Rendezvous (9781301288946) by Susan Carroll Page B

came
rapidly, but whether from fury or fear, Sinclair could not tell.
Maybe a combination of both.
    "Would you mind telling me what that
was all about?" he asked.
    "We have acquired another accomplice,
that is all," Belle flung back at him. She started to rush on when
Sinclair caught her by the wrist, pulling her back.
    "And why does this particular
accomplice look at you as though he were the devil planning to drag
you off to hell?"
    Belle compressed her lips in that
closed expression Sinclair was beginning to find so
frustrating.
    "Is he a rejected lover?" Sinclair
persisted, trying to goad a response from her. "He has the look
about him of a man scorned. Are you the lady who broke his
heart?"
    "No!" Belle wrenched herself free. She
glared up at Sinclair.
    "I am the woman who shot off his
ear!"

    Lazare examined Madame Dumont's
collection of china treasures displayed upon the salon's console
table, hefting the pastille burner with his rough fingers and
eyeing it with contempt.
    Merchant snatched the china from him
and carefully replaced it upon the table.
    "There was no need for you to come here
tonight, Lazare." I proposed to lead up to your part in this affair
more gradually."
    "Ah, but I did not quite trust your
ability to persuade Isabelle into accepting me." Lazare strutted
into the center of the room, his gaze continuing to rove over the
chamber's aristocratic trappings. The elegance of Madame Dumont's
salon inspired in him nothing more than a desire to see it all
destroyed.
    Dimly he became aware that Merchant was
speaking to him, but the fool was addressing his deaf side. Lazare
snapped his head around.
    “You nearly ruined everything by
arriving so unexpectedly," Victor was complaining. "You must take
greater care. If Madame Varens should guess the real part you are
to play in her mission—"
    "She won't," Lazare interrupted. "Until
it is far too late." He lightly touched the thickened flesh of his
scar. And then, by God, she'll wish that she had, he
thought.
    Aloud, he said, "And that silent
dark-haired fellow. Is he going to be working with us?"
    "Carrington. Yes, he is." Merchant
scowled. "Only his name is not Carrington. He is a spy planted
among us by the British army, the eldest son of General Daniel
Carr."
    "How did you ever manage to discover
that?" Lazare made no effort to hide his scorn. He had a low
opinion of Merchant's powers of deduction.
    "Quite by accident," Victor said. "I
recognized him. Sinclair bears a powerful resemblance to his
father. I met the general once when he attended a ball at the house
of Lord Elliot. He rebuked me for my manner of looking after his
horse."
    Dull red surged into
Merchant's cheeks as he spoke of this old humiliation. Lazare
suppressed an urge to laugh aloud. He had always enjoyed the tale
of how Merchant, once the proud Chevalier de Nerac, had arrived in
England so destitute, he had been forced to take a job as a groom
for a while. It was probably the only honest toil the damned aristo had ever done in
his life.
    “When I noticed the resemblance,”
Victor continued, “I did some detailed checking on Carrington,
found out that his tale of being a soldier of fortune was untrue.
He was a soldier, all right, Captain Daniel Sinclair Carr with his
own cavalry regiment. Although no longer in the army, he still
works for British intelligence."
    Victor's cold eyes locked with Lazare's
"I very much dislike being spied upon, Lazare. Especially by an
Englishman."
    "So do I," Lazare agreed softly. In the
pause that followed, they reached a silent
understanding.
    "And Isabelle?" Lazare
asked.
    "Madame Varens poses a different
problem. She has never followed my orders to the letter, and has
grown more insolent each time. And the exploits of the Avenging
Angel are becoming too well known. I foresee a time when she will
no longer be of much use to me."
    "A very distant time?" Lazare’s pulse
throbbed with anticipation as he awaited Merchant's
answer.
    "No. What I am trying to tell