"Oh? Then you'll approach her about working for us?"

"If you are still interested."

"I am. I would ask her myself but I am leaving for Devonshire later today." Lucian paused. "You know my assistant, Philip Barton? If you discover anything at all of importance, contact Philip. He'll know what to do."

Dare nodded. "Give my love to Brynn," he said absently, his mind already debating how he would broach the subject with Julienne. "By the time you return, I should have something to report."

Chapter Ten

Dare allowed nearly a week to pass, however, before approaching Julienne. He forced himself to keep away for several reasons.

The first and most practical was to let Riddingham think he was winning the beautiful Jewel. Too swift an about-face might raise questions in the viscount's mind and call unwanted attention to his drunken divulgences about his friends and the dead companion.

The second, Dare calculated, was to increase Julienne's eagerness for their next encounter. She had asked to hear the outcome of his interrogation, and delaying his disclosure would only whet her curiosity.

And the last, most critical reason was to give himself time to try to control his obsession with her. The effort, however, had been futile, Dare realized as he sat in his box at the Drury Lane Theater watching the current play, Richard III.

It was a brilliant performance. From the first lines, Edmund Kean's genius shone through as he portrayed the evil Richard, who had murdered his way to a throne and then to his own destruction. But Julienne as Lady Anne was a perfect foil for him as she attempted to avoid Richard's deadly spider's web.

The wooing scene during the mourning procession for the late king was a public match between two wily opponents, a twisted mating dance rife with almost erotic undercurrents.

Dare, like the rest of the audience, sat riveted. The scene took on added meaning because of his own public mating dance with Julienne. He frequently felt himself the focus of probing glances from the bejeweled lords and ladies in the adjoining boxes.

He knew the ending of Shakespeare's play, of course. Lady Anne lost the battle with Richard and her life, poisoned after she had served her turn. But it became stunningly clear to Dare as he watched Julienne's dazzling performance that he was fighting a losing battle himself.

Your beauty was the cause.… Your beauty that did haunt me in my sleep.

He'd tried to convince himself that in time he would get over her. But she had crawled under his skin again, damn her.

Nothing could stop him from wanting her constantly, endlessly. Nothing would stop him from pursuing her.

Not even knowing the pain he might suffer in the end.

Dare left the theater immediately after the performance, intending to wait for Julienne at her lodgings. A chill wind whipped around his greatcoat as he stood on the street while his town coach was summoned from the long queue of carriages.

When a footman opened the coach door for him, Dare started to enter. But then he caught sight of a small object resting on the velvet seat, gleaming in the light of the carriage lamps.

A piece of jewelry. A pin, perhaps. Picking it up, he inspected the design. A flower… with stem and leaves of gold and petals made of pearls. A rose?

A dark suspicion struck Dare suddenly. What was it Lucian had said as they'd stood over Alice Watson's bloated body? She wore a rose-shaped pearl broach that was thought to be gift from her lover. Was this the broach that had been torn from the dead girl's collar? And how in hell had it come to be on his carriage seat?

Was it the work of her killer?

Dare's head whipped around, and he searched the crowds milling in the street in front of the theater. A fortnight ago he'd deliberately announced he was hunting a deadly traitor named Caliban. Was this the response?

Was Caliban taunting him by leaving clues? Watching him even now? Was Caliban the girl's killer?

Dare's mouth tightened grimly. It was difficult to believe the two were unrelated.

He intended to question his coachman and footmen, but he doubted he would find any leads as to who had placed the broach here. Caliban was too clever.

This time, however, the treacherous mastermind had overplayed his hand. Caliban might delight in showing his superiority by mocking his opponents and stirring fear in their hearts, Dare thought stonily. But this apparent attempt to intimidate him only strengthened his resolve to find the traitor and bring him to justice.

It was after midnight when a hackney carriage deposited Julienne in front of her lodgings and then rattled off down the mist-shrouded street.

