The Mysterious Lord Millcroft. Virginia Heath

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СКАЧАТЬ of the area, your family were minor gentry at most. You emigrated with them to the Antipodes as a babe, where they promptly died and left you to flounder by yourself. Only recently are you returned to English soil, your pockets stuffed with the huge fortune you have made on the other side of the globe from slightly dubious means, seeking interesting investment opportunities now that you are finally home.’ Fennimore pulled open the drawer in his desk and withdrew a pile of books. ‘Reading material to aid you in embellishing your new history.’

      Seb stared at them with distaste. Not so much because of the reading, but because what Fennimore was proposing involved socialising. With peers. And ladies. Lots of ladies. He’d much rather be shot again. ‘But, sir...’

      Fennimore held up his hand. ‘You make your first appearance in society tonight. As the honoured guest of the Earl of Upminster. He has been briefed on your mission and will give credence to your new identity. Penhurst will be in attendance and Upminster will introduce you. From there, it will be down to you. I trust you to do your duty and get into the man’s house!’

      Seb looked to Flint for support, but his friend merely grinned. ‘I wish I could be there to see it.’ Because they both knew it would be carnage.

      ‘Hadleigh here has been drafted in so that we can act swiftly if and when the pair of you gather enough evidence for their arrests. We don’t want either to invoke Privilege of Peerage and avoid trial. As soon as we have proof of treason, Hadleigh will race through impeachment proceedings and have them stripped of their titles. Time is of the essence here, gentleman. If we work fast, we could make some serious inroads into the Boss’s supply lines. They have no idea we have intercepted the message. Within a few hours of receiving it, it arrived safely at its destination with the recipient none the wiser. As far as Penhurst and Camborne are concerned, it’s business as usual. For now, we watch and we wait. When we take them down, I want it to hurt the Boss significantly. I don’t want one packet or twenty. I want to obliterate his stronghold in the south just as we did the Thames. In the meantime, Hadleigh will assist me in scrutinising all aspects of their lives here in town and see if we can find out how they are moving the money while my two best men discover exactly how they make it.’

      Seb didn’t share his superior’s faith in his abilities. ‘Perhaps there is another way I can get inside Penhurst’s house. Big estates always need workers. That is how I’ve always operated before.’ Playing the servant was much more Seb’s style. Working men, their aspirations and their mindset, he understood. Aristocrats, in the main, were a complete mystery.

      ‘Jobs for your Invisibles, Leatham. I need my most trusted field agents shadowing the ringleaders.’

      ‘But I don’t have anything to wear!’ Had that pathetic sentence just come out of his mouth? Judging by the bark of laughter from his supposed friend on his right, it had. As excuses went, even forlorn, last-hope excuses, Seb was prepared to acknowledge that one had been pretty dire. The King’s Elite had all been meticulously selected for their resourcefulness and adaptability. Two attributes he had always possessed in spades. As did his superior.

      Lord Fennimore pinned him with an icy glare that would curdle milk. ‘Your attire has been taken care of. I assumed your measurements are much the same as they were last December when we had that footman’s uniform made for you and your fancy wardrobe should be winging its way to your new lodgings as we speak.’

      ‘New lodgings?’ Things were going from bad to worse. Seb liked his secluded little apartment in Cheapside, sandwiched between the rich and poor of London. It was the perfect place to blend in and to escape from his work. Like him, it fitted somewhere in between both classes so he didn’t have to pretend to be one or the other. Which he wasn’t and never would be. Unease began to churn away in his belly. With his background, surely Lord Fennimore wouldn’t...

      ‘Of course you have new lodgings! You’re supposed to be in possession of a huge fortune. A fortune to lure money-grabbing criminals to crawl out of the woodwork! You have full use of a town house in Grosvenor Square.’

      Still Mayfair, but at least not Berkeley Square. That was a little too close to his past for comfort. Then the perfect excuse struck him. ‘And what if my dear brother sees me?’

      ‘Thetford? He hasn’t clapped eyes on you in what? Fifteen years?’ Almost to the day. Seb still remembered his mother being evicted from the hunting lodge on his father’s estate just hours after the man had been declared dead. His long and terrifying journey to Mayfair alone to plead for their home. He’d been a boy. Only thirteen. His childhood had come to a shuddering halt soon after, but he had learned a valuable lesson. A man of his status could never trust the aristocracy. ‘I doubt he’d know you if you spat in the fool’s eye. It’s hardly as if you were close. I hate to be callous, Leatham, but with men like that, it is most assuredly a case of out of sight, out of mind. To him you no longer exist. You ceased to exist the day he inherited his title. Besides, he left town yesterday and is not expected back until September. I pride myself in foreseeing every potential complication, Leatham. You know that. Many of the house staff have been replaced with some of your own men as I knew you’d want them close by. I’ve even made Gray your valet.’

      ‘Why can’t Gray be Lord Millcroft?’ As a real lord, albeit a disgraced and impoverished one, his second-in-command was much better qualified.’

      ‘Gray doesn’t have your years of experience or your level head. This job requires both. It is too important to palm off on a subordinate.’ Lord Fennimore wound the wire frames of his reading spectacles around his ears and picked up a piece of paper, his usual signal that the meeting was done. ‘Get yourself to Grosvenor Square and begin your preparations, Leatham. And shave off that damn beard. That’s an order.’

      Sensing his discomfort, Flint patted him on the back. ‘This is no different from pretending to be a groom or a docker or a bare-knuckle fighter. You have always been a chameleon, Seb. Once you’re wearing the clothes, the character will come to you as it always does. Remember that time you posed as a French Chef de Bataillon? Your accent and manner were so flawless, your new regiment were too scared to question why their previous commanding officer had suddenly disappeared. You did that for three weeks undiscovered! If you can pose as a foreign officer undetected, then an English toff will be child’s play. Nobody expects you to be the life and soul. They expect you to be rich and heartless. Your customary silence will be interpreted as haughty disdain. Trust me, you’ll be admired for it. Simply stand straight, look down your nose at everyone and be free with your money.’

      ‘It couldn’t hurt to make the odd disparaging remark about taxation and the royal family either.’ This came from Hadleigh. ‘Those scoundrels will lap that up.’

      Seb felt sick. Trapped and, for the first time in years, completely out of his depth.

      ‘Why are you all gossiping like old women? We have a job to do.’ Fennimore’s eyes narrowed. ‘Make haste, gentlemen! Your country needs you.’

      * * *

      The Duke of Westbridge’s name was pencilled in for the second waltz. The final dance of the evening. Clarissa had made sure of that the moment she had stepped into the ballroom, wearing another of her daring new gowns. Gowns which no fresh-faced debutante would dare wear. Age did have its advantages, and, imbued with her renewed sense of purpose, she was jolly well going to utilise it. The red was bold—purposefully so, because Lady Olivia wore pastels—and enviably stylish and form-fitting. The single red rose woven into her curls was a mischievous touch, because Lady Olivia staunchly wore the family tiara to every event, letting everyone know she came along with plenty of money. The deep-red petals popping against Clarissa’s blonde hair gave her an air of casual confidence, which was far more alluring than the call of money—and she thumbed her nose at her Duke and his now staunchly СКАЧАТЬ