The Imposter's Inheritance (Glass and Steele Book 9)

by C. J. Archer

Mr. Grundy snickered, but I wasn't interested in their little verbal tussle. Something he'd said reminded me of something Lord Farnsworth had said. Indeed, he'd tossed it out when we saw him this morning, but it now seemed rather pertinent.

  I nudged Matt aside and regarded Mr. Grundy. "What about later that Monday night?" I asked. "Did you take Lord Farnsworth anywhere?"

  "Just to Pimlico at about ten, it was. It was a cold night. He ordered me to wait for him, said he wouldn't be long. But he didn't come out till almost three in the morning."

  Matt straightened. "Three? And he didn't leave Miss L'Amour's house in that time?"

  Mr. Grundy shook his head.

  I realized why Matt had wanted to make sure of the time. The footman in the Cox household had heard a noise at ten to two. If Lord Farnsworth was at Angelique's house, he couldn't have stolen the coronet. He'd said as much just this morning, but I'd dismissed it as a lie. Angelique hadn't mentioned it when we'd asked her about Monday afternoon. Granted, we hadn't specifically asked her about the night of the theft, only the late afternoon visit to the newspaper office. Still…

  "Did Miss L'Amour leave the apartment?" I asked.

  Mr. Grundy shook his head again, but stopped suddenly. He frowned.

  "Did you doze off?" Matt asked.

  "No," Mr. Grundy spat, offended. "I was awake the entire time, watching and waiting. It ain't so bad. I like the peace and quiet in the middle of the night. No, sir, I saw every coming and going from that apartment above the butcher's shop. Farnsworth didn't leave until three, but someone else left earlier then came back about forty-five minutes later, all before Farnsworth came out. A man."

  "Are you sure?" Matt asked.

  "He weren't tall but had a barrel of a chest so I knew it wasn’t his lordship. He stopped and spoke to someone in the doorway of the butcher's shop, but I couldn't see who. Then he left."

  "Did you catch a glimpse of his face?" Matt asked. "Did he have a beard or whiskers?"

  Mr. Grundy shrugged. "It was too dark."

  "The moon was out that night," I said, remembering what Lord Cox's footman had told us. "You saw nothing of the man's features?"

  "Nope."

  Matt huffed out a frustrated breath. We thanked Mr. Grundy and left. "Damn it," Matt muttered as we passed beneath the arched entrance. "Do you think he's lying about not seeing the man who left Angelique's in the night? He might be tempted to blackmail him now that he knows the information is valuable to us."

  "Could it be the butcher's boy? But why would he be in the room with Farnsworth and Angelique. Oh. Don't answer that."

  "He doesn't have a barrel chest," Matt pointed out.

  "He could have stuffed something down his shirt."

  Matt stopped suddenly and rounded on me. He was grinning.

  "What's so amusing?" I asked.

  "Next time you come out with me to sneak into someone's house in the middle of the night dressed in Willie's clothes, look at yourself in the mirror before you leave."

  "Are you telling me I look as though I have something stuffed down my shirt when I dress in men's clothes?"

  "As it happens, you do have something stuffed down your shirt. Two somethings." He opened the carriage door for me, still grinning.

  "It was Angelique! She left in the middle of the night, leaving Lord Farnsworth asleep in her bed. That's why Mr. Grundy didn't see her face; her darker skin made her features harder to make out in the night. She stole the coronet. And Lord Farnsworth knows nothing about it."

  "I think he does. He's been protecting her even while she has been subtly implicating him."

  So she had. She'd never told us he was at her place during the night and she had suggested that he wasn't as foolish as he seemed. He might be her benefactor, but she didn't care for him. She was quite happy for us to accuse him.

  "Shall we confront him or Angelique?" I asked.

  "Angelique. But before we speak to her, I want to ask the butcher's boy a few more questions. He knows more than he let on."

  Chapter 16

  The butcher's boy refused to join us on the pavement, signaling through the window that he had to work. Matt entered the shop and spoke to the butcher and returned with the lad. He looked sheepish, hunched over, as if he knew the interrogation he was about to face and wished he could be anywhere else but here.

  "Is that your father?" Matt asked, indicating the butcher serving a customer.

