Other Tales: Stories from The Ballad of Gregoire Darcy

by Marsha Altman

  Brian Maddox was playing to his audience. “He had a very quiet voice and was extremely polite to us, the barbarian foreigners, because we had just accidentally fought on his side during the quelling of a rebellion.” Of course, he could not leave this unexplained. “It was a matter of happenstance. The other ambassador and I had to get across a particular field where there happened to be a major battle against the shogun and the emperor. We were caught between two sides, and our party – which included some native friends of mine – decided that the best way to escape would be to cross the field dressed as soldiers. So we stole four sets of armor and set across, having no idea which side we stood for. It turned out to be the right side, and when it was discovered how we had so valiantly put our lives on the line for the government, we were rewarded with all kinds of honorific titles. No treaty with England, though. His Majesty King George was most displeased.” He said it with a smile, ending his story with a punch line that made everyone laugh.

  Audley watched them all, though it was hard not to be lost in the story. As far as he knew, the marquis had never expressed an interest in Maddox’s work before (though, to be honest, it had never been brought up), but he did smile for his guests. As usual, he made an effort to be perceived as a good host.

  “Well, I do hope you will stay a few weeks longer, so that you may dine here until I vacate the manor.”

  Audley couldn’t help himself. He beat everyone else to the obvious question, “You are leaving your estate?”

  “Yes, my fiancée has requested a ceremony in the north, so that more of her relatives may attend. Unfortunately, she will have to leave school, but it will ease this period of abominable waiting.”

  Audley did not even have to look at Georgiana’s stare of horror to know she was surprised. She would have said something to her uncle – somehow – as soon as she knew. He looked instead to Lady Littlefield, who smiled meekly. “And when is this joyous event to take place?”

  “Always the interrogator, Inspector Audley, eh? In less than a month, if the arrangements can be made.”

  So he was speeding things up and escaping the area as fast he could without losing his bride. The gravity of it quieted everyone until DuBois bravely said, “If I learn you are doing this to escape from inviting me, I will have your head, Maret!” He raised his glass. “A toast, to the happy couple!”

  They raised their glasses, three of them very mechanically, and toasted the couple. Audley did it with his eyes open, Georgiana with her eyes closed, as if to block the entire scene out.

  ~~~

  Audley and Maddox did not stay long after dinner. Inspector Audley felt drained, this being his first serious outing since his injury, and Brian Maddox saw it in his complexion and requested permission to excuse themselves, which the marquis granted. After the appropriate good-byes, they retreated to the inn, but despite his exhaustion, Audley could not put himself to bed just yet.

  “I need a favor, Mr. Maddox.”

  Maddox bowed.

  “The marquis invited you to come to the estate and tell some of your tales more privately, did he not? Before we left, in a low voice, in the hallway?” He said it most insistently, even though his strength was quickly going out of him.

  “He did.”

  “Take him up on it. Go to the manor tomorrow and talk to the marquis for as long as you can.”

  Maddox frowned. “Absolutely not, unless you plan to come with me.”

  “Precisely the opposite. I need to speak to Lady Littlefield at the school – and Miss Bingley. And I need the marquis to be distracted, for once.”

  “I cannot protect you – ”

  He put his hand on Maddox’s shoulder, “You cannot keep me from solving this case, either. I am only going to the school and back. I will walk on the main road. Hell, I will take a horse, my rifle, pistol, and a sword, if you wish. But I must go there and you must go to the marquis. Do this for me, please.”

  “I have my mission – ”

  “- And your mission is to protect me from the marquis. Going to him will help solve the problem.”

  Brian swallowed, resting his hands in the folds of his robe. “Very well, Audley-Keibu. But I don’t think it’s wise.”

  “Sometimes we must take risks. Death is inevitable, no? Part of life?”

  To this, Maddox managed a wane smile.

  ~~~

  Audley had lied to Brian Maddox.

