Resigned your commission, have you? The major, a youngish, thickset fellow who looked as though his breeches were too tight, gave William an unpleasant look. In order to turn your coat and join the rebels, I take it?
William breathed, twice, in order to avoid saying anything rash.
No, he said in an unfriendly voice.
Naturally not, Denys said, gently rebuking the major. He turned back to William. And naturally, you would have been traveling with a company of American militia because ?
I was not traveling with them, William said, successfully not adding you nit to this statement. I encountered the gentlemen in question last night at a tavern, and won a substantial amount from them at cards. I left the tavern early this morning and resumed my journey, but they followed me, with the obvious intent of taking back the money by force.
Obvious intent? echoed the major skeptically. How did you discern such intent? Sir, he added reluctantly.
Id imagine that being pursued and beaten to a pulp might have been a fairly unambiguous indication, Denys said. Sit down, Ellesmere; youre dripping on the floor. Did they in fact take back the money? He pulled a large snowy-white handkerchief from his sleeve and handed it to William.
Yes. Along with everything else in my pockets. I dont know whats become of my horse. He dabbed the handkerchief against his split lip. He could smell Randalls cologne on it, despite his swollen nosethe real Eau de Cologne, smelling of Italy and sandalwood. Lord John used it now and then, and the scent comforted him a little.
So you claim to know nothing of the men with whom we found you? said the other officer, this one a lieutenant, a man of about Williams own age, eager as a terrier. The major gave him a look of dislike, indicating that he didnt think he needed any assistance in questioning William, but the lieutenant wasnt attending. Surely if you were playing cards with them, you must have gleaned some information?
I know a few of their names, William said, feeling suddenly very tired. Thats all.
That was actually not all, by a long chalk, but he didnt want to talk about the things hed learnedthat Abbot was a blacksmith and had a clever dog who helped him at his forge, fetching small tools or faggots for the fire when asked. Justin Martineau had a new wife, to whose bed he longed to return. Geoffrey Gardeners wife made the best beer in the village, and his daughters was nearly as good, though she was but twelve years old. Gardener was one of the men the major had chosen to hang. He swallowed, his throat thick with dust and unspoken words.
Hed escaped the noose largely because of his skill at cursing in Latin, which had disconcerted the major long enough for William to identify himself, his ex-regiment, and a list of prominent army officers who would vouch for him, beginning with General Clinton (God, where was Clinton now?).
Denys Randall was murmuring to the major, who still looked displeased but had dropped from a full boil to a disgruntled simmer. The lieutenant was watching William intently, through narrowed eyes, obviously expecting him to leap from the bench and make a run for it. The man kept unconsciously touching his cartridge box and then his holstered pistol, clearly imagining the wonderful possibility that he could shoot William dead as he ran for the door. William yawned, hugely and unexpectedly, and sat blinking, exhaustion washing through him like the tide.
Right this moment, he really didnt care what happened next. His bloody fingers had made smears on the worn wood of the table and he stared at these in absorption, paying no attention to what was being saiduntil one battered ear picked up the word intelligencer.
He closed his eyes. No. Just no. But he was listening again, despite himself.
The voices rose, overlay each other, interrupted. But he was paying attention now, and realized that Denys was attempting to convince the major that he, William, was working as a spy, gaining information from American militia groups as part of a scheme to kidnap George Washington?
The major appeared as startled as William was to hear this. The voices dropped as the major turned his back toward William, leaning forward into Denys and hissing questions. Denys, damn him, didnt turn a hair, but he had lowered his voice respectfully. Where the bloody hell was George Washington? He couldnt possibly be within two hundred miles could he? Bar the battle at Monmouth Courthouse, the last William had heard of Washingtons movements he was arsing about in the mountains of New Jersey. The last place his cousin Benjamin had been seen.
There were noises outside the tavernwell, there had been all the time, but they were the inchoate noises of men being herded, orders, trampling, protests. Now the sounds took on a more organized character, and he recognized the noises of departure. A raised voice of authority, dismissing troops? Men moving away in a body, but not soldiers; nothing orderly about the shuffling and muttering he heard beneath the nearer sound of Denyss discussion with Major What-not. No telling what was happeningbut it didnt sound at all like an official hanging. Hed attended one such function three years before, when an American captain named Hale had been executed as a spy. He hadnt eaten any breakfast, and tasted bile as the word dropped like cold lead into his stomach.