  The lad nodded.

  "He told you to answer me truthfully. Does he know what this is about?"

  The youth nodded again. "He asked me after the last time you were here. He wouldn't let me out until I told him what you wanted. He says I could be in a lot of trouble if I don't tell the truth."

  "He's right," I said, taking a gentler tone. "You could go to prison."

  "Prison!"

  "I'll put in a good word for you with the police," Matt assured him. "But only if you co-operate."

  "I don't want to go to prison."

  "What's your name?" I asked.

  "Terrence."

  "My husband is friends with the police commissioner, Terrence. You won't go to prison if you tell us what you know about Miss L'Amour."

  He swallowed. "I'm not a tattler."

  "This isn't tattling," Matt said. "This is self-preservation. Where were you Monday evening last week?"

  Terrence looked relieved at the innocuous question. "Here, all night."

  "Were you standing in the doorway of your father's shop at any point?"

  Terrence nodded. "Ain't no crime in that."

  "Did you speak to someone?"

  Terrence hesitated then nodded. "Angelique."

  "What time was that?"

  "I don't know. Well after midnight."

  "What was she wearing?" I asked.

  "Men's clothes."

  "Do you know where she went dressed in men's clothes?"

  Another hesitation.

  "I know you like her," I said. "That's why you were outside her place that night, watching, perhaps hoping to catch a glimpse of her as Lord Farnsworth left. I know she acts like she likes you too, but she's using you, Terrence. She said what you wanted to hear so you would lie for her. Don't believe her trickery. If you don't tell us everything you know, you will go to prison."

  He swallowed heavily and glanced at Angelique's door then through the window of his father's shop. His father glared back from behind the counter.

  "I don't know where she was going," Terence said. "She wouldn't tell me. When she came out, I got the surprise of my life to see her dressed in trousers. She made me promise not to say a word to anyone, including the lord."

  "Did you see her return?" Matt asked.

  Terrence nodded. "It was a while later, maybe a bit less than an hour. She went straight past me."

  "Was she carrying anything?" I asked.

  "She had something wrapped up in a cloth, tucked under her arm."

  "What about Lord Farnsworth?" Matt asked. "When did he leave?"

  "Maybe thirty minutes after that. He was yawning and he smelled drunk. He didn't see me."

  Matt clapped him on the shoulder. "Thank you, Terrence. I know this wasn't easy for you." We went to leave, but I hesitated. Terrence chewed on his lower lip.

  "There's something else, isn't there?" I asked. "You must tell us, Terrence."

  He released his lip. "Earlier that day, Angelique asked me to deliver a message to a newspaperman but to make sure no one saw me. So after the shop closed, I took the note and waited for him to leave his office. I pretended I was an errand boy and left it on his desk where he'd see it."

  So that was how Angelique had sent the threatening note without being seen. Lord Farnsworth was right; Angelique was too beautiful to go unnoticed. Even in disguise, she would have turned heads. But Terrence was ordinary. There was nothing unique about him. He looked like many other youths in the city, and I suspected The Daily Courier employed several errand boys who came and went from the office, invisible to t
he senior staff.

  "Did you also pick up a book for her in Hyde Park?" Matt asked.

  "I don't know nothing about a book."

  Angelique must have retrieved it from the park bench herself. The editor said his vision had been obscured and with her back turned and wearing a cloak, Angelique could go unnoticed among the busy Hyde Park paths in the late afternoon.

  We waited until Terrence returned to the shop then knocked on Angelique's door. She opened it with a broad smile but, upon seeing us, went to close it.

  Matt stepped in, forcing her back. Her ankles hit the bottom step and he caught her arm before she fell. She shook him off and spat something at him in French. He didn't respond.

  "What's this?" came the laconic voice of Lord Farnsworth behind me.

  I spun around and edged inside, closer to Matt, but Lord Farnsworth merely stood there. I glanced past him to his carriage where Cyclops had jumped down from the driver's seat. He watched, alert.

  "Miss L'Amour stole the coronet," Matt announced.

  "Preposterous!" Lord Farnsworth spluttered. "Outrageous!"

