“I’ll see you soon. Don’t worry,” Mr. Slade said, “all will be well.”
We kissed one last time, then he headed back towards his lodgings, while I hurried into the castle. I was giddy with excitement and happiness. It was not until later that I began to think clearly on what had happened between Mr. Slade and me. It was not until morning that our plans foundered terribly.
37
Too often our plans fail not because they lack merit or because we mishandle their execution. Sometimes they go awry due to the folly of another person whose motives run counter to ours. Alas, I experienced this hard lesson at the worst possible time.
Two mornings after Captain Innes approached me with Kuan’s orders, a solemn gathering took place in the Balmoral Castle drawing room. The Queen and Prince Consort sat on a chintz-covered sofa. Mr. Slade and I, and Foreign Office agents armed with rifles, stood against walls hung with faded floral wallpaper. Beyond the open French doors, the children played in the sunny garden. Lord Unwin posed dramatically in the center of the room.
“Your Majesty, Your Highness,” he said in his most pompous manner, “I am pleased to announce that I have discovered the identity of Mr. Kuan’s accomplice.”
Last night Mr. Slade had informed Lord Unwin about Captain Innes. Thereafter, Lord Unwin had insisted upon taking full charge and breaking the news to the Queen. Now she and her husband leaned forward in surprise.
“Well?” she said. “Who is it?”
“It is Captain Innes,” Lord Unwin said.
Mr. Slade looked unhappy, although not because Lord Unwin was taking credit for the discovery. He didn’t trust Lord Unwin to handle the matters that remained. I was so worried about my family that I could barely stand still. Knowing that Mr. Slade’s men were on the way to their rescue gave me little comfort, for Haworth was far from Scotland.
“Surely Captain Innes cannot be the accomplice to the kidnapping!” the Queen cried in disbelief.
“He has been in my wife’s service since she took the throne,” said the Prince Consort. “He has always been devoted to her.”
Other worries further disturbed me. Even while such momentous events were taking place, I could not cease thinking about what had transpired between Mr. Slade and me last night. By yielding myself to Mr. Slade, by compromising my chastity, I had pledged him my heart all the more, but what did our lovemaking mean to him?
“Captain Innes has betrayed Your Majesty’s trust.” Lord Unwin smiled: He enjoyed the attention he was finally getting. “He revealed himself to Miss Bronte last night.”
Lord Unwin described the events I had related to Mr. Slade and displayed the opium vial the captain had given me. The Queen shook her head, incredulous. The Prince Consort said to me, “Is that an accurate account?”
I could tell that he didn’t trust Lord Unwin either. “It is, Your Highness.”
The Queen clutched her bosom. “That I trusted him when he had evil designs against us! This is a shocking revelation.” Crimson anger suffused her face; her luminous eyes shot sparks. She spoke in a voice resonant with dire portent: “Where is Captain Innes?”
“He’s under arrest in his lodgings,” said Lord Unwin. “My men are guarding him.” He had refused to allow Mr. Slade to speak to Captain Innes; he had interrogated the prisoner himself. Puffed up with conceit and heroism, he said, “The old scoundrel can’t hurt the children now.”
“But his master is still at liberty somewhere.” The Prince Consort gestured outside, where Bertie, Vicky, and little Alfred were playing a noisy game of tag with the ladies-in-waiting. “Is he not still dangerous?”
“What do you propose to do about him?” the Queen demanded.
“I’ve devised a scheme to capture Mr. Kuan,” Lord Unwin said, then presented Mr. Slade’s idea: “Captain Innes and Miss Bronte will pretend to carry out the kidnapping. They’ll take bundles wrapped in blankets, which resemble sleeping children, out of the castle. They’ll go to the rendezvous place from which Kuan’s other henchmen are supposed to take Miss Bronte and the children to him. My agents will follow. They’ll arrest the henchmen, then force them to reveal the location of the next rendezvous place and the identity of the other henchmen stationed there. They’ll work their way up Kuan’s chain of command until they find him.”
“That sounds a reasonable plan,” the Queen said.
I prayed that all would go as planned, and that Kuan would be caught and my family rescued before he found out that I’d sabotaged him and he could retaliate.
“Will Captain Innes cooperate with you?” the Prince Consort said.
“Oh, indeed he will,” Lord Unwin said. “But let us allow him to tell you himself.” Turning to Mr. Slade, he said, “Go fetch Captain Innes.”
He clearly relished this chance to order Mr. Slade about in front of everyone. Mr. Slade’s expression was stoic, but I could tell he disliked the idea of parading Captain Innes before the Queen like a trophy from a hunt. I myself didn’t want to see the man again.
“Yes, my lord,” Mr. Slade said, and departed.
Soon he returned with two soldiers escorting Captain Innes. I was shocked at the change in Innes. He shambled into the drawing room like a lame old man. His hair was disheveled, his shirt blood-stained, his face bruised: Lord Unwin’s men had apparently rough-handled him during the interrogation. His eyes were wild, crazed.
“Ah. Greetings, Captain Innes,” Lord Unwin said, his manner filled with contempt. “Face up to the sovereign you swore to serve and then betrayed.”
As the Queen and Prince Consort stared at him, Captain Innes shrank from them. “No,” he muttered. “Please. I can’t!” But the soldiers pushed him onto his knees before the Queen.
She beheld him with as much hurt as hatred. “I trusted you, and you deceived me. How could you?”
Captain Innes broke into loud, shuddering sobs. “I had no choice! Please forgive me, Your Majesty.” He proffered his clasped, trembling hands to her. I could almost pity him. “Please let me make up for what I’ve done!”
The Queen’s glowering silence refused his entreaty. Lord Unwin said, “You certainly shall make up for your betrayal of your Queen. Tonight you will help us capture Mr. Kuan.”
“No!” Terror shone in Captain Innes’s streaming eyes. “I told you I won’t. I can’t!”
I felt a shock that I saw mirrored on Mr. Slade’s face. Lord Unwin had given us to understand that he had persuaded Captain Innes to cooperate. Now we realized that he had not.
“Don’t be obstreperous, man,” Lord Unwin snapped. Perhaps he had hoped that bringing Captain Innes before the Queen would break his resistance. “It’s the least you can do to restore your honor before you’re executed.”
“I beg you to have mercy!” Captain Innes cried, lurching to his feet. “If I betray Kuan, he’ll punish my family. Kuan is invincible. You’ll never get him, no matter what. Do as you wish to me, but please spare my wife and children!”
I saw that the captain feared Kuan more than he did the law; he cared more for his kin than repentance. Although I could hardly blame him, dismay filled me. What would we do if he refused to cooperate? I thought he’d been promised that his family would be protected; that had been part of Mr. Slade’s plan. Lord Unwin had obviously neglected to execute that part, whether out of arrogance or sheer stupidity.
Consternation registered on Lord Unwin’s face. I saw his fear that he would disgrace himself in front of the Queen. “You will help us whether you like it or not.”
“No!” Captain Innes cried.
Panic-stricken, he bolted. Mr. Slade and the agents lunged to grab him, but he was quicker than I would have imagined a man his age, in his condition, could be. He hurtled across the drawing room past the Queen and Prince Consort, who uttered sounds of alarm.