Chapter 28

Rebecca contacted Isaac Jordan to sign the papers, allowing him to merge her non-existent debts into one. Jordan forgave his portion as promised and further instructed her on the business of consulting, or financial espionage, of which she could have taught him a few things.

A week after the argument with Phileas, Rebecca met Nathaniel St. Pierre at a museum exhibit. It was a planned accidental meeting to give them a chance to introduce themselves.

"Miss Fogg, you are looking radiant as always," Nathaniel said with a practiced silver tongue as he bowed over and kissed her hand. "It has been at least a month since I saw you last."

Rebecca greeted him kindly and looked him over, wondering where this would lead. Nathaniel St. Pierre was like Phileas, neat as a pin, the height of fashion, an example of the cultured, well-educated gentleman of England. Perfection was achieved before he walked out the door of his room every morning or he did not come out. All that, however, complemented rather than dandified the man. He was tall, well-tanned, muscular, blonde, blue eyed with perfect even pearl white teeth. The man could not help but attract, and Rebecca Fogg was attracted despite herself.

After the introductions, Rebecca was led to a sitting area where they could talk with some privacy.

"A friend tells me you have had some misfortunes of late," Nathaniel stated. "I was given only the barest details," he said before she could assume how much of her privacy had been disclosed. "Isaac is not one to talk about his client's business. I was merely told that you and Phil have had a falling out over poor investments. You are in the position of paying some debts. I have been asked about being your escort to social functions."

Rebecca frowned at the familiarity he used when speaking of her cousin, but let it pass. Phileas had more acquaintances than she could ever keep up with. Odd that Phileas never mentioned knowing him.

"Mr. Jordan suggested I become a consultant to businessmen. He says that court gossip can be a sellable commodity. Is that true?"

Nathaniel chuckled. "Absolutely, especially the gossip. He waved his hand toward the window to the newsie outside the door of the museum. A boy stood on the walk, calling out headlines to the passers-by. He had a multitude of scandal sheets for sale.

"Of course, Isaac isn't suggesting you tell stories out of school about who is bedding whom. The information you seek is what you would read in the financial pages of the Times. I hear things all the time that are printed a week later. Instead of publishing it that way, you will make it available to people a few days before it becomes public knowledge. That bit of an advantage is worth plenty to people without our access to high society."

"You do not mind doing this for me?" Rebecca said. "I mean, it's a rather odd reason to associate with me. And… I was told my cousin turned down your suit to me. Phileas will not be happy about seeing us together after sending you off."

"Oh, that was years ago," Nathaniel said. "I doubt he would even remember. Anyway, I won't be officially courting you. We are merely friends spending time together. And for your time, I would gladly take advantage of any excuse."

Rebecca giggled despite herself at the cavalier manner he brushed Phileas off.

"Really, do not concern yourself about Phil. He does not attend these things much and no one I know would begrudge you a few parties. Everyone knows a lady must have an escort. You are no young miss to be told to be abed by eight. Old Phil would not dare make a scene, not without making himself a fool."

Confident, Nathaniel changed the subject to more enjoyable matters, such as starting his campaign to win Rebecca. "How long has it been since you took a tour of this place? I don't think I have seen even the permanent exhibits since I was twelve."

Nathaniel stood and helped Rebecca from her chair. The two spent the rest of the afternoon happily strolling through the museum together.

Returning home, Rebecca laid her hat on a table in the parlor and considered where this mission was going and what she was likely to do.

This room was her favorite thinking spot. Its muted colors were soft and calming and its furniture was designed for comfort. It had been the site of a great deal of turmoil. Jordan had nearly ruined her relationship with Phileas here. Sir Jonathan had handed her a mission out of nowhere in the same spot, and she and Phileas had begun the journey to share passion there on the sofa by the windows. She smiled, avoiding the less pleasant memories for a moment. I've known all along that he loved me. Not quite that way, but… I'm not turning away from that anymore.

But back to Nathaniel. He had been a perfect gentleman. There had been no hint of salacious intent. If he were intending to make me his mistress, he was doing it slow and gentle. I've never spent much time around him. I remembered some dances and a few brief conversations. Those had been few and sporadic, hardly the basis for a marriage decision. What had caused him to set his cap for me? Had he genuinely been interested in me, or had it been a momentary infatuation? Had that been a formal decision made by others?

Lord Thornbourgh might have considered an alliance between himself and Sir Boniface advantageous, politically speaking. Marriages were based on such things.

