One Night With a Spy Read Free Page A

might read in the newssheets."
    Liverpool went entirely still. "You tread dangerous ground, my girl."
    She tilted her head. "I believe the correct address would be 'my lady,' but I shall let that familiarity pass for such an intimate acquaintance."
    Liverpool did not respond. It was obvious that he was thinking very hard, and even more obvious that one would not like to know what he was thinking. Not that she required a map. She knew these men, even the most recent member, Lord Reardon, better than their mothers could.
    Julia turned to the other Three. "May I congratulate you on your recent marriage, Lord Greenleigh? I wish you and your intrepid lady the best."
    Dane Calwell nodded graciously, but his eyes were narrowed. "You seem rather well informed, my lady, for being isolated at Barrowby for so long."
    Julia nodded. "Indeed, I have found it necessary to set up my own network of informants. I could hardly take my case to the Liar's Club, could I?"
    "So you admit to hiding the truth from us?" Liverpool was quick to sniff out discrepancies. Aldus had warned her of that.
    Julia lifted her chin. "I imagined your response and acted accordingly. Aldus wished to remain the Fox until he could no longer function as thus. He entrusted me to decide for him when that time was." She was unable to hold back a sigh. "It came so much sooner than we'd feared."
    There was not a flicker of sympathy in the granite expressions before her. Never mind. She would not fail Aldus. He had believed in her ability to hold the Fox's position, even to preparing her for this moment.
    "They'll test your mettle," Aldus had told her. "You won't know where it will come from or when, but you can count on being set with some sort of trial." He'd patted her hand. "No sense in worrying over it yet. Not a thing you can do but prove to the lot of them that you're made of good stern stuff."
    So far, only her carpets were being tested by Liverpool's pacing.
    "She is too young!" The Prime Minister was not going to give up easily.
    Julia smiled gently at him. "There is a precedent. The eleventh Falcon assumed his seat at the age of nineteen in the reign of King Henry VI. I was all of twenty when I did so."
    The Falcon nodded slightly. "That is so." His eyes gave away nothing.
    Julia nodded respectfully in reply. "I realize that this is a shock to you all. You will require some time to adjust to the notion of a woman in the Royal Four." She curtsied and turned to leave the room. "Yet, pray do not forget this." She stopped and looked at them over her shoulder. "There is no one else."
    She left, closing the door behind her. She made it around the corner of the hallway before the stiffening left her knees and they began to shake uncontrollably. She'd done it. She'd faced down the four most powerful men in the land—some might say the world. Nothing she had done so far as the Fox compared to this moment. She felt terrified and exhilarated and calm, all at the same moment.
    She knew they would do their best to deny her. Liverpool was particularly dangerous, for he'd not taken kindly to her dig about the gossip. Then again, she doubted any of the others would stop at eliminating her if they truly believed her to be a danger. It was up to her to convince them that she knew what she was about. Being female had no influence on her mind or her loyalty.
    "Oh, Aldus," she whispered, tipping her forehead against the cool wall. "You should have seen their expressions." A small, rusty breathless laugh broke through her reserve. "I wish I could see it again, myself."
    Beppo rounded the corner, obviously looking for her. Julia straightened and nodded at the small wiry butler, her practiced composure instantly back in place. "Yes, Beppo?"
    "Their lordships wish you to wait on them in the parlor, my lady. At your convenience, of course."
    Beppo, who had come late in life to the serving of the "Quality," had added that last bit on himself, she was sure. "Their lordships" hadn't seemed too