“So he is not punished?”

“He cannot be. Even if we had proof, which we lack, it would be unwise to move against him.” Here she smirked at me. “And none of your rough justice, if you please. Should any unfortunate accidents befall Mr. Ellershaw, I don’t believe the ministry would let the matter rest, and I would not be in a position to protect you. You must seek retribution in your other way.”

I could not know what she meant by those words, but I suspected she knew more of my mind than I would like. I turned away from her, crossing my hands behind my back. “And what of Absalom Pepper? Who killed him, and shall that person face justice?”

“I notice you turn away from me when you ask that question,” she said. “You do not trust yourself?”

Anxiety and admiration filled me in equal measures, but I could not ignore the challenge. I therefore turned to her. “Who killed him?”

“I think you know the answer,” she said, with the little smile that I had come to find both infuriating and irresistible.

“If I knew, would I not visit justice accordingly?”

“I believe you will.”

“And you will not stop me?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Can the ministry approve?”

“The ministry will not know.”

I studied her very narrowly, wondering if she planned some sort of ambuscade upon me. “Yet you will not attempt to stop me?”

“You must not think me blind in my loyalty. I would do anything to keep France from gaining the power Britain seeks, but that does not mean I am unable to envision what these companies represent. You are right to wonder what happens when they grow too powerful, and I am in agreement with you that it is better that their power be curtailed while we possess a weapon with which to strike. And so you may do as you wish, and I shall, in every official capacity, take no notice of it. In a more private setting, however, I believe you will know of my approbation.”

My surprise was complete. “It appears, Miss Glade, that you and I may share more of a sense of justice than I had originally conceived.”

“Can you have doubted it? I know you act as you think best, and because I am not in disagreement, I shall aid you as I can. As for the debts harbored against you and your friends, you may depend upon that matter being resolved by the ministry. I cannot, however, pay you the twenty pounds discussed.” She looked remarkably saucy as she mentioned the last point.

“I shall endeavor to endure the loss.”

“It shall be greater than you think, for I expect you to buy me a rather nice trinket in demonstration of your appreciation. And affection,” she said, taking my hand.

I did not wish to appear-or to be-prudish, but I had not yet come to trust this lady, and I did not know with any certainty that she would still not betray me. It was for that reason I did not react more strongly to her advances, which were, I must say, most welcome.

She could not but sense my hesitation. “Come now, Mr. Weaver. Will you only court women like Mrs. Melbury, whose sense of propriety leads them to reject you? I should think you must be delighted to have met a woman not only of your nation but of your inclinations as well.”

“You are very bold,” I said. Despite my best wishes, I felt myself grinning as well.

“If it is boldness to speak the truth when alone with a like soul, then I confess the crime. I know what has passed between us may have given you a poor account of me,” she said, now in a softer tone. She took my hand with a gentleness I found both startling and thrilling. “Perhaps you will call upon me when you are feeling less wounded and we may start anew.”

“Perhaps I shall do that.”

“Good,” she said. “But do not take too long, or I shall be forced to come looking for you. Indeed, I may be asked to come look for you in a less personal capacity, for I can assure you the ministry has had every reason to applaud my earlier intercession on your behalf, and now all the talk is of Weaver and how he can be made to serve the king.”

I took my hand away. “I do not believe I should like serving the king in such a capacity. As you observed, I am not inclined to bend my sense of rectitude for expedience.”

“There may come a time when the kingdom requires a favor that presents no conflict. I hope you will not close your mind to it.”

“And if I have no interest, then shall I call upon you all the same?”

“I beg of you that you do not delay,” she answered.

Had we been in a private room, I know not where this conversation might have led, but an empty closet in Craven House during a meeting of the Court of Proprietors seemed to me hardly the most fitting temple in which to worship Venus. With the understanding that we should not be long from each other’s company we therefore parted, she no doubt certain that she had begun our relations with a triumph. I departed to seek out Elias and tell him what I had learned, and I walked with a verve to my step.

CHAPTER THIRTY

IN THE HACKNEY, ELIAS CONTINUED TO SHAKE HIS HEAD. “HOW COULD you not tell Franco was a spy?”

“He gave me no reason to suspect him. Indeed, I believe most of his actions were sincere and as he would choose to behave, so in no way did he seem like a man dissimulating.”

“And where to now?”

“There is a last bit of business,” I said, “if only for my own satisfaction.”

We went to the Throwers Arms tavern, where Devout Hale sat with his boys, drinking quite amiably. I should have thought he might have fled, might have been concerned that I would come looking for him, but he only smiled at me when I entered. He sent his companions away, and we sat at his table. I then introduced Elias, and the two men made some talk about scrofula. Elias plied the older gentleman with his wisdom until I could endure no more of the congeniality.

“Enough of this,” I said, slapping my hand upon the table. “Did you think I would learn nothing of your ruse?”

“Of what?” Hale asked most unconvincingly.

“Let me speak plain, then. You betrayed me and your own men. I gave you a book that would bring the East India Company to its knees, and you handed it to Ellershaw. Why would you do that?”

He looked down, unable to hide his shame. “Judge me not too harshly. It is my sickness that led me astray. I told you I was desperate for a cure, and I traded the book for that. I approached the men of the Company, and they assured me I would get a private audience with the king. It was but a book, Weaver, a nothing to me who cannot read. Surely you cannot blame a sick man for trading something he cannot use or understand for something that can save his life.”

“No, I suppose I cannot blame a man who does such a thing. Your decision seems to me flawed but understandable.” I sipped at my beer. “Except for one thing. How would you know to give the book to the very man who most wanted it? There are many men, many directors at the East India Company. Why Ellershaw?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. A coincidence, I suppose.”

“No, it wasn’t a coincidence,” I said. “You have been working with Ellershaw for some time now, haven’t you?”

“Of course not. That is absurd.”

“Is it? I did not make sense of it at first, but when I learned that the East India Company had some silk workers in its employ, I should have known you would make yourself available, for you made it clear that you were so desperate for a cure you would do anything, take any risk. When today, at the Court of Proprietors meeting, Ellershaw held up that book, I knew you had quite made him. He did not need it to destroy his rival, but it was a nice success to play out before the Court. You betrayed the future of your cause for the gratification of an East India man.”

“Keep your voice down,” he hissed at me.

“What?” Elias asked. “Your men know nothing of your living upon Company silver?”