“My superiors saw an opportunity, where I saw only infidelity. They would send me on reconnaissance to the north, though I was to tell Meli that I was scouting terrain to the west. She would very naturally take advantage of my absence to further her liaison, and in all innocence, she could well pass along to Deschamps the nature of my excursion.”
“The nature and direction of your excursion, and the French would go pelting off to the west, frantically searching for what drew you there.”
Upchurch nodded. “I would tell her I was away to secure more ammunition because our powder stores were low when in fact I was scouring the countryside for horses, and well stocked with powder. Another time, I explained that I was off to the coast to buy up medical supplies—we were amply stocked at that point—when I was in truth meeting with shepherds in the mountains to gain a sense of the little-used trails our scouts could take to pass into France unseen.”
“And all the while, you knew your wife was…”
“I knew she was in very great danger, Goddard. I had to pass along enough accurate information to Meli that the generals’ ruse was not detected. At the same time, I was to also send the French wrong information when it mattered, through a conduit who to this day has no notion of the extent of the intrigue her little affair engendered.”
“I still don’t see how I come into it.” Though Orion had to admit that he did not envy Upchurch this contretemps.
“Deschamps and Meli grew careless, and Meli would sneak out of camp after dark to meet him. Not often, but frequently enough that I feared somebody would notice.”
Between one tick of the mantel clock and the next, the whole puzzle came together. “Thus you sent me off on goose chases. Whereas some think I sold secrets to the French—hence my evening excursions—others suspect that my transgression was in some ways worse: I cuckolded my commanding officer. Or possibly I did both?”
Upchurch rose from the desk and took a key from beneath the clock on the mantel, opening the clock face to wind the mechanism.
“I put it about that you had tempted Melisande to stray and that somebody had passed information to the French, but I could not say you were that person.”
“Because,” Orion said slowly, “a man who will disrespect his commanding officer would not necessarily also disrespect the crown? No wonder your guests despise me.”
Upchurch closed the clock face and returned the key to its hiding place. “I made sure, at appropriate times and places, to emphasize that I had only suspicions, Goddard. Nobody was to call you out or confront you directly, because we lacked the evidence to do that, and it’s all getting to be very old news.”
“But your men nonetheless disparaged me at every turn. You could not let this whole situation simply pass into the great miasma of bad memories we call the war?”
Upchurch gazed at a portrait of some old fellow in muttonchops and regimentals. “Deschamps haunts me. He comes around once or twice a year, and while I trust Melisande with my life, I do not trust that man.”
“Because he’s French? Because you turned his encroachment on your marriage against his country and made a fool of him?”
Upchurch shook his head, and another layer of complications sorted itself out.
“Because,” Orion said, “the child in your nursery could be half French.” Hence Deschamps lurking in the park, where most of London’s best families would occasionally take their children for some fresh air.
“Melisande and I don’t speak of it, and I am not a man given to excessive sentiment, but I would hate to lose either Melisande or our daughter. I could not have anybody connecting Melisande to Deschamps, not ever, and you were a handy if unwitting decoy. I do apologize for that.”
Profanity came to mind and some blunt instructions regarding what Upchurch could do with his apology. “Why steal the champagne?”
“I am desperate to have you gone, Goddard, and that Frenchie cook at the Coventry occasionally has wine for sale at bargain rates. I strongly hinted to him of an opportunity, and his greed did the rest.”
“You put a boy up to stealing my sword?”
Now, finally, Upchurch had the grace to look ashamed. “He was bragging to one of his mates at the intersection about your sword being nearly as long as he was tall, about how he guarded your stables at night. I made some inquiries at the corner pub. The lad’s father has been taken up for sedition, and I agreed to look into the matter.”
“Have you looked into the matter?” Of all the offenses Upchurch had committed, and he’d committed many, putting Victor at risk to hang was the worst.
“The man will be released at the end of the month. The boy was torn, Goddard, but loyalty to his family won out. I assured him the sword would be returned to you and that this was a prank between officers.”
Some prank. The clock ticked on the mantel, the hum of conversation came from the library, and Rye mentally scheduled a difficult discussion with young Victor.
“You should call me out,” Upchurch said. “I’m not the dead shot I was as a younger man, but I could still give a good account of myself, if that’s why you hesitate. My affairs are in order.”
“My affairs are not,” Orion said. “Much to my surprise, I am entangled with everybody from little old French ladies to street urchins to in-laws connected to an earldom. Besides, you would delope, noble old hypocrite that you are, and you’ve already apologized.”
Then too, Rye had promised himself to eschew attempting to solve problems with violence, and the noble old hypocrite was Ann’s uncle.
“My apology is sincere. I concocted the scheme of scapegoating you years ago, Goddard. The whole affair took on a life of its own when Deschamps kept circling the camp, as it were, and certain generals recalled you by name. I am glad we’ve cleared the air.”
All personal vows aside, Orion dearly, dearly wanted to meet Upchurch on the field of honor, but if the choice of weapons were swords, a bad hip and an eye sensitive to bright light could see him killed. Then too, Upchurch had been caught up in a war, spying, marital difficulties, and the demands of command.
And finally, if all went according to Rye’s wildest dreams, Upchurch would become family.
“We have not cleared my name,” Rye said, “but you can tend to that detail now.”
“I refuse to compromise Melisande’s reputation, Goddard. Her socializing is all she has. But for Ann’s kindness earlier this evening, even that could have been taken from her. This ends now, between us as gentlemen.”
“If you had been more attentive to your wife when she was a new bride, you could have spared us all years of stupidity. I have no intention of dragging Melisande’s reputation anywhere, but neither will I have my own bride inconvenienced by your schemes.”
“You and Ann intend to marry.” Upchurch sighed a defeated man’s sigh. “Melisande and I will leave Town, then. Meli won’t like it, but winter approaches and—”
“You can leave Town if you like, though retreating to France never did anything to resolve my own troubles. Before you tuck tail and run, however, you will impart a few salient facts to that pack of sots and buffoons in your library. Listen closely, for I don’t intend to repeat myself.”