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“Do not follow the parcel yourself.”
Judith folded her arms.
“Please.” He was not issuing an order or teasing her about her propensity to interfere. He was asking.
“I will not.”
Baines studied her for a moment, apparently deciding whether to believe her, then nodded. “Thank you.”
Judith watched him disappear around the corner and discovered, somewhat annoyingly, that being trusted to remain behind was nearly as difficult as being ordered to do so. It seemed an æon before the message came at four o’clock.
Baines found her in the library, where she had spent the better part of an hour pretending to read while observing Lord Cranford pretend to do the same. He did not speak until Cranford finally abandoned his newspaper and left in search of tea. Then Baines crossed directly to her. “We have it.”
Judith closed the book. “The parcel?”
“Not here.” His face was composed, but she saw the energy beneath it.
“Where?”
“Put on your habit.”
Twenty minutes later they were riding north. Baines explained what had gone forward only after Blackthorn had disappeared behind them. James had carried the post and Lady Dunsmore’s parcel to the village. Stuart had watched him deliver the jewellery to Pearce, a watchmaker who undertook small repairs in addition to clocks. Nothing unusual had occurred until a boy from Pearce’s shop left by the rear door, carrying three completed parcels.
“Did Stuart follow him?”
“For half a mile. The boy delivered one parcel to the vicarage and another to Lady Harcourt’s companion. The third he handed to a carrier bound east.”
Judith tightened her grip upon the reins. “Towards Newcastle.”
“Towards a crossroads where Fielding was waiting.”
“How did Fielding know?”
“Stuart is surprisingly proficient at sending messages.”
Despite herself, Judith smiled. “Where did the carrier go?”
“Fielding followed him to an inn several miles farther east. The parcel changed hands again.”
“To whom did it pass?”
“That is where matters become interesting.”
Baines would say no more. The meeting place was not the shepherd’s cottage but an abandoned hunting lodge on Lord Harcourt’s land. Judith recognized it from childhood rides, although she had never been inside. One shutter hung crookedly from an upper window and ivy had nearly conquered the eastern wall.
Several horses stood concealed behind the building. Judith looked at Baines, who was smiling.
“Are they all here?”
“Apparently Renforth has decided you are sufficiently corrupted to meet the rest of us.”
“Inclusion requires corruption?”
“It is our principal qualification.”
The lodge possessed one habitable room, and Judith stepped into it to find five men gathered around a scarred table.
Renforth she knew, and Stuart rose immediately at her entrance. The other three turned.
