By now they were inside the house, in the service corridor leading to the entrance hall. Eugenie took the Earl's arm as they passed through the baize-covered door.
'Arabella is not well, she's still in bed. Come into the study.'
The Earl made no protest, and followed her. Inside, he closed the door with a distinct snap and went across to poke the fire into a blaze.
'Do you know what that wretched George has been doing?'
'I understand he broke into his father's desk, this one, stole some money, and copied some of the papers kept there. Unimportant ones – '
'Unimportant! Don't you know what they contained?'
'Yes. Uncle Jerome explained. The names of spies – '
'So that's what you think of me, is it? And all the other Englishmen and women risking their lives in France.'
'Women?' Eugenie was startled, she had not expected there to be women agents working in France.
'Yes, brave women, as well as men. But I suppose to you they are spies and expendable!'
She was indignant. 'No, of course not! But surely they are not forced to do it?'
'They do it because they care for this country, and the freedom of others. But now, thanks to you and your cousin, they are in danger and will not yet know of it.'
'Can they be warned? Uncle Jerome said there were also names of Frenchmen who were working against Napoleon.'
'Yes, and they will be in even greater danger, as they cannot as easily leave. George imperiled them all for the sake of a few guineas. I find that despicable, and he will escape punishment thanks to you and your uncle.'
'But can't you understand, he loves George despite his faults, and had to try and help him!'
'He loves him more than he loves his country.'
'That's unfair! If you had a son, would you not wish to help him, however bad his behaviour?'
'I hope I never have a son who would betray his country.'
'I don't know how you could ensure that!'
He sighed. 'This does no good. What does your uncle intend?'
Eugenie wondered whether to tell him the truth, then she saw the implacable set of his expression, and knew he would detect any lies.
'He is to enlist in a regiment sailing for Canada.'
The Earl gave a sharp laugh. 'He can't do much harm there. I was half afraid he'd be sent to the Peninsula.'
He turned and crossed to the sideboard, poured himself a drink, and then, as an afterthought, one for Eugenie.
'Let us sit down,' he said, handing her the glass.
Eugenie was relieved he seemed to have calmed down.
'What do you mean to do? Will you follow them to London?'
'I'll go, but I doubt I'll catch them, or be able to do anything if I do. When did they leave?'
'Almost as soon as George came here. He was in a terrible state – '
'So he should be.'
'And,' Eugenie said repressively, 'if you want to hear, stop interrupting!'
To her relief he grinned, and waved his glass to her. 'Do carry on making excuses for a traitor.'
She frowned. 'He said the boat he was to meet had been captured by the Excise men, and he managed to get away after a fight. Why were you there?' she asked, suddenly wondering how he came to be involved.
'I was on the boat,' he said. 'I wanted to discover where they met the traitors here, so I came with them.'
She was horrified. 'They'd have killed you if they'd discovered you were English! Why did you risk it?'
'Some of us spies have to take risks,' he said, and she knew he had not forgiven her for using that word.
She thought of something else. 'Was it you trying to get into the house from the ruins? The night before last? How did you have a key?'
'George dropped it during the fight, and I thought I recognised it, and wished to make sure. I was not intending to intrude, but the door would not open.'
'It's been nailed up, since George was using the ruins to meet with some of his conspirators.'
'So that's why he had it. I wondered. But do you know who these others were?'
Eugenie debated within herself whether she ought to tell him, then remembered that Dickon had already been taken and would no doubt implicate his brother.
'Yes, two brothers from the village.'
'I thought George was supposed to be guarded?'
'He was, but he attacked Tommy, his groom, when he was on the way to Lymington. The poor man only just managed to get back here, he was badly wounded.'
'And you still excuse that despicable cousin of yours! Well, I must go, there's no point in staying, and I don't wish to upset Arabella.'
*
Eugenie sat on in the study after the Earl departed. He was angry with her for having a despicable cousin, as if she could help it. While she understood his fears for the English agents and for the French who supported them, she could not feel that a list with a few names could do very much damage. She presumed the papers copied the first time the desk had been broken into had been sent to France, but George and the French seamen had been caught before the second lot had been passed on. Perhaps the damage was limited.
