Never Trust a Lady by Suzanne Robinson

Author:Suzanne Robinson
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: North & South War
Publisher: 0
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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Chapter Ten

Ryder sat opposite Lord Russell in the drawing room at Tennyson House and ignored Lady Eva. He was having a hard time doing this because she was sitting nearby on a sofa with her silk skirts billowing around her, looking every inch a model of feminine disapproval. She had a way of regarding him as if she expected him to justify her low opinion of his good sense. He hadn't wanted to admit it, but he was in a fix: The woman maddened him and fascinated him, and he was afraid that sooner or later he wouldn't be able to keep his hands off her. She, in the meantime, was waiting for him to collapse because he'd refused to see a doctor, but he couldn't afford to wait any longer to tackle Lord Russell.

"You could have been killed, my lord. I hope you realize that."

"My dear sir, there's no reason to suspect this morning's events had anything to do with this Rebel plot of yours. We might have disturbed a thief.

After all, there's a great deal of gold in the museum vaults."

Pressing his lips together, Ryder controlled his impatience. "It's too much of a coincidence, don't you think? The existence of an assassination plot and this attempt on your life?" He sat forward and caught the minister's eye. "Are you willing to risk your life when the simple measures I advocate could save it?"

"Hmm."

Eva spoke up. "Our information is accurate. I've seen the young man who is its source, Lord Russell. He's not given to wild tales and fits of fancy. Let me tell you about Josiah and the other slaves I encountered on my visit to the Southern states."

Ryder studied the foreign minister as Eva continued. Lord Russell was the third son of the sixth duke of Bedford. Perhaps it was his delicate health that gave him his generous sympathy for the British poor, for which he was famous. He was small and rickety, with a habit of nervous fidgeting. Even his voice was weak, but his heart was great. As an adolescent he had remarked that it was a pity that a man who stole a penny loaf of bread was hung, while one who stole thousands in public money was acquitted. Russell had served in Parliament since the age of twenty, and after much perserverance he succeeded in passing a reform bill in 1837 that extended representation to the common man. Some said that this single act might have saved Britain from revolution. Those who heard him speak knew that they had listened to a man of great vision. The sponsor of much enlightened legislation, Lord Russell was the nation's most ardent advocate for the poor and had served as prime minister in 1846, with Lord Palmerston as his foreign secretary. Now the men's roles were reversed, and

Russell was foreign minister to Palmerston. It was rumored that he would be raised to the peerage in the summer, to become Earl Russell.

To Ryder the foreign minister's zeal for his fellow countrymen was admirable.

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