The Stanforth Secrets Read Online Free Page B

sure who is to be trusted. The part of the list we received revealed some traitors we had never expected. . . .”
    The Earl collected himself. “We must do everything in our power to gain those papers, if they still exist. The chance is small, but we must try. Poor, brave d’Estrelles never made it to Wales. We can only assume the French blew him out of the water and thought the message had gone to the deep with him. . . .”
    “Brave man, brave man,” muttered the Duke.
    “Brave indeed, and his ruse was successful. The sailor, by name of Samuel Wright, made his way unhindered to Dublin, and then took ship to the port of Lancaster, disembarking at Sunderland Point, close by to Heysham, as you doubtless know. Once in the village—he is well remembered there, for they don’t get many strangers—he discovered Lord Stanforth was in London and sent off a message. He made no secret of the fact that he had a package for the viscount and settled down peacefully to wait, ambling around the village, talking to the fishermen. We can only deduce his instruction was to give his package to no one but the viscount, and to wait patiently for him to come.”
    “You say ‘We can only deduce,’ ” said Justin. “Why can Mr. Wright not speak for himself?”
    “He is dead,” said the Earl baldly. “Drowned in Morecambe Bay.”
    Two men dead, thought Justin with a chill. No, more. That ill-fated fishing boat used by d’Estrelles must have had a crew. “If a message was sent to Lord Stanforth, it must have gone to Stephen.”
    “Yes,” said the Earl in a voice frosted with disapproval. Justin felt resigned. What had poor Stephen done? “The letter arrived at your cousin’s house in Clarges Street. The sailor’s message so bewildered him,” he added icily, “that he showed it around all over London, asking what people made of it!”
    There was a growl from the royal personage, and Justin struggled to keep a straight face. It wasn’t funny, but it was so typical of Stephen.
    “One of my young men, Cardew Holmes, happened to hear of it and put two and two together. He nabbed your cousin and brought him to me. I sent the viscount to Lancashire to collect the message. Holmes was sent with him to keep him in order.” There was a touch of disbelief in Lord Liverpool’s voice as he commented, “It took Holmes a whole twenty-four hours to persuade the young man to treat the matter with urgency—”
    “Should have told me,” growled the Duke. “I’d have damned well put a squib up his backside!”
    “I’m sure you would have, Sir. It occurred to none of us that he would not immediately perceive the importance . . .” He broke off and shrugged. “When he was brought to understand the situation, however, Lord Stanforth did set off with great enthusiasm. According to Holmes it was . . .”
    “Hair-raising,” supplied Justin with a sigh. “Stephen always did drive faster than his skill allowed, and he would have loved the excuse of urgency. That was when . . .”
    “That was when he was killed, yes. September second. Holmes merely suffered a broken leg, but your cousin broke his neck.” A slight inclination of the head indicated sympathy not apparent in his voice.
    A mutter from the royal Duke might have been “Good riddance.” Justin decided he really couldn’t plant a facer on the son of the king just to defend poor Stephen’s memory.
    “What happened to the message?” he asked. “Presumably you sent someone else quam celerimae .”
    “Of course we did. By this time, however, almost a week had gone by since your cousin had received the letter. The day before my man got there, the sailor paid his tab at the inn and left. The next day his body was washed up on the sands. The innkeeper said he’d earlier gone up to the Hall, but nobody there admits to having seen him.”
    “So you think he passed his package on. To someone at the Hall? Who?”
    Lord Liverpool regarded his thin fingers. “It is hard, of