Vidal's Honor (2 page)

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Mist, rising from the Thames, snaked along the ground, while a brisk, dank wind blew any remaining alcoholic fumes from their brains. The call of a distant night watchman informed anyone who cared to listen the morning had advanced two hours beyond midnight. Vidal drew out his watch and confirmed the time as they walked in silence for several minutes.

“What ails you?” He didn't waste time skirting round the situation. Dundas had not invited his company for simple pleasure.

“There's been another incident, this time on a magnitude so great it could impact the outcome of the earl's next campaign,” the First Lord of the Admiralty said without preamble. “I assume you are aware Joseph Bonaparte ordered Marshal Marmont to cut off Wellington's march upon Madrid?”

“I am.”

“They had the numbers to succeed, fortunately Marmont thought Nosey was retreating and extended his troops enough to guarantee Wellington's success.” He paused, sighed, and began again. “It distresses me to admit it, Vidal, but there's been another breach of security. Lord Liverpool, the Prime Minster, wants the culprit uncovered.”

“There's always a leak of information in the War Office or the Admiralty,” he dismissed. “They have more holes than a colander.”

“True. I cannot deny it, for it's all too true.” Dundas shook his head. “This is serious,” he said before stopping midway across the bridge and staring down at the fast flowing water below.

Vidal walked several paces ahead before realising his companion no longer trod beside him and retraced his steps to lean his elbows on the balustrade, glancing left and right before he spoke.

“How so?”

“Do you know one of our best agents was killed in Spain just before the engagement at Salamanca?”

“I do,” Vidal confirmed.

“The devil of it is The Turk was ambushed hours before the action began, and in full view of his men.”

Pain seared through his chest. "The Turk," one of the King's men, also Vidal's life-long friend. The thought of never see Devlin Beaumont again devastated him, while grief and guilt still warred within him. Grief for the loss of his friend and guilt because he'd put a distance between them when Dev won the affections of the only woman Vidal had ever loved, would ever love.

He'd stood up for his friend at his wedding, listened to Honor Adversane pledge her love to her new husband, and within hours he'd been on his way to the Peninsula uncaring whether he lived or died.

“His wife is still in Spain,” Dundas interrupted his thoughts.”Until this latest leak, we believed the French didn't know about her. Now they are hunting her down and offering a huge reward for her capture. It'll not be easy…”

“What are you saying?” Startled out of his grief, Vidal grabbed Dundas's arm and yanked him round to face him. “Do you expect me to believe Honor is still alive and the French think she and Dev were working together?” He let go and reeled back when he saw the truth in his companion's eyes. “Don't be absurd. Why would she risk her life so? Dev worshipped his wife. No way would he allow her to work alongside him. No! I tell you, you are mistaken.”

“I am not mistaken, Vidal, and you understand I speak nothing but the facts. She is a woman of immense courage and strong will.”

He didn't need the viscount to tell him. Honor had the heart of a lioness.

Dundas brushed out the creases in his coat sleeve and looked up at Vidal. “Did anyone ever tell you she threatened me?”

“What?” Unable to hold back a shocked laugh at the revelation, the immediate deluge of worry that encompassed him regarding Honor's whereabouts snuffed it out. In his personal letter, Arthur Wellesly had informed Vidal of Lady Beaumont's disappearance. His face grew serious when Dundas held his gaze. “Don't tell me she threatened you into letting her travel with Dev.”

“She did.” Dundas's chuckle rumbled in his chest. “She's an incomparable woman.”

“Why in the name of all that's h— Why would she threaten you and put herself at risk, when Dev was attached to the army?”

“To quote her,” Dundas said, “If Dev did not come home she'd have nothing to live for, so she may as well stand and fall beside him if that was her destiny.”

“And you say someone in London has betrayed her?”

Fury, as cold as an Arctic wind, roared through him. Dev had won the one woman Vidal had ever loved, and now some nameless fiend had informed on her to the French. The least he owed his friend was to bring his widow back home unharmed, and he owed it to himself to protect the woman left defenceless in the face of such terrible danger. “Are the French near to discovering her?”

“We believe so. But they are looking for a female. One, moreover, still attached to the army marching on Madrid.”

“Well, of course they are,” Vidal bluffed.

“You do not understand.”

Approaching footsteps silenced the men and they leaned against the balustrade of the bridge in a misleading, companionable silence until the group of revellers passed them. When the general sound of the night surrounded them once more, Dundas spoke again.

“We gather she is travelling in the guise of a young man with a band of local
guerrilleros
, already making for the French Pyrenees. We cannot reveal our hand and try to discover her whereabouts. Other than she's still over there, no one can determine how much information the French have. It's imperative we bring her home as soon as possible. Oh, and one more thing. Lord Beaumont's batman, a Spaniard, disappeared just after Beaumont was captured. We're not sure whether Lady Beaumont went missing at the same time, or later.”

Sir Robert Dundas thumped the top of the balustrade. “Tare ‘n hounds, Vidal, if she's still alive, we don't even know if Lady Beaumont's aware of the danger she's in.”

“And you are telling me this, because?”

“Because you are under observation and Lord Liverpool knows if he approaches you, those trailing you will report the contact back to their agent. He hopes that in talking with me, we may gain a little time before those watching you discover the truth.”

“Watching me?” Vidal denied the compulsion to turn and look about him. “Are you saying I'm under observation by some French spy?” He paused, weighed up his companion in the dim light. “If you know someone is following me, then you've uncovered the identity of your agent. Why not take him in for questioning?”

“We will, after your boat leaves port. That's another reason why I, and not Liverpool, approached you. I have a ship bound for Gibraltar on tomorrow's tide. You're expected on board before dawn.” He paused, rested a hand on Vidal's arm and lowered his voice. “You will not return to your home tonight.”

For the next five minutes Vidal listened to Dundas's instructions, then stepped away from the balustrade and stared at Sir Robert. “It's madness! You are not serious? Why not bring her back through Gibraltar? The voyage may be longer but the risks…”

“I am not in a position to give you more details other than to say the French have accessed the shipbuilding resources of Holland and Italy and intend to blockade Britain, in an effort to maintain an upper hand in the Mediterranean. It is too dangerous for us to risk Lady Beaumont entering Gibraltar to come home on a regular vessel.”

Vidal paced away from his friend and back again, while he raked his fingers through his hair.

“You can't ask a woman to endure the rigours of travelling such distances across a war-torn country. Consider the conditions she'll face crossing the mountains. And to smuggle her through France, it's madness. That's if she even reaches the border. How do you expect her to cross the Spanish plains undetected?”

A vision of Honor, on her wedding day, standing at the altar beside Devlin, her elegance, her beauty, her radiant smile, filled his mind. Could the same woman tolerate the hardships Dundas advocated? An Adversane, she came from good stock.

Could Honor endure the difficulties of such a journey over the Pyrenees, let alone escape detection from her enemies while crossing the mountains into France? It's hard enough in good weather but with the oncoming threat of winter snow…?

It was madness to even consider it.