Caleb was on guard now. He couldn't begin to guess what his father might have learned about Vermillion. "Exactly what did you hear?"
"That you have been spending a great deal of time with a woman named Vermillion Durant. There is speculation as to your feelings about the girl. As this particular young woman is known to be a courtesan of some renown—"
"That's not true. She has never been anything of the sort." Caleb fought to control his temper. Where Lee was concerned it was never an easy task. "It was all a ruse, one she mistakenly got caught up in that has now come to an end."
Luc stepped into the breach, for which Caleb would always be grateful. "Miss Durant is a lovely young woman, Father. Caleb helped reunite her with her father, who turned out to be the Marquess of Kinleigh."
"Kinleigh? Now that is interesting. I'll bet the news came as quite a surprise."
"Believe it or not, the marquess was pleased," Caleb said. "He plans to give her his name, though he is trying to keep the matter as private as possible."
"If the lady in question has that sort of past, I can understand why."
Caleb's temper inched up. "Lee is innocent in all of this. Her father knows that. He sees her as the person she truly is and he is grateful to have found her."
"Your defense is admirable, Caleb. I hope that is all it is… a dashing captain of the cavalry defending the honor of an innocent young girl."
His father had a way of grating on his nerves. For the past few years, since Caleb had gone into the army, they had been getting along very well.
But they had not disagreed in the past few years.
"I will tell you this, Father. The lady means a great deal to me. Under different circumstances, I might have asked her to marry me. But as you say, I'm a captain of the cavalry. Duty calls, and I must obey." He said this last with a hint of sarcasm his father must have noticed.
"I thought you liked the army."
He sighed. "I do. It's just that there are times…"
"Go on."
"There are times I miss the sort of life you and Mother had. I never really thought I ever would."
The earl took a sip of his drink, his eyes on Caleb's face. "Surely this war cannot go on forever. Perhaps when it is over, you will be able to return home and settle down, raise a family, as your brother, Christian, has done."
Caleb sipped his brandy. "Perhaps." But he didn't really think so. The truth was, there was only one woman who had ever tempted him to marry. He doubted he would ever feel that way about a woman again.
He took a last swallow of his drink and set his brandy glass down on the table. "I'm beginning to taste the dust of the day. If you both will excuse me, I think I'll take a bath and rest for a while before supper." At his father's nod, he turned and headed for the door. Behind him he heard the earl speaking softly to Lucas, but he couldn't hear what they said.
"He has always been hot-tempered," the earl said to Luc, "and often too quick to act. I worried when I heard he was involved with this young woman, a lady of questionable reputation."
"Caleb told you the truth. Lee Durant was never a courtesan."
"It really doesn't matter. The girl is a Durant. You don't think your brother is in love with her?"
Luc swirled the brandy in his glass, trying to decide how much to say. "Whatever he feels, he'll return to duty. He has no other choice. He leaves in a couple of days and he won't take her with him. He has told me what it is like for a woman over there. Once he is gone, things will return to normal."
"I don't know… Caleb isn't the sort of man to get involved so deeply with a woman." He sighed, took a long swallow of his drink. "Bloody damned war. I have worried about him every moment that he has been gone. I just pray to God he comes home safely."
Dressed in his uniform, Caleb strode into the colonel's office in Whitehall. Major Sutton was there, he saw, in conversation with Cox. Their attention turned his way as he closed the door.
"It's good to see you, Captain." The colonel beckoned Caleb forward as he moved behind his desk. "Be at ease, gentlemen. You may both sit down."
Both Caleb and the major took a seat across from him.
"Your transportation has been arranged, Captain. Tomorrow morning, as scheduled, you leave for Portsmouth. From there, you will board His Majesty's ship Nimble for the trip to Spain. An escort will be waiting when you arrive. They will guide you back to your regiment at that time."
"That sounds good, sir." He shifted a little in his chair. "In regard to a previous matter, I've been wondering if anything new has turned up on the spy ring."
The colonel shook his head. "Not much. We intercepted another courier day before yesterday but the man resisted, and in trying to evade capture, he was killed."
"What sort of information was he carrying? Was there any way to trace the source?"
"Unfortunately, it was the latest information on Wellesley's position, accurate down to the finest points. The hell of it is, at least half a dozen top officials have access to that sort of knowledge. It is necessary for them to do their jobs."
"Have you considered feeding these people false information? Something we could trace back to a particular person?"
"An interesting notion. Major Sutton made the same suggestion."
Caleb cast the major a glance, then returned his attention to Cox. "And?"
"I daresay it wouldn't be an easy thing to do. These men communicate with each other. The information is checked and cross-checked. Since we don't know who might be passing it along, we don't know which of them we can trust."
"I'm still trying to convince the powers that be," the major added.
"We're thinking of sending someone in," the colonel said, "as we did with you, but it would have to be someone in the diplomatic corps. Time is the problem." He sighed. "But all of this is neither here nor there as far as you are concerned, Captain. In a matter of hours, you'll be leaving for Spain."
They spoke for a little while longer, then both Caleb and the major were dismissed. Caleb walked with Sutton out to the street. This time of day, the roadways were bustling with hackney carriages, clogged with people and animals making their way across the city.
"I wish there were something I could do," Caleb said.
"Don't worry, we'll catch the bastard—sooner or later."
"I'd feel better if it were sooner."
Sutton nodded. "So would I." They walked along the street together, both men thinking of the days ahead. "Looks like there's going to be one helluva fight over there. You had best take care, Captain."
"I plan to, Major."
"You taking that little light-skirt you were seeing? I know a lot of men take their women with them. I figure that is what I would do."
Caleb clamped hard on his jaw. He had never liked Mark Sutton. Apparently that wasn't going to change. "I wouldn't drag any woman I cared about into a hellhole like that. And she is not a light-skirt. I told you that before. Unless you care to meet me with pistols at dawn, I would suggest you remember that."
Sutton's mouth faintly curved. "I remind you, Captain Tanner, dueling is illegal. Besides, you leave for Portsmouth at dawn."
Caleb gritted his teeth. "With any luck at all, Major, I'll be back. If I hear you've said one word maligning Miss Durant's character, I shall expect that meeting."
But Sutton just smiled. Caleb had the oddest feeling the man was simply baiting him, that he knew exactly how to prod Caleb's temper and he was enjoying the show. Why he would want to, Caleb had no idea.
It didn't really matter. Tomorrow he was off to Portsmouth. He was away to Spain and he had no idea when—or if—he would return. As he went to collect his horse, he tried not to think of Lee, but his mind drifted in that direction.
He wondered how many times he would think of her in the days to come.
The night seemed endless. It was cold for this time of year and a mean wind whipped through the trees. Lee read for a while, but the pages seemed to blur and she finally gave up and put the book away. Tomorrow was Wednesday, the day Caleb would be leaving.