Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphreys Read Free Book Online Page A

of any pursuit.
    They were a few hundred paces along the road when they heard the dogs again. Glancing back, they saw lanterns and shapes moving
     before the shepherd’s hut. Some lingered, but a significant body set off in immediate pursuit.
    They ran faster, looking to the left for a gap in the hedgerows, a path through the fields and down to the river. Behind them,
     the horns blew again, dogs bayed. And then another sound came under it all, a rolling, crunching noise, joined by the clear
     snap of a whip. Half-turning, Jack saw the huge shape of a coach and six, moving at speed through the pursuing pack. He was
     close enough to hear the curses heaped upon the coachman.
    The vehicle drew alongside, slowing slightly to match their stride. A blind went up.
    ‘Care for a ride, Jack?’
    John Burgoyne leaned in the window, a pipe in one hand, silver flask in the other. Jack didn’t hesitate.
    ‘Much obliged, General,’ he said, swinging a foot up on to the running board. The door of the carriage opened and he threw
     himself inside while Até, a pace behind, scrambled up the rear of the coach to its roof. As he was joined, the coachman cracked
     his whip again and the six horses surged forward.
    ‘Strange … that you should just … happen by, sir,’ Jack gasped.
    ‘Strange indeed. And fortuitous, it seems.’ Burgoyne smiled at him. ‘Cognac?’
    ‘A moment … to catch my breath, sir … if you please.’
    He leaned out of the window, looked back. Darkness had enveloped the sight of pursuit. The sounds of horns, frustrated men,
     and yelping dogs retreated into the night.
    Jack sat back, then became aware of a presence beside him. He turned. ‘Ah, Miss Reardon. Please excuse the intrusion.’
    She smiled. ‘Mr Absolute, how glad I am to see you again.’ Then her smile vanished. ‘But you are wounded, sir! Quickly, may
     I help you? I have some knowledge of these matters.’
    ‘Wounded?’ He glanced down. ‘Oh, the blood is not mine.’
    And he laughed. It suddenly felt rather good to do so, so he carried on for a little while, until Burgoyne, a broad grin on
     his own face, said, ‘So, did you kill your man, Jack?’
    ‘I did not, sir. I had hoped to avoid it. I merely pricked him.’
    Burgoyne shook his head. ‘You might come to regret that. This Tarleton has built up a brutish reputation. Scarce eighteen,
     and he has already dispatched three fellows. He’s not the sort to consider honour satisfied if he loses. And he keeps some
     strange company.’
    Jack now took the flask and drank. The cognac tasted even better than it had the previous night.
    ‘Are you referring to his Second, this German Count? I did wonder about him.’
    ‘And so you should.’
    Louisa added, ‘The General believes he is aiding the Rebels in my poor country.’
    ‘In what way?’
    ‘Have you heard of the Illuminati, Jack?’
    ‘I have not.’
    Burgoyne took the flask back, drank, then continued. ‘Of course, you’ve been away. And even if you’d been here, you might
     not have … you do not move within the Mystery, do you?’
    The General was referring to the Freemasons. Jack had always avoided the Brotherhood, even though it might have aided him
     in his business ventures. He felt there was more than enough secrecy in his life, enough obligation. But he knew Burgoyne
     to be high up in the order.
    ‘I do not, sir. Are these Illuminati a lodge then?’
    ‘Of a kind. A new one, formed in Munich only last year by a man called Adam Weishaupt. A professor of religious law, apparently,
     and many of his followers are of the same ilk. Lawyers!’ Burgoyne gave the title a soldier’s contemptuous emphasis, drew on
     his pipe. ‘Yet these fellows have formed a secret society
within
a secret society. No one is quite sure what they want, though they have tried to infiltrate every lodge in the realm, succeeded
     with many. This Von Schlaben even approached me.’ Burgoyne exhaled a gout of smoke towards the carriage window.