Chapter Twenty-Seven
The Colonel Returns
Tap tap tap.
Darcy woke the following morning to an unexpected sound on his window.
His room was along the small guest hallway on the first storey, removed from the family wing and facing the gardens that in the spring would spread colour along the back of the house.
The kitchens were off to one side, and a low parapet ran along the rear wall, providing some shade for the veranda below, and—so it seemed—a convenient place for an intruder to gain access to the building.
He cracked his eyes open; the sound had stopped, and the slim line of light between the draperies suggested the hour was yet very early.
His imagination must have leaked from unremembered dreams into the first tendrils of consciousness.
Another glance told him that the hearth had not yet been tended by the morning maids; it must be extremely early indeed, and after a very late night at that.
He closed his eyes and settled back into the blankets in hopes of finding more sleep.
Tap tap tap.
This was no dream. Was the house under attack? Surely even the most barbaric officer of the Corsican Monster’s vile army would wait until a more respectable hour. And why alert him with such tapping?
Tap tap ta-ta-ta-tap.
With a groan, he threw off the blankets and wrapped his banyan about his shoulders, then slipped his feet into the slippers his sister had given him for his birthday the previous year.
“Richard.” He grumbled into the chilly air and shuffled across the room.
That pattern was one which he and his cousin had used as children to identify each other during their games.
Despite this assurance, however, he peered through the curtains before opening them and the windows beyond, lest some enemy had learned of the trick.
He opened the window and his cousin shimmied through and into the room.
Darcy frowned at him. “What in blazes are you doing here?” Sleep had left his voice deep and thick. “And why in heaven’s name did you come through the window? Is the front door not good enough for someone like you?
“I did not wish to wake the staff, and no housekeeper worth her salt would allow me to awaken a guest. I needed to speak to you sooner.”
“Furthermore, how in the world did you get through? The snow looks five feet deep.”
“Four.” The response was curt, and Richard shivered.
“Can a man get a cup of tea around here?
The deep snow helped my cause, for it is easier to get through on those infernal snowshoes when the snow is heavier and untouched.
The main roads are clear enough for a draught horse and a sleigh, and I walked from Oakham.
‘Tis only three miles or so over the back fields. Now about that tea?” For tea, it seemed, he was willing to wake the servants.
Richard tossed off his greatcoat and let a heavy pack slip from where it had been strapped to his shoulders. It hit the floor with a dull thud, and Darcy hoped it had not disturbed whoever might be in the room below them.
Darcy tugged at the bell pull to summon a maid and set about asking his cousin every question that flooded into his brain. “Tut, tut, not yet,” Richard admonished. “I am still half frozen, and I am certain Miss Elizabeth will want to hear this as well. I am a man of few words—”
Darcy barked a laugh.
“—when it suits me,” the colonel looked affronted, “and would prefer to tell my tale only once.”
There was a tap at the door—the suitable place for taps at this time of morning—and a pretty young maid entered and bobbed a curtsy. “Shall I set the fire, sir?” Her eyes remained upon the carpet beneath her feet.
“Please, and some tea. A cup for my cousin as well.”
She looked up in alarm, only now seeming to take in the second man in the room, and with very wide eyes, returned, “Yes, sir. Immediately, sir,” before scurrying away.
“Really, Darcy, the entire house will know about my presence now. After all my hard and careful work, determining exactly which room would be yours, I might have applied at the front door like a civilised man after all. I had hoped for some time to discuss this with you and Miss Bennet alone.”
Darcy opened the closet in search of a blanket to offer to his cousin.
“And forego the adventure of crawling up the latticework and sliding along parapets? I think not!” He found a thick blanket which Richard grabbed and wrapped about his shoulders before chafing his arms to generate some warmth.
“How did you even find me here?” Darcy continued.
“Surely you have not been to Netherfield, for it is three miles further along from Oakham. And besides, Bennet knows all about our discovery. I told him last night.”
“What?”
“He discovered us in his library sometime well past midnight, hiding behind bookcases, and in our nightclothes. I owed the man some sort of explanation. He answered many of my questions as well. He is an ally.”