Over those thoughts came others she had been avoiding since the night she was brought into this mess. She looked at the tea table, where the meetings were held. Strolling over to the windows, she contemplated the wisteria climbing the trellis outside. Thoughts of the service, her future in it and coming to terms with her anger, formed.

Self-righteous anger started this. I still feel that reaction is fully justified. Phileas had felt the same way when he turned in his resignation. He had lost a brother to what he had considered a needlessly high-risk mission. The risks had indeed been high, but the information they had been expecting to receive had been critical.

Rebecca had been on Sir Boniface's side, even though she had been as devastated by the loss as any. I never considered censoring Sir Boniface. His sending Erasmus back to Prussia still seemed justified.

But now, looking at it from Phileas's point of view, and knowing what he had told her about his long growing disaffection, she could not fault him anymore for his decision, or his anger toward his father.

And I used Sir Boniface's methods on him. I wanted Phileas with me in Canada and volunteered him and the Aurora.

I wanted Phileas for my partner, as Chatsworth insisted, I have one. I always wanted to work with him as an equal. But just as I gained enough seniority to do it, he had resigned. So much bitterness over that, I so wanted to work with my cousins on missions, then without warning, they were both gone. I held that against Phileas, accused him of cheating her out of that professional pleasure.

And then came the consequences of my manipulations. The Aurora was stolen from him. He was framed for murder. Chatsworth allowed us to be hunted down to appease the Americans. The professional pleasure turned into that fiasco. They fought over every decision. I was so tired of fighting him. I went behind his back, down the falls in a barrel, and got myself captured. Through most of it, right I was sure everything I did had been right and for the good of the mission. Not once did I consider how he felt.

Lord, I feel like hell just thinking about it.

Now Chatsworth has done the same thing to me.

Anger boiled up anew.

She welcomed it and then fought it down. She could not be angry with him without owning up to having learned the method from the same master. No matter how furious, I am guilty of using the same tactics.

Now that I have admitted it, what am I going to do about it?

I see two choices. I can resign as Phileas did, refusing to be put in such a position again, or admit Sir Jonathan, as head of the service, my boss, may run the service as he sees fit, using his agents as he sees fit, just as Sir Boniface had. I'm not sure I have the strength to do the latter. And it would break my heart to do the former.

Despite all her fury and recriminations and indignation, Rebecca still, with all her heart, truly loved the service.

Two weeks later, Rebecca had attended two dinner parties, three dances, and six teas. She stayed at St. Pierre's side at all those events. He was a good accomplice; she supposed. He gave her many chances to gain her information. He was very good at leading a conversation. After introductions, flattery and comments on family, Nathaniel moved conversations to business matters, going straight to the goal. The men pumped hadn't thought twice about talking in front of me. Irritating, listening to them gab about confidential matters. Surely, they should have known better. Yet, it was no different from what I hunted secrets in foreign countries.

Rebecca could not believe it! At the end of the month, Mr. Jordan said she had paid a third of one of her mortgages down. "I earned all that just by writing gossip?"

Jordan laughed at her naivete.

"You are providing excellent information on very important financial matters," he said. "Do not sell what you do short. Also, you are not just providing this to one person. You have a vast group subscribing to your reports. One fee multiplied by many grows to a fine sum fast. I have been promoting your financial report as much as I can. You have built a grand following, my dear. After your first two reports, word flew across certain circles like wildfire. Your subscribership has been growing ever since."

"Really?" Rebecca said.

"Truly," Jordan said with pride, "I expect it to grow even more in the coming months."

After three months of working together, Nathaniel and Rebecca celebrated the retirement of one mortgage with dinner and play. That had not been the first time he had talked her into a purely social event. Through it all, Nathaniel spent nearly every day with her, going to parties or making up outings when nothing else was available. That made Rebecca somewhat nervous. Marriage traps caught women and men. Spending so much time together is causing talk. He clearly wants me, but there doesn't seem to be anything personal in it. It is as though I am an acquisition denied him, and now he is fixed on getting me.

Yet, I am enjoying his company. He is witty, outgoing, a good listener and storyteller, and a first-class flirt.

As far as she could tell, she was the only woman he was giving his attention to. That seemed odd, as it did not conform to his reputation.

Rebecca got curious enough to make discreet inquiries among the ladies. She was his exclusive companion. One older matron even let her know that he had let go his mistress.

"I do not know how you brought him to heel, dear," another of the older ladies said. "I congratulate you. Nathaniel is not the heir, but he is not a poor catch. Second sons do sometimes turn out to be the better choices. They are apt to be humbler and not as demanding."

