The Stolen Letters Read online

  Dark as ebony, Oribe’s hands fluttered through the tendril of steam. “Theobroma cacao—food of the gods,” she murmured. “Now we must wait for just the right moment to douse the flames. Remember—its magic cannot be rushed.” From a smaller pot, the cook poured a measure of hot milk into a ceramic cup. Adding a spoonful of ground beans, thickened with sugar, she whipped the concoction to a foaming froth with her molinillo. “But patience will be rewarded. Drink this—”

  Then the image of the old servant dissolved, and Arianna found herself staring into the shadows.

  Shadows. She remembered shifting shapes of menacing black, and the rumblings of thunder from a fast-approaching storm. Dancing to the drumming of the wind against the shutters, a tendril of smoke had swirled up from the lone candle, casting a trail of twisted patterns over a bloodstained sheet.

  “Drink this, Papa.” She was holding a glass of cheap rum to her father’s trembling lips. “A physician will be here soon with laudanum to help ease the pain,” she lied, knowing full well that not a soul would come rushing to help two penniless vagabonds.

  “I would rather have a sip of your special chocolate, my dear.” He tried to smile, despite the jagged knife wound gouged between his ribs.

  So much blood, so much blood. Cursing the stinking wharfside alleys and the shabby tavern room, she pressed her palm to the scarlet-soaked handkerchief, trying to staunch the flow.

  “I—I shall always savor the sweet memory of you,” he went on in a whisper. “I . . .” A groan gurgled deep in his throat. “God in heaven, forgive me for being such a wretched parent. And for sinking you in such a sordid life.”

  “You are not to blame! You were falsely accused.”

  “Yes, I was—I swear it,” he rasped. “But . . . it doesn’t matter. Not for me.” He coughed. “But you—you deserve better. . . .”

  “Never mind that. You deserve justice, Papa. Tell me who did this to you.”

  “I . . .” But there was no answer, only a spasm of his icy fingers and then a silence louder than the wailing wind.

  Arianna shifted on her stool, recalled back to the present by the clatter of footsteps on the stairs. Her skin was sheened in sweat and yet she was chilled to the bone.

  “Chef! Chef!” Fists pounded on the closed door. “Monsieur Alphonse, open up! Something terrible has happened!”

  Smoothing at the ends of her false mustache, Arianna quickly tucked the papers into her smock and rose.

  Perhaps it was too late for justice. Perhaps all that mattered now was vengeance.

  “Indeed?” Lord Percival Grentham’s expression remained impassive. A senior government minister in Whitehall’s War Office, he was in charge of security for London, which included keeping watch over the royal family. And with the King lingering in the netherworld of madness and his grown children mired in one scandal after another, it was a task designed to test his legendary sangfroid.

  Grentham’s assistant nervously cleared his throat. “But he’s going to survive, milord,” he added hastily. “A physician happened to be treating a patient next door and was summoned in time to purge the poison from the Prince’s stomach.”

  “More’s the pity,” snapped Grentham’s military attaché, who was standing by his superior’s desk, arranging the daily surveillance reports. “Bloody hell, if Prinny can’t control his prodigious appetites, he could at least have the decency to fall victim in his own establishment.”

  The assistant didn’t dare respond.

  Leaning back in his chair, Grentham tapped his elegant fingertips together and stared out the bank of windows overlooking the parade ground. Rain pelted against the misted glass, turning the vast expanse of gravel to a blur of watery gray. Beyond it, the bare trees in St. James’s Park jutted up through the fog, dark and menacing, like the jagged teeth of some ancient dragon.

  “How long until he can be moved from Lady Spencer’s town house?” he asked slowly.

  “Er . . .” The assistant consulted the sheaf of papers in his hands. “Another two or three days.”

  “Bloody, bloody hell,” swore the attaché. “If word of this reaches the newspapers—”

  “Thank you, Major Crandall.” The tapping ceased—as did all other sounds in the room. Turning to his assistant, Grentham continued with his inquiries. “I take it that the other guests have been sworn to absolute secrecy, Jenkins?”

