Chapter 45: Chapter 45

"Did you have to explain anything before you came here?"

"I just told them it's my day off."

"Do valets have days off?"

"They do now."

"Well, I guess you know better. You're supposed to be one, after all."

"Yeah, one who doesn't know how to fold shirts properly. "

Nathaniel moved to the window and closed the curtains.

"I don't want to know how that goes. But I see you’ve been walking around freely, so maybe you didn’t really have to explain and they trust you."

The cloth was torn at places, but it was probably better than nothing.

“I didn’t.”

The room was facing another old, crumbling building. Everything here in the so-called Darkest- London was in the poorest possible state.

They were in one of the Whitechapel's workhouses and the place  was brimming with sounds coming from the other rooms and the people inhabiting them.

It was still the safest place they could've chosen to meet.

"I would offer you something to drink, but as you can see there isn't much in here. " The man  said and Oliver noted there really wasn't.

A small desk, covered in old, dusty papers and letters were scattered around, some of them opened, others not yet, and a single letter knife lying next to them.

Oliver assumed all correspondence the Metropolitan Police Department's head  had with the people working for him was on this table.

Besides that, there were two chairs and a bed. That was pretty much all.

Oliver put his hands on the armrest of the chair in front of him and said.

"I think Liam knows I'm not actually working for Charles. He can't know exactly everything, but he suspects something."

"How?"

"He said he remembered me from the manor."

"He's seen you there? "

"I think so. It might have been once, but I wouldn't think he'd remember. No. "

"He might have other ways to have found out. "

Oliver frowned. "Perhaps. But he can only suspect."

"Of course he can only suspect. I'm the only person who knows what you do. Even Charles doesn't know everything."

"Right."

Nathaniel moved closer to the desk. "When Charles reached out to me in Hanover with readiness to help with the investigation, and I sent you to his household here, I only told him you work for us. "

"Yes, yes I know. "

"But I also told you this is a very dangerous game, and you were warned from the start. "

"I've seen way  worse."

"Well, there's that. And now everything is in Charles' hands and depends on what you've found out. "

This was the first time they'd met since he'd embarked on the mission.

They couldn't risk being seen together so Oliver had received only one note around a month ago with the time and date.

He hadn't even been sure whether Nathaniel would be here or not, judging by his past experience with their appointments.

"So what did you find?" the older man asked.

"Tennyson has a new secretary. "

"Oh, Christ. "

"The man showed up the day before the trial."

Nathaniel massaged his temples. He looked angry already. Then again, he always did when he was hearing things he didn't like.

"Do you think he got rid of the old one because he knew too much? " he asked.

"I believe so."

"Damn it. "

Oliver took out a cigarette. "Tennyson is very calculating. "

"You shouldn't smoke here."

"You're not serious. "

Nathaniel waved a hand. "Just don't."

Oliver put it back  in his pocket and his superior said

"The first thing Charles said when I was questioning him about Fernsby was that the minister won't be an easy one to get to. "

"I assume the old secretary had started sniffing around and he was just...dismissed."

Nathaniel nodded and Oliver continued "The Lord used the fuss around the trial and the change went unnoticed. "

"Or at least it wasn't much discussed, right. " Nathaniel exhaled and said. "Keep searching."

"I do."

"We need any evidence, anything you can possibly find about his illegal trade and the political murders. "

"The man they hanged was guilty. "

"But we don’t know anything about the ones before him. We need evidence. "

"What about Charles? He's back from Canton, maybe he has something too. "

"That, I don't know yet.  We're supposed to meet later this week. By the way - he was planning on meeting one of the lords, I would assume it was the older son."

Oliver moved to sit in the chair. " Yes. They'll make Charles an offer."

"About?"

"Liam is joining the opposition. "

"Against Tennyson?"

"Yes. "

Nathaniel laughed "Well, Charles will choose Liam as his advisor and they'll call for new elections. "

Oliver smiled "I suspect they have the support of the Queen herself."

Nathaniel lowered his voice "Be careful. Don't get involved in this. Your only task was to find information against the old Lord. Everything else doesn't concern you."

"I know, it's just..."

"There isn't just in this, Oliver. "

"None of them knows about Charles and Liam. "

"Well, Lady Charlotte does. As I said- don't get involved in this."

"I'm not, I'm only telling you what I saw.” He was already lying and hoping Nathaniel hadn’t caught him with it. He continued “ It's just absurd. You have to be blind not to notice it.”

"They're pretty much blinded by other things. But now that you mention it, you have to appreciate the irony, Oliver. "

"Well, I'm glad you're amused. "

"I'm not, everything is much simpler. When you love someone, you're more likely to close your eyes to certain things. "

Nathaniel eyed him and said.

"But you wouldn't know that, would you?"

"I can't say I trust people, if that's what you mean."

"I mean… No, that’s adifferent matter. What about the other one? The youngest one's very cunning, I give him that. "

"He is."

Oliver tried to sound casual as if the fact Callum risked his life every day didn't really touch him in any way.

"He's quite reckless, as much as I hear."

"To some extent."

"I guess he really is taking after his brother's example."

Oliver suppressed any emotion and leaned back in the chair.

"Which example."

"You know why Edward is still in China and why he chose to disappear."

"Callum hasn't and he's helping Liam."

"Oh, is it Callum?" Nathaniel lifted his eyebrows and Oliver wanted to kick himself.

"The youngest Tennyson's just trying to find his brother. "

His superior snorted.

"Yeah, who isn't. And? "

"Edward has last seen somewhere Jiangxi. "

"What about his Chinese friends? Did you find anything there? "

"No, I don’t know about all. He has one he’s closer to, but the man's just a smuggler who's helping the Lord. "

"Anything connected to Tennyson?"

Oliver rested his elbows on the table.

"They aren't. It's not what we're looking for. He's got gambling dens, but that's not something that'll help us. "

He didn't offer any other information he'd gathered about Xiao and said "That's all."

"Fine. Well. Find what we're looking for and next time the task will be a much easier one, you have my word. "