Lady Evelyn Graylocke smoothed her mauve skirts and looked into the curious faces of her family. My, how it had grown in these past two years.
All of her children had found happiness in spouses she was overjoyed to welcome into the family. Charlie, in particular, had been like a daughter to her ever since Freddie had married Tristan. That she and Anthony had found their way to each other threatened to turn Evelyn into a watering pot once more.
She blinked back a wave of tears as she turned her attention to Phil, newly arrived from the country with her son, Oliver, Evelyn’s first grandchild, the future Duke of Tenwick, in her arms. It seemed fitting to give her family the explanation she owed them while the next generation was present.
Morgan seemed relieved to be reunited with his wife once more. The fond look in his eyes as he looked at Phil brought an ache to Evelyn’s chest. She remembered when his father had looked at her that way, while she held Morgan. She took a deep, steadying breath as she sought out a safer avenue of thought.
The Vales were present, winged by both their daughters. Mr. Vale seemed to have accepted Tristan as his son-in-law wholeheartedly, for which Evelyn was glad. Gideon stood in the back corner next to his wife. He seemed agitated as she whispered something in his ear. Whatever it was, it appeared shortsighted when she elbowed him in the side. He winced and rubbed the spot. When he dropped a kiss on the top of her head, her displeasure dissolved into a smile. She teased him with a whispered quip that made him smile.
Jared, standing off to the side, heard the topic of the whispered exchange and shot them both a bizarre look. Evelyn contained a smile behind her hand. That poor boy looked haggard, and she wouldn’t be able to ease his burden anytime soon.
Although Monsieur V and his spy network were no more, the war with Napoleon was far from over. Nevertheless, Evelyn vowed to redouble her efforts to find the woman Jared pined over and their son. The woman was skilled, but no one could hide from the Commander of Crown Spies. Evelyn would find her.
From the chair next to hers, Lord Strickland coughed into his fist. He raised one eyebrow toward his bald pate, as if reminding her of why he’d come to support her. Evelyn straightened as her extended family turned their attentions to her.
“I know it has come as something of a shock to you to learn that I command the Crown spies, especially considering that you are all a part of my network.”
“A shock?” Morgan tightened his arm around his wife’s shoulders and sat straighter on the settee. “I’m Strickland’s second-in-command! I understand the necessity of keeping it a secret from the enemy, but why wouldn’t you tell your own son?”
Raising her eyebrows with bemusement, Evelyn pointed out, “I’m your mother, and you never thought to tell me about your involvement.”
He frowned. “That’s… different. You knew of my involvement, whereas I didn’t have the faintest inkling of yours. I was trying to protect you from worrying.”
Evelyn smirked. “I know, dear. But I’ve been doing this since before you were born. I’ll worry anyway—it’s a mother’s prerogative.”
Sitting next to Tristan and holding his hand, Freddie frowned. “Did you know about the French spies the entire time? If so, why would you invite Harker into your home?”
A shadow overcame the Vales as they relived a troublesome time in the past. Evelyn wanted to comfort them, but now wasn’t the time. Mr. and Mrs. Vale were finally reunited, and their daughters had each fallen in love with one of Evelyn’s sons. Despite the hardships in the past, everything had worked out to advantage.
“I knew,” Evelyn confessed. “In fact, I tempted him with the code book on purpose. I didn’t know that he would attempt to use Freddie to do his bidding, nor did I expect it to end with such bloodshed. I asked him so I could bring Louisa”—she nodded at Mrs. Vale—“to the house, in the hopes of using her considerable skill on other future assignments. She’s been doing odd jobs for me, things that need a delicate touch, ever since Harker’s death. And of course, keeping an eye on Lucy when Monsieur V targeted her until I knew Alex was partnering her.”
Her son-in-law inclined his head.
Tristan raised an eyebrow and joked, “You don’t think I have a delicate touch?”
Freddie blushed and smacked him on the arm with her free hand.
Evelyn smiled. She turned to Phil and Morgan. “I admit, I arranged for you to go out on field assignment and had you cross paths with Phil because I hoped you would be smart enough to recruit an inventor of her caliber into the network.”
Phil smirked, the expression making her seem mischievous. She adjusted her hold on her son to turn and wink at Morgan. “It turns out he was even smarter than anticipated.”
Evelyn laughed. “Yes, I must admit I like having you for a daughter-in-law even more than I like having your inventions on hand to aid in our efforts.”
From the back of the room, her youngest son sighed. “Please tell me you didn’t arrange for Felicia to join us, too.”
His wife straightened and glared up at him. “Why not? I’m a delight!”
