Murder at the Marlowe Club

by Kate Parker

  “I once arrived at Wallingford House with Roxanne to find Dorothy in tears on the stairs and the sounds of the duke and Theo shouting at each other coming from the study. Dorothy told us Theo had taken Alfred from his nurse and locked the two of them in his room. Alfred had been heard screaming all over the house.”

  “What happened to the baby?” I asked, cringing inside.

  “When Mathers unlocked the door, they found Theo had been brushing Alfred’s bare feet with a stiff scrubbing brush. Babies have tender feet with soft skin on the bottom.”

  I gasped. “That poor baby.” Theo was a monster. Betsy, the nursery maid, was right. Lord Alfred was safer with Theo dead.

  “I’m sure Lulu put a stop to that,” Lady Kaldaire said.

  “Louisa joined us after we’d calmed Dorothy. When Dorothy told us what happened, Louisa said Dorothy was hysterical and to pay no notice of what she said. A moment later, Theo walked out of the house, ignoring his mother as she called to him. Then the duke walked out and apologized to me for having to witness this family squabble. I thought it sounded more like a disaster.”

  “And Roxanne? What did she say?” I asked.

  “She was wonderful with Dorothy, calming her down and holding her while she cried. Louisa told the duke this was all Roxanne’s fault. If she were a better wife, these things wouldn’t happen. Roxanne said if Louisa were a better mother, Theo would have been locked up years ago.”

  I sat there with my mouth hanging open. Even Lady Kaldaire was speechless. When the duchess stayed silent, I had to ask, “What happened next?”

  “Louisa slapped Roxanne.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “She what?” I exclaimed. My family seemed respectable by comparison, and they were a bunch of crooks. Even Lady Kaldaire looked shocked at her friend’s behavior.

  “Louisa slapped Roxanne, who stalked out of the house without a word,” the Duchess of Blackford told us.

  “She sounds like more of a lady than the Duchess of Wallingford,” I said, glaring at Lady Kaldaire as if this were somehow her fault.

  “That doesn’t sound like Lulu,” Lady Kaldaire murmured. “What happened then?”

  “Dorothy burst into tears again and raced up the stairs. There I stood with the duke and duchess, wondering what to say or do. The duke stalked away, and then Louisa asked me if I’d like a cup of tea.” The Duchess of Blackford raised her eyebrows and then took a sip from her cup.

  “Good grief.” Aristocrats certainly put up a calmer, quieter front to the world than my crazy and outspoken family.

  “What else would you expect Lulu to say?” Lady Kaldaire asked.

  “I didn’t expect her to strike her daughter-in-law.” Our hostess sounded scandalized.

  Lady Kaldaire shook her head. “I don’t understand it.”

  “But it does explain why Roxanne was leaving Wallingford House especially now that Theo was dead,” I told them.

  “Nonsense. Where would she have gone?” Lady Kaldaire asked.

  “Australia.”

  “Why would you say that?” the older lady asked me.

  I didn’t want to tell her how big a role Jeb Marlowe said he played in Roxanne