residing somewhere down by her toes. She hated the thought that kissing her wasn’t something Jerry was inclined to do. No, it was something he had to be forced into. Caroline felt a bit ill.

  “Are you all right?” The crease reappeared between Jerry’s eyes. “You look a bit peaked.”

  “Just all the excitement.” Caroline pulled herself together. “Did Mrs. Turnton tell you of my discovery?”

  When Jerry shook his head, Caroline filled him in on Miss Hayes’s Interesting Condition. They both agreed that while it didn’t rule her out completely, it did seem as if her behavior at dinner had been related to her health and not to the mention of bayonets. Also, the complete lack of stolen plans in her room did seem to point in another direction.

  “That leaves us with the Kimbleys and that Hillard man,” Jerry said. He tapped her hand in an absentminded sort of way while he thought. Caroline found it most distracting. It was like a tiny shock ran through her each time his fingers touched her hand. At this rate, she was going to combust before they reached the ship’s dining room.

  “I still think Wellburn is the best for tackling Hillard, but I think we should assist Mrs. Turnton in investigating the Kimbleys.”

  Caroline smiled, feeling a bit more enthusiastic again. After all, they still had a Russian agent to thwart, plans to steal back, and a war to save. With any luck, they would also find themselves thrown into a position where kissing was the only viable option to avoid detection. Perhaps with practice, kissing her would no longer be such a chore.

  “That is of course, if you feel up to it.” Jerry peered at her face as if searching for a sign of frailty. “I know my necessary, but ungentlemanly, actions earlier caused you much discomfort.”