Holt would have been hard put to say who reacted more violently to his pronouncement - Flora or Theo. Flora's face turned ashen, and she tottered to the nearest chair. She was close to fainting in earnest this time - something she'd never done in her life. "You'll answer to me for that insult, you scoundrel," cried an outraged Theo, his face turning an alarming shade of red as he advanced toward Holt.

Holt quickly assured himself that Flora was safely seated and had as yet not swooned away. "Not so fast, you young pup," he growled at Theo."Acquit me of being willing to meet a boy not yet dry behind the ears." He held up his hand, palm out, as a warning to Theo to come no closer. "Just stubble it and sit down. I will explain my theory presently. At least your sister has enough wit to keep her tongue in her head."

Obviously still fuming, Theo took a seat next to Flora. He could always deal with Holt later.

Jacob swept crumpled paper off the only other chair in the room and pulled it over so he could sit facing the twins. "I'll ask once more. Please tell me about your friend Daventry."

The twins looked at each other, fear on both their faces. Flora spoke first, in a voice that sounded strangely unlike her normal tone. "What would you like to know?"

"Well, at this point I know very little about his background. Why don't you start with when you first became acquainted."

Theo jumped in at this point. "You know David is the son of the Earl of Daventry. David's father never expected to inherit, as his uncle had three healthy sons. Through a series of misfortunes his father's older brother and his cousins all lost their lives within nine months of each other, and David's father became earl when David was about ten. One of their smaller estates marched with ours, and we met David when he came one May. Though the estate was small, it was a good place to raise horses, and David came with his father to check out the new spring foals. We struck up a great friendship in a short time, so David often came with his tutor for short periods off and on that summer. As always, Flora insisted on trailing after the two of us like a lovesick puppy."

Flora gave him a great poke in the ribs and stuck out her tongue. Before the exchange could degenerate into a typical brother and sister free for all, Holt drew their attention with a loud, "Stop it, infants!"

"Didn't you and Daventry attend school together, Theo?"

"Yes. We were close as any two could get by then. David was always steadier and more sober than I was, and my parents thought he would be a good influence on my frivolous nature."

Flora snorted in an unladylike manner and jumped into the fray. "Didn't work, did it? You were always dragging him into your scrapes. Remember that year you both had to rusticate because you decorated the boar's head with the headmaster's wig at Christmas? Or the time you..." At this point Theo effectively stopped her by placing his hand over her mouth. Flora tried to bite him, but he was too fast for her.

"Oh, never mind. I guess that's not important now. What's important is that David is the best of the best, and I love him to distraction," wailed Flora. "You can't be serious when you suggest he's a member of the Guardians! Why, he's helped Theo out of numerous scrapes, and has pledged his heart to me forever! I'll never believe it - never, never, never!"

Flora jumped up, stamped her foot and started pacing the room."Whatever you think you've found just has to be something different than you think it is. You gave me the scare of my life, but now that I've gathered my wits I know you must be wrong!" She crossed her arms, reseated herself, and glared at Holt.

"Your turn, sir," said Theo. "On what are you basing this terrible accusation?"

Rather than answering the boy, Holt turned to Flora. "Whose idea was it for you to steal the sapphire and elope - yours or Daventry's?"

"Mine, of course. David was never the leader in any of our adventures."

"Are you totally sure about that? Are you sure he didn't somehow put the idea into your head?"

"Why do you ask that," grumbled Flora. "What difference does it make whose idea it was? It didn't work, did it? Those ruffians stole Anne instead of me! If they hadn't been so stupid David and I would be wed by now!"

"Don't be so sure. It would appear that rather than agreeing to an elopement, your friend Daventry was actually plotting to retrieve the gem to return to the Guardians. I believe he's been in their pay for over a year. In fact, your desire to wed played nicely into their hands. It presented a chance to have you imprisoned for the theft of the gem, thus diverting the eye of the Crown from their true purpose."

This time both Flora and Theo jumped from their seats and advanced angrily on Holt. "You have no proof - how dare you!!!" raged Theo.

"Not yet, but the pieces are all fitting together nicely. I've only a couple more questions for you, and then I'll present my theory. Then even you won't be able to question my conclusions."

Flora looked at Jacob and said witheringly, "You are nothing but a common soldier. How dare you accuse a peer's son of something so base and vile?"

Jacob just shrugged his shoulders and turned to Theo. "Would you please answer a few more questions?"

Theo glanced at Flora who was standing there, indignation written in every line of her body and slowly replied, "Yes, I will, if only to prove that you are wrong in this."

Jacob gave a faint smile and then asked softly, "Has David ever borrowed any money from you? And has he taken considerable time in the repayment of it?"

The question surprised Theo and he nodded, then replied, "Yes, he has. I have made him several loans, two of which have not been repaid yet. I assumed they were gambling debts and he had to wait until his quarterly allowance came in to repay me. He once told me the Earl would not advance any monies at all, and was sometimes late with the ready." Theo frowned a bit as he answered.

Jacob picked up a piece of paper from the table and then went on, "Were you aware that both David and the present Earl are hardened gamesters? They play in some of the more expensive clubs in London, and are always at the race courses. In fact, the present Earl was deeply in debt when he inherited from his brother, and has managed not only to waste all that he inherited, but has borrowed heavily from the money-lenders. His estates are all mortgaged; his stables are no more; and he has not put one groat back into those estates. They are almost in ruins now, and the poor tenants are starving."

At this, Flora screamed, "You are lying! The Earl gives monstrously elegant parties and wears the latest fashions. His wife dresses well too, and is always wearing all those wonderful Daventry jewels!"

