Merely the Groom (Free Fellows League 2)

“Did you investigate?” Griffin asked.

“Yes,” Jarrod answered. “Unfortunately, the tailor was the same tailor Lord McElreath uses, and we thought it possible that Colin’s father might have some knowledge of his alias and used it in order to...” Jarrod broke off to avoid causing Colin any embarrassment. Everyone knew Lord McElreath was a source of embarrassment to his son, and the Free Fellows did their best to avoid causing Colin grief about it. After all, one couldn’t choose one’s sire or prevent him from indulging in embarrassing behavior.

But Colin would have none of it and quietly resumed Jarrod’s explanation. “Avoid incurring more debt in his name.”

“In which case, it was better to pay the bill and keep things quiet until Colin had a chance to speak with his sire and see if our suspicions were correct,” Jarrod concluded.

“Unfortunately, I haven’t had an opportunity to speak with my father about it.”

“And the other incident?” Sussex prompted. “Did it involve your father as well?”

“No,” Colin answered. “It happened as I exited the ship in Dover. I was one of the last to leave the ship, and as I came down the gangplank, I heard a gentleman ask if Colin Fox was aboard. The crewman pointed to me and said, ‘There’s Colin Fox.’ The man looked at me, then shook his head and said, ‘Can’t be. Wrong eyes.’ That was two days ago.”

“Could it have been the Bow Street runner?” Griff asked.

Colin took another sip of his whisky before answering. “It could have been, but if it was, he was without his scarlet waistcoat. And I didn’t recognize him.”

“Anything else happen on this trip to raise your suspicions?” Sussex wanted to know.

“Someone tried to kill me.”

Chapter Five

“The attempt and not the deed confounds us.”

—William Shakespeare, 1564-1616

Macbeth

“Were you hurt? What happened?”

Colin recognized the note of alarm in Jarrod’s voice. “I was set upon as I left Lord MacMurray’s reception in Edinburgh. At first I thought a footpad had attacked me, but he turned out to be a hired assassin. His blade glanced off my ribs. It hurt, and it bled like the very devil, but it did little damage beyond slicing my waistcoat and shirt.” He frowned. “The blade must have glanced off one of the buttons on my waistcoat.”

“What happened to the assassin?” Griff asked.

“He should be paying his respects to Lucifer about now,” Colin answered.

Jarrod pursed his lips in thought. “You’re quite certain he was an assassin and not an agent for the French or the Spanish government?”

Colin snorted. “I don’t know, Jarrod. He could have been an agent for someone’s government, but quite frankly, I didn’t have time to ask. He tried to skewer me in the heart. At the time, I thought it more important to dispatch him as quickly as possible rather than keep him alive so that you might have a chance to interrogate him.”

Jarrod glared at the man he loved like a brother. “Jesus, Colin, you know what I meant!”

“If you’re asking if I recognized him as an agent, the answer is no,” Colin replied. “I’ve been playing cat and mouse with the French and the Spanish for months. I’d never seen this man. And he wasn’t carrying any papers, any money, or any personal items that might aid in identifying him. He was hired for the purpose of killing someone—either the impostor or me. I don’t know which.” C

olin paused, trying to sort out the pieces of the puzzle.

“You think the impostor Colin Fox might have been the target instead of you?” Jarrod asked.

Colin shook his head. “I didn’t know there was an impostor until I came here. But I believe someone has been to the Blue Bottle and that he’s used my alias.”

“What makes you so sure?” Sussex asked.

“The presence of the lady and the fact that someone tried to kill me.” Colin looked up and found three pairs of eyes focused on him. And the fact that the lady called me by name and assumed I was her husband. “We’ve been playing a game of cat and mouse for months, and no one has ever attempted any violence. But someone meant to kill me in Edinburgh.”

“Or him,” Griff pointed out.

“Or him,” Colin agreed. “But the impostor had good reason to kill me if he thought there was a possibility that I might discover he was committing crimes using my alias...