Excerpt of Golden Lord by Mary Jo Putney

Lady Tamsyn Tremayne and her foster brother Caden are both gifted agents of the Home Office.  As the Peace of Amiens falls apart in May 1803, they are sent to France to make sure that the British ambassador, Lord Whitworth and the rest of the British delegation, make it safely back to London.  But as they reach Calais for the voyage home, war breaks out and French soldiers flood into the port to arrest all male Britons between the ages of 18 and 60.  Tamsyn and Cade struggle to protect their charges in the midst of chaos and they must talk their way through a group of French troops. 

            All the children of the Tribe of Tremayne had been raised with French tutors and spoke the language flawlessly, so Cade responded in French that was a little less aristocratic than Tamsyn's accent.  "Indeed we are citizens and soldiers of France, sir. We are not in uniform because we were ordered to escort the ambassador and his wife to Calais as quietly as possible.  If we were in uniform, rumors would spread that France had arrested the British ambassador."  He cast a contemptuous glance at Whitworth.  "The British may ignore the rules of war, but the sons of France are always honorable!"

            Amazingly, the colonel believed him.  "Very well, Captain.  Once you've delivered the ambassador and his wife to their ship, join my soldiers in arresting these other Englishmen!"  He turned his horse and rode down the waterfront, his aides following him.

            Whitworth said with a laugh, "Lady Tamsyn, Mr. Tremayne, that was an amazing performance!  I now understand why the Home Office supplied me with Tremaynes."  Taking the duchess's arm, he strode toward the Princess of Wales. 

            They reached the gangway of their ship and several sailors bolted down to help the passengers aboard.  The duchess went first, followed by Whitworth and Holland, then the guards other than Hansen. 

            With most of the ambassador's party safely on board, Cade scanned the area behind them and saw several Britons who had made their way through a gap in the French cordon and were now looking around in confusion and despair.

            Tamsyn hadn't yet boarded. Taking in the situation, she said, "The Princess of Wales isn't full, so let's get some of these people aboard!"

            Hansen was nearby.  "The ambassador will want to help them get home," he agreed, "but we have to be quick about it!"

            The three of them split up and headed toward the nearest desperate travelers.  Tamsyn approached a young family with two small children. The couple moved slowly since they were carrying the children and the husband also had a bag of the family's belongings.  After a brief conversation, Tamsyn took the larger child so the father could manage the travel bag and Tam and the family walked swiftly toward the ship, 

            Hansen jogged over to what looked like a father and son.  The father was limping slowly with a cane. He could be heard begging his son to leave him behind, but the son flatly refused.  Hansen joined them and after exchanging a few sentences, he and the son lifted the father between and they carried him to the ship at a near run.  When they reached the gangway, two crewmen carried the older man up, followed by the son. 

            Further away, Cade spotted an elderly man wearing a vicar's collar moving forward with his wife, both of them looking frantically for their ship.  A French soldier swooped down on them and grabbed the vicar's arm. "You're under arrest!"

            The vicar cried out, "No!  I'm sixty-three, too old!"

            Refusing to release her husband's arm, his wife said furiously, "Let him go!  Clergymen and doctors are never taken prisoners of war!"

            The French soldier gave a nasty laugh.  "You can take it up with the First Consul once I have you safe in a cell!"

            Cade sprinted over and jerked the French soldier away from the vicar, then knocked him to the ground with a hard punch to the jaw.  He pointed at the Princess of Wales. "Sir, you and your wife can board this ship right here!  You can sort things out when you get to Dover."

            The vicar looked at the chaos around them.  Some Britons were trying to force their way through the cordon while others fled back to the town, hoping to escape and hide.  Occasional gunshots were heard and shouts of fear and anger mingled in a fearsome chorus to the actions of the relentless soldiers.  They'd rounded up an ever growing group of detainees, mostly men but some women refusing to leave their husbands.

            "God bless you, sir!" the vicar gasped.  "Quickly, Elizabeth!" 

            Cade kept an eye on the elderly couple until they were safely aboard while he scanned for others in need, but by now the British travelers had already boarded ships, fled, or been captured.  Only Hansen, Tamsyn, and Cade were free in this area.

            Gagnon or one of his aides must have noticed that most of the ambassador's group were staying on the ship, not leaving, so they were likely English.  At a shouted order, several French cavalrymen turned their horses and began to gallop toward where the Princess of Wales was docked, closely followed by a small carriage. 

            Cade swore to himself as he realized that he'd waited too long.  He bolted toward the Princess of Wales, but the cavalrymen blocked the route between Cade and the ship.  He was searching for a way to weave between the horsemen when the carriage thundered to a halt right behind him.  Cade was trapped. 

            The door of the carriage opened and Cade prepared to attack the occupant and try to fight his way free.           But the tall, dark man who emerged from the carriage had vicious eyes and a pistol in one hand.  "Now I have you, my British spy!"

            Swearing to himself, Cade recognized that this was the Scorpion and he immediately hurled himself at his attacker.  After wrenching the pistol away, there was a brief, violent skirmish between the two men.  Cade almost managed to break free…

            "You'll not escape me!" the Scorpion snarled as he clamped a large hand across Cade's forehead. An uncanny energy surged between them, unlike anything Cade had ever experienced.  Pain and searing light and the world disappeared. 

            The last thing he heard was Tamsyn's scream.