All were supported by the Blakeney fortune and the patronage of less well-heeled gentry, who were allowed the use of the grounds occasionally for the purposes of shoots and riding to hounds. This practice, initiated in Blakeney’s absence by his solicitors, helped to support the estate and keep the serving staff in trim, as well as the hounds from growing fat and lazy. Now, with the return of Blakeney, the tenure of such usage was in doubt and many among the local bluebloods were on tenterhooks, anxious to curry favor with young Blakeney so that he would not, by his resumption of the tenancy, put an end to their recreations. Finn found a large number of calling cards awaiting him and no small amount of invitations to parties, balls and dinners. Among these were invitations from personages no less illustrious than Lord Grenville, the Foreign Secretary, and His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales.
Marguerite was quite obviously taken aback by the splendor of the estate. She had known, of course, that she had married an extremely wealthy man, but it was not the palatial representation of that wealth that so impressed her so much as the sheer beauty of the grounds. Finn, on the other hand, affected boredom and leaned back in his seat with his eyes half closed.
The coach pulled up in front of the Elizabethan entrance hall, stopping between the steps leading up into the house and a huge sundial on the beautifully trimmed lawn. Andre had ridden on ahead, as directed, and now a small platoon of grooms stood by to receive them and the coach. As Finn and Marguerite disembarked, the coach was taken to the stables some distance away and servants busied themselves carrying their things into the house. Dewhurst had remained behind in Dover, to await the arrival of Andrew Ffoulkes and his charges and to deliver a message to the Duc de Chalis from Sir Percy Blakeney.
Both Lucas and Andre stood by inside the hall to greet them, Lucas having obviously established himself as chief whipcracker with the staff. He was attired elegantly in a dark green jacket with a high collar and wide lapels, black breeches, clean stockings and shiny buckle shoes. Andre had changed into a simple dress and, though Finn knew well that she despised it, she had put on a wig to create an air of subdued femininity. She looked well enough, but she was obviously uncomfortable and it showed in her manner.
Finn noted that Lucas had already arranged things so that Sir Percy Blakeney and his wife would occupy two separate suites of apartments above the reception rooms, each separated from the other by the width of the entire house. Marguerite made no comment concerning this arrangement and allowed herself to be shown to her suite by Andre. Lucas directed the other servants to take Finn’s portmanteau and chests up to his rooms and then waited until they had all departed and he was alone with Finn.
“She’s a hell of a fine-looking woman,” Lucas said, nodding in the direction Marguerite had taken. “Considering the way things stand, I hope you’ve kept your hands off her.”
“I have, but it hasn’t been easy,” Finn said.
“She could cause some trouble.”
“I know. But forget about Marguerite for now. What’s this about Mongoose? Are you telling me he’s here?”
Lucas nodded. “Yeah. Surprise.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure,” said Lucas, taking his arm. “Come on, let’s take a walk. I don’t feel especially safe discussing this inside. Everyone here is mighty curious about you and I wouldn’t want us to be overheard.”
They went outside into the growing darkness and followed a gravel path that led to a garden at the side of the sprawling mansion. Here, after they passed through a gate of hedges, there was privacy for them where they could either stroll through the maze of immaculate hedgerows taller than a man or sit and talk in one of several green enclosures in which marble benches had been placed, as well as marble urns for the knocking out of pipe dottles.
“A guy could get lost in here,” said Finn.
“He could, if he didn’t know the trick,” said Lucas. “You can see into the maze from the upstairs terrace. It looks deceptively simple until you get down here. Algernon Blakeney had a prankster’s sense of humor. From upstairs, you can see people muddling about down here, trying to find their way out. You can see which way they have to go, but they can’t. I memorized the sequence of the turns you have to take, but it wasn’t until I actually got down here that I discovered that there’s a key to the maze that’ll guide you out in case you forgot the way. Notice how the benches are placed? There’s a bench near every key branching off point. The placement of the marble urns, whether on the right or left hand side of the benches, tells you which way you have to go.”
They came to a bench and sat down, hidden from any prying eyes except those which might be watching from the upstairs terrace. However, in the growing darkness, they were almost invisible.
Lucas took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The other day, one of the grooms came up to me and handed me a note, addressed to Sir Percy Blakeney. Thinking it might be yet another invitation or some such thing, I didn’t open it right away. I should have. It was from Mongoose. It seems that he’s our contact. Oh, and by the way, the groom was a tall, dark-haired fellow with a beard. I’ve since discovered that none of Blakeney’s grooms wear beards. Mongoose still likes playing games with cute disguises.”
Finn shook his head. “I don’t believe it. How in hell did he manage to pull field duty after screwing up so badly on the Timekeeper case? I thought Forrester said he’d been demoted to the TIA’s evaluations section? How did he wind up in the
Observers?”
“He does have the necessary qualifications,” Lucas said.
Simon Hawke
The Pimpernel Plot
“I know that. I just can’t believe that the Observers would accept him after he almost blew an adjustment. Besides, doesn’t it strike you as one hell of a coincidence that our paths just happened to cross again?”
“No more of a coincidence than our meeting up with Andre in 17th Century Paris,” said Lucas.
“Maybe,” said Finn. “Back when I was in RCS, we did a whole year on coincidence as it relates to the Fate Factor. We used to call it ‘zen physics.’ But I somehow doubt that temporal inertia had anything to do with Mongoose’s showing up here at the same time as we did.”
“You’re thinking that it’s too much of a coincidence.”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking. In fact, I’ve thought of little else since Andre gave me your message back in Dover. I just can’t see him being given an assignment in the field after what happened. I can’t believe it’s on the level. It occurs to me that if he had spent some time in evaluating TIA data, then he had access to the records. He might have indulged in some kind of creative programming.”
“That occurred to me as well,” said Lucas, “but I wanted to hear you say it, just to convince myself that I wasn’t getting too paranoid. Still, what we’re talking about is computer crime. Unauthorized access and alteration of classified information would carry a sentence of life imprisonment. No reeducation, no parole, just hard time in confined social service. Would Mongoose chance something like that?”
“We’ve already established that he’s several cards short of a full deck,” said Finn. “He’s a megalomaniac who thinks that he can get away with anything. But that’s not what worries me. We’re the ones who caused his fall from grace as the TIA’s number-one field operative. We’re also the ones who blocked the agency’s attempt to muscle in on the army’s jurisdiction in adjustment missions.”
“Mongoose brought what happened on himself,” said Lucas.