His Lady Spy (The Star Elite Series) (23 page)

“Are you alright? Do you want to do this now?” Archie stared hard at her wondering how she was really coping with such devastating news, but he could detect nothing other than shock and consternation.

“I’m fine. No, I’m not. I’m angry.” Portia placed her teacup on the table beside her and began to pace up and down in front of the fire. “You mean, he has been involved in all of this? Everything that has happened over the last few days is because of my father?” Her fury grew until she was positively trembling.

Archie shook his head, glancing at her warily. “We don’t know. He may have been behind some of it, but that wasn’t why he was arrested.”

“Treason, you say?”

“He was the financier.”

“
What?”
She spun on her heel and stared at Archie, unable to believe what he had actually said. “
Father?
Giving money to the
French?”
Archie nodded slowly and glanced at his colleagues.

When he had been told it had been a surprise, and had expected tears and worry from Portia. The last thing he expected was fierce anger.

“We have seen him talking to one of the French leaders, on a number of occasions,” Simon reported, flicking Archie with a glance.

“Manton,” Archie winced at Simon’s nod.

“Manton?” Portia glanced at Archie and felt the now familiar guilt prod at her.

“You know of him?” Hugo’s voice was sharp and he studied her intently.

“Portia killed him,” Archie replied starkly. He briefly explained what had happened that fateful afternoon when their lives had changed so dramatically, culminating in their arrival at Monkton.

Portia glanced at Hugo and Simon reluctantly but could detect nothing but a wary respect in their eyes as they studied her.

“Good Lord,” Simon murmured, shaking his head. “You have been busy.”

“You did what you had to do
, and it inevitably saved your life,” Hugo reasoned, biting back on his impatience to get to the information he really wanted. “Portia, do you remember anything about your father’s friends and business contacts?”

Portia shook her head. “The study in the house was his domain. We weren’t allowed to cross
the threshold. Whenever people - his friends called by, they were immediately shown into the study and stayed there for the duration of the visit. When we had to take refreshments we were told to leave them on the table outside the door.”

“Did you answer the door to any of them?”

Portia shook her head. “My father seemed to know they were arriving, and pre-empted us even getting to the hallway. He always ordered us to go away and showed them into his study himself.”

“Did you catch sight of any of them?”

Portia described the three people she recognised, two of whom were the men their father had instructed his daughters to marry. She listed several of her father’s acquaintances and described them all to the best of her ability.

Simon carefully wrote the names down on a small piece of parchment. “Where do you think you father would keep most of his papers?”

“Most definitely in his study.” She went on to describe two of his most favourite hiding places and felt a small flurry of satisfaction at revealing her sire’s secrets. Although she and Cecily had been banned from entering the study, neither girl had sought fit to follow through with his instructions when he wasn’t in the house and had ventured into the study to nose around on more than one occasion. They had been very careful not to disturb anything, and a lot of the papers on his desk had made any sense to either of them, but they had made a point of defying his orders the only way they knew how.

“What do you know about his
closest friends?” Archie asked, moving to sit beside her. Although she was still pale, she had borne the news of her father’s treacherous activities well and Archie was immensely proud of her for keeping a tight hold on her emotions to be able to help them.

“A lot of them are merchants, and sell a variety of goods f
rom other towns in the county. Were they all in on it?”

“Yes, I am afraid so. I don’t think that they knew about your father financing the spy sm
ugglers who entered the country though, but they were involved in moving the smuggled goods.”

“But why?
What did father have to gain by spending money on the French? He had never shown any emotion toward the war with France and, although he was too old to fight himself, had issued nothing but praise for the men in the village who had gone off to war. How could he finance spies who were threatening the very lives of the people he was living amongst?”

“We don’t know yet, but we intend to find out.”

She gasped when Simon reeled off a list of names and towns with surprising accuracy. There were a few names she wasn’t familiar with, but that wasn’t surprising. Portia confirmed the names she knew.

“Is there anything else you can remember of late that was slightly different or unusual to normal
events in the house? Did you father seem to have more money than normal, or seem worried about something?”

“No, not really.
I mean, he barely furnished Cecily and myself with enough funds to clothe ourselves, let alone afford any ribbons and the like. He always insisted on the best cuts of beef and chops for himself, and made us account for every penny we spent.”

“He was a miser with his children,” Archie sighed with disgust, wondering how any man could do that to his daughters. He could understand now why Portia was reluctant to discuss her childhood.

Portia could see no reason to contradict him, and made no attempt to defend her father’s actions. In reality she was bitterly angry with the way he had treated them, all the while giving money, hand over fist, to the enemy. The knowledge that she was related to the man galled her.

“I don’t understand how he has been giving money to the French. What do the merchants have to do with it?” She frowned at Archie who waited for Hugo’s nod.

“Your father has been paying the spy smugglers huge amounts of money. In return, when the spies are brought ashore, a large amount of smuggled cargo is also delivered to your father. We do know he dispersed the goods amongst the network of associates he had and made a considerable profit from the sales. Those people also benefitted from the scheme because they didn’t have to pay taxes or anything on the goods they sold,” Archie explained, pointing toward the paper on the desk.

“We do know that he paid the spy smugglers extra whenever the spies were brought ashore and this financed them being moved around the country. We think that your father’s associates also acted as a network of people who transported the spies around.” Simon replied, shaking his head at the amount of work the Star Elite had yet to do.