  "Enough acting, Farnsworth. We know that you know everything. You lied to us."

  "Oui!" Miss L'Amour blurted out. "Yes, he lied. To me also. He is the thief. You cannot believe him when he says I did it."

  Lord Farnsworth's body sagged with his heavy sigh. "I lied for you, Angel. I tried to save you. But it seems you are your own worst enemy. If only you had trusted me, I would have found someone else for you. Someone good and kind."

  "Someone fat and ugly." She sniffed. "You are not that at least."

  Lord Farnsworth sighed again. "Shall we go upstairs and discuss this like gentlemen, Glass?"

  I wasn't sure how that would make a difference, but Matt agreed.

  The parlor felt crowded with the four of us in it. Nobody sat, and as much as I wanted tea to help soothe everyone's frayed nerves, I didn't suggest it. Angelique stood with a defiant glare that she directed at the three of us.

  Matt told her what we'd learned from Terrence. When he finished, she said something in French again, which I was beginning to think was an obscenity. "That stupid boy," she said in English. "I should not have trusted him."

  "You should not have stolen the coronet," Lord Farnsworth said. "Then you wouldn't be in this corner."

  "Why did you steal it?" I asked. "Are you interested in magical objects?"

  "Magic?" she said. "Ha! You English and your silly fantasies. I took it for him."

  Matt and I turned to Lord Farnsworth. He put up his hands in surrender, but didn't look alarmed at the accusation. He expected it. "Her English is a little raw," he said, apologetically. "I didn't ask her to steal it for me. I was here when I read about it in the newspaper and told her it would be a valuable piece that I'd pay a fortune for to add it to my collection. She knew I collected magical things." His lips flattened. "Although I didn't realize she thought magic wasn't real until now. She's a very good actress. Missed your calling, my dear."

  Angelique rolled her eyes.

  "I didn't know she decided to steal it," he went on. "I didn't find out until the following day."

  "You didn't notice she'd gone out on Monday night?" I asked.

  "I was asleep. Too much to drink, don't you know."

  "Did she tell you she stole it the next day?" Matt asked.

  "She offered to give it to me in exchange for keeping her on as my mistress. I refused. Too difficult to keep a girl holed up in here with a wife at home. Too expensive. So then she tried to sell it to me, for a very high sum, I might add."

  "Only enough to keep me in a nice house for a few years," Angelique said. "You have money."

  "Yes, but owning a distinctive stolen object like that is almost worthless to a collector. I couldn't resell it to other collectors and I couldn't show it off. Some of them are far too prudish. They'd think I stole it. I'd be cast out, banned. Best to steer clear of it. That's what I told her."

  "And then?" I asked.

  "And then nothing. She didn't mention it again."

  We all turned to Angelique. "Did you sell it?" Matt asked.

  Angelique tipped her chin even higher. Then with a click of her tongue, she gave in. "It is in there." She pointed to the tiny room she used as a kitchen. "There is a loose board in the floor under the table."

  Matt pressed the boards until he found the loose one and pulled it up. He reached into the cavity and removed a bundle wrapped in cloth. The cloth folded back, exposing the golden coronet we'd seen at Lord Cox's house.

  "I was going to take it to France and sell it," Angelique said. "I need the money now that he is leaving me."

  "Speaking of leaving." Lord Farnsworth pulled out a small paper bag from his inside jacket pocket. "I came here to give you this. There's some money in there and a one-way ticket to Antwerp on a steam packet."

  Angelique sniffed and was about to turn away, but thought better of it. She snatched the bag. "Thank you, Davide."

  He caressed her jaw and smiled sweetly. "How many times do I have to tell you? You don't have to thank me. Everything I did for you, I did because I cared. You're a wonderful girl when you're not thieving or lying."

  Tears welled in my eyes, but not Angelique's. She lightly kissed Lord Farnsworth on the lips. "I will pack now."

  "You'd better," Lord Farnsworth declared. "The steamer leaves in two hours."

  "Wait a moment," Matt said. "You both seem to be under the assumption we're letting her go."

  I took his arm and held on lest he try to physically stop her. "No one was harmed in this crime, Matt."

  "What about the maid? And how will you explain suddenly finding this?" He held up the coronet.