"My dear, the Earl is pockets to let and the whole house of cards he has built is going to crumble about his head within a few weeks. He has several big vowels to redeem on quarter day... and he can no longer borrow from anyone to do so. Those jewels are but clever paste imitations... they went long ago to satisfy creditors."

"I don't believe you. You are just jealous of your betters." Flora's temper boiled over and she flew at Jacob and started beating him with her fists, screaming, "You liar! You liar!"

Jacob nodded at Theo, who came over and pulled Flora away from Jacob. "Calm down, Flora. He has not proved anything yet. We have to listen and see what more evidence the Captain has."

Flora subsided, and sank into a chair, all the while darting murderous looks at Jacob who stood up and paced around his table. He did not like having to explain all this, but he needed answers to more questions, and Theo was his best source of information.

He paced a bit more, then turned and asked abruptly, "Have you noticed any changes in David lately? Do you see him as frequently? Do you know his newer friends?"

Theo bit at his lower lip and stared down at the carpet as if the answers would be writ clearly there. Reluctantly, he began, "Now that you ask me and I think about it, yes, there has been a change. David was always aware, once his father inherited the title, that he was the heir. At first, it didn't seem to matter, but recently, he has seemed more arrogant, more unfeeling in his dealings with his older friends - even a bit more cruel to his servants. It is as if he is secretly laughing at all of us - as if he knows something we don't, and is revelling in that knowledge. I don't see him as frequently either - sometimes weeks go by without word from him."

Theo thought some more and then added, "He has never introduced me to any of his newer friends. I saw him one day in Green Park with a beautiful woman but he ignored me. I've also seen him with Lord Brookfield several times, but at a distance. Hmmm... I wonder how he knows Lord Brookfield? Scarcely anyone does, you know. He is reputed to be quite a recluse, although I sometimes think he hides from his wife more than anything else."

Again Jacob looked at the papers on his desk and said, "Did you know that David has a mistress living in a house in St. John's Woods? He spends a great deal of time there, these days."

Flora's temper again rose and she shrieked, "You are lying once more! David loves me... only me! He wouldn't do such a thing... not something to hurt me! I don't know why you are so determined to lie and pretend that David is a villain... you are the villain!" She burst into noisy sobs and sank to the floor, hiccoughing and crying. Theo walked over and pulled her into his arms, and as her sobs grew louder and more wild, he slapped her, and sternly told her to be quiet and to attend to what Jacob was saying. He told her that they had to listen and then they could refute whatever lies Jacob was spewing.

He settled Flora in her chair and then turned to Jacob again. "Is this important? You are hurting Flora and I really don't like hearing calumnies about my closest friend."

"Ah, I know you don't like this, but we must get at the truth. David does indeed have a mistress at this house in St. John's Woods and he often spends days at a time there. We have been unable to find out anything about the woman. She is known as Mrs. Andrews to the servants and the merchants who supply the house with necessities. She seems to have dropped from the heavens to the center of London. No one has been able to say that they have any prior knowlege of her, her real name, or just how she fits in this puzzle."

Theo appeared deep in thought and then hesitantly said, "I believe I did overhear his valet ask him one night if he planned to be at the St. John's Woods house for a while in case more messages had to be sent there. I only just remembered that. It made no sense at the time."

Flora gave her twin a murderous look and said, "You are only guessing that he has a mistress. I, for one, don't believe David is capable of such deceit." This declaration was somewhat spoiled by the rather uncertain look on her face.

Theo turned again to Jacob and asked tersely, "We have answered your questions. Are there more? Or will you now tell us your conclusions?"

The Captain ran a hand through his hair and then sat down abruptly. "I had hoped that you would see for yourselves that David is guilty of some degree of duplicity. You must swear that you will not reveal to anyone what I am about to tell you. Roly, your Uncle James, and several other good men have risked a lot to gather up all the bits of information, but we still need more in order to prevent the most hideous crime of regicide!"

"Regicide?" breathed Theo, as he exchanged unbelieving glances with Flora. "Are the Jacobites trying again to put Charles Edward Stuart on the throne?"

"No," Jacob answered. "You are certainly aware that King George and Queen Caroline detest their heir, Prince Frederick, and even attempted to bar him from the succession. You also know that there has always been a great amount of smuggling and free-trading from our ports."

"Yes, I knew both of those things, but what does one have to do with the other?" asked a bewildered Theo.

"About eighteen months ago, the smugglers and free-traders began to become more daring, with two or three gangs of them acting in concert. It wasn't long before Roly heard, through his one-armed friend, that the smaller gangs were being swallowed up by larger ones, either through murder or intimidation. Roly and his friend began a quiet investigation through their contacts, and made the discovery that the gangs were being directed by one person, your man of business, Mr. Warburton. It was quietly done... you, Flora, and even your Uncle James were not aware of his extra activities since he is mainly in offices here in London, while you have been in the country.

"However, there is no direct evidence right now, only scraps of conversations, pieces of paper, comings and goings of strange people. All we know for sure is that Prince Frederick has been sounded out about the possibility of early ascension to the throne. There is no evidence that he has listened or agreed. We do know that if King George were murdered, the villains would be sure to have some hold on the Prince, something linking him to the actual regicide, and he would be their puppet. We don't know who the General is yet, nor what part Mrs. Andrews plays, if indeed she is Mrs. Andrews at all. We only know that David is in on the plot. It is our belief that someone, perhaps one of the members of the family who owned the Star of the Sea will be forced to do the actual murder and one of Warburton's people will withold a supposed piece of evidence linking the Prince to the crime."

At this, Flora gave a loud cry, "I think I know where I have seen the emerald before. Princess Augusta wore a necklace with that emerald as the center stone once at a reception honoring one of her friends. Later, she told some of us that the emerald had been lost!"