Charming a Spy by Elizabeth Chance Read Free Book Online Page A

until recently. Now it seems the weather is about to turn. If you’ll excuse us, we should be on our way.”
    “Did you notice what Ms. Dubois was wearing?” Ms. Grier remarked when they were out of earshot. “I swear I’ve told her before that green really isn’t her color. I consider myself a very good friend. But as many times as you try to help some people, they don’t always listen.”
    *
    Later that day at White’s Club
    “You are simply out of practice, my friend,” Pennington said, putting down his billiards queue.
    “Pennington, when I want your opinion, I will ask for it.” Geoff said. He took a seat in the club’s Lounge room.
    “My, aren’t you cheery today? Does this have anything to do with a certain gorgeous brunette with startling green eyes, by any chance?” After all these years, Pennington’s intuition still caught him off guard.
    “I started to plant a seed there to begin a courtship…”
    “I believe you may have done more than plant a seed, Stamwell. Don’t give me that look. I am merely saying I saw the woman in question returning from a lengthy hiatus from the ballroom looking more than a little flustered. Her hair was mussed, lips slightly swollen. I saw her beg her aunt to leave a few minutes later.”
    Pennington winked and sat next to his friend.
    “Good to see your powers of deduction are still honed, good man. Don’t celebrate yet though. I think I messed it all up this morning, and I don’t mean her hair.”
    “What did you do now?” Pennington asked.
    “I took the other one, the Grier girl, to Hyde Park to go riding and ran into Ms. Dubois and her aunt out strolling. You could say she was less than pleased to see me taking another woman for a ride after our assignation last night.”
    “Ouch.”
    “Yes, quite. I don’t know how I’m supposed to conduct affairs with two ladies at the same time without being discovered. London isn’t so big, you know.”
    “Or perhaps it is too big,” Pennington said.
    Geoff crossed his legs and shifted back to study the expression on Pennington’s face.
    “There you go with your riddles again, man. Just say what you mean.”
    “You are a bear this morning,” he scolded.
    Perhaps he was right, but the thought of Katherine thinking poorly of him got under his skin. Too much.
    “What I’m saying is, instead of trying to court two women alongside one another in London, bring them both to the country for a house party.”
    “I don’t see how that solves anything. Then I’m stuck with both of them at the same time,” Geoff answered.
    “Precisely. The surest way to conduct an affair, or in this case, multiple affairs, is to strand yourself on an island with the young ladies in question. The island being your family seat. Think about it, you’ll be stuck in the country with lots of time to go for walks or play cards or simply disappear into the conservatory… with one of them at a time.”
    “That would speed things along considerably, wouldn’t it?”
    “Absolutely. We’ll invite some other families to give the appearance of a proper house party. All of the mothers will assume you’ve narrowed down your list of marriageable candidates and are throwing the soiree so other bachelors are out of the way until you’ve made your decision. Perhaps Rafe Grier might even come back from Germany for the event, especially once he hears that his sister may be in the running to become duchess.”
    “Brilliant.”
    “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”
    “Pennington, you truly are a genius strategist.”
    “Actually, it’s Sun Tzu from the Art of War,” Pennington said, taking a sip of his brandy, looking not at all surprised Geoff hadn’t ever heard of him.
    Pennington’s plan might work. Seducing Ms. Dubois and Ms. Grier was the key to figuring out whether Luke Dubois really was the traitor who gave away the British position at the Battle of Corunna.
    Almost a thousand men died on one day. And one man,