the foyer, but otherwise unscathed. He returned bow for bow, and kissed Meri’s cheek.
“Merci for the rescue, Madame Six,” he said.
“You owe me a king’s ransom for my intervention, Jean,” Meri said as she sat down and resumed her knitting. “Where have you been? Should we worry that the next knock will be Royal Marines ready to clap you in irons?”
“No, no, madame,” the scoundrel said. He was silent, looking at them both expectantly.
“Jean, you are a reprobate and an escapee,” Able said. He said it mildly enough because it was far too easy to like the casual Frenchman who had been caught up in Napoleon’s machinations the same as he was, no more no less, even if on opposite sides, and sentenced to a Portsmouth prison hulk. “Do answer Meri’s question, if you know what’s good for you.”
“I do, Able,” Jean said cheerfully. “It might amaze you, but then again, knowing you…”
“Belay the stall,” Able said in his sailing master voice this time.
“Captain Ogilvie himself escorted me undercover to Trinity House – what was it – six months ago,” he said promptly.
“He told me only three days ago that he would try to find you,” Able grumbled. “He knew all along!”
“I am not responsible for someone else’s lies,” Jean said, managing to sound almost virtuous. “There truly is considerable interest in cryptography.”
“Of which you know little?” Able prompted.
Jean laughed. “Of which I know nothing!”
“You convinced our Captain Ogilvie that you knew cryptographs?” Meri asked.
“It wasn’t that hard,” he said modesty.
“Captain Ogilvie is as astute a man as I know,” she said, then sighed. “Jean, charm only works so long.”
“As long as it works at all, I will try,” he said candidly, and laughed when Meri did. “Very well! If you must know, I ran away, returned to France, did not like what I saw, and came back to Trinity House,” he said. He waggled his hand. “Well, perhaps I didn’t exactly run away. Captain Ogilvie encouraged me — shall we say — to visit Boulogne and see what I could see.”
“So it wasn’t all charm,” Meri said.
“Alas, no,” Jean admitted. “I suppose I could not fool Monsieur Ogilvie.”
“Angus Ogilvie knew precisely what you were thinking,” Able said. “Belay the circumlocution, Jean.”
Jean laughed. “Able, it is my duty as a French officer and a prisoner of war to confuse and confound the enemy.”
“For heaven’s sake,” Meri said. “You’re no enemy, friend. Tell us what you know.”
Trust Meri to cut directly to the chase. “I echo Meri’s sentiments,” he said. “Enlighten us, Jean.”
“I saw many small invasion craft. I counted some three hundred vessels.” He walked to the window and looked out, hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth on his heels as he used to do.
“Did you happen to get to Cádiz?” Able asked, almost certain where this was going now. “Did you locate Claude Pascal?”
His question startled Jean, whose face grew grim. “Captain Ogilvie told me where to find him.” He glanced at Meridee. “This isn’t a subject for a lady.”
“You underestimate my capacity for vengeance,” Able’s lady said. He watched her face grow grim, too, and knew she was thinking of her own ill usage by Claude Pascal’s goons sent to disrupt Portsmouth’s factories and war effort. “I had dealings with Pascal’s men. They tried to work mischief on me and drown me.”
Jean sat beside her and took her hand. “I was thinking of that and other miscellaneous bits of mayhem when I called him out, made certain he knew he was facing Jean Hubert in that dark alley, and ended his spying career.”
Meridee patted her heart. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” He sat back and regarded Able for a moment, as if wondering how much to say.
“Get on with it,” Able said. “You have news.”
“I do. I returned first to Admiralty to deliver it. You will know more soon,” he said.
“I will know more now,” Able said firmly. “What is it?”
“Here is what I learned in Cádiz. The combined fleets of Spain and France sailed for the Caribbean two weeks ago,” Jean told them. He looked around to make sure no one else listened. He saw Ben and lowered his voice. “It was the last bit of news I wrested from Claude Pascal. Napoleon’s plan is for Admiral Nelson and his fleet to follow the combined fleets, which will evade him, then sail into the English Channel while the Royal Navy is chasing will-of-the-wisps in the Caribbean.”
Able let out a long, slow whistle that caught Ben’s interest.