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‘And you wish me to arrange something for you?’
‘Could you?’
‘Possibly. But are you sure you want to do this, Jay?’
‘Yes. I promised Miss Giradet and I cannot go back on that.’
‘Very well, I will see what I can do, although what we will tell your mother, I do not know.’
‘A diplomatic posting—nothing out of the ordinary about that, is there?’
His father smiled at him. ‘I am thinking there is something out of the ordinary about your feelings for Miss Giradet, Jay.’
‘Nonsense. I feel sorry for her, that’s all. She was all for going herself and I could not let her do that, could I?’
‘No, certainly not. I will go to London tomorrow and speak to Pitt personally. It will be quicker than writing. Will you take Sam again?’
‘If you can spare him and if he will come.’ James chuckled. ‘Oh. I think he will. He becomes bored when too long away from adventure.’
Jay thanked him and went in search of Sam to ask him if he would accompany him, to which that worthy instantly agreed. Then he went to the schoolroom.
Lisette was just drawing her lesson to a close. He watched her for a minute or two, admiring the way she dealt with six unruly children, firmly but with gentleness and humour. She would make an admirable mother. His sisters came and took their offspring home and he sent Edward and Anne to amuse his grandfather while he spoke to Lisette.
‘My father is going to arrange for me to go to France as a diplomat with a special mission, all open and above board, no danger at all,’ he told her. ‘Once there, I shall find a way of reaching your brother. I hope he will not need persuading to come with me. Perhaps you could write him a letter for me to take to him telling him he may trust me.’
‘I will do that, but are you sure you want to do this?’
‘Of course, I said I would, didn’t I? I won’t go back on my word—besides, it is all very straightforward.’
‘When do you go?’
‘When my father comes back from London with my assignment and the documents. He is leaving tomorrow morning. With luck he will be back the next evening or if not, the day after that.’
‘Will you go in the Lady Amy?’
‘Yes. Sam will go ahead to alert Lieutenant Sandford to make her ready for sea.’
‘Will it be safe?’
‘Safe! My dear mademoiselle, it is the safest and most seaworthy private yacht afloat.’
‘I did not mean that,’ she said, noting he had reverted to using her title and not her name. ‘I meant it was seen by those maréchaussée who fired at you on the beach. They will have the name of it.’
‘I am going to Calais, not Honfleur, but you are right. It would be a wise precaution to change her name temporarily. I will ask my father if he minds me doing that. Now I must take the children home. I will bring them back tomorrow to stay here while I am gone. They will keep you company and help to take your mind off Michel until we are safely back again.’
He gathered up the children whom he had brought on horseback and together they rode home.
The next twenty-four hours were spent making arrangements for his steward to take over the business of the estate while he was gone. Luckily the threshing was all done, the stacks made and the fields were being ploughed. The apples had been picked and most sent to market in London, but the rest would need making into cider, but it was something that happened every year and Tom Goodyear had been his steward all through his absences at sea and really did not need telling what to do.
Lisette went about her self-allotted duties—preparing lessons for the children, translating a French pamphlet into English to be distributed to sympathisers among the British aristocracy, reading to her father, calling on the village poor with Lady Drymore—but all the time part of her mind was on what Jay was preparing to do. In spite of what he had said and his cheerful attitude, she knew how risky it was and did not doubt he knew it, too.
If his real mission became known, there would be no saving him. He would die and she would have to live the rest of her life knowing she had sent him to his death. It was unbearable. She must tell him not to go, and when he had gone back to Falsham Hall, she would go to France herself and persuade Michel to return to England with her.
‘I cannot let you risk your life on so foolhardy a mission,’ she told him when he returned to Blackfen Manor to await the return of his father. Everything was ready: his bags were packed, the Lady Amy was ready for sea, its gunwale repainted with the name Lady Anne, a name that could easily be wiped off for the original to emerge when they returned, and his children had been told of his impending departure. She found him in the library looking up the times of the tides around The Wash. ‘I could not live with myself if you were to die and your children left orphans as a consequence.’
