Bride for a Night

Gabriel snorted, well aware that at least two of the gentlemen had threatened to issue a duel with his reckless brother when they’d caught him in bed with their wives.

“I can assure you that assisting my brother was never their intention,” he said wryly.

“Then why do you have their names listed?”

“I did not list them.” He grinned. “Jacques Gerard did.”

She silently considered his revelation, her cunning mind swiftly comprehending the impact of the names.

“They are traitors?” she asked in shock.

He gave a lift of his shoulder. “It would seem so.”

“But…” She regarded him with wide eyes, struggling to accept the evidence. “Dear heavens.”

“Yes,” he murmured.

Her lips flattened as she tossed aside the list and gave a disapproving shake of her head.

“Is there no one to be trusted?”

“Power is too often corrupted, I fear, but we at least have the means to use their weakness to our advantage.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You have a plan?”

He plucked the parchment off the bed and waved it lazily.

“Neither Jacques nor the traitors are aware that Harry stumbled across this list.”

His smile widened in anticipation. He had swiftly recovered from his own dismay at the sight of the names. Unlike Talia, he had already been jaded by his fellow members of parliament. Which meant he understood that the traitors would never come to justice, despite the fact that the bastards would be eager enough to see Harry hang for his crimes.

A knowledge he intended to use to his advantage.

“Where did he find it?”

“At the vicarage.” He silently reminded himself to have the house searched from attics to cellars, as well as the church. “Harry copied the list and left behind the original. So far as they are concerned, their contemptible alliance remains a secret.”

“You do not intend to expose them?”

“Actually, it will be my suggestion that the traitors are used to send false information to the French.”

She pressed herself to a seated position, her hand clutching the blanket. Not that she was entirely successful in keeping the abundant temptation of her breasts covered, he was pleased to note, taking full pleasure in the glimpse of alabaster skin and a rosy nipple.

“What would be the purpose?” she asked.

Gabriel swallowed a groan. He wanted to ignore her question and press her back onto the bed. It was surely a sin to waste this precious time alone discussing spies and traitors and devious politicians.

However, Gabriel suspected that Talia would not be prepared to respond to his touch until she was fully satisfied that he had shared his every thought and feeling.

She was like the ocean tide. A relentless force that could wear away the most rigid stone.

“If we can deceive Napoleon into wasting his efforts in preparing for attacks that will never occur or plotting futile ambushes on British troops that will never arrive, then he will be left vulnerable to Wellesley’s true battle plan.”

“Ah.” A sudden smile lit her face. “Of course. Brilliant.”

Gabriel resisted the embarrassing urge to preen beneath her feminine admiration.

It was not precisely brilliant. Indeed it was a simple enough scheme in theory. Unfortunately, it depended upon the ability of war officials to offer the various traitors false information that they could pass on to the French, while managing to keep the genuine battle plans a secret from them.