Once Rosemonde had left Annabel hailed another cab, they were going to have to get to the ball very quickly or Alexander would realize that something must be wrong. This gave George time to think about everything that had happened and start to piece it together. He had told himself that he wasn't going to question his new boss but now that everything was over he had far too much unanswered to not curb at least a little of his curiosity.
“So that was your teacher we just saved? You could have told me you know.” George hadn't meant to say the last part and he was shocked and more then a little appalled to hear his own reproachful tone. To his shock though Annabel looked guilty and ashamed instead of angry with him.”
“It wasn't like I didn't trust you really. I didn't think you were going to go report us, I just wasn't sure how loyal you were going to be. We were doing something dangerous and had you been captured before the plan went through I didn't want you falling to torture. The world is not kind to captured spies and I was afraid. Monsieur Rosemonde is very important to me if you couldn't tell.”
“You don't have to worry about it, I'm not really angry with you,” George was ashamed in turn for making Annabel feel bad. “I just wanted to let you know that you can trust me. I am not going to give you away.” They fell silent after this declaration, both of them too embarrassed to say anything else. It continued this way until they were safely in the cab on their way to the ball. It was the most privacy they had had together truly for several days. Even when they had been alone before the job had been looming over them in such a way that they both felt like they were being watched. If only for a couple of minutes they were free.
“Monsieur Rosemonde taught you how to do your work as a spy then?” George asked. It had been on his mind since hearing the conversation between Rosemonde and Annabel.
“He taught me French first, when I was only around twelve. The government was looking for females with connections to act as spies back then though and he saw talent in me. Being a French refugee the government had a lot of interest in him and he had their ears. So he taught me both the language and how to serve my country and I will be forever grateful to him. I hadn't seen him in years though, when Napoleon offered asylum to the refugees the English government ordered Monsieur Rosemonde back across the channel to serve as our eyes and ears. I had thought I would never see him again and I actually cried when I heard that he had been taken captive.”
“But our government freed him,” George pointed out. “You must have known that they would.”
“You should know, if you want to continue this life, that spies rarely last long enough to be saved once they are captive. Even when they do last long enough there are times when the government of your country chooses to simply pretend that you never existed. Monsieur Rosemonde was lucky, he knows things that the English would like to know so he was worth freeing. Hope that you are so lucky if the time comes,” Annabel added bitterly. “It is part of my prayers nightly.”
“I would like to continue working with you,” George admitted. “I don't think I would like working with anyone else but I don't mind working under you.” She nodded her head and he took that to be assent. He decided he wasn't going to tell her that the real reason he wanted to continue working with her was a vague chivalric feeling she was vulnerable and needed protecting. She seemed like the sort who would take that badly, even if the rest of the world would agree that was his duty as a gentleman. He wasn't going to tell her that he was seriously considering asking her to marry him, well not yet. That could come, with time, and Alexander could bring on all of his duels.
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