“Certainly. Cold out here. Always damned cold, railway platforms, don’t you think?” With alacrity, Duke Alois gave the mayor a small salute, and disappeared into the very handsomely decorated first-class carriage, Pitt a step behind him.
Duke Alois looked around approvingly. “Oh, very comfortable,” he said with satisfaction. “Plenty of room.” He looked at his own escort, standing to attention, waiting for his orders. “You chaps can busy yourselves doing whatever you do, looking out of carriage windows, or watching doors, or whatever. The commander here will have a cup of tea.” He looked at Pitt. “Won’t you?” It was a question, but the look in his light blue eyes was level and unflinching. In its own discreet way it was an order.
“I’d prefer to make sure of the rest of the carriage, sir, if you don’t mind,” Pitt answered.
Duke Alois laughed. “For heaven’s sake, man, have your fellow here do it.” He gestured toward Stoker. “I’m sure he’s excellent. If you brought only him, you can’t really imagine that there’s anything to worry about.”
“There are others,” Pitt told him.
“Very good. Then we shall have a cup of tea, and leave them to it. Come.” He opened the compartment door, and Pitt was obliged to accept.
The duke closed the door, sat down in one of the very comfortable seats, and crossed his legs, indicating the seat opposite for Pitt. Pitt sat down awkwardly; Narraway might have been versed in the art of conversation to entertain an Austrian duke, but Pitt was very definitely not. They could not have had less in common.
Pitt had no interest whatsoever in philosophy, or the more abstract sciences he had been told Duke Alois devoted his time to.
“Very good,” Duke Alois repeated with a smile, stretching out his long legs. “Now we can talk.”
Pitt swallowed. This was the one nightmare he had not foreseen, and he had no idea how to deal with it. What possible excuse could he make to escape?
“I was hoping you would come,” Alois continued. “Rather overplayed the bit about Staum,” he went on. “Nasty little swine, but actually he’s one of ours. Reibnitz too. Have to use them, now and then. I expect you have such men yourself.”
“I beg your p-pardon, sir?” Pitt stammered.
Duke Alois looked amused. His face radiated a pleasure that made him look more relaxed, less studious, and far more like a man on vacation. Was it possible he was even in some way enjoying this? Had he no conception of danger?
Pitt drew in his breath and tried to speak levelly, courteously. For all Duke Alois’s divorce from reality-and, heaven knew, the Habsburgs had bred more than their fair share of imbeciles-he was still a royal duke.
“Sir, we cannot afford to take any threats lightly,” he began.
“I don’t,” Alois assured him. “I am quite aware that it is serious, which is why we should have our conversation immediately, just in case we should be disturbed.”
“Sir-” Pitt began.
Duke Alois held up a hand. “Please don’t interrupt,” he requested. “It is the whole purpose of my journey.” He saw Pitt’s bewilderment. A brief, wry smile lit his face for a moment, then disappeared. “You find that absurd? Good. That means, at least so far, I am succeeding.”
Pitt gritted his teeth.
The duke leaned forward. Now his face was totally earnest. “You have a traitor in your government, Commander Pitt. In your Foreign Office, to be precise. I am happy to give you all the details I have, which are considerable.”
Pitt swallowed. He was out of his depth, but he did not wish Alois to know it.
“And why would you do this, sir?” he asked with what he hoped was an expression of polite interest.
“Because I wish to establish a good working relationship with British Special Branch,” Alois replied. “I believe we may turn this particular gentleman into a double agent, to both our advantages.”
A wild idea occurred to Pitt. He looked at Alois’s face, at his level, intense stare. It was suddenly very apparent that the man had a depth of political intelligence he chose to mask. Pitt took a deep breath and plunged in. “You are speaking of Lord Tregarron, I presume?” His heart pounded so hard it almost choked him.
Slowly Alois smiled, ruefully, like a child whose game has been spoiled. He let out a sigh. “Damn! I thought I had something worth trading. Have I tipped my hand for nothing?”
More wild ideas chased across Pitt’s imagination. “Not necessarily,” he replied. “I have only just realized Tregarron’s treason. I assume it has to do with his father, and Serafina Montserrat, at least to begin with?”
“Indeed. Rather before my time. Even before my predecessor’s,” Alois replied.
“Your predecessor?” Pitt questioned.
“As Victor Narraway was yours,” Alois answered. “The difference between your position and mine is only that I prefer to allow everyone to presume that my only interests are science and philosophy, intellectual hobbies that are of no practical use. It allows me a much greater freedom. Everyone of importance to your position knows exactly who you are. That also must have its advantages, but then, our systems are different. We, alas, are an empire very much in decline. And our emperor is less checked by any parliament than your queen is-or perhaps I should say empress, since she is empress of India, I believe.”
“For what purpose might Tregarron be turned to both our advantages?” Pitt managed to ask, stunned by this revelation.
Alois gave a slight shrug. “I am head of my country’s ‘Special Branch,’ as you are of yours. I do what I think is in our best interest. It is not always exactly what my government would do. But then, I have knowledge that it does not, and perhaps I can see a little further ahead than it can. I am sure you will find yourself in the same position occasionally. It would be to my advantage if Tregarron’s information came directly to me.”
“Doesn’t it anyway?” Pitt asked drily.
“Unfortunately not. It is dictated by Mr. Blantyre, the only one who is aware of Tregarron’s late father’s treason, and his adultery with Mrs. Montserrat. The present Lord Tregarron is particularly concerned that his mother, who is still very much alive, should not learn of it.”
“I think she was probably perfectly aware of it at the time,” Pitt observed.
“Of the affair, probably,” Alois conceded. “The treason is an entirely different matter. How did you know of it, by the way?”
“I deduced it,” Pitt replied, wanting to keep Jack’s name out of the matter.
Duke Alois waited, his clear blue eyes steady, searching Pitt’s face.
“It was the only answer that fit with certain other information I had,” Pitt told him. Then he smiled to indicate that that was all he was going to say on the subject.
“I see. A pity that I had no opportunity to tell you sooner. It is not something I would like known any more widely. It would destroy its possible usefulness.” Alois made a slight gesture of regret, but he did not evade Pitt’s gaze, leaving the question open.
Pitt wanted to weigh every possibility and discuss them with Narraway, but knew that was impossible. He tried to think of any comparable arrangement in the past, and could remember none. If it had ever happened, it was not recorded. But then if he accepted Duke Alois’s offer now, he would make no written record of it, at least not for general Special Branch availability. He must decide within the next few minutes. Was he giving Alois a weapon to use against him? Making an agreement perhaps useful to both of them? Earning a favor that might be reclaimed at some future time? Were such favors repaid?
Duke Alois was waiting.
“Fine,” he said. “Tregarron is a man in an extremely awkward position, but he is not a fool.”
Duke Alois smiled with wry regret, and perhaps a touch of pity. “I know what you mean, and of course you are right. Excellent. We shall both prosper from it, if we are careful.”
Pitt was far less certain, but he did not want Alois to know that; it would make him appear indecisive. He tried to keep the doubt from his face. “And how will you know if the information I give to Tregarron is true or false in the first place?” he asked.
“A gentleman’s agreement,” Duke Alois said dryly, meeting Pitt’s eyes.
“You are a gentleman,” Pitt responded. “I’m not.”
“You are a gamekeeper’s son,” Alois said. “Which means you have a good servant’s sense of honor. I am a prince, which means I have very little sense of honor at all, only such as I choose.”
Pitt was startled that Alois knew so much about him, then realized that he should have expected it. He also