  “Yes, milord. And they’ve all promised to be silent as the grave.”

  “Excellent,” he replied mildly. “Oh, and do remind them that they had better be, else their carcasses will be rotting on a transport ship bound for the Antipodes.”

  “Y-yes, milord.” The young man was new to the job and hadn’t yet dared ask what had become of his predecessor. Rumors of Grentham’s ruthlessness were rife throughout the halls of the Horse Guards building, and it was whispered that even the Prime Minister feared to provoke his ire.

  Taking up his pen, Grentham jotted several lines on a fresh sheet of foolscap. “Do we know for certain what poison was used?”

  “Not as yet, sir. The physician says it is difficult to discern, on account of the, er . . . substance that the Prince ingested.” The young man paused, looking uncertain of whether to go on.

  “Well, do you intend to keep me in suspense all afternoon?” asked Grentham softly. “Or is this meant to be an amusing little guessing game, seeing as I have nothing else to do with my time?”

  “N-n-o, sir.” The assistant gave another glance at his notes. “It was . . . chocolate.”

  “Chocolate?” repeated Crandall incredulously. “If this is your idea of a joke, Jenkins—”

  “It’s n-no joke, sir, it’s the God-honest truth.” Jenkins held out a piece of paper with a suspicious-looking stain streaked across its bottom. “You may see for yourself.”

  Grentham waved away the offending document with a flick of his wrist. “I am a trifle confused, Jenkins,” he murmured. “I thought you said Prinny ate the stuff, not drank it.”

  “He did, sir. It says here in the physician’s report that the Prince Regent collapsed after eating a disk of solid, sweetened chocolate.” Seeking to forestall another acerbic attack, he quickly went on. “Apparently the confection is a recent culinary creation, developed in France. It is said to be very popular in Paris.”

  “Chacun à son goût,” said Grentham under his breath.

  “Sir?”

  “Never mind. Go on—anything else of interest in the report?”

  “Well, milord, the man does mention the possibility that the Prince might have sickened from overindulgence, and not from any toxin.” Jenkins swallowed hard. “But the Prince’s private physician questions whether chocolate in this new, solid form might have naturally occurring poisonous properties.”

  Grentham thought for a moment. “So in fact, we don’t have a clue as to whether this was an attempt on the reigning sovereign’s life, or merely another example of his appetite for pleasure getting him in trouble.”

  Looking unhappy, Jenkins nodded. His superior was known as a man who preferred to view the world in black and white. An infinite range of grays merely muddied the subject—which did not bode well for whoever presented the ill-formed picture.

  “I should be tempted to let him stew in his own juices . . .,” began the Major, but a sharp look from Grentham speared him to silence.

  The minister fingered one of the leather document cases piled on his desk. “Given the current situation, it is imperative—imperative—that we ascertain whether foul play was involved. What with the upcoming arrival of the Allied delegation and our troubles with the upstart Americans, the death of the Prince Regent could be catastrophic for the interests of England.”

  The assistant instinctively backed into the shadows of the dark oak filing cabinets, though he had a feeling that the basilisk stare of his superior could see straight through to the deepest coal-black pit of hell.

  “And so,” he mused, “however unpleasant a task, we must extract the trut
h from this sticky mess.”

  Jenkins gave a sickly smile, unsure whether the minister had just attempted a witticism.

  “The question is, who among our operatives is best equipped to handle such an investigation.” Grentham pursed his lips. “Any suggestions?”

  The Major quickly shot a look at Jenkins.

  “Well, milord, I . . . I . . .”

  “Spit it out, man,” ordered the Major. “We haven’t got all day.”

  Sweat beaded on the assistant’s brow, though his throat remained bone-dry. “I was just going to say, perhaps one of our Peninsular allies might prove u-u-useful. Seeing as it was the Spanish who brought cacao to Europe from the New World, it would seem logical that they would be the most knowledgeable on the subject.”

  Grentham looked thoughtful.

