Hardly a Husband (Free Fellows League 3)

Gillian bit her bottom lip then looked to Colin for help.

"We may need to act before then," Colin said. "That's why we wanted to speak to you and Griffin as soon as possible. Gillian can explain what she's discovered while you two dance."

Jarrod lifted an eyebrow at Colin.

Gillian smiled. "It was my idea, Lord Shepherdston. You're the center of attention here tonight. If you dance every dance with Miss Eckersley, everyone will remember it and talk. If you dance one or two dances with other ladies, no one will think anything of your dances with Miss Eckersley. So, I'll tell you what we've discovered and Colin will explain it to His Grace."

Jarrod nodded. "Lady Grantham, will you do me the honor of a dance?" he asked, reaching for her hand.

"I'd be delighted." She placed her hand in his.

"With your permission, of course." Jarrod grinned at Colin.

"Of course," Colin replied. "So long as you allow me a dance with Miss Eckersley." Jarrod scowled.

Colin smiled at Jarrod's reaction. "That's my wife you're holding," he said. "I'm aware of that."

"And we're trying to prevent you from doing further damage to Miss Eckersley's reputation," Colin said, looking Jarrod in the eye. "So, why don't we agree to be the gentlemen we profess to be and refrain from looking down when we dance. Agreed?"

Griff watched the standoff with some amusement. Neither Jarrod nor Colin had ever been possessive, but then, neither had he until he'd met and married Alyssa.

"Agreed," Jarrod replied.

"Good," Griff said. "And since I'm unable to do my share of the dancing tonight, that goes double for me."

And as Lord Shepherdston led her onto the dance floor and guided her into the first steps of the waltz, Gillian, Lady Grantham, struggled to hide her knowing smile.

"What have you learned?" Jarrod wasted no time in getting to the point, for the waltz would only last a few minutes.

"I believe the large numbers refer to the numbers of troops Kin" — she'd almost said King Joseph, but quickly corrected her error — "the author of the message intends to move in or to have ready to meet ours." She gave Jarrod a moment to digest the information before continuing. "It's the only thing, other than large denominations of cash, that fits." She bit her bottom lip. "And there were no references to pounds or francs that I could find."

"He might still be ordering supplies," Jarrod reminded her.

"That's true," she agreed, "but if that is the case, there would be no need to encode the entire missive when most of it could be written en clair."

Jarrod nodded. "You're right. We've already intercepted numerous letters of complaints he's written to his brother about the lack of supplies for the court. Although they contained a sentence or two of code, none of them were written wholly in code."

"Exactly," Gillian said. "And if there's no need for him to complain about the lack of supplies for the court in code, there would be no reason for him to order them in code. He's made no secret of the fact that there isn't enough cash to keep his court in the style to which they've grown accustomed. Or that he's terribly upset with his brother for not doing more to help him fill the lack."

"Five thousand. Eleven thousand. Fifteen hundred. Troops." He smiled at Gillian. "It makes perfect sense. I believe your supposition is correct, Lady Grantham."

"There's more," she said. "The abbreviations I thought were random weren't."

He frowned.

"I thought the placement of the abbreviations were random. I thought they had been inserted to confuse us. But I believe I was wrong in that assumption," she elaborated. "After giving it a great deal of thought, I've decided that the abbreviations are there to help the recipient of the message — whom I've concluded is a marshal named

Jourdan."

"Jourdan?" Jarrod had read the message Gillian had deciphered and he couldn't recall seeing Jourdan's name or an abbreviation of it anywhere. "Are you sure it was Jourdan?"

"Yes."

"Completely sure?"

"Almost."

"If I'm to present this information to the gentlemen in the War Office, I need to be confident that it's correct," Jarrod told her.