Her smile disappeared and was replaced by a frown. She snatched the key from his fingers and busied herself placing it in her pocket.
"Thank you, Your Grace. I wasn't even aware there was a key to the desk, or a drawer to put things in." She glared up at him. "If someone had bothered to inform me of its existence, I would have been more than happy to make use of it."
"Sir John instructed you to put the documents away. Are you saying he didn't?"
She colored. "I must confess that I was so engrossed in the code that Sir John could have told me the house was on fire and I probably wouldn't have heard him."
Gervase couldn't help but believe her rueful smile and a small tense part of him relaxed. Her explanation was not only plausible but also possible. Standish, his butler, had informed him in shocked tones that Elizabeth had missed her dinner on the previous evening and had made do with a late supper.
He kissed her hand. "Promise me to lock the documents away in future? They are too valuable to be neglected. I would hate for them to fall into the wrong hands."
"I am truly sorry, Your Grace. It was foolish of me to be so careless. I promise you it will not happen again."
"Thank you, my dear." He strolled over to his desk and picked up the sheaf of parchments. "Take these and lock them up now, whilst I watch you."
Elizabeth locked the drawer and replaced the key in her pocket under the duke's gaze. "Will you run upstairs and put on your bonnet and cloak? As I mentioned last night, I've arranged for us to meet with Angelique this morning."
In her absence he donned his hat and a dove-gray driving coat with several shoulder capes. She met him in the hall and he offered her his arm. He was pleased to see that the deep lilac bonnet she had chosen framed her face most charmingly and made the most of her gray eyes.
His top boots shone in the sunlight, as did her hair, as they descended the steps and approached his carriage. The duke glanced at his tiger, who was perched on the back of the vehicle.
"I shan't need you, Joe. You may get down."
Gervase flipped a coin in the boy's direction and he descended with the agility of a monkey. Elizabeth waited until the duke assisted her into the high carriage, then settled her skirts as he walked around to the other side. He retrieved the reins, and they set off at a spanking pace through the busy thoroughfares of London.
After a while, it seemed as if Elizabeth felt able to relax, assured of his competence with the reins. He gave her a sideways glance and concentrated on threading the carriage between a slow-moving brewer's cart and a herd of sheep being driven in from the countryside to market.
"Your Grace, may I ask you something?" Elizabeth inquired as they quit the busier streets and turned down toward the river. The duke gave her a brief nod, his attention on his horses and the steep downward curve of the cobbled street.
"I understand why you need to disguise your work for the government from society, but why do you choose to live as a rake? Surely you don't need to be so, so notorious."
"Ah, does that bother you, Elizabeth? Just think. If I had not been playing cards with your stepfather on that fateful night, we would never have met." He curled his whip and touched the back of the lead horse, correcting his stride. "Do you think I should masquerade as a librarian, an antiquarian, or something more seemly?"
He searched her face. "I can see that you do. Unfortunately, the life of a rake gives me the best access to the type of person I'm trying to capture. And, it suits me very well."
Elizabeth held onto her bonnet as the wind tugged at the ribbons. "Why would the lowest and filthiest scum interest you? Surely they don't possess the ability to make or break code."
Gervase glanced over his shoulder to ensure they were unobserved, pulled over to the side of the road and drew the horses to a halt. They sat looking out over the River Thames where low tide had revealed the mud banks and hidden shallows of the busy river.
"You are correct, my dear, but have you ever considered how information and secrets are passed along, sometimes quite innocently? Think about your own recent experiences. One wrong whisper as to your presence in my house and your reputation would be ruined."
She frowned and he continued speaking. "Let me give you an example," Gervase said. "Imagine that you are a parlor maid in the house of a government minister. In the course of your daily work you will probably hear things of a delicate nature. Gossip about the family, about the minister's job, an endless stream of information that would probably not make much sense to you."
The horses moved restlessly and the duke tightened his grip on the reins. "But what if you told those pieces of information to someone who did have the ability and the desire to make sense of them? Can you not see the possibilities for blackmail or treason?"
"Yes, of course, but how does what a parlor maid might or might not know have anything to do with you?"
The duke smiled. "I gamble, Elizabeth because people who lose to me are often prepared to offer me snippets of information in exchange for handing over their money." He shrugged. "Most of these people consider the gossip and innuendo they so readily reveal to be meaningless and harmless."
A gull swooped low over the carriage and the lead horse tossed his head. Gervase steadied the horse with a soft command in French before turning back to Elizabeth. "And remember, my dear, the ton gamble harder and deeper than any other class of society. Fortunes are won and lost every night. Imagine the harm a cabinet minister or an army colonel could do if he decided to offer up information in place of coin. I've the ability to make sense of the scraps and bring them together into a coherent message."
Elizabeth sucked in a breath. "And if you can do it, so can the French."
"Exactly." The duke squeezed her gloved hand. "Recently the French have been gathering a lot of new information and I think it is through the gambling tables. I believe they are using crooked dealers and gaming houses to lure the unsuspecting into their nets, then frightening them into revealing classified information.
I offer some of my debtors a chance to tell me their secrets rather than pay me back. If they offer me information that should be kept secret, I will often warn them of the consequences of their actions. People are shocked to realize that they can betray their country so easily."
Elizabeth lifted her head and stared into the duke's gray eyes. It occurred to him that his easy, matter of fact tone wouldn't disguise the danger of his work from her intelligent appraisal. Gervase gave a soft laugh. "My dear, I see the beginnings of hero worship in your beautiful eyes. I've told you on several occasions I'm not a good man. Please endeavor to remember it."
Elizabeth blinked and lowered her head but not before he caught the hint of a blush on her cheeks. On impulse, he bent his head and kissed her hard on the mouth. The horses jerked forward for a fraction of a second before he brought them back under his control.
When the duke reluctantly raised his head, Elizabeth sat back and straightened her bonnet before glancing up and down the wide street. The streets were clear of people at such an unfashionable hour. Gervase had checked earlier, although he still suspected they were being followed.
He clicked his teeth at the horses and the carriage started again. Elizabeth pretended to observe the scenery whilst Gervase enjoyed the warmth of her thigh pressed against his own.
"I apologize, my dear. A carriage, such as this, is not a good place to kiss a lady. I will endeavor to make it up to you later."
The horses slowed to a walk in a residential street and the duke pointed to one of the houses. "This is where Angelique lives. We will drive around to the mews and leave the carriage there."