A Dangerous Pursuit (Regency Spies & Secrets Book 1) - Laura Beers (macos ebook reader .TXT) 📗

Madalene sat up and rested her back against a crate. “Where are you going?” she asked, her voice sounding hoarse to her own ears.

“I am going to blow up Fieldstone Square and, hopefully, everyone in it.”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“Why, indeed?” Miss Gaillard asked, glancing over at her. “Because I hate the British and everything you stand for.”

Wincing in pain, Madalene remarked dryly, “At least you have a reason.”

Miss Gaillard laughed. “You are funny, no?”

“I’m not attempting to be.”

“I could have killed you,” Miss Gaillard said, turning to face her. “It would have been rather easy, but I didn’t. And do you know why?”

Madalene shook her head, and immediately regretted it.

“Because I respect you, Mademoiselle Dowding,” Miss Gaillard said. “You have created an orphanage filled with love, and you impressed me with your dedication to the girls.”

“Thank you.”

A pained look came to Miss Gaillard’s eyes. “After my father died, I was sent to an orphanage, and I became just a number. Frankly, the headmistress didn’t care if I lived or died. We were always half-starved and cold.” Miss Gaillard shuddered. “We were always so cold during the winter months.”

“I’m sorry you were forced to endure those terrible conditions,” Madalene said, compassion in her tone.

“Don’t be,” Miss Gaillard replied. “That is why I ran away and lived on the streets of Paris with other like-minded individuals.”

Not entirely sure what to say, Madalene decided to remain quiet.

“I knew if I killed you, I would regret it later,” Miss Gaillard shared. “But I have no regrets about killing the headmistress.”

Madalene’s eyes grew wide. “You killed Edith.”

“Was that her first name?” Miss Gaillard asked with a shrug. “I would have thought her to be a Jane or Catherine.”

“Why did you have to kill her?”

Miss Gaillard crouched down in front of Madalene. “Because she started asking too many questions, so I needed her to disappear,” she answered.

“Why not just abduct her but keep her alive?”

“Then I would have been forced to take care of her, and that was too much trouble,” Miss Gaillard remarked without a hint of remorse. “Instead, we just threw her unconscious body off the bridge.”

“We?”

Miss Gaillard rose. “Your solicitor, Mr. Walker, helped me. He is a good man. It is a shame that he will be hung for treason.”

“Treason?” she asked. “Why?”

“After we depart from the Blue Boar, I have no doubt that agents will raid the pub, and they will arrest all of the conspirators.”

“But not you?”

With a shake of her head, Miss Gaillard replied, “I intend to ride with your suitor to Fieldstone Square myself. We are to attend Lord Desmond’s rally, and I don’t dare miss it.”

“You are mistaken. I don’t have a suitor.”

“No?” Miss Gaillard asked. “You are not being courted by Lord Hawthorne?”

“I am not.”

Miss Gaillard tilted her head. “That is a shame, no? Not only is he handsome, but he is quite rich, as well.”

“He is handsome,” Madalene admitted, “but we aren’t courting.”

“Do you object to him being a spy?”

Madalene looked up at Miss Gaillard in confusion. “Pardon?”

Miss Gaillard gasped in delight and brought her hand up to cover her mouth. “You didn’t know he was an agent of the Crown, did you?”

“I did not.” Madalene felt like a fool that she hadn’t pieced that together sooner.

Lowering her hand, Miss Gaillard said, “When my partner first informed me of Baldwin, I had my own suspicions. I decided to follow him one night, and I saw him leaving the rookeries in ragged clothes and renting a hackney. You can only imagine my surprise when he pulled up in front of Hawthorne House and entered by way of the main door.”

A self-satisfied smile came to Miss Gaillard’s lips. “Lord Hawthorne wasn’t even aware that I continued to follow him over the course of a few days, including when he repeatedly met with you. If our circumstances were different, I would even be hoping that you two would marry.”

“Wonderful,” Madalene muttered.

“I take it that you are displeased, and I will inform him of that when I speak to him.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Madalene asserted. “I shall speak to him when I have the chance.”

Miss Gaillard’s lips dropped to a frown. “I’m afraid that is impossible,” she shared. “I intend to kill him in a few hours.”

Madalene felt her heart drop at Miss Gaillard’s remark. “Why would you kill him?”

“I know he has no intention of driving the wagon to the rally, so I am going to have to blackmail him to force his hand,” Miss Gaillard announced proudly. “That is where you come in.”

“Why me?”

Miss Gaillard gave her a concerned look. “I fear that my blow to your head has rattled your brain. I believe I have properly explained it, but I will explain it in more simple terms for you.” She paused. “Lord Hawthorne will drive the wagon to the rally because your life will depend on it.”

“Please don’t do this,” Madalene pleaded as she attempted to loosen her bonds.

“It is either your life, or he will detonate a bomb that will kill hundreds of people,” Miss Gaillard said. “Which one do you think he will pick?”

Madalene shook her head. “He won’t pick me.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Miss Gaillard remarked. “I have seen the way he looks at you. He looks like a man who is besotted.”

“Regardless, my life is not worth killing hundreds of innocent people.”

Miss Gaillard leaned down and patted her cheek. “I am wagering that Lord Hawthorne will think differently.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“My father was betrayed by British agents,” Miss Gaillard said. “Do you know who one of those agents was?”

She shook her head, more gently this time.

“Lord Desmond,” Miss Gaillard replied. “When the bomb goes off in the crowd, I will be a short distance away with a rifle to ensure that he doesn’t leave the podium alive.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Madalene asserted. “You can just walk away from this, and no one else has to die.”

Miss Gaillard gave her