“Do you think he was blackmailed?” Portia frowned, immediately discounting the notion. Their father wasn’t a man to cross. She couldn’t see anyone, not even the horrid Manton, blackmailing him.

“He could have been, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that he has known about the spies he has been financing and helping them disappear around the country.”

“Of course not,” Portia declared flatly. “I cannot see anyone blackmailing him, if I am honest. I just never realised just how conniving he really was.” Silence settled over them for several minutes. “Where is he now?”

Archie shifted uncomfortably. “He is
on his way to Bodmin to await questioning. I know he is your father, Portia, but I am afraid that you are unable to see him.”

“I don’t wish to see him ever again,” Portia declared flatly only to gasp and stare with horrified eyes at Archie. “Does Cecily know?”

Archie shook his head. “She has more than enough to deal with right now and although is safe, needs to concentrate on staying that way. I thought you might prefer to tell her when you see her again.”

“Thank you,” Portia sighed, feeling slightly sick.
“So what happens now?” She hated the fear in her voice but couldn’t pretend that her life had not been turned on its head for a second time in less than a month. “Do the villagers know?” She gasped.

“No,” Simon sighed. “As far as anyone is aware, he has gone out to look for you two. His associates also came after you but
, one by one, they have been rounded up. To anyone that enquires, all of them have simply vanished, and it will remain that way.”

“I have told you before
that the work of the Star Elite has to be strictly confidential. For the sake of the men undercover, and the safety of the people who aren’t part of the Star Elite but willingly help us. It is imperative that you don’t discuss this with anyone.”

Portia snorted. “I am hardly going to announce it in the broadsheets, am I?”

“I know, darling, but it is important for you to know that the country is at war, and traitors have to be dealt with in harshest way possible.”

“You mean that
he will be hung.”

Archie didn’t nod
, merely continued to stare at her.

“Well, he has been a traitor to this country. I have experienced first-hand what the French are capable of.” She frowned at Archie, thinking over the past few days. “Do you think that is why the
Guards pursued us?”

Archie sighed, wishing he had all of the answers. “I think that he may have used his connections to look for you. The
Guards may have let slip that they were looking for us, and your father put two and two together from the description of you and Cecily.” Archie didn’t see any need to divulge that their father had been arrested just outside of Headingly. “You cannot lose sight of the fact that you killed one of the French’s most active and important members, and that alone was enough for them to pursue you, although it is unlikely they would have followed you so far just for vengeance.”

“They were sent by my father,” Portia stared in horror at the floor, wondering what had happened to her father to make him so bitter and filled with hatred.

“We can only surmise what happened. The men we captured just outside of Headingly have told us that they were sent to retrieve you,” Hugo replied thoughtfully. “We also know that reinforcements weren’t sent when the Guards didn’t return and simply vanished. We think it may be because Manton’s second in command took over, and ordered the remaining Guards after Jamie and Cecily. Right now, we do know that your father is involved with them up to his neck.”

“That’s why we didn’t encounter any problem after
the skirmish just outside of Headingly.” She didn’t need to see Archie nod.

At that moment she didn’t feel anything for her sire, except disgust and disappointmen
t. The man had always been cold and dour, but it was surprising to learn just how callous and indifferent to the humanity of man he really was. It unnerved her to think that she had been sharing a house with him.

“I need to go to London in the morning,” Hugo broke the silence. “Is there any message, or anything you wish me to
send to your father?”

Portia thought for several long moments and shook her head. “I have nothing to say to him. Whatever justice he faces is
well deserved.”

“I’m sorry
, Portia,” Archie murmured, picking up her cold fingers in his. “I wish the news was better.”

“At least it explains the last few days of our journey and why everything seemed to stop
so suddenly.” Archie nodded, thinking over the events that had taken place in such a short period of time. It all seemed like such a long time ago now.

The effect it had had on his life was enormous, and the changes it would bring to both his and Portia’s lives would be felt for years to come.

“It’s over now then. Your father’s operation has been closed down. Although we still have some work to do in Tissington, there is nothing more to fear from your father or his associates. Now you can relax and recover from the ordeal you have experienced over the last few weeks.”

“I cannot relax while Cecily is still out there,” Portia sighed, rubbing her thumb absently over Archie’s fingers. “If the operation is closed down, why isn’t Cecily free to go on her way?”

“Because the Guards are still in the area and Manton’s second in command still poses a threat. You are well away from the area,” Hugo sighed, looking at her frankly. “Cecily is still there.”

Portia gasped. “
Cecily is in Tissington?”

“No,
she in one of the outlying towns. We cannot move her because the Guards are in and around the area. Until we learn more about the exact location of their base, their activities and the like, we cannot risk Cecily being seen. It is safer if they stay where they are and wait for us to go and get them.”

“Oh dear,” Portia sighed, her heart going out to her younger sibling. She was still experiencing her ordeal while Portia was sitting beside a roaring fire, with the might of the English government’s best operatives beside her. It didn’t feel fair or right somehow, but there was nothing she could do about it.

“I must insist that you remain here for now,” Hugo replied. “At least until we can get Cecily out of her hiding place. When you are together, we can help you on your way.”

Portia flicked a glance at Archie. “But I cannot stay here indefinitely!”