Page 26 of A Rogue at Stonecliffe

“She’s right,” Annabeth agreed. “She did her best to keep them from kidnapping me, and I’m sure I wouldn’t have escaped without her. I cannot believe Judy, um, Verity was in on that plot. Strange as it seems, I think there must be two separate people trying to...do something.”

“I never spied on you,” Verity told Annabeth again. “And I’m sorry that I had to lie to you.”

“Then what the devil were you doing?” Sloane asked.

“I was trying to find something.” She swung back toward Sloane.

“What were you trying to find? Come on, Verity, this is like pulling teeth.”

“I can’t say what it was,” Verity said with frustration. “It’s for our old boss.” She sent an obviously significant look at Sloane.

His jaw dropped. “Asq—” He cut the name short. “Are you joking?”

“Do you think I’d joke about him?” Verity retorted.

“I don’t understand,” Annabeth said. “What were you looking for? Why? Who is your old boss?”

“The man we worked for during the war,” Verity responded.

“Verity...” Sloane said warningly.

“What? There’s no reason to hide it anymore,” Verity shot back. She turned to Annabeth. “He was the spymaster Sloane and I reported to.”

“The spymaster!” Annabeth stared.

“You mean you were a spy for the French, too?” Nathan asked, his voice vaulting up in astonishment.

Verity looked at Nathan with contempt. “Not the French, you fool. For England. We were working for the Foreign Office.”

“Good God,” Lady Lockwood said loudly, and sank down into her chair. Annabeth had forgotten her grandmother was there; it was, she reflected, the longest time she had ever known Lady Lockwood to not participate in a conversation. But her grandmother recovered from her shock quickly and reached out to jab Sloane in the leg with her cane. “What is the matter with you, boy? Why didn’t you tell us what you were really up to?”

“It’s rather counterproductive to go around telling everyone you’re secretly a spy,” Sloane replied, moving out of reach of her cane.

Lady Lockwood snorted. “Too proud to explain yourself, you mean.”

Annabeth felt as if a knife had been thrust into her chest. Sloane hadn’t told me. He hadn’t trusted me enough to tell the truth. She sank down onto the nearest ottoman. She glanced over at Nathan. He looked as shocked and confused as she felt. At least he didn’t feel the pain of it.

“You still haven’t said what you’re looking for, girl,” Lady Lockwood said, clearly feeling back to herself. “The war’s been over for years now, and there wouldn’t have been anything to do with it here, anyway. So why were you poking about?”

“I can’t talk about it, ma’am.” Verity sent another meaningful glance at Sloane. Now his face closed down, remote and hard. Verity went on, “I’m not allowed. It’s for the government. I can’t tell anyone.”

“Just a moment.” Annabeth stood up again, her voice filled with suspicion. “I saw that look you two sent each other. You’re hiding something, both of you. What is it? Tell me. I deserve to know. I’m the one who’s been hit and hauled around like a sack of flour and locked up. What is going on?”

“That’s what I intend to find out,” Sloane said grimly. “Verity, come with me. We’re going to have a talk with him.”

“Wait. I’m coming, too,” Annabeth said.

“And I,” Nathan declared.

“No. You are not.” Sloane bit out the words, his eyes steely. He pointed to Annabeth. “You stay here. And you—” he jabbed his finger at Nathan “—you see if you can manage to keep Annabeth safe for a few hours.”

All of them burst out in protest, but Sloane ignored them, and, with a gesture to Verity, strode out of the room.

“Arrogant prat,” Verity said under her breath, but she turned and strode out the door after him.

SLOANE TROD DOWN the street to hail a hackney. He heard Verity’s footsteps behind him, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything to her. He was still ready to explode. Where were all the blasted hacks? Just when one needed one, they disappeared.

“Sloane, for heaven’s sake, would you slow down?” Verity said crossly, trotting a few steps to catch up with him. “My legs aren’t two miles long, and I’ve just spent the afternoon fighting and running all about trying to save your ladylove.”