  He was right. We couldn't just turn up with the stolen item without answers. And if we told the truth, Angelique would be hunted by the police and stopped from leaving the country. I didn't want her to go to prison.

  "I will write a letter to your police," Angelique said. "I will admit everything. But please, I beg you, do not give it to them until I am safe."

  I squeezed Matt's arm to convince him to agree, but it wasn't necessary. I could tell he thought it a good idea too.

  "We'll hand over your confession to the detective assigned to the case tomorrow," he assured her. "I suggest you employ some sort of disguise to board the packet as they will check all ports once they realize you've fled."

  "They will assume she has gone to France," Lord Farnsworth said. "They won't look toward Antwerp until it's too late." He took Angelique's hands in both of his. "Well then, dear girl. It's time to part. I'm going to miss you."

  "And I you, cherie."

  Lord Farnsworth leaned in to kiss her, but she swayed back, and he was left kissing the air.

  She withdrew her hands. "You are no longer my benefactor. My kisses are not for you. Goodbye, Davide. And thank you for the adventure. It was fun sometimes."

  Lord Farnsworth offered her a deep bow and turned away. Unlike his former mistress, tears pooled in his eyes. "Sometimes," he muttered as he headed down the stairs. "It was more than just sometimes."

  Angelique wrote her confession, signed it, and gave it to Matt. I wished her well, but she merely nodded. I wasn't going to get gratitude from her after uncovering her lies.

  We followed Lord Farnsworth outside. Cyclops looked relieved to see us. While he knew Lord Farnsworth and Angelique were suspects, he couldn't have known they were harmless. He climbed back up to the coachman’s seat, ready for orders. Farnsworth didn't seem to notice that he'd got down from his perch in the first place.

  "Makes sense that it was her," Farnsworth said with a forlorn gaze at Angelique's door. "She was an excellent thief, by all accounts."

  "Pardon?" Matt asked.

  "In Paris. Her brother's gang began as child pickpockets and grew up to become master thieves. They stole the jewels off the necks of ladies and silver from their dining tables. Angelique was forced into that life by her brother. He was cruel to her, turned her int
o…" He waved a hand at the door. "That's how we met. I stopped in Paris on my way home from a tour of the continent. She charmed me then tried to steal from me. I convinced her to give up that life and come to England as my mistress. I'm much fairer than a prison guard." He smiled sadly. "I thought she'd left that life behind, but it seems thieving is in her blood."

  "She was just trying to secure her future," I told him. "She knew you were leaving her."

  "Ah, yes, the Wife Plan." He laughed but it sounded grim.

  "Marriage isn't so bad if you find a woman you get along with," Matt said cheerfully.

  "I thought I had found her. She just wasn't the right woman."

  Matt clapped him on the shoulder. "Next time you give your heart to a woman, don't pay her to be with you."

  "Very droll," Lord Farnsworth said. "That reminds me. Is that cousin of yours still available?"

  "I thought you had someone else in mind," I said.

  "She found a richer man."

  "I advise you to look outside my family," Matt said. "My cousin's unique charms are not for the faint-hearted."

  Lord Farnsworth shrugged then gave Cyclops directions to take him to his club. "Oh, and Glass?" he said before shutting the door. "Do try to leave my name out of this when you talk to the police."

  We watched him go then headed to our carriage, parked on the opposite side of the street. Matt took my hand and assisted me up the step. Once he'd settled beside me, I crossed my arms and glared at him.

  "What?" he asked.

  "'Marriage isn't so bad?'" I echoed.

  "Ye—es," he said carefully. "Why can't I say that?"

  "If you were selling matrimony, I wouldn't buy it based on that statement."

  His lips quirked with his impish smile. "But you're not Farnsworth. To him, 'not bad' means it's the most amazing thing in the world. Trust me, I know men like him."

  I narrowed my gaze, not quite sure whether to believe him or not.

  We turned a sudden corner and I slid into his side. He trapped me in his arms. "I do like it when Woodall goes too fast around corners. Kiss me, Mrs. Glass."

  "I suppose I will," I said on a theatrical sigh. "Your kisses are not bad, I suppose."