“You take the St. Martin’s road out of town, in the direction of the cliffs,” said Ffoulkes. “At the crest of the road, there is a very narrow footpath, but you must watch for it or else you shall miss it. The footpath leads down to the cliffs, where you will find the cottage, securely nestled on the hillside and well hidden from the road and any prying eyes who would not know to look for it. Blanchard is old, as I have said, and a bit of a recluse. He has an arrangement with a local Jew named Reuben Goldstein to bring him supplies from town occasionally. Outside of that, he has no contact with anyone. It seemed ideal.”
“Yes, it does seem ideal,” Finn said. “You’ve done well, Andrew. It sounds like exactly what we need.”
Ffoulkes smiled, obviously pleased. “What have you learned of the Marquis de Sevigne?”
Finn gave him the information Fitzroy had provided. “He is at present hiding in the apartments of Armand St. Just.”
“An inspired hiding place!” said Ffoulkes. “Who would think of seeking a wanted aristocrat in the home of one of the members of the Committee of Public Safety?”
“Nevertheless, he must be moved quite soon,” said Finn. “St. Just must be very careful. We have to keep any contact with him to a minimum, for his own protection. So long as the marquis is there, St. Just is in great danger.”
Ffoulkes nodded, grimly. “Indeed. He must be moved at once. Where will he be taken? To our hideout near the West Barricade?”
“That’s right,” said Lucas. “He will be taken there tomorrow night, but we cannot risk keeping him there for very long. We must move swiftly.”
“Tomorrow night,” said Finn. “Shortly before daybreak.” “You plan to take him out when the gates are closed?” said Ffoulkes. “How will you get past the guards?”
“Leave that to me,” said Finn. “Recent escapes have been conducted in broad daylight. They will be much more vigilant now during the normal hours of traffic in and out of Paris. We must alter our tactics and keep them off balance.”
“Very well,” said Ffoulkes. “What’s to be my part?”
“Two of our men, Wilberforce and Barrett, have already left for Paris,” Lucas said. “They will be at the apartment to meet the marquis when he arrives. They will then await further instructions.”
“For the time being, remain here,” said Finn. “Don’t go out after Thursday. Expect to hear from us anytime after then. Send Rodney Moore and the Byrne brothers to Pere Blanchard’s hut. The marquis will be brought there. Make sure that Blanchard realizes that he will be implicated if he betrays us. Lucas and I shall meet you here. When we arrive and you know that it is safe, you will go to Pere Blanchard’s hut and signal the Day Dream, which will be lying off Cap Gris Nez. Tony will send a boat for you. Lucas and I shall arrange for separate passage back to Dover. The others return on board the Day Dream. Wilberforce and Barrett will be on their own and they understand the risks. Any questions?”
“You are leaving for Paris immediately, then?”
Finn nodded.
“That still does not leave you much time.”
“Time enough,” said Finn. “The important thing to remember is not to make our friend Brogard suspicious. Don’t forget, we’re dissolute young Englishmen with time and money on our hands, out to replenish our cellars with French grape. Ask a lot of questions around town to that effect between now and Thursday. Who is selling? What are they selling? Who is liable to offer the best price? And if you should run into any good bargains, feel free to buy me several cases.”
Ffoulkes laughed and they parted company. As they posted to Paris in great haste, Finn’s depression over Marguerite vanished completely, giving way to professional concern.
“What do you want to bet that Mongoose tries it again this time?” said Finn.
“If he does, it’ll mean one of two things,” said Lucas.
“Since he can’t fool Fitzroy into keeping him briefed anymore, he’ll have to have some sort of pipeline into the TIA team for information.”
“Possible, I suppose, but highly unlikely,” Finn said.
“I agree. The other alternative is that he’s been watching us very, very closely because there’s just no other way he’d know what we were planning.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Finn said. “It’s occurred to me that he might have infiltrated us. For all we know, he could be one of the boys in the league, since we have no idea what he looks like now. Come to think of it, we never knew what he really looked like, did we? He’s changed his appearance so many damn times, I wonder if he knows what he really looks like anymore. I’ve cut down the odds as much as I could when I planned this operation. No one knew in advance what they’d have to do.”
“That still leaves room for error,” Lucas said.
“Yes, and doubt. Still, it’s about as tight as it could be, I think. We know for sure that Ffoulkes is okay because he took delivery of Leforte from Mongoose and Dewhurst was with him the night I met Mongoose in the maze, which also eliminates Dewhurst. Besides, Briggs was with Dewhurst when Leforte was snatched. That still leaves the others. Wilberforce and Barrett have orders not to leave each other’s sight. Rodney Moore is with the Byrne brothers, so no one will be alone. At least, no one should be alone except for Andy Ffoulkes. Have I left anything out?”
“No, that covers it. If anyone is where they shouldn’t be we’ve got ourselves a suspect. If they all alibi each other, then that scratches all of them and we can concentrate on the ones who remained behind on this trip. It’s slow, but it’s steady. It might work.”
“It had better work,” said Finn. “Well, you going to take the first shift or shall I?”
“You go ahead and sleep,” said Lucas. “I’ll wake you at the first change of horses.”
They reached Paris without incident the next night and Finn paid the driver a handsome bonus, as promised, for keeping up a breakneck pace all the way. The exhausted driver took the money as though it were contaminated, coming from English hands, but it was quite a large sum and he did not complain.
The first thing they did upon entering the city was to check in at the safehouse with Fitzroy, who had established new quarters for himself near the Place de la Revolution. Even though they had traveled with all possible speed, they were running short of time, according to their schedule. Fitzroy confirmed that Alan Wilberforce and John Barrett had taken up their station in the tiny apartment near the West Barricade.
“The marquis should be there right now,” Fitzroy said. “You still have some time, but you cut it pretty close.”
“That was the plan,” said Finn. “I want no problems or mistakes this time.”
“I see,” Fitzroy said. “I trust that there will be none. I’ve obtained the disguise you asked for. We still have a little time left. While you’re getting prepared, we can go over the plan.”
The streets were nearly empty as they neared their destination. It was very late and only a few people were about. Finn and Lucas had both changed their clothing. They appeared to be ordinary citizens and Finn had added a dark wig, whiskers, and a moustache, along with some additional facial makeup, so that he could meet with Wilberforce and Barrett and not be recognized as Percy Blakeney.
“If Wilberforce and Barrett do their part right, it should all go smoothly,” Lucas said. “Unless one of them is Mongoose.”
“We’ll know soon enough,” said Finn. “Just don’t turn your back on either of them. One more time. You three start shooting your pistols at…?”
“Three on the dot,” said Lucas.
“Good. I’ll wait until I hear the ruckus, then I’ll make my move with the marquis. As soon as the guards get drawn away, I’m going for the gate. They’ll probably leave a couple of men on the gate unless we get real lucky, but they’ll be tired after a full shift and shouldn’t pose a problem. I just hope to hell the horses are where Fitzroy said they would be.”
“We’ve gone over it with him twice,” said Lucas. “They’ll be there. I just hope the marquis doesn’t panic on us.”
“If he does, I’ll put him to sleep for a little while,” said Finn. “I’ll get him to Cap Gris Nez if I have to carry him.”
They turned down a narrow side street and walked halfway down the block until they came to the house where Wilberforce and Barrett were waiting with the marquis. The room was on the second floor. The windows
