The suggestion gave Heinrik pause. Reluctantly, he acknowledged, “That’s a possibility and one I would entertain were we chasing Cynster alone. For himself, he would take the risk, and given the nature of the dispatches and the others he’ll know will hunt for him and them, it would be a risk, even for him. However, if we add Fraulein Locke into the equation, then no.” Heinrik shook his head, increasingly certain. “With her to protect, he won’t risk going into hiding here.” With rising confidence, he stated, “I think he will already have left Vienna.”
Eva frowned. “But how? And by which route?”
“By the least likely route.” Heinrik considered the options and smiled. “If I were he, I would go via road through Italy.”
“Italy?” Eva looked shocked. “If London is his aim, that’s a ridiculously long way to go.”
“Indeed. And your reaction is precisely the reason Cynster will go that way—because no one will imagine he would. Yet if he crosses northern Italy to Genoa, he’ll be able to command passage on a British merchantman and sail in complete safety to England.”
“Ah.” Eva saw the light. “So he’s really only traveling from here to Genoa. That’s a much shorter journey.”
“Indeed. If you recast his aim as him getting the dispatches, Fraulein Locke, and himself aboard a British ship, then his fastest route to achieving that might well be traveling to Genoa, by coach initially and then by train.” The more Heinrik thought, the more certain he felt that he’d correctly guessed Toby’s plan. Heinrik took Eva’s arm. “Come. We need to get going if we want to have any hope of catching them.”
CHAPTER5
As the sun dipped toward the horizon, the Fellows coach rolled into the small village of Klagenfurt am Worthersee. It was a pretty little town with cobbled streets and a tree-lined square. Toby spotted a neat inn facing the square and tapped on the roof.
When Gunter responded, Toby directed the coachman to the inn, then focused on his traveling companions. “Right. Let’s see how well we perform here. Remember, we’re a family traveling about the country, enjoying the sights.”
Bryce looked eager. “If we’re a family, shouldn’t we have the same family name?”
Toby nodded at the boy. “An excellent point.” He glanced at the others. “So what should our name be? We can choose any name we like.”
Evelyn immediately suggested, “Bear!”
Bryce giggled. “We can’t be that, silly.”
Smiling, Helga said, “Huber.”
But Roland didn’t think they should use their father’s butler’s name. “It ought to be an English name, because we’re English.”
Grinning, Toby encouraged Roland to volunteer names, too, and he did, but ultimately, Bryce’s suggestion of Caldwell—apparently the name of an old family acquaintance in Vienna—won the popular vote.
“Right, then.” Toby looked around the faces as the carriage turned under the inn’s arch. “We’re the Caldwells. We keep our first names, but our family name is Caldwell. And if anyone asks, we’ve come from Graz—don’t mention Vienna—and we’re thinking of continuing to Salzburg.”
Roland took in the information with a nod, as did Helga, while Bryce and Evelyn mouthed the names of the towns, committing them to memory.
As they’d approached Klagenfurt, they’d discussed how to arrange for the rooms they would need. Toby focused on Evelyn and the stuffed bear she had tucked under one arm. “Evelyn, you know what to do.” He smiled at the golden-haired poppet, who was all but bouncing on the seat. “We’re counting on you to pull off this part of our charade.”
The carriage rocked to a halt, and she beamed with excitement. “I’m ready!”
Reining in his grin, he opened the carriage door and stepped out onto the cobbles. Ingrained habit had him swiftly scanning the yard. On confirming it was free of all threats, he leant in and offered Diana his hand.
She gripped his fingers and climbed down the steps. Roland and Bryce followed, then Toby lifted Evelyn and Rupert the Bear down. After Helga joined them and everyone had tugged their clothes straight, Gunter took charge of Bruno for the night, and Toby offered Diana his arm. She took it, and with the children before them and Helga bringing up the rear, they paraded into the inn.
Diana was growing increasingly tired of having to quell her leaping senses every time Toby’s fingers closed about hers. And walking arm in arm, close, as a married couple would, only served to make her even more conscious of the lean, steely strength of him. The sensations such awareness evoked were exceedingly distracting.
Over the years, she’d been wooed by several gentlemen, but none had made her nerves skitter, much less her breath hitch, both effects Toby accomplished simply by being near—by engaging in the customary courtesies of taking her hand or escorting her indoors.
She didn’t understand why he was affecting her in such a pervasive and constant fashion and could only hope that continued exposure would deaden his impact.
Adhering to her role, she walked beside him into the inn’s foyer. The innkeeper, a short, rotund man, spotted them and came bustling up. Beaming, he welcomed them to his establishment. From the way his gaze warmed as it rested on the children, she felt sure he was a family man.
Well and good.
She smiled serenely as Toby advanced their new identity. She wasn’t sure whether his impromptu game over choosing their new family’s name had been spontaneous or whether he’d seized on Bryce’s question and instituted the game as a way to more deeply involve the children in the charade. Regardless, the three were now more aware of the charade and also more invested in it.
They proceeded to the inn’s reception counter, and the talk turned to the rooms they required.