  His reasoning was not entirely sound, but somehow, the Englishman had accepted it. Perhaps for his own reasons. In truth, Audley wanted to interview Lady Littlefield and Georgiana without Maddox hovering over him. Specifically, Georgiana. She acted different within her uncle’s presence – she was calmer, but more secretive than ever. They had a secret understanding and Audley was sure she would reveal more if her uncle was not there. After all, she was an English woman on the marriage market, and he had to protect her honor so she didn’t end up married to some poor French detective, no?

  Despite that, the next morning, Mr. Maddox did separate from him as promised, after Audley woke from sleeping late yet again. He knew he was not fully recovered, but he was well enough to ride a horse to the school and conduct two interviews. They said their good-byes and he was off.

  He arrived early enough for morning lessons. This time, the headmaster did not even try to fight this heavily-armed inspector who demanded to see Miss Bingley. He was brought to an empty room and told to wait.

  Before long, it was Lady Littlefield who appeared, curtseying politely as she entered. “Excuse me, Inspector Audley, but Miss Bingley is not feeling well today and cannot speak to you now. I hope I can answer all of your questions in her place.”

  He was stunned. “Where is she?”

  “I said, she is not well – ”

  “So I could find her in the infirmary?”

  “You are not permitted in the infirmary, Inspector.”

  He dropped all pretensions. “She’s not there, is she?” The horrified look on poor Heather Littlefield’s face confirmed it. And to think that this was all for her. “Where did she go?”

  She looked cautiously behind her, but no one was outside. Despite her precautions, she whispered her response. “She left last night. She has not returned.”

  “And the school has not notified anyone?”

  “They never do. This is not abnormal. She has a place that she sleeps, out in the woods. Beyond that, I don’t know.”

  But he did. Georgiana had told him that she had an understanding with the school. He wondered how often she was ‘under the weather.’ And he knew where she would go, as well. “I do.” Again, he faced another look of horror. “Please, rest assured. You have not betrayed your friend. She told me of her expeditions. I know she is working for the Wolf. I know she is doing it to protect you. I only came to question the two of you about the marquis’s announcement last night. I will ask you only – Did you know of this plan before the announcement?”

  “I did,” she said. “But only earlier that afternoon.”

  “Has your family agreed to it?”

  “Apparently they have. He showed me a letter from my parents.”

  “But you were not informed by them.”

  “No.” She looked ready to cry.

  Audley sighed and softened his voice. “Please be assured, Lady Littlefield. Miss Bingley is not the only one who means to protect you.”

  “And what harm will it all do? Just because he is not the best man in the world? No one should die because of one unhappy marriage prospect – and yet, three people have,” she said. Her questioning of it also quite reasonable, “Promise me you will stop Georgiana.”

  “Stop her?”

  “She said she would protect me. She promised me at the beginning, the first night he hit me, when I was crying in the carriage on the way back. And look where it has taken us all. But I know she will take it to the end.” She whispered. “I know she’ll kill him if she has to.”

  The fact that it was Lady Littlefiel
d, the very picture of English demureness, who said it made it so much worse. “She will?”

  “Don’t doubt it, Inspector.”

  He swallowed. “Why is she so angry, Lady Littlefield?”

  “I – I can’t say.”

  “Who hurt her?”

  She gaped at his question. He would have done the same. It was too great for both of them. It was not a planned question, not something an inspector of the law should ask. It was not theoretically relevant to the case. It just came from his instincts, the instincts that had made his career and carried him through previous cases. “Tell me who hurt her.” His fingers hardened around his notebook.

  “It doesn’t matter. He’s in England. And he didn’t hurt her – physically. He’s not the marquis. It was just a misunderstanding.” When she raised her eyes to him, they were watery. “She won’t speak of the details, but I know. Georgiana is a lonely woman. She has been all her life. He was the only one who understood her, and when they drifted apart, it crushed her.”

  “So she ran to France?”

  Lady Littlefield could not bring herself to say it. She covered her mouth with her hand and nodded.