“Miss Elizabeth in her nightrail? She must be quite fetching. Cease your glaring, Darcy. Is he insisting you marry now? Such would not be the worst fate to befall a man.”
“I well intend to marry her, but at a time of her choosing, and not her father’s. Now answer me: How did you come to seek me here?”
“That took little effort. I could not imagine Mrs. Bennet allowing an unmarried and wealthy man to sit through the aftermath of a snowstorm in any house other than her own! And your window was the only one in this part of the house with curtains drawn - therefore I deduced that it was the guest wing, and that this room was occupied.”
Darcy gave a loud harrumph. “Too smart for your own good.”
The maid slid back into the room and set about lighting the fire. No sooner had she finished when the door opened once more and a tea tray was brought in, carried by none other than Elizabeth herself.
“Colonel, how delightful to see you again. I took the liberty of bringing a third teacup, and some breads and jam. Will you sit, sir?” She placed the burdensome tray upon a small table and drew a hard chair up to the fireplace, placing it between the two armchairs that faced the now-kindled hearth.
Richard settled into one of the armchairs and Darcy moved towards the hard chair, but Elizabeth gestured to the other armchair, which he then took.
Richard sat forward in his seat, leaning towards the fire, his blanket open to allow in the heat.
Elizabeth bustled about at the table behind them, and within moments presented each man with a cup of tea and slid the table to sit beside the hard chair which she now took.
“You can imagine my surprise, sir, upon learning of your arrival.” She smiled at Richard. “Do you come with news?”
“Yes, some. But I would hear yours first.”
Darcy balanced his saucer upon one knee and began to recount the activities of the last few days since Richard had departed. Elizabeth allowed him to speak uninterrupted, and Richard sat in attentive silence, nodding and pulling on his chin, until the tale was over.
“I have asked the proper people to confirm your suspicions about Lord Stanton, Darce. It seemed a bit of a wide stretch to base such thoughts on a codeword, but it all fits together rather too neatly, does it not?” Darcy nodded and let his cousin continue.
“I’m afraid to say, it all also accords with what I have learned.
My questions reached some people rather high up in the Home Office and none have heard of any legitimate involvement by Lord Stanton, but several had heard some rather unpleasant rumours.
Until something can be proven, nothing can be done, but he is under surveillance.
This explains why he is not here. He must suspect he is being watched and does not wish to draw further attention to himself.
But you, my cousin, could act in his stead.
You are considered to be the epitome of a loyal Englishman. ”
“Glad to hear it.” His words were bitter.
“Then what are we to do? Bread and jam, Colonel?” Ever the gracious hostess, Elizabeth punctuated her questions with nourishment.
“We must find a way to catch him in his own snare,” Richard answered between bites of bread.
“With the code?” Darcy asked.
“With a falsified message.” Elizabeth stated.
“Good, good!” Richard took another piece of bread and chewed noisily for a moment. “You are both thinking along my lines. Let us see, when we think together, what we can devise to hoist this traitor on his own petard.”
Richard had, by now, stopped shivering and had cast off the blanket, although he still sat close to the fire.
“I took the initiative of paying yet another visit to our friend Mr. Mendel. By gum, a week in his workshop would be a delight to so many young boys! Fascinating, just fascinating! Well, I thought we might wish for some way to create a new codeword that suits our own purpose and asked him to prepare a second set of alphabetic discs that we might use in substitution for the existing ones.”
“You mean to replace the original discs with the false ones?” Elizabeth asked.
Richard beamed. “Exactly so! This way, we can devise a message of our own choosing...”
“And if Stanton is in the employ of somebody with some knowledge of how the machine works, he will receive and decypher the false message...” Darcy added.
“And betray himself by his response!” Elizabeth bounced her hands up and down upon her knees in glee.
The veneer of the sophisticated young woman dissolved for a moment, revealing the enthusiastic and playful girl beneath, and Darcy felt his heart warm in his breast. How long must he wait before offering for her once more?
And how long before she would accept him?
But now was not the time for such affairs de coeur.
“But will he not suspect that the discs are counterfeit?” He had to ask the obvious question.