A Kind Of Honor by Joan Wolf

Author:Joan Wolf [Wolf, Joan]
Language: por
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Gacé, usually so observant, was too preoccupied with his own affairs to notice the change in his wife.

He had written several letters to friends and relations in Baden and Frankfurt and was satisfied that

Baden was indeed the best place for him to be in the near future. No matter what happened in Europe,

Gacé had decided that it would be best to sever his ties to England.

He had not yet given up on Napoleon, and planned to devote a few more months to the Horse

Guards and Stanford in the hope of getting some information about the Spanish campaign. If he was able

to pass valuable plans along to Paris and Napoleon won decisively in Spain, the emperor’s large, veteran

army would be freed for service in Germany. The English would of course realize that Napoleon had

been given advance warning of Wellington’s plans, but Gacé would be safely in Baden by then.

If Napoleon won, Gacé would have everything he wanted. But if Napoleon lost ... The possibility of

such a catastrophe was seeming less and less remote to the concerned Gacé, and he devoted a great

deal of his time to the securing of his own position should such an event actually happen.

His greatest fear was exposure. Not many French officials knew who their English source was, but

those who did know would scarcely keep quiet about it once they were defeated. As soon as the allies

marched into Paris and started talking to the surviving government, his name was certain to come up. It

would definitely come up if Louis sent him, as he most probably would want to, to Paris as one of his

own representatives.

The problems facing Gacé might have seemed awesome, but with the ruthless egotism that lay under

his cultured exterior, he set himself to resolve them. The only thing that mattered to Gacé was the name

and the honor of the name of de Vaudobin.

The solution, as he thought about it, was really quite simple. It was true that Gacé’s name was known

to Napoleon and to a few other officials in Paris, but no one, with the exception of Francois Bellay, his

courier, had ever seen him. He would deny everything and say someone else had been passing the

information and using his name. To ensure the success of this plan required only two things: the death of

Bellay and a scapegoat to take the blame as the real traitor.

The first problem, Bellay’s death, would be easy enough to accomplish. As for the second, Gacé did

not foresee too many difficulties there either. He cast about in his mind for a likely candidate at the Horse

Guards. He needed someone high enough up to have access to information, and preferably someone

who had financial problems that the selling of information to the French might alleviate. Gacé finally

settled on the Earl of Denham, a peer whose gambling debts were notorious. With polished ease Gacé

began to insinuate himself into the good graces of Denham, a man to whom he had hitherto paid scant

attention. It was also necessary for him to prepare the king for any future accusations that might be made

against his most trusted friend and advisor.

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