Charlie paced the length of the small captain’s quarters of the King’s Grace, shooting anxious glances at her mother. This room was as stiff and lacking in personality as the man it belonged to. The bed, the writing desk, and the chair were bolted to the ground. Nothing resided in the desk’s drawers except paper, ink, and maps. The only evidence of personal belongings was a locked chest stuffed beneath the bed. By the time Charlie had finished one tour of the room, she had learned everything about Anthony Graylocke that there was to know.

She didn’t know why his sister, Lucy, missed him so much. For although he was a captain in the Royal Navy, he didn’t even have the loyalty to his country that the other Graylocke brothers did. If he had, he would have been taking her to France like she’d asked.

“You’re going to wear out the floorboards,” Mama warned, perched on the chair.

Charlie flounced to the bed and sat. It was as uncomfortable as the last bed she’d occupied. “We’re going in the wrong direction. Why won’t he listen to me? We’re family, and he should trust me.” Even if he didn’t, she had a missive from Lord Strickland demanding that he trust her. He hadn’t even looked at the page. He only tucked it in his pocket and told her to gather her belongings and bring them onto his ship if she was so adamant. Then he’d turned them north, not south.

“He will,” Mama reassured. She didn’t sound nearly as upset over the delay as Charlie.

Charlie wondered why, because Mama hadn’t seen Papa in just as long as Charlie, although she had long known of his involvement in the spy network. The entire ruse had been concocted between them and the government so that Mama would be forced to beg sanctuary from Papa’s nearest relative, Lord Harker. Charlie hadn’t known that Harker had been a French spymaster until after he died shortly before Freddie’s marriage, but Mama had. She’d been watching him for the Crown for years, while Freddie struggled to look after them and Charlie prepared for a coming-out she didn’t want.

Mama added, “He has a duty to uphold, too. I’m certain that, as soon as he sees to that, he’ll be free to render his assistance. If not, we’ll find somebody else.”

Charlie pulled her knees up to her chest and nibbled on her lower lip. “Aren’t you worried we’ll be too late?”

Turning in the chair, Mama reached out a hand and threaded her fingers through Charlie’s. “Yes, I am,” she confessed.

Charlie pulled away. “Then go out there—convince him to turn around!”

“I can’t. If that directive from Lord Strickland hasn’t convinced him, nothing short of a command from his superior will do so.” Mama wrung her skirts, the only outward sign that she was just as impatient as Charlie. “Whether we reach the continent in two hours or ten, it makes little difference.”

“Does it?” Charlie pressed her lips together. The mattress swung as she crawled to rest her back against the wall. “Papa’s been missing for nearly two weeks. What will you do if we arrive only to find that we’re two hours too late?”

Wrinkles formed in the corners of Mama’s eyes. “That might happen no matter how quickly we cross. He disappeared with vital, sensitive information. We aren’t the only people looking for him.”

Charlie bit the inside of her cheek. “I don’t care what he knows about Monsieur V or the plot that French monster put into place before Tristan shot him. I only want to see my father again.”

If Morgan Graylocke, the Duke of Tenwick, had heard her say that, he might not have allowed her to accompany Mama. Mama had already been on edge about bringing Charlie along into the thick of danger, but Charlie hadn’t been afraid to use every weapon in her arsenal. One of those weapons was the fact that she knew Mama was still an active spy, despite others in the family believing she had retired. Charlie had caught her leaving for meetings with persons unknown more than once, and she’d leveraged that to convince her mother that she was observant and keen enough to go with her. Charlie wanted to see Papa again—and if Mama couldn’t stop her, one stubborn navy captain wasn’t going to, either.

Mama sighed. “I know you do. I want to see him, too. But simply because we reach France doesn’t mean we’ll find him. This will take time.”

“I know that. I’ve been practicing my French so I can search with you.” Mama was much more fluent in the language than Charlie.

Mama’s expression turned flat. “You shouldn’t be so hasty to leap into danger.”

“Why not? This is Papa… ” Her father, the man she’d thought dead for years. If she’d been able to convince Morgan, Lord Strickland’s second-in-command, to give her Papa’s location before now, she might have gone racing off to the continent sooner. Freddie was still angry with their father for gambling and splitting up the family as a means to pay off all his debts, but Charlie had forgiven him the moment she’d learned Papa was still alive.

“I know it is.” Mama sighed. “And I know you’ve a lust to see the world outside England, but your father wouldn’t thank you for putting yourself in danger. It isn’t nearly as glamorous as it sounds.”

Charlie had discovered that an hour ago when the French soldier had cornered her in the hold. Her heart sped at the memory of his face. She would likely have nightmares tonight. But that didn’t mean that she would let a little fear dissuade her from doing the right thing. “This is important—to us and to England.”

Mama nodded. “I know. That is the only reason I’m here with you now. I know he’s your father, but we have to think of him—and ourselves—as just another spy. The information he carries is what’s important, to all of England. There would be no happy reunion for us if we didn’t have a home to go back to.”

“Surely whatever this Monsieur V has set up cannot be that dire.”

Charlie hadn’t been told a lot about the late French spymaster, only that the Crown had been trying to catch him for over a year and learn his secrets, but he’d been elusive. Even dead, he was considered to be a major threat to the country. Charlie couldn’t fathom how. Surely he couldn’t truly orchestrate a coup from the grave. He must have been bluffing.

For some reason, Lucy didn’t think so. Whereas Morgan’s information about Monsieur V had been sparse, Lucy had taken the time to tell Charlie a bit more about her misadventures only a couple of months back. It was thanks to Lucy that the former French spymaster had been captured at all, even if his captivity hadn’t lasted long. Lucy seemed to think the man was capable of almost anything.

Judging by Mama’s grim expression, she agreed. “It is dire, Charlie. No matter what the cost, we must discover what your father learned about the plot so we can stop it.”

Charlie sat straighter. “Then we must turn around.”

“Don’t fret.” Mama patted Charlie’s hand. “This is only a delay. Captain Graylocke will help us. That letter we have from Lord Strickland ensures his cooperation. Once he thinks it over, he will realize that he has no choice.”