  The Major’s gaze narrowed to a crafty squint. “Yes, I was just going to say that I think it an excellent idea to look outside our own circle of intelligence officers,” he said quickly. “They are all personally acquainted with the Prince, and we wouldn’t want any question of impartiality to color the conclusion of the investigation. I mean, sir, if anything were to . . .” He let his voice trail off.

  Grentham flashed a semblance of a smile. “Good God, I may actually have a body or two around me with a brain.” Setting down his pen, he contemplated his well-manicured hand for a bit before slowly buffing his nails on his other sleeve.

  Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh. The sound was soft as a raptor’s wing-beat, homing in on its kill.

  “Send a messenger to Lord Charles Mellon. Tell him that I wish to see him as soon as possible.”

  To purchase Sweet Revenge

  CLICK HERE

  Excerpt: THE COCOA CONSPIRACY

  Book Two in the Lady Arianna Regency Mystery Series

  CHAPTER ONE

  The book’s binding was crafted out of dark, fine-grained calfskin, its richly tooled embossings age-mellowed to the color of . . .

  “Chocolate,” murmured Arianna Hadley. Removing her gloves, which were still sticky from foraging through the food stalls at Covent Garden, she traced the delicate leaf design centered beneath the gilded title. “How lovely,” she added, and then carefully opened the cover.

  Dust motes danced up into the air, tiny sparkles of sunlight in the shadowed corner of the alcove. As she shifted a step closer to the diamond-paned window, the scrape of her sturdy half-boots on the Aubusson carpet momentarily disturbed the hush that hung over the ornate bookcases.

  Her heel snagged, and to her dismay she realized that a streak of mud—and something that looked suspiciously like squashed pumpkin—now marred the stately pattern.

  Hell and damnation.

  Arianna gave a guilty glance around, but the room appeared deserted. The only stirring was a small flutter of breeze wafting in through the casement. It teased over the polished oak, mingling the scents of beeswax, ink, paper and leather.

  The smell of money.

  A wry smile twitched on her lips as she turned her attention back to the book. Set discreetly within the marbled endpapers was a small slip of paper that noted the price. It was expensive. Very expensive—as was every volume and manuscript offered for sale by Messrs. Harvey & Watkins Rare Book Emporium.

  But then, Arianna could now afford such luxuries.

  She slowly turned the pages, savoring the feel of the creamy, deckle-edged paper and the subtle colors of the illustrations. With her new husband’s birthday fast approaching, she was looking for a special gift. And the intricate engravings of Theobroma cacao were, to her eye, exquisite.

  “Chocolate,” repeated Arianna, pausing to study the details of a criolla tree and its fruit. Her husband was, among other things, a serious scholar of botany, and cacao—or chocolate—was his particular field of expertise. The text was Spanish, and the date looked to be—

  A sudden nudge from behind nearly knocked the book from her grasp.

  “I beg your pardon.” The deep voice was edged with a foreign accent.

  Arianna turned, about to acknowledge the apology with a polite smile, when the man gave her another little shove.

  “I beg your pardon, but that book is mine,” he growled. “Hand it over at once.”

  Sliding back a step, she instinctively threw up a forearm to parry his grab. “I’m afraid you are mistaken, sir. It was lying on the display table, free for anyone to choose.”

  “I assure you, there is no mistake,” he replied. “I must have it.”

  Turn over her treasure to a lout who thought to frighten her with physical force? Her pulse kicked up a notch, its hot surge thrumming angrily in her ears.

  “Sorry, but I saw it first.”

  Her husband had jestingly warned her that serious book collectors were an odd, obsessive lot, and this one in particular sounded slightly deranged. Or demented. But be that as it may, Arianna was not about to be intimidated by his bullying tactics.

  “You will have to look around for something else, for I intend to purchase it,” she added, and not just for spite. She had already decided that the engravings were the perfect present for her husband.

  “You can’t!” he exclaimed in a taut whisper.

  Oh, but I can.

  Closing the covers, Arianna hugged the book to her chest.

  As the man edged closer, a blade of light cut across his pale face. Sweat was beading his forehead, and several drops hung on his russet lashes. “I tell you, that book is meant for me.”

  “Then you should have asked the clerk to put it aside.” She gestured at the other volumes arrayed on the square of dark velvet. “Come, there is no need to squabble like savages. You have plenty of other lovely choices.”

  He snarled an obscenity.

  “Be advised, sir, I know plenty of worse words than that,” responded Arianna with a grim smile, and she added a very unladylike curse to prove it.

  His eyes widened for an instant, then narrowed to a slitted stare. “Give me that book,” he repeated. “Or you will be sorry.”

  His strike was quick—but not quick enough.

  Her reactions honed by half a lifetime of fighting off drunks and pimps, Arianna caught his wrist and pivoted, twisting hard enough to draw a grunt of pain. “I wouldn’t wager on that.”

  “Poxy slut.” Breaking away, the man clenched a fist and threw a wild punch at her head.

  She ducked the blow and countered with a kick that buckled his knee. “True—if I were a real lady, I would be falling into a dead swoon.” Her jab clipped him flush on the chin. “But as you see, I’m not. Not a lady, that is.”

  Staggered, the man fell against the display table, knocking several books to the floor. His curses were now coming in a language she didn’t recognize, but the edge of panic was unmistakable.

  What madness possessed him? It was only a book, albeit a lovely one.

  Arianna glanced at the archway, intent on making a strategic retreat. The last thing she wanted to do was to ruffle the rarified feathers of Messrs. Harvey & Watkins by brawling among their rare books. Such a scene would only embarrass her husband, who, ye Gods, had suffered enough gossip on her account . . .

  Bloody hell. A glint of steel drew her eye back to her assailant.

  His fumblings inside his coat revealed not only a book hidden in the waistband of his trousers but a slim-bladed knife.

  “Try to use that on me, and you’ll find your cods cut off,” she warned softly.

  He blinked, looking torn between anger and fear.

  The sliver of silence was broken by the sound of hurried steps in the adjoining room. “Is someone in need of assistance?” called a shop clerk loudly.

  Her assailant hesitated for an instant, then whirled and darted for the archway, bumping into the other man as they crossed paths.

  Smoothing the wrinkles from his sleeve, the clerk frowned at Arianna. “This is not a place for sordid assignations, Miss,” he chided, looking down his long nose at her chipped straw bonnet and drab serge gown. As his gaze s
lid to the fallen books, he added a sharp sniff. “I must ask you to leave—immediately. We cater to a very dignified clientele who expect an atmosphere of decorum when they visit us.”

  Ah, no good deed goes unpunished, thought Arianna sardonically. On her way home from the rough-and-tumble markets, she had stopped her carriage on impulse to browse through the fancy books. Better to have waited until she had swathed herself in silk and satin for the requisite morning calls in Mayfair.

  “First of all, it is Missus,” she corrected. “And secondly, I am quite aware of what sort of patrons frequent your shop.”

  The clerk winced at the word “shop.”

  “However, you might want to take a closer look at the so-called Quality you allow through your door,” went on Arianna, assuming an air of icy hauteur. “That man was certainly no gentleman. He had a knife, and was probably cutting prints out of your precious volumes.” Her husband had explained how some unscrupulous collectors sliced up rare books for the maps or prints, which were sold individually to art dealers for a much higher profit.

  The clerk’s look of disdain now pinched into one of horror.

  “He also stole a book,” she added. “I saw it hidden under his coat.”

  “B-but he has made several purchases recently, all properly paid for,” protested the clerk. Another glance, another sniff. “You must be mistaken. By all appearances, he is a perfect gentleman, no matter that he is a foreigner.”

  “Well he’s not,” shot back Arianna. “You may take my word for it.”

  His mouth thinned. “And who, might I ask, are you?”

  “The Countess of Saybrook.” Arianna held out the chocolate book. “Now, before you toss me out on my arse, kindly wrap that and write up a receipt. And do make it quick. My carriage is waiting and the earl does not like for his prime cattle to take a chill.”

  To purchase The Cocoa Conspiracy

  CLICK HERE