The Prince of Pleasure (Notorious 5)

It was perhaps three hours later before Lord Wycliff joined them in the private parlor.

"I am honored to meet you at last, Miss Laurent," Lucian said when Dare had made the introductions. "My wife and I both have enjoyed your performances."

"Thank you, my lord."

"Have some breakfast," Dare suggested, "while you tell us what more you learned from Ivers."

Lucian brought them up to date as he filled a plate from the sideboard. Ivers had been stitched up by a surgeon, interrogated intensely, and hauled off by two of Lucian's chief agents to the Foreign Office, where he would be questioned yet again before being charged and imprisoned by a magistrate.

"And do you think Caliban and Perrine are one and the same?" Dare asked when Lucian was seated at the table.

"All my instincts tell me so. As an untitled younger son, Perrine may have discovered that manipulating his victims satisfied his hunger for power as well as his desire to fill his pockets. And he has long had political connections. Perrine is a close friend of Lord Aberdeen."

"Wasn't Aberdeen appointed our ambassador to Austria last year?"

"Yes," Lucian said, his tone edged with scorn. "Despite the fact that he was far too young and inexperienced for the role. Aberdeen's incompetence nearly sabotaged our negotiations with the Coalition-which is what forced Castlereagh to take over. As for Perrine's guilt… the man I had watching him confirmed that he left London yesterday for Dover and boarded a packet to Calais. It's likely he is bound for Paris, where Castlereagh is."

"I understand," Julienne said, "that the foreign secretary is heading the current conference?"

Lucian nodded. "Napoleon has abdicated, but it remains for the Allied Powers to conclude peace with Bourbon France. We've long suspected that someone is eager to kill Castlereagh. He barely escaped being poisoned last month. But he's been well-guarded since the first attempt on his life. Perrine may be hoping for the chance to get past his guards."

"I suppose you cannot simply arrest him," Dare mused.

"We could, but we have no proof of his guilt other than Ivers's accusations. And if Perrine isn't our culprit, then Caliban will still be at large." Lucian's mouth tightened in a grim line. "We can't risk losing his trail yet again. The trick will be not only to prevent Castlereagh's assassination, but to lure Caliban out and finally make him reveal himself, whether he is Perrine or someone else."

"Do you intend to pursue him to France?" Dare asked.

"It would be unwise of me to try. I want nothing more than to put a period to Caliban's existence after all the carnage he's caused, but I'm not the right man for this mission. I'm too well known to him. I would never be able to get close."

"Besides which you've sacrificed enough for your country. Brynn is expecting your first child any day now. You can't go haring off to France."

"I mean to send my best agent, Philip Barton, in my stead. He's been following Caliban's career from the first. But Barton is known to him as well."

"I want to go," Dare said, "but Perrine knows of my interest in Caliban."

Lucian's brow furrowed in contemplation. "We would have

to devise a plan that made use of your acquaintance with him…"

"Perhaps we simply need to bait a trap for him," Julienne said quietly.

Dare regarded her with unease. Julienne's determined expression heightened the hollow ache in his chest. "There is no reason for you to become involved," he said once again. "You will only be endangering yourself."

She met his gaze evenly. "There is every reason. My name has been under the taint of suspicion for years, and this is my chance to clear it once and for all."

"What did you have in mind, Miss Laurent?" Lucian asked.

Julienne turned to him. "A scheme that will trap Perrine into showing his hand."

"You are offering to be the bait?"

"No, absolutely not,"" Dare said emphatically. "It's out of the question. He already almost killed you once before."

"I should like to help," she insisted.

Dare drew a sharp breath. The thought of Julienne risking her life by trying to lure out a deadly traitor filled him with dread. He loved Julienne; he had never stopped loving her. He didn't want her to be hurt. "I don't want you going," he said again.

"Why not?" Lucian asked.