Thank you, Denys Randall he thought, and swallowed. Hed once thought of Denys as a friend, and while hed been disabused of that notion three years ago by Denyss abrupt disappearance from Quebec, leaving William snowbound and without purpose, he hadnt quite thought the man would use him openly as a tool. But a tool for what purpose?
Denys seemed to have won his point. The major turned and gave William a narrow-eyed, assessing look then shook his head, turned, and left, followed by his reluctantly obedient lieutenant.
Denys stood quite still, listening to their footsteps recede down the stairs. Then he took a deep, visible breath, straightened his coat, and came and sat down opposite William.
Isnt this a tavern? William said before Denys could speak.
It is. One dark brow went up.
Then get me something to drink before you start telling me what the devil you just did to me.
THE BEER WAS good, and William felt a qualm on behalf of Geoffrey Gardener, but there was nothing he could do for the man. He drank thirstily, ignoring the sting of alcohol on his split lip, and began to feel a little more settled in himself. Denys had been applying himself to his own beer with an equal intensity, and for the first time William had enough attention to spare to notice the deep coating of dust that streaked Denyss wide cuffs, and the grubbiness of his linen. Hed been riding for days. It occurred to him to wonder whether perhaps Denyss opportune appearance hadnt been entirely an accident. But if notwhy? And how?
Denys drained his mug and set it down, eyes closed and mouth half open with momentary content. Then he sighed, sat up straight, opened his eyes, and shook himself into order.
Ezekiel Richardson, he said. When did you last see him?
That wasnt what hed been expecting. William wiped his mouth gingerly on his sleeve and lifted one brow and his empty mug at the waiting barmaid, who took both mugs and disappeared down the stairs.
To speak to? he said. A week or two before Monmouth maybe a year ago. I wouldnt talk to him, though. Why? Mention of Richardson annoyed him. The man hadaccording to Denys, he reminded himselfdeliberately sent him into the Great Dismal Swamp with an eye to having him abducted or killed by rebels in Dismal Town. Hed nearly died in the swamp, and mention of the man made him more than edgy.
Hes turned his coat, Denys said bluntly. I suspected him of being an American agent for some time, but it wasnt until he sent you into the swamp that I began to feel sure of it. But I had no proof, and its a dangerous business to accuse an officer of spying without it.
And now you have proof?
Denys gave him a sharp look.
Hes left the armywithout the nicety of resigning, I might addand showed up in Savannah in the winter, claiming to be a Continental army major. I think that might be considered sufficient proof?
If it is, then what? Is there anything to eat in this place? I hadnt any breakfast. Denys looked closely at him but then rose to his feet without comment and went downstairs, presumably in search of food. William was in fact very light-headed but wanted also a few moments to come to terms with this revelation.
His father knew Richardson slightlythat was how William had first come to take on small intelligencing missions for him. Uncle Hal hadlike most soldiersthought intelligencing not a suitable activity for a gentleman, but Papa hadnt shown any reservations about it. It was also Papa whod introduced him to Denys Randall, whod been calling himself Randall-Isaacs at the time. Hed spent some months with Randall-Isaacs in Quebec, poking about to little apparent end, before Denys had abruptly gone off on some undisclosed mission, leaving William with an Indian guide. Denys was most certainly For the first time, the absolute conviction that Denys was a spy, and the notion that Papa himself might have been one, floated into his head. By reflex, he thumped the heel of his hand against his temple in an effort to dislodge the idea, but it wouldnt go.
Savannah. In the winter. The British army had taken the city in late December. Hed been there himself soon after, and had good cause to remember it. His throat thickened. Jane.
Voices below, and Denyss footsteps coming back up. William touched his nose; it was tender and felt about twice its normal size, but it had quit bleeding. Denys came in, smiling in reassurance.
Food is on the way! And more beerunless you need something stronger? He peered closely at William, made a decision, and turned on his heel. Ill get some brandy.
That can wait. Whatif anythinghas Ezekiel Richardson got to do with my father? William demanded abruptly.
That froze Denys, but only momentarily. He moved to the table and sat down slowly, his eyes fixed on William with a distinct look of calculation. Calculations. William could actually see thoughts flitting through the mans mindhe just couldnt tell what any of them were.
Denys took a deep breath and placed both hands on the table, palms down as though bracing himself.
What makes you think that he has anything to do with Lord John?