  “I have to find her.”

  To his surprise, all she said was, “I know.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Robert Audley abandoned all pretenses of caring about his own safety. He left the horse tied up at the school and ran into the woods. He had only the vaguest recollections of the location of Georgiana’s hideaway, but he found a stream soon enough, and followed it as far as it took him. He soon found its source, the pool of water being filled by a waterfall, the cold water pouring down from the melting winter snow in the mountains above. And for the life of him, he could not remember how to enter the cave he knew was beyond it. Something about getting wet?

  “Do you require assistance, Inspector?”

  He spun around – a little too fast, making his head spin – to see the form of Georgiana approaching, her white gown a contrast to the greens and browns of nature surrounding them. “Georgiana,” he said before he could stop himself.

  “Inspector Audley.” She curtseyed. If he did not know otherwise, she merely appeared to be on a pleasant walk in the forest. “I presume you were looking for me.”

  “I was,” he swallowed. “How – how are you?”

  “Fine. Better than yourself. And isn’t Uncle Brian supposed to be your shadow?”

  “I sent him to distract the marquis,” he explained, closing the gap between them. “I needed to speak with you.”

  “The marquis does not keep a watch on me.”

  “I needed to speak with you – without your uncle around,” he said, “to be perfectly honest about it.”

  She huffed. “At least you’re being perfectly honest.” She stalked off in the direction of the waterfall, and turned back only when he stood there, dazed. “Are you coming or not?”

  He followed her in silent agreement as she stepped up to a small ledge and, with her back to the rock, inched her way through the waterfall, taking his hand as he followed. They both stepped through and emerged into her small cavern completely soaked. Georgiana removed her bonnet and ran her hands through her very short hair. “So – are you here to talk about the marquis’s escape attempt?”

  “I went to your school to discuss it with you. That’s when Lady Littlefield told me you were missing.”

  “I wasn’t missing. No one was missing me.”

  “How could you think that?” he said, surprised at how much his voice was raised. “You don’t think there are people who care about your safety? That you might be putting yourself in serious danger by working for a killer, and for being a spy against a man who has people murdered? Lady Littlefield was practically in tears.”

  “Heather is a gentle English flower,” she said. “She’s my friend, but even she would admit that. And you know how women are so emotionally fragile, don’t you, Inspector?”

  “Did you tell her you would kill the marquis?”

  Even the unshakable Georgiana Bingley was taken aback by that question. “Not precisely.”

  “But you would.”

  “If everyone’s so inept that it comes to that,” she snarled. “If you can’t make an arrest despite the mounds of evidence I’ve piled at your door. Evidence I risked my life to collect. You have two women who’ve been beaten by him, one who was raped and is carrying his child. You know he’s responsible for at least one murder, and of hiring people to do his dirty work. If it hadn’t been for the Wolf, there would be another woman murdered, while you were staring at your precious notebook.”

  “I don’t have enough. I only have speculation.”

  “Arrest him. You know that even that would ruin his reputation, even if he is acquitted, and the Littlefields would call the wedding off. That’s all I want.”

  “Is that all you really want? Lady Littlefield safe? Or do you just want to hurt the marquis?” he said, not backing down this time.

  “Why would I want to hurt the marquis? He’s done nothing to me but ignore me, which is most convenient for my purposes anyway.”

  “I freely admit that he’s a despicable man. He’s a rapist, a murderer, and if I thought I could pin enough on him to hold up in court past all the bribery he would offer to get the charges removed, I would have him in irons tomorrow. So convenient, you say. Is it also because it gives you a target? Do you need someone to hit?” She turned away from him in anger, but he grabbed her arm. “Who hurt you, Georgiana?”