The agents – how she wished she had not used the more emotive word spies – would surely not be in great danger. Would the French authorities really try to find a few stray Englishmen? Just what were they attempting, anyway? Could a few people working in secret really discover important information, for example the plans of the French armies? As for the French, would the authorities believe they were working against their own country? They'd be unlikely to keep incriminating material such as documents, so what proof would there be?
She sighed. There was nothing she could do, and she had to remain cheerful for Arabella's sake. She went upstairs to see how she was, to find the Duchess sitting before her dressing table having her hair dressed. She turned and smiled at Eugenie.
'The girls are delighted with the snow, and want to play outside, and as the sun has come out and I'm feeling so much better I thought we could walk for a short while in the gardens with them.'
Eugenie agreed. She would not mention the Earl's visit, and probably only the grooms knew of it. They'd seen none of the indoor servants as they came in from the stable yard, so she hoped Arabella would not hear, and would not question her about his reasons for coming to Castle Tempus. She would tell her uncle, of course, unless the Earl had gone to London and spoken to him there. Would they quarrel? Would she ever see the Earl again? If, as she planned, she hired her own house in London for the Season, and found a suitable chaperone, would she meet the Earl? The prospect of perhaps never seeing him again, or of having him simply nod to her in greeting, and no more drives in the Park with him, was not a pleasant one. She admitted to herself that she depended on his friendship for her own comfort, and to be in London without it would be something she could not contemplate with any degree of pleasure. It was almost enough to make her decide not to go to London. She could make the excuse that she would prefer to wait until she could go with Arabella, perhaps in the following Little Season if she were well enough after the birth of her child.
She had to abandon these gloomy thoughts and join in the games with the little girls. The youngest had not seen snow before, and they all delighted in making snow balls and pelting one another, Eugenie, Jenny and their nurse. Their mother, they were told, was not to be a target. Then Eugenie introduced them to the skills of making a snowman, and promised that if the cold weather continued she would show them how to slide on a strip of ice.
'And skate on the lake?' Caroline asked.
'But we don't have a lake,' Arabella said. 'Not a proper one. There's just the little river down in the valley which widens a bit.'
'And rivers don't often freeze, because the water is always moving,' Eugenie said.
'Do you know all this because you lived in Switzerland?' Sophie asked.
'Yes, we had lots of snow there, and sometimes it was so deep you could not see over it. The windows were covered too.'
She thought back to the days when they had first lived there, when her father had taught her to skate, and they had driven in sledges. Despite her mother's ill health they had been a happy family. One day, perhaps, when this war was over and they could travel freely once more, she might return. There had been a few friends she would like to see again. She had written to say she had reached England safely, but there was no guarantee letters would be delivered.
'I wonder when Jerome will be back?' Arabella asked when they had returned to the house and were sitting in the study, which Arabella usually preferred to the much larger drawing room. It was, she said, cosier and warmer.
It reminded Eugenie too much of her meeting with the Earl, but she forced herself to forget.
'It will no doubt depend on how quickly he can arrange matters for George, find a regiment going soon to Canada.'
Arabella sighed. 'That wretched boy! How could he become such a trial? I hope my children don't grow up to be like him!'
*
It was several days before the Duke returned, days during which Eugenie fretted with impatience to learn what had happened, whether George had left, or whether the Earl had somehow prevented it. When he did come he looked unhappy, and admitted it had been hard to part with George, necessary as it had been to send him out of England.
'I may never see him again,' he said after dinner on the first day he was back, when they had retired to his study. 'He could be killed.'
'It is that or being hanged as a traitor,' Arabella said, and Eugenie thought she had never before heard Arabella speak so tartly. She began to realise the difficulties Arabella had faced as a second wife, when there was a child of the first one who had resented her and was jealous of her own children.
'Did you see the Earl?' she asked. 'I think he intended following you to London.'
'How do you know?' Arabella asked, and Eugenie realised she had never told Arabella of the Earl's visit.
'He came here,' she said now, and explained. 'I didn't want to worry you, so didn't mention it. I'm sorry. And, Uncle, he had the key George dropped when he was escaping from the Excise men.'