The woman dispensing this wisdom while sipping her tea was Rebecca's deceased grandaunt's daughter, Louisa, who had married the younger brother of an Earl. Their hostess, Louisa's sister-in-law, was sitting nearby looking over the rest of her guests who were strolling the garden walk to the pond. There was no one to overhear their conversation.

Louisa gave Rebecca an appraising look over her teacup, smiling at what she saw. This cousin of hers was still a beauty, even if she was well established in spinsterhood. Dressed up to the minute fashionable as she always did, she was what all society women strived to look like. But Rebecca Fogg had always had the beauty and style to command attention and the confidence to get anything she wanted. There were men who sought women like that. The only reason she was unmarried still was by her own choice.

Louisa turned to Nathaniel and smiled. He was conversing with a group of men not far to their left. They were lounging comfortably in another larger sitting area. She approved the match in the making. Nathaniel was wild, but he was behaving now. Anyone with eyes could see he was serious in his pursuit of Rebecca. She could do better than Nathaniel St. Pierre, but if he was what Rebecca wanted after so long, Louisa wouldn't complain.

"You know, we almost despaired of you accepting a good marriage," she said. "Oh, I know there is nothing announced," Louisa said before Rebecca could protest, "but I am glad you are getting out more and meeting good people. If not Nathaniel, then surely someone similar will catch your fancy."

The matron's words sent a shudder through Rebecca's spine as she hid behind her teacup. It had been bad enough back when everyone thought she and Phileas serious. That fiction had been made up by distant relatives to explain how Rebecca had reached the age of twenty-five without the Queen marrying her off, or Sir Boniface accepting a suitor. It had been pure nonsense but had continued for years. Now they are going to get ambitious for my marriage anew. And after all I have done to break them of trying to drag me up the aisle.

A secret smile passed across her face as she saw her cousin being congratulated for winning her away from an Earl's son. Phileas will be so amused.

Phileas was picking up on similar talk around London as he went about his business, carefully monitoring Rebecca's activities. His cousin's re-entry into London society had been noticed mostly because of the lack of his presence. The mysterious falling out between them had been noted and quietly whispered about, with various ridiculous reasons given for its cause. The family myth of his and Rebecca's betrothal had returned, but with a new twist. Rebecca was now tired of waiting for me and had turned to another.

Friends had found the situation diverting enough to have some fun with it. They occasionally commented on Rebecca's new escort and St. Pierre's return to respectability. Nathaniel had indeed given up his mistress, but also gambling houses. He was even neglecting his club.

"At this rate, he is in danger of losing his status as a rake," a friend said over cards. The others laughed heartily and watched him for a reaction.

It had become both amusing and irritating at the same time. The aim of Fogg's informants had been to get a rise out of him, and they usually succeeded. This evening, like most others, his game became more cutthroat the more they talked.

The fools should know better than to tease me while playing cards, he justified as he fleeced them.

He had not seen Rebecca privately since his last meeting with her and Chatsworth. He attended only a few events she and St. Pierre were together constantly. He had an agent assigned to all of them. Phileas had long since picked specific society events to attend. He couldn't deviate now. It would be too out of character and could be construed as spying on Rebecca.

As he had watched her at the few events they attended separately, he wondered if she was still considering resignation. Her guard was up and strong to tell what she was thinking. The consummate agent. If she resigned, I would be thrilled, but also highly surprised.

One or two invitations Phileas didn't expect came his way. Friends who had gotten wind of the fight at Rebecca's house offered them. When he attended, they, not too subtly, led him into chances to make up with her. On one such event, he had been pushed onto a balcony where Rebecca had been put to meet him, without St. Pierre at her side. They grinned at each other and let their hosts believe that the tact had borne some fruit. It had been heartening to Phileas that he had friends that would step forward like that.

In between overseeing the mission, Phileas took some time to reacquaint himself by accepting more such invitations. In doing so, he found that the concern for his and Rebecca's relationship had not been the main motivation in all cases. Romantic rubbish had come into play more and more. Waiting expectantly, most were watching for him to reclaim Rebecca from St. Pierre.

What have I ever done to encourage such melodrama? I have never displayed or spoken of any romantic interest in Rebecca. But then, I have never denied it either. It has been in both our interests to keep the match makers away.

But that is all over. What will be said when this is over and we announce our engagement? He sighed and smiled. That could be amusing.