And there was another possibility, one I dared not speak aloud-that it was not the East India Company but the government itself that had decided it could not risk Pepper’s continued works. “As a thief-taker,” I said, “it may well be worth my while to inquire into the death of Mr. Pepper and discover who brought about his end. If I can bring the murderer to justice, I should receive a handsome bounty from the state, after all.”
“I fear, sir, you will not have time to do that. You will be working for someone else.”
“And who is that?”
“Why, me, of course.” Her grin, open and joyous and confident all at once, nearly unmanned me. “I am hiring you, sir, for the very generous fee of twenty pounds, to perform a few services on behalf of your king.”
I looked away, having no wish to be drawn in by her beauty. “I’ll not be anyone’s puppet. Not any longer. Hammond ’s days are quite clearly numbered, and I must believe that his ability to threaten me and my friends must come to an end.”
“The ability to threaten, yes, but there are still the debts. You may depend on a generous government ordering those matters to your satisfaction. And there is another matter, sir. The business of the late election involved you in all manners of mischief. You had a private meeting with this nation’s greatest enemy, a man who would overthrow our government by force. Perhaps you believe that your dealings with the Pretender are unknown to the ministry, but I promise you they are known in the highest circles of Whitehall. By entertaining his conversation and by not reporting his activities, you committed treason-a capital crime, as you must know.”
Elias spoke up before I had the opportunity. “Damme, but you know little of Weaver. If you think to put this gentleman in thrall with your threats to his person, you are far more foolish than I could have supposed.”
She smiled at him-so pretty and knowing. “I make no threats, I promise you.” She turned to me. “There is no threat, for the danger is past. I mention the incident, sir, not to make you uneasy but to tell you of a component of which you have until now been ignorant. After your meeting with the Pretender, your enemies at Whitehall argued that you were too dangerous, the rebels would one day or another win you to their side, and you must be punished as an example. I tell you this not to aggrandize myself, but so you will know I was your benefactor before we even met. I convinced Mr. Walpole, First Lord of the Treasury, whose influence reigns supreme, to leave you be, arguing that a man of your skills and integrity would yet serve his kingdom.”
“You interceded on my behalf?” I asked. “Why?”
She shrugged. “Maybe because I believed this day might come. Maybe because I believed it to be the right thing to do. Maybe because I knew you were no traitor, but a man caught between impossible choices, and though you did not act to harm the Pretender, you did not join with him either.”
I shook my head. “I hardly know how to answer this.”
“You need not, except to listen to my request. Your king calls upon you to serve, Mr. Weaver. Will you do so? I cannot think but that your own sense of rectitude must lead you to join our cause, particularly when you learn what we wish of you.”
“And what is that?”
“We wish you to break into Hammond ’s house and liberate your friend, Mr. Franco. It shan’t be too hard, particularly with Cobb gone. They can ill afford to have servants disturbing their affairs, so there are but two men there besides your friend. Liberate him, sir, and in exchange for this service, we shall pay you the twenty-pound bounty mentioned before and return order to the financial mayhem wrought against you and your friends.”
“A munificent offer,” I noted, “particularly since you offer to pay me for what you know I would do willingly.”
“There is, however, one more aspect to your task. Did you not wonder what was so important that Mr. Cobb would abandon his work here and fly to France? We found in his care a book of code which he confessed contained a copy of Pepper’s plans for the calico engine. It has since been destroyed, but we now know that the original and only extant copy of the plans is being held by Mr. Hammond. It is a small calfskin book, containing all manner of diagrams and drawings. It must be under protection in that house. Go rescue your friend, and while you are at it, find the plans and return them to us.”
“Why should I incur such an additional risk?” I asked. “I care only for Franco, and not a jot for the East India Company.”
She smiled. “Even if you were to ignore the debt you owe to your kingdom, I do not believe you would remain content to leave the plans for the engine in the care of those who have harmed your friends. The French are behind all this mischief. They have desired those plans more than anything else in the world, and now they have them. Would it not be sweet to take them away?”
I nodded. “You’re right,” I said. “You know me well enough to understand I can neither ignore the debt I owe you nor endure such a victory on their part. I will get the plans.”
“When you deliver them, you’ll receive your bounty,” she said.
I made no reply, for I knew already that I would have to content myself to doing without twenty pounds. I did not know who deserved the plans, but I already had an inkling of the person to whom I would deliver them. If Miss Glade knew what I planned, I have no doubt she would have done her utmost to stop me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
ELIAS SAT IN MY FRONT ROOM, HANDILY FINISHING OFF A BOTTLE of port I’d opened only that morning. He was well settled in my most comfortable chair, with his feet up, resting upon the very table I used for most of my meals.
“I’m rather unhappy about all of this,” he told me.
“I don’t doubt it,” I answered. I emerged at that moment wearing dark breeches and a dark shirt to match. I slipped into an equally dark coat-not quite a greatcoat since it was lighter than perhaps the weather demanded and clung more to my form. I could endure the cold, but I could not endure a cumbersome garment that would snag or hold me back.
“I hardly think you would want to go,” I told him. “Not that you would know how to conduct yourself if you did come along. And though you might like the sense of the adventure, you must understand there is always the risk of being caught, and I should very much doubt you would like to be sent off to prison.”
He put his feet back on the floor. “You may have a point,” he admitted, “but there are some rather nasty fellows about. What am I to do with myself until your return?”
“You may wait here if you like.”
“But I’ve finished your port,” he explained urgently.
“I do have more than one bottle.”
“Oh. Then I shall stay.”
IT HAD BEEN BITTERLY cold all day, but surprisingly nightfall brought a slight warming, and though I was dressed with less protection than I would like, I was nevertheless able to endure the chill. The sky was dark and heavy with clouds, and an intermittent sprinkling of wet snow dampened my hat and face and turned the filth of the London streets into a slick pool of kennel. Under less pressing circumstances, I might have walked carefully to avoid the streaks of mud and waste and decaying carcasses; that night I cared for nothing but keeping my step and my determination steady.
I silently prayed for luck. The meeting of the Court of Proprietors was the next day, and if I could not free Mr. Franco and take charge of Pepper’s engine plans before that, I did not know if afterward I’d be able to make matters right. In order to accomplish my goals, I would need to gain entrance to the house Cobb and Hammond had used. I had broken into my share of houses in the past, but never a fortress run by French spies. I had to believe that precautions, perhaps even traps, had been laid for intruders, and I should hate to take such chances. I would therefore have to gain the help of those who had already cracked the code.