'We had Compton nail up the door,' Arabella said. 'Did Hugh leave the key?'
'No, and I forgot to ask him for it. I was so bewildered. But if he comes here again, we can ask. Did you see him in London, Uncle?'
'Yes, briefly. He won't be here for some time, he's going back to France to try and warn the other agents and help them get back to England.'
Eugenie was aghast. 'Going back to France? Now? But he'll be in even more danger than usual!'
'He told me you did not think there was much danger,' her uncle said, and Eugenie bent her head in some distress.
'Of course there is danger, always, for all of them,' Arabella said. 'Why did you think not?'
'I didn't think the French authorities would really be interested in finding a few Englishmen.'
'They are fanatics, my dear, the ones that support Napoleon. We must pray Hugh does not come into conflict with them.'
'How – how many agents does he hope to contact, to warn?'
'About twenty, but they are scattered, in different parts of France. It will mean a good deal of travelling, and if the weather there is a bad as here, it will delay him. And he will also try to speak to our French friends, tell them to destroy anything incriminating. George has put so many men and women in peril, but I had to help him.'
It was an appeal for understanding, and Arabella put her hand on his arm.
'Of course you had to, my dear. No one will blame you.'
He shook his head. 'Some already do. There were suspicions when I helped George enlist so quickly, and a few people asked me what he had done to be hustled out of the country. I was able to fob them off, and I doubt anyone knows the truth, but there will always be unanswered questions.'
*
A month passed. The Duke returned to London on Government business. He said he would ask around to see if anyone could suggest a suitable chaperone for Eugenie, for she would soon be returning to Beechcotes, and she would need a suitable one there as well as if she went to London for the Season. No news of the Earl came to Castle Tempus. Eugenie tried to stifle her fear for him, telling herself that he had survived in Paris before she met him, and there was no reason to believe he would not again. Arabella tried to tell her he would be safe, but Eugenie simply shook her head.
'We don't know. That fishing boat he came in, when the Excise men caught the Frenchmen in it, perhaps they have relatives or colleagues who discovered he was not one of them.'
'Eugenie, how could they?'
'Well, perhaps the French have spies here who know. Or there might have been two boats and only one was caught.'
'You are talking nonsense! Why should they have spies in Lymington? If they wish to discover war plans they will be in London, or trying to infiltrate army barracks, not some distant part of the country.'
It made no difference. Although Eugenie ceased to voice her fears, she did not stop worrying. Tommy was now better, and he and George's guardian valet had returned to London. Eugenie made a point of visiting Meg occasionally to ask if she had heard anything of Hal, but the woman shook her head.
'I don't know what's happenin' to my Dickon,' she said. 'Can ye find out fer me?'
Eugenie promised to do her best, and left some money with Meg. With both her husband and brother away, she had very little money except what she could earn doing occasional jobs helping at the Rectory and a few other of the bigger houses in the area, but it was not enough for her to live on. Arabella refused to employ her at Castle Tempus, saying that without the help of her men perhaps George would not have been so foolish. Eugenie swallowed her denial. Women were, she thought, often given to odd fancies when they were breeding, and Arabella, though she did not care what happened to George, did care for the distress his actions had caused the Duke.
It was the middle of March, and the Duke was back at home when Arabella suggested they attend an Assembly to be held in Winchester just after Easter.
'Do you not feel a lack of social occasions, Eugenie?' she asked. 'We would, in most years, have had visitors to stay, but with my not feeling well, and the trouble with George, we have not even had any parties here.'
'I am happy to do whatever you suggest,' Eugenie said, pleased to see that Arabella was looking better.
'Good, then we can go, and stay in the town house. It is too far to drive back afterwards.'
'I didn't know you had a house there.'
'Just a small one, mainly for when we visit the town. We'll go up a day or so beforehand, and perhaps do some shopping. I need new slippers, and it will be good to get out again. And we can stay for a few days.'
Making plans for the visit occupied them. They looked at their dresses, and Arabella had some of hers let out to accommodate her expanding waist. Eugenie chose to take one of the gowns the Earl had admired. The thought of him, wondering what he was doing in France, whether he was safe, made her solemn, but Arabella's anticipation of the treats in store soon lifted her mood.
