The Pirate's Lady (Spies of London #1)

Chapter 6 (Part 2)

Sorry it took so long! 

Time for some revealing! :)

Enjoy....

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While Olivia was recalling James weird behaviour and their fight, James himself was staring with an annoyed expression at a piece of paper in his hand. A paper that had just now been brought around by a street urchin to his house with a message that it was urgent.

He read the message again and sent word to his coachman to have the carriage readied and brought around front posthaste. About time that Nate sent word, he had begun to think that the man had forgotten what James had told him.

As the carriage rolled to a stop in front of him, he called out Connie's address to the driver and jumped in. The man set off at a brisk pace, leaving James to think of the last eight years spent as a spy for the War Office.

James had been twenty two when, one day a message just like the one he had recieved only moments before had arrived, albeit in an envelope. The note asked him if he would come to a specific walkway in Vauxhall at midnight that very day. It promised a lucrative pay and an exciting work.

James had shrugged it off as nonsense, until an hour later, when Connie and George were ushered into his study, both having recieved the same note as him. The trio had then decided to arrive at Vauxhall at the specified time, if only to find the perpetrator of the jest and wallop him.

Arriving at the requested spot, they had been surprised to see two men waiting for them. They said their names were Mr.Nathaniel and Mr.Russel, and they wanted to offer each of them a proper job. Dangerous, but proper.

"Would you three like to join us?", asked Nathaniel. He was the taller of the pair, with pale blonde hair and a pair of piercing blue eyes. Russel was rather stocky, with brown hair and light brown eyes. He was almost always silent, while Nathaniel spoke for the most part.

James had been the first to speak after this question."Who exactly is us Mr.Nathaniel? And what is this work you are offering? And what do you mean dangerous?", he fired the questions that were on all three of their minds, to the man, who had curiosly, begun to smile as soon as his first question was out.

"Us means the spies for the War Office, James. And as for your other questions, I shall answer them as soon as you are agreeable to our terms. The only term being that You are, under no circumstances, allowed to reveal your alter identity to anyone, however close they may be or however much you trust them, unless it is a matter of life and death, prefrably not even under such circumstances. You will be trained for this role that you will undertake, and you might have to go undercover for certain operations. this may be under the guise of a totally different reason, and- I might be saying too much." he sighed, looking at the slightly awed faces of the men in front of him. 

"Suffice to say, lads, that you have a day to decide whether you would like to accept our offer. And if its money you are worried about, though I doubt it, do not bother. The pay as a spy is quite satisfactory, even for you titled lords, and this I say with the utmost respect. We shall know of your answer,gentlemen, and shall accordingly send word to you. Until tomorrow, then.", he concluded, and just like that the two men had left with a swirl of their greatcoats into the surrounding darkness, leaving behind a trio with conflicting thoughts.

In the end, James, Conrad and George had agreed to become spies. It was a heady sensation, being in on a secret that only the most priveledged were allowed to know. But the rigorous training, boring paperwork and small scale sleuthing they were alloted as new recruits passed soon, as they climbed the ranks quickly and it was discovered that James and Connie were more suited to the hectic and fast paced life on the field of action, while George was more comfortable with the mundane task of gathering information of their targets, that could take even days of patience.

Thus after a year of perfecting their moves, James and Connie had set out on a ship undercover to take care of tasks on foreign soil. They were rumoured to have become privateers, and even had the letter of marque to prove it. They even had to use the letter a few times as their quarries had absconded on ships. Living the life of daredevils, they were content with solving the various crimes that Nate, or Mr.Nathaniel as he was known in the W.O. sent their way.

They communicated once a month with George, but after James had recieved  news of his father's death, and his letter describing the need to marry within a month, they both hadn't thought of telling George about their imminent arrival. James had simply forgotten everything else in the face of his anger with his father, while Connie had to take care of the running of the ship as first mate, due to the captains rages.

Now that they were back James had sent word to Nate about some news he had stumbled upon in France. It was shocking, to say the least, but he had not recieved word from his superior till now. Sighing, James sat back in his seat, wondering at the working of Nate's mind as the carriage turned the corner onto the road to Connie's house.

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Well? Whaddya think? Weren't expecting that were you? ;)

I really love One Republic, I thought the title of the song fits the chapter nicely..... :)

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Cheers!

~shreya07