Daniel nodded. “I see your point, Yates.”
“I knew you would, Your Grace.”
“So, let’s amend my earlier advice to don’t let me catch sight of you or your empty coach again.”
The driver groaned.
“I never forget a face,” Daniel warned, “or a vehicle. If I see you or your coach anywhere near me, you’d best have your employer inside it or there will be dire consequences for you, Mr. Yates. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir, Your Grace.” The driver doffed his cap.
“Good,” Daniel pronounced. “Here’s another ten for your trouble.” He handed Yates another pound note, then waved him on his way.
Daniel watched as the coach Yates was driving rounded the corner, then climbed into his own vehicle and waited for Colin to join him before heading to his appointment with Griffin and Lord Weymouth at White’s.
“I see you lost your shadow,” Colin commented as he climbed aboard.
“Indeed,” Daniel acknowledged.
Colin was curious. “Mind if I ask how you managed?”
“I paid the driver to go away.”
“That simple?”
“One of the advantages of being a duke is that I can pay most coach drivers to do my bidding—whether their employers like it or not.”
“Will he return?” Colin asked.
Daniel looked at Colin, then shook his head. “Not without his employer. I saw to that.”
* * *
The Free Fellows League minus Jarrod but with the addition of Lord Weymouth assembled in their usual meeting room at White’s.
Griffin, Lord Weymouth, and Alex Courtland expressed relief at finding Daniel relatively unharmed. And after ordering coffee and drinks, they and the other Free Fellows—Jonathan and Colin—sat down to business.
“I asked you to meet us here,” Daniel was saying, “after Barclay informed me this morning of the problem within our network. When he explained the nature of the problem, I realized, quite by accident, that I may have discovered the source of it. But before I continue, I must ask if we are all in agreement that there is a leak in our network that threatens our identities and the work we do?”
“Yes,” the Free Fellows answered in unison.
Daniel nodded. “I had to be sure because I’ve no wish to put forth a theory that would result in our accusing a man unjustly. After Barclay and I spoke, I paid a call on Lord Grantham to discuss the result of my most recent mission. I shared my concerns with Colin, and he informed me that he and his w—” He glanced at Lord Weymouth and decided to use discretion where Gillian was concerned. The deciphering Gillian did had provided invaluable information to the government, but there were men in government who would never accept that such critical information came from a woman, so Daniel thought it best to omit that bit of information until he discovere
d how Weymouth felt about it. “Colleague had concerns of their own. Their concerns were identical to my own and have confirmed my suspicion.”
“What suspicion?” Lord Weymouth asked.
“My suspicion that the information Lord Grantham and his colleague have been deciphering and the information the men in Abchurch Lane have been deciphering are not the same.”
“Impossible!” Lord Weymouth was stunned. “All ciphered messages come to me. I make a copy of each message that crosses my desk. I give the originals to Lord Shepherdston to give to his ciphers, and I give the copies to Lord Bathhurst’s courier to present to the men in Abchurch Lane. The messages are always identical, for I copy them myself.”
That was the answer Daniel had hoped to get, but he had to be sure. “No one else copies them for you? Or helps you copy them?”
“Do you take me for a fool, Your Grace?” Lord Weymouth shot to his feet and began to pace in a manner very similar to Jarrod’s. “I copy each message myself, and they do not leave my person until I give them to Lord Shepherdston and to Lord Bathhurst’s representative.”
“Not to Lord Bathhurst directly?” Griffin asked.
His father shook his head. “I’d prefer that, of course, but unfortunately, Lord Bathhurst does not. And as he is my superior in the War Office …”