It was decided not to take the girls, but Arabella promised to bring them new toys, and she began to wonder what they might like.
'The two oldest would enjoy dissected maps,' she said. 'I think Sophie is old enough for a simple one.'
'What are they?' Eugenie asked. 'I've not heard of them.'
'A map of England, or Europe, which is cut up in pieces, and the idea is to put it together to make a picture of the whole. The pieces are cut in the shapes of the counties, or countries. It helps to teach children some geography in a fun way.'
'How ingenious.'
'And perhaps for Amanda a kaleidoscope. She prefers something more energetic. And I think Charlotte could manage to try wooden building blocks.'
'You are making me envious,' Eugenie said. 'I never had such toys, so I will love to help them play!'
Arabella laughed. 'So will I. And if I have a boy I will start to buy him toy soldiers, so that when he is old enough to play with them he will have a large army.'
*
Eugenie was changing for dinner two days before they were to go to Winchester when she heard footsteps and laughter outside her room. Someone was in the bedroom next to hers. She peeped out into the corridor, and saw a procession of maids and footmen carrying cans of hot water. Clearly a visitor had arrived, but as far as she knew no one had been expected.
There was no one else in the drawing room when she went down. After a while Compton came in, looked around, gave her a smile, and departed. She glanced at the bracket clock on the mantelpiece and saw it was the time he normally announced dinner was served. Where were her uncle and Arabella?
At last they came in together, and as Eugenie was about to ask what was happening they were followed by the Earl. He was impeccably attired in evening dress, his waistcoat of white with a faint silver stripe, and an immaculately tied cravat.
'You see, Jerome, I said I could be ready on time.'
Arabella smiled at him. 'In just half an hour you have bathed and dressed?'
'Your servants are admirable, they brought hot water, unpacked my trunk, pressed my evening clothes, and made sure I was not delayed for one moment. I don't take six hours to tie my cravat, like Mr Brummell. Good evening, Eugenie.'
'You're back from France,' she muttered, and felt stupid for saying the obvious.
He grinned at her. 'Two days ago, and glad to be here.'
'What happened?' she asked, but at that moment Compton came to announce dinner, and she had to control her curiosity until afterwards, when the men joined her and Arabella in the drawing room.
The Earl came to sit beside her. 'It was not such a calamity as we had feared. I was able to contact all the agents, and they in turn went to warn our French friends before they left the country. As it happened, I managed to see the list George had copied, and he had clearly done it in haste, and carelessly. Several of the names were spelt incorrectly, so the French would not be able to find the real people. And the list was not as complete as we had feared. I suspect he was interrupted before he could finish it.'
Eugenie breathed a sigh of relief. 'So not a great deal of harm was caused. Thank you for telling me.'
'No, not a great deal of harm, but the intention was there, and that he did it for money rather than conviction makes it even more despicable.'
She nodded, and when he asked what she had been doing for the past few weeks was able to respond coherently. Then Arabella spoke.
'Hugh, we are going to the assembly at Winchester. You will come with us, won't you? We'll be staying at the town house, and there is room for you there. For Jane too, if you wish to bring her.'
'Thank you, I would like to join you, but I think I won't bring Jane. She has settled down again at home, and I don't wish to distract her. I must go there first, but I will join you in Winchester. I'll look forward to having more time together.'
Did he mean more time with her, Eugenie wondered, but rather thought not. Although he had been pleasant during dinner, and explained that less harm had been done than he had feared, she sensed he was still angry with her. Yet he was clearly fully reconciled to her uncle, who had been instrumental in sending George out of the country, and away from retribution. No doubt he had accepted a father's need to protect his son.
He left early the following morning to go to his own home, and she had no opportunity of private talk. Then she had to turn her attention to the coming visit to Winchester. She had already chosen a ball gown the Earl had once admired, but now she decided to take her favourite day dresses too. She pushed the reason to the back of her mind. She simply wanted to look her best when they met Arabella's friends, as they surely would, for most of the local gentry would be at the Assembly.
*