When a dark figure stepped out of the shadows, she gasped and fumbled in her reticule for the small but deadly blade she carried for protection.

"Late night?" Dare asked casually as moonlight illuminated his handsome features.

Julienne put a hand to her heart. "Dare!" Her tone held both relief and vexation. "You frightened ten years off my life!"

"The play has been over for hours."

Frowning, she studied him in the dim light, trying to read his enigmatic expression. "I accepted Riddingham's invitation for supper." When he made no reply, she lowered her voice. "You can hardly object when you yourself asked me to be with him. Moreover, I haven't even seen you in days."

"Did you miss me?"

"No," Julienne lied. "But I expected you to contact me sooner-although not at this hour of the night."

"Will you invite me in?"

Julienne hesitated. "This is a respectable rooming house. The landlady won't look kindly on my entertaining a gentleman caller, especially one of your notoriety."

"She doesn't need to know."

"She is extremely watchful."

"I came to report on my investigation of Riddingham," Dare said when she still wavered, "but if you prefer I left…"

"No," Julienne replied in a rough whisper. "Just please keep your voice down."

"I watched your performance tonight," Dare murmured as he followed her to the front door.

"I know. I saw you." She didn't add that she had scanned the audience each and every night since that first one, searching for Dare's shining gilt hair. Nor did she confess the leap of gladness that had surged through her when she'd spied him tonight, or her disappointment when he never came backstage to the green room.

After using her key to unlock the door, Julienne lit a taper in the entrance hall. Quietly she led him up the dark stairway and down a corridor to the rooms she had rented for the season.

The parlor was chilly, for she preferred to avoid the expense of lighting a fire when she would only be going to bed in a short while. The bedchamber would have coals burning in the grate, though, since she paid the landlady to see to it before her expected return from the theater each night.

Leaving on her cloak, Julienne offered Dare a seat, but he remained standing. As she lit a lamp, his glance took in the sparse furnishings, and he frowned.

"So what happened with Riddingham?" Julienne asked, not wanting to defend her modest dwelling or her decision not to spend her salary on greater luxuries. "Did you discover if his friends knew the companion?"

"Sir Stephen was seen speaking with her at Lady Castlereagh's rout. But there was also a stranger who appeared to claim her interest. I've passed on the information for investigation. With any luck it could put us a step closer to finding Caliban."

"So what now?"

"We continue the hunt."

She gave him a look of exasperation. "Is that all you intend to tell me?"

"That depends on you, Julienne."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been commissioned to offer you a job."

"A job?"

"As a spy for the British government."

Taken aback by his unexpected answer, she stared at him.

"The gentleman," Dare explained, "who heads intelligence in the Foreign Office believes you could be an asset to the country, since you have entree to the emigre community. If you worked for us, you would be required to glean any information you can on the intrigues of the Royalists and pass it on. The government will pay you, of course."

His glance took in the shabby parlor, and she could tell what he was thinking: that she could obviously use the income. She remembered as well that Dare thought her greedy and grasping. No doubt he believed there was little she wouldn't do for money.

Julienne pressed her lips together. "I wonder that your offer comes now," she said coolly. "Is it because I proved my usefulness by helping you with Riddingham?"

"That, and the fact that your actions seem to absolve you of guilt."

"Guilt?"

Dare's green gaze bored into her. "I couldn't be certain of your complicity when I first saw your close association with Riddingham. For all I knew, he was Caliban, and you were in league with him."

Her breath caught at his implication. "You thought I was in league with… You suspected me of treason!"

"The possibility did cross my mind." Dare smiled with a hint of mockery. "This isn't the first time your name has been linked with the Bonapartists."

Julienne felt herself tremble. "Are you speaking of the charges your grandfather laid against me?"

When he remained silent, a raw upwelling of grief and fury coursed through her. Seven years ago she had been the victim of his grandfather's evil machinations, when she had been completely innocent.