Free A Code of Love (The Code Breakers 1) by Jacki Delecki Page A

Amiens had been signed, but no one believed that Napoleon was finished in his drive for world power.
    She fanned the pages of the book, looking for a letter, a note of explanation. “I must return to my work.”
    “So you agree? I should send the green silk?”
    “Whatever you think, I’m sure…” Henrietta turned back to her desk and reached between two massive volumes retrieving a slender packet—the code table she had meticulously edited based on Abchurch’s previous tables.
    When he recognized her prodigious talent, Uncle Charles demanded her ability to recognize patterns, uncover subtleties the men often missed be put to use. Uncle Charles maintained she was the best code breaker in the family.
    Again and again, she scanned the arrival. The French had broken new ground. She was used to deciphering with less than fifty numbers. This new table was at least one hundred and fifty numbers.
    Why hadn’t Michael sent the book to Sir Ramston? Nothing made sense unless Michael’s work for the intelligence office had been exposed. She pressed her hand against her chest to slow her speeding heart. She needed to speak with Sir Ramston and share the codebook.
    Her last attempt to gain entrance into the offices had failed dismally. Sending Sir Ramston a note for an appointment was out of the question. Women didn’t communicate with men who weren’t family and definitely didn’t write men concerning intelligence work.
    She decided to send a letter to Sir Ramston, pretending it was from her uncle. Why hadn’t she considered that before?
    At her appointment with Sir Ramston in Uncle Charles’s place, she would be able to ask about Michael and the communications he had with Sir Ramston. Then she would give Sir Ramston the codebook.
    She began the letter to Uncle Charles’s old friend asking for an appointment for the following day since Lady Chadwick’s soiree was tomorrow. The two-day wait would be interminable, but an unscheduled appearance at the Abchurch offices would be fruitless.
    By the looks of the codebook, Michael had gotten into more than a foolish prank. Did he refer to the McGregor in the letter from her cousin because there would be dire consequences with his newest caper? A niggling uneasiness filled her body. She was going wring his neck when she saw him. Why did that idea make her eyes tear?

 
    Chapter Nine
     
    Isabelle paced in her lush sitting room, decorated with black lacquer in the Chinoisere style. The dark, exotic atmosphere with midnight blue wallpaper and japanned furniture was designed to appeal to the sensual.
    Attendance at the Wentworth ball had been a miscalculation. She had followed Lucien’s suggestion to distract Cord while he pursued the codebook and Lady Henrietta. But Cord’s fury could jeopardize their mission of obtaining the stolen codebook.
    She stopped her frantic movement. It was best not to attempt explanations but seduction. Her life had prepared her for persuading men. By the attentions of her uncle at an early age, she had become adroit at sexual manipulation. Except, now she was the victor, not the victim.
    Bolton announced a visitor and ushered Comte Lucien De Valmont into her sitting room. It wasn’t the arrival she had expected.
    “My darling, you are enchanting this afternoon.” He bowed.
    She had dressed in a cornflower blue dress that made her black hair and eyes shine, creating the appearance of an innocent. Men always found the illusion of virginal innocence juxtaposed with the low-cut décolletage stimulating in a tawdry way.
    Lucien raised her hand to his lips. His eyes darkened with desire as he surveyed her. “What is the English expression? You are in fine fettle today?”
    Lucien was breathtakingly beautiful, every woman’s fantasy. His intense blue eyes and curling blonde hair gave him the look of a devilish cherub. He slid his long narrow finger down the cleft between her breasts.
    Her newest assignment from France had been to become close and