“You cannot fathom how many times I ranted about you to Mother while you were set on belittling my work.”
“I was not belittling.” Felicia paused for one serene moment before she added, “I was correcting.”
He tucked her into his side. “I am the botanist. You are the chemist.”
Evelyn held up her hands to stall the playful bickering. “I did send Morgan to recruit Felicia because of all you’d told me about her. You must admit, you and she work brilliantly together and help us immensely.”
“See?” Felicia said, drawing out the word as she tipped her head up to nettle her husband. “A delight.”
Amused, Morgan shook his head. “You seem keen on sending me out as your personal errand boy, despite us never actually speaking on the subject. Wouldn’t it have been easier to confess your part in this, rather than giving me direction through Strickland?”
“Perhaps.” Evelyn shrugged. “I was waiting for you to tell me about your involvement.” She raised her eyebrows. “I planned to tell you at the same time.”
His cheeks turned pink. Lud. She hadn’t been able to do that since he was a boy. She smiled to see him so contrite.
He coughed into his fist. “I take it, then, that it was no accident that Lady Belhaven sought me out to ask after Rocky’s help in her greenhouse?”
“Goodness me, no. That poor woman would have worked herself to the bone if I hadn’t intervened and told her about our broken orangery. She asked you to do me a favor, though I am glad it taught her to keep a botanist on staff, even if I’d never let her have our Rocky for so long.” She smiled, a bit saddened that Rocky and her husband, Catt, were out on assignment at the moment and hadn’t been privy to this explanation. The young woman had been a part of their household for years, and Evelyn was very fond of her. After a moment’s pause, she added, “I convinced Lady Belhaven to throw one last masquerade, as well. She was famous for them when she was younger, I’ll have you know.”
Lucy smiled, a gleam in her eye. “It was a masquerade to remember. You knew I was pursuing Monsieur V all along? Why didn’t you try to stop me?”
Evelyn raised her eyebrows and looked from Lucy to her eldest son. “I always disagreed with Morgan’s decision not to involve you like he did your brothers. You, my dear, have the passion and mettle for spy work, and I’ve always known it. So when I learned that you were involved, I concealed it from your brother but arranged for Mrs. Vale to keep an eye on you.” She nodded to Charlie, on the other end of the string of Vales—though she wouldn’t be a Vale for much longer. Evelyn couldn’t help but smile at the reminder of the impending wedding. “I would have liked to help your assignment better than I did. Such a shame about Madame Renault.”
Charlie frowned. Her hand hovered near the edge of her bodice before she balled it in her lap. “You could have told me we had arranged to stay with a fellow spy. You could have trusted me to keep your purpose in the spy network a secret.”
Guilt churned in Evelyn’s stomach. Considering the way the matter had come to light, perhaps she would have done better to trust them with the knowledge to begin with.
Before she could say a word, Strickland leaned forward. “We kept this a secret for good reason. We didn’t want your mother to meet her end in the same way as your father did.”
Her children exchanged glances. Tristan was the first to speak up. “Father was a spy?”
“The commander,” Strickland confirmed. “I was his assistant for many years, until his involvement ultimately led to his death. From that moment, your mother and I made a decision that I should the figurehead while she took true command. That way, if anyone should think to disrupt the network, as they so clearly did, they would target the wrong person.”
Somehow, the enemy had learned of her involvement in any case. She didn’t know how, but she prayed the information had been contained to those Monsieur V trusted the most. Everyone in this room had a formidable task ahead of them still, to discover every last French spy privy to that information and lead them to capture.
As if to punctuate her thoughts, Strickland added, “We must all keep this a secret, for Evelyn’s safety.”
Heads nodded around the room as everyone agreed, their faces set in determination. Morgan, the natural leader of them all, laid a hand over his son’s legs as if to bolster his resolve. “Without question.” He caught Evelyn’s gaze and held it, his eyes every bit as piercing as his father’s. “Now that we have all our secrets out in the open, we’ll be able to work together that much more efficiently. For the next generation, we will end this war and keep the people of Britain safe.”
Evelyn let her gaze drop to Oliver with a smile. Although a pang of grief struck her that her husband wasn’t with them to see his grandson grow and thrive, her chest warmed with love.
Oliver was a reminder of why they all, including Anthony, put their lives on the line in order to protect their country. They did it for love.
And they always would.
***********
If you liked this series you might like Leighann Dobbs’ Lady Katherine Regency Mystery series - a classical whodunit murder mystery series set in Regency England. Start with book 1 - An Invitation to Murder:
