One Thing Leads to a Lover (Love and Let Spy #2) - Susanna Craig Page 0,72
mind?”
“A few nights ago, at the theater, my friends the Hursts extended an invitation to visit them this summer. But I’ve already refused…”
“I’m sure your friends will be overjoyed to discover you’ve reconsidered their kind offer.” The general leaned toward her and gave an encouraging smile. “From what the Magpie has told me, you’re an inordinately clever woman, Lady Kingston. The sort who won’t have any great difficulty managing to finagle a renewal of that invitation. Why, you’ll soon have them believing it was all their idea to have a houseful of guests this afternoon.”
“This afternoon?”
“Best not to delay,” said the general, rising. Amanda followed suit, as did Langley, albeit a beat later, as if he was still a little stunned by developments. “Captain Collins will help you to pen and paper. You can write at his desk.” He strode to the door and opened it. “Dash off a note to your mother, too, to prepare her for the change of scenery.”
“My mother,” Amanda murmured, moving toward the door. Then, “My mother! Oh dear, what if it’s too late? Something might already have happened to her. I managed to keep her at home yesterday, but when I left, she was determined to pay calls today.”
“And she might have done,” Langley reminded her quietly, “if I hadn’t had the foresight to send your carriage away.
“Oh, yes. That’s right. You did.” Her heart still raced, but she was determined to present an outward appearance of calm. She rather thought it might be easier if Langley would look at her. But then again, perhaps not.
“You stay here, Stanhope.” General Scott nodded him back toward his chair as Amanda crossed the threshold into the outer office. “I’m sure Lady Kingston won’t write faster with an audience.”
She entered the outer office to find Captain Collins standing beside his desk, its neatness a stark contrast to the general’s. At present the only things on its surface were two quills, a pot of ink, and a thin stack of little sheets of hot-pressed paper, the sort ladies—but probably not the British army—used for correspondence. Had he anticipated the general’s order? Had the general somehow already known about the Hursts?
She offered Captain Collins a weak sort of smile as she approached. With a slight bow, he pulled out the chair and gestured for her to sit down. The scrape of its legs across the floor further disguised the sound of the general closing the door to his office. As she picked up a pen and weighed the proper words for inviting herself and her family to someone else’s home on absurdly short notice, she could hear the muted sounds of masculine conversation from the other room. Though she could not make out a single word, she could not help but wonder what they discussed.
What, exactly, had they not wanted her to hear?
* * * *
Langley swung himself back into his chair without waiting for the general to sit first. “I wonder, sir, if this is really the best course of action with respect to the Countess of Kingston.”
Scott eased into his chair, turning it slightly, so that his gaze was directed at something beyond the window. Without looking, he swept a hand over his cluttered desktop until his fingertips collided with his pipe, which he once more brought to his lips. “Do you object to spending a little time in Richmond, Magpie?”
The tightness in Langley’s jaw made it difficult to speak. “Not if you order it, sir.”
“I’m glad to hear you’re back to following orders. I’d prefer not to have to add ‘dealing with a rogue intelligence officer’ to the rather lengthy list of things that are currently occupying my time.” Once more, he fished beside him, this time retrieving the codebook. “Mrs. Scott is determined to spend a few weeks at the seaside this summer, you see. I’d like to be at liberty to accompany her.”
“Yes, sir.” Langley leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees, speaking more softly, though he knew that nothing of what they said could be heard from the outer office. “But why did it have to be Richmond?”
“Because the friends who issued an invitation to Lady Kingston don’t live in Bath, Major Stanhope,” the general explained with a hint of good-natured mockery before becoming more serious. “Because if we’re to keep this innocent family safe, then Mrs. West needs to be somewhere she knows fewer people on whom to call, and Lady Kingston’s sons need to be farther away from their guardian.”