Bess
We met George at his house on the expected day, and for the first half hour, he did nothing but rant. He wanted Richard in irons. He wanted a noose around Nicholas’s neck. Most of all, he wanted the white phantom. Jack looked harassed, but never spoke. None of my team spoke. Freddy and his five men along with me and my five team members filled nearly every available corner of the dining parlor, and what we did not fill, George did with his pacing.
When George completed his tirade, we were able to form a plan. George had let himself be seen at a party that Richard was attending. He did not speak to Richard, but he did tell us about Richard’s astonished face when he watched George walk into the room. George dropped a word in a friend’s ear that Monroe was to stay with him on the night of the tenth before Monroe journeyed to Virginia. As it was the last time James would be in the city until after the election, it was the only time that Levitas could strike. George knew that Richard had overheard, and our plans were set in motion.
After the meeting Jack, Leo, and I stopped at the Inn that Jack bought his brandy from. He said that with Frederick staying in our town house, there would be none left.
Since I was dressed in my work clothes, I was able to sit in the taproom with Leo and Jack. We were seated at a table, my back to the door, when Leo’s brows rose, and his eyes followed someone across the room. Jack and I turned. Dudley Stanton was standing at the bottom of the stairs that led to the bedchambers.
A feminine voice called out to Dudley, and my surprised gaze shot to Jack. His brows were lowered over his blue eyes. When Dudley went up the stairs, we jumped up, moving swiftly to follow. Dudley was at the top of the stairs passionately embracing Hannah Lamont. I gripped Jack’s arm for support, nearly falling over from astonishment. Without taking their eyes from each other, they disappeared through a door to a bedchamber, and it closed behind them.
Surely it was the apocalypse, the heavens were going to open, and the stars would burst into thousands of pieces raining sparks upon the earth. For no other reason could I credit Dudley, doing things I would not even think about, with Hannah Lamont.
“As I live and breathe, nothing will ever have the power to surprise me again,” I murmured.
Leo laughed then mumbled, “Just you wait.”
Jack went up the stairs to the door. He was listening at the keyhole. Four minutes later when Jack ran down the stairs, his brows were still pinched, but he told us we must depart immediately. We were riding away from the Inn when he told us what he had heard.
Hannah had been spending time with Nicholas, and in his cups, he had told her about Levitas and their plans to capture James and replace him, but he would not say with whom. He said that his men would ride up to the house in a borrowed carriage, capture James, and none would be the wiser. Why Hannah was sharing her information with Dudley astounded me, but what rankled me more, was Dudley’s apparent relationship with Hannah after spending years chasing after me; unless my betrothal to Andrew drove him to her. That I could almost believe. I shoved thoughts of them away, for it was least important. We had a date, we had the plans, and I was sure we could not fail. We were finally going to capture Levitas.