Hardly a Husband (Free Fellows League 3)

Gillian took a deep breath. "I can't prove it," she said. "The information will have to do that. But I believe that I'm correct." She looked up at Jarrod. "I feel it."

"All right," he said. "Now, tell me why."

"Because the only other similar name is Junot, and Colin said that Junot was recalled to Paris in January and retired from active duty. It has to be Jourdan. I went down the list of all the names of all the known officers with whom the author might correspond on a regular basis."

"How do you know they correspond regularly?" Jarrod asked the questions he knew the gentlemen in the War Office would ask.

"The greeting was informal, even friendly," she answered before resuming her theory. "I compared the names on the list to the abbreviated words. But none of the letters were right, of course, until Colin said something tonight that made me think that I might not be looking at them in the right way."

"What way?"

"Backwards. That's the answer," Gillian said. "The abbreviations are backwards. I'll stake my life on it. The author of this message sent it to Marshal Jourdan. The other abbreviations coincide with other officers' names — and not merely subordinates, but generals and colonels. When I discovered that, I realized the large numbers had to be troops." Although she struggled to keep a neutral countenance as she waltzed with Jarrod, she was practically vibrating with energy.

Jarrod grinned. It was the opportunity for which the Free Fellows League had been looking. It was a chance to make a real difference in the war and help further the work that Scovell did in the field and the argument Lord Weymouth had put before the prime minister that the government needed a department devoted to the recruiting and training of ciphers in time of war and in time of peace. Lord Bathurst's current group of decipherers in London was ragtag at best, and far too slow to be of any real use.

"My dear Gillian, I am so pleased I could kiss you!"

Gillian looked so surprised by Jarrod's comment that he couldn't help teasing her a bit more. "Unfortunately, I'll have to ask Colin to do it for me."

"Thank you," Gillian breathed.

"How did you do it? Here? Without any of the tables or messages?"

"I memorized the message and the list of officers' names and I've been working on the puzzle in my mind all day," she said. "But it didn't fall into place until Colin and I were dancing and he made a comment about someone being turned inside out and backwards. I thought about it for a moment and realized that might be the answer. The letters in the abbreviation that occurred most frequently were n, a, and d. At first I was looking for officers whose names started with N." She smiled at Jarrod, for Colin's comment had actually been that Jarrod was so besotted by Sarah Eckersley that he was in danger of being turned inside out and backwards. The mention of Jarrod had made her think of Jourdan.

"How do you know it isn't Marshal Ney?"

"Ney backwards is y-e-n. Using the cipher tables, we've already identified the numerals corresponding to y and e. Ney didn't fit. And according to the newspapers, he's campaigning in Germany, not the Peninsula. And Ney doesn't serve under the author's command." She paused to consider her words. "None of the abbreviations matched the deciphering table until I began spelling backwards. The only officer under the author's command whose name contained those letters in that order was Marshal Jourdan. Since the abbreviation of this name was in the greeting of the message, I knew it was meant for him. We'll have to look at the original again to confirm it, but I feel certain my theory is correct."

"I've no doubt about it," Jarrod complimented her. "I marvel at your ability to solve puzzles."

The music reached its crescendo and the dance was ending.

"I suppose it's a gift," she said. "And one for which I can't take credit, since I appear to have been born with it."

"I am sincerely grateful for it," Jarrod assured her.

"There is something more," she said. "Something of which I'm less certain, but which I'm afraid requires immediate action." She glanced around. "Unfortunately, I don't dare tell you here, where we may be overheard, for fear of starting a panic."

He bowed politely and moved to escort her off the dance floor. "Will it wait until morning?"

"I don't think so," she said.

"Then may I call upon you and Colin after the ball this evening?"

"Yes," Gillian told him. "We aren't staying for the midnight supper, so we'll be waiting when you arrive."

"I thank you for the dance, Lady Grantham, and for your hard work."

"You're welcome, Lord Shepherdston."

"I'll take you back to your husband now." Jarrod escorted Gillian back to Colin.

"She told you?" Colin asked.

Jarrod nodded. "Griff?"

"He'll meet us at our house after the ball," Colin said. "Come the back way through the mews."