  Apparently she did need someone to hit. Unfortunately, he was extremely available. Her slap was much harder than he expected, knocking him back against the wall. When his vision cleared again, she was holding her hand over her mouth, for once in horror at her own actions. Finally, something that she had not planned. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  He straightened himself. His head was pounding, now from a combination of the slap and his injury. “I have had worse. Recently.” He did not back away. In fact, he wanted to be closer to her. He saw the pain in her eyes, usually so well-hidden. “Georgiana - ”

  “You’re not supposed to call me that.”

  “Miss Bingley. There, does that feel better?” he said. “If you want to help me, help me. Where is the Wolf?”

  She swallowed, attempting to recover her composure. “You stopped looking for the Wolf a long time ago, Inspector.”

  Despite his instincts, he could not bring himself to deny it.

  “You would have found him. It’s so obvious, and despite my insults, I consider you a very intelligent person, Inspector Audley.”

  “Robert.”

  “What?”

  He stammered, “My name is Robert, remember?”

  “Do you want to be Inspector Audley or do you want to be Robert?”

  He responded by kissing her. He would have judged that a suitable response, if any part of his brain was really working. He was too close, and she was too vulnerable, too human, and too beautiful. He couldn’t stand it anymore. It was wrong, and he broke it as soon as he could manage, not because she rejected him, but because he knew he had to, as they staggered away from each other. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, hiding his face with his hat. “I – shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Obviously.”

  Despite it, he smiled. “I mean it, Georgiana.” He lowered his hat. She did not look terrified, or angry, but then, her emotions were very hard to read. “I should go.”

  Her response was to kiss him. This time, neither of them backed away.

  She put her arms around him and ran her hands through his blond hair. It felt divine, indescribable, really. When they finally separated, she buried her face in his shoulder, being just the right height for it. “I love your hair,” Audley said. “I always have.” He’d seen redheads before, but never had he seen a woman with such short hair, or a combination of the two. It was just lovely, like a perfect rose, silky to his touch. He was so taken in by it, by her, so close
to him, it took him a moment to notice she was sobbing – very quietly, and muffled by his vest. “Georgiana?”

  She raised her tear-stricken face. “It’s not your fault.”

  “You weren’t crying when I showed up.”

  “No, but I wanted to,” she said, sniffling. “I’ve wanted to for so long.”

  He could have made a joke about the delicate composure of the female species, but it didn’t feel appropriate. It didn’t feel right. “You’re lonely?”

  “You guessed?”

  He smirked. “I needed a hint from Lady Littlefield. Actually, I needed her to say it outright.”

  “Some detective.”

  “Yes.”

  Georgiana leaned into him again, this time not openly sobbing, but he couldn’t see if she was still crying. He waited, and kissed the top of her head, listening to the sound of the water flowing behind them.

  “I don’t know what happened,” she said, her voice wavering as she separated from him at least some distance. Her eyes were still red. “We were so close – we grew up together. We were born two weeks apart. We played together as children.” She swallowed. “He was the only one who ever understood me for who I was – the only person on this earth. And then he went to Eton, and he became so ... distant.”

  “What did he say?” he asked gently. “Geoffrey.” Her eyebrows shot up in alarm as he said it. “I can do some detecting.”

  She smiled briefly, never letting go of him. “It wasn’t what he said – it was how he said it. He was surprised I didn’t want to go to Town for the Season, just to put myself on the market for someone to scoop me up like a prized animal.” She had not, it seemed, lost all of her humor as he listened patiently. “We’re both eighteen; what boy marries at eighteen? Students can’t even be married. His father didn’t marry until he was something near thirty. But girls – we’re supposed to be different.”

  “You mature faster,” Audley said. He didn’t doubt it was true. “Is your father forcing you to marry?”

  “No, the opposite – but I know people think things. I have to be a good example to my younger sister. I have to be a proper lady who likes embroidery and painting china. I have to put my hair up.” She laughed, but it was a tired and sad laugh. “I got sick of that nonsense. Growing out your hair only to put it up. So I cut it off. No one’s looked at me the same since. Except Geoffrey. He said it looked nice.”