The Impostor (6 page)

“That I was to kill you. That you were here to kill me. What do you know of Sevigny, Miss Ryder?”

“His is the only name the British were ever able to learn in relation to the League of the Imperial Eagle,” she said. She paused and frowned. “A truly absurd name, is it not? Worse even than the Omega Group.”

Despite the events of the evening and the severity of the situation, Sebastian found himself smiling. The League of the Imperial Eagle was Field Marshal Marmont’s group of Gifted soldiers, the French equivalent of the Omega Group. And Tessa was right—their name was even more absurd than Omega Group.

Then again, Omega Group was merely a nickname due to the fact that Wellington had always called them “a measure of last resort”. Wellington, whose own Gift was weak, had always resented the members of the group for having Gifts more powerful, and generally more useful, than his own.

“In any event,” Tessa continued, “we know Sevigny has a Gift for possession.”

Sebastian nodded. During the war, they had discovered Sevigny could corporeally enter another person’s body and take complete control. If the victim was Gifted, Sevigny could also control their Gift. It had never happened to Sebastian, but once or twice other members of the Omega Group had been possessed for some time before anyone noticed.

Tessa asked, “Do you know what became of him after the war?”

“No.” Sebastian shrugged. “The war ended. Napoleon was sent to St. Helena. It was over, finished. I presumed he and the other members of the League returned to Paris. It didn’t matter. I had no interest in tracking them down.”

“He must have somehow managed to possess Francis,” said Tessa. “You are certain you noticed nothing amiss tonight?”

“No, but I suppose that does not signify. After all, we discovered during the war that Sevigny can access the mind as well as the body of whomever he possesses. His performances can be very convincing.”

Tessa nodded. “What else did Francis—that is, Sevigny—speak with you about?”

For a moment Sebastian hesitated. Ought he tell her the truth? After all, if she was correct, he had already been deceived once tonight. He had no reason to trust yet another person linked to his past who had suddenly appeared asking about the Omega Group, when he had not heard the name spoken aloud in over six years.

But as he looked at her, pale and slender in her plain dress, he remembered she had risked her own life to save his tonight. Most of the members of the Omega Group were missing or dead. Someone had bribed his coachman and set his carriage on fire. And the Americans who had pursued them through London had admitted to working for Sevigny.

“He wanted to know about the Omega Group,” said Sebastian at last.

Tessa’s brows drew together. “And what did you tell him?”

“All I knew,” said Sebastian. He shook his head at his own stupidity. “I had no reason to prevaricate. Francis served aboard one of His Majesty’s ships-of-the-line on the Atlantic and would have known little about the Omega Group. When he indicated the information might be of some use to him in his investigations against you, I told him everything.”

He looked down at the glass in his hands, feeling an unfamiliar flush of shame at having been taken in so easily.

“Sevigny is excellent at what he does,” Tessa said gently. “It is his Gift. You need not blame yourself for believing his ruse. And in any event, I doubt what you told him matters. I believe Sevigny already knows most of what there is to know of the Omega Group. Did he tell you anything else?”

Sebastian nodded slowly.

“He told me that most of all the old members of the Omega Group are missing or dead,” said Sebastian.

“I thought you said he pretended not to know much about the Omega Group?”

“He indicated he was interested in the disappearances of Ron and Peter Howard a year ago and that the trail had led to you,” said Sebastian.

“Ron and Peter Howard,” said Tessa, nodding.

“Francis—Sevigny—indicated he had grown interested in their disappearance because he noticed that though they were only a pair of Kent blacksmiths, they were serving on Wellington’s staff.”

Tessa looked briefly confused. “Why should that arouse any particular interest?” Her face cleared after a moment, and the expression that tightened her face might have been contempt. “Of course. Because Wellington is a notorious snob when it comes to birth and breeding. The fact that two former blacksmiths were serving on his staff would have set off alarm bells in the minds of anyone who knew him, or made a point of studying him.”

Sebastian nodded.

“Did he tell you the rest? That John Dudley was killed in Yorkshire six months ago? That Colquhoun Grant died in Aix-La-Chapelle, shot in the back in a dark alley? That Colonel Brown was beset by highwaymen on his way to visit his family, and that Dr. McGrigor disappeared last month?”

Sebastian nodded mutely. Though it was the second time he had heard this litany of deaths and disappearances, he still felt a pang. These were the men with whom he had shared campfires and laughter and danger and fear for the first three years of the war. But after his return to England, he had not kept contact with the other members of Omega Group.

Though they had been comrades during the early years of the war, the differences of their stations in life were vast. Colquhoun, with his Gift for languages, was a career military man, but John Dudley had been a Yorkshire farmer, a man who might have remained in his quiet village all his life if not for his Gift, the ability to shape-shift into an owl.

They had all been good, brave men, and they had fought hard and well for England. Sebastian ached at the thought of their passing, and was ashamed that he had made little effort to remain friends after the war.

Perhaps if he had, they would not have vanished or died as they had done.

“He said you were the one responsible, and I was the last one on your list,” said Sebastian, after awhile. “Some sort of vengeance for Sevigny, I suppose. I ought to have pressed for more details, but he indicated I had to leave immediately, in order to meet you at Carlton House.”

“What I wish to know is how he knew I would be at Carlton House tonight,” said Tessa.

“You told no one of your plans?”

“No one,” said Tessa.

“Perhaps it is time you told me
your
story, Miss Ryder.”

“Yes,” said Tessa. “Of course. I hardly know where to begin.” She closed her eyes and drew a breath, making the gentle swell of her breasts rise and fall. “It was my father who discovered the truth. As the old members of the Omega Group disappeared one by one, he realized something was amiss. He guessed all of you would be in danger.”

“And your father sent you here?”

“Yes.”

“Why did he not come himself?”

“He is in hiding,” said Tessa readily. “With the deaths and disappearances, he thought it best to remain hidden.”

“So he sent you, his daughter?” Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “He did not think you’d be in danger as well?”

Tessa shrugged. “I was not a member of the Omega Group,” she said. “I did not believe myself a target of Sevigny’s plans. Obviously, I was mistaken, since Sevigny wanted you to kill me, no doubt before disposing of you.”

Sebastian eyed her curiously. “You were not a member of the group, and yet Sevigny indicated you participated in operations.”

“Nevertheless, I was still a woman. The Omega Group existed formally and on paper. There were people at the War Department who knew of its existence. I could hardly be an official member.”

“Perhaps that is why we never met before,” said Sebastian.

“Doubtless,” said Tessa, not meeting his eyes.

“Nevertheless, you are a young woman, and quite alone. Your father should have known better than to send you.”

“I can take care of myself,” she said.

He thought of the way she had fought off his illusion in the carriage, had pushed him aside and taken the bullet meant for him, had ran with him through London while wounded and bleeding. “Yes, I suppose you can. You came to London, then, from Wycombe?”

“Yes. My father found a post teaching at the military college after the war.”

“How long have you been in London?”

“A week. It took me some time to find you.”

“How
did
you find me?”

“I discovered that Miss Cameron was—” She hesitated. “A particularly good friend of yours. I could think of no other way I might find you. I waited for her at the Theatre Royal, then followed her home. Once I knew where she lived, it was simple.”

“I see,” said Sebastian.

Tessa shook her head. “Only I do not understand how Sevigny knew,” she said. “I told no one of my intention to be at Carlton House tonight, not even my father.”

“Why do you think Sevigny wanted me to kill you?” Sebastian asked.

She hesitated a second too long. “My father, and my association with the Omega Group, I suppose,” she said at last.

“And yet the Americans who pursued us tonight said you were to be kept alive. Do you know why?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head quickly.

Intrigued, he considered her for a long moment, watching the way the firelight flickered across her delicate features, her gleaming hair. She was lying, but he didn’t know why, or about what.

Aloud, he asked, “Do you suppose those Americans were mercenaries?”

“I believe so,” said Tessa slowly. “America has no cause to incite fresh war between England and France.”

“As it is clear we are both indeed in danger from Sevigny and his hired thugs,” said Sebastian, “what do you suggest we should do?”

“I think you should leave London, sir,” said Tessa immediately. “You have estates in the country. You would be safer there.”

“And what of you?”

She hesitated again. “I shall think of something.”

“But you wish me to hide?” He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”

“There are two men dead and three missing, my lord,” she said. “They were all brave, capable men. It did not save them.”

“No,” said Sebastian. “But there is one difference. I have been warned.”

Tessa did not seem to know what to say to this. Finally she said, “Then what do you intend to do?”

“Unravel this mystery, of course,” said Sebastian. “I will go to the offices at Abchurch Street tomorrow and ascertain the truth of Francis’s disappearance. I certainly have no intention of fleeing to Grenville Park and hiding.”

As he spoke, that long-dormant sense of anticipation coursed through him again. In the years since the end of the war, he had seemed to exist in a sort of fog, as dense as any that hung over London. He had hidden his Gift, drifted aimlessly from ballroom to soiree, hunting lodge to country manor. His work in Parliament had kept him busy, but it had not truly satisfied him. He had acquired beautiful horses and beautiful mistresses, but nothing he owned, nothing he did, had seemed real to him.

But tonight he had used his Gift for a purpose. Here, at last, was something substantial. It had been a very long time since he had felt as alive as he felt now.

“I will accompany you then, my lord,” said Tessa.

Sebastian started, then raised his eyebrows. “I see no reason why you should,” he said.

“My father’s life is at stake as well,” she said. “As well as my own. And I may know something you do not.”

He studied her for a long moment. In the firelight her eyes were fierce and burning.

He did not trust Tessa Ryder. She had saved his life tonight, but she had lied to him as well. He knew it, though he did not know why, or about what.

Perhaps it would be best to keep an eye on her.

“Very well,” he said. “Where have you been staying?”

“I have a room at an inn called the Sword and Stag,” she said.

“You have a trunk there?”

“A small valise.”

“Give me the address. I will see to it that it is brought to you here.”

“Here?”

He raised his eyebrow again. “You have some objection to remaining here at Montague House?”

“No,” she said slowly. “Of course not. Thank you, sir.”

“Then it’s settled,” he said. He tugged on the bell and Coleman materialized in the doorway.

“You rang for me, my lord?” his long-suffering butler inquired.

“Take Miss Ryder back upstairs to her chamber,” he said. “She will be staying with us for the time being.”

Coleman bowed. “Very good, my lord. If you will follow me, miss?”

She dipped a small curtsy, then gathered her skirts and started after the butler, her steps measured. But when she reached the doorway, Sebastian suddenly asked, “Have we met before, Miss Ryder?”

She went very still. “No, my lord,” she said.

The door shut behind her. She was gone.

Chapter Six

Tessa was still shaking as the butler showed her upstairs to a darkened bedchamber, lit a few Argand lamps, and then shut the door quietly behind her, leaving her alone in the flickering light. When he had gone, his footsteps receding down the hallway, she sank down onto the bed, wrapping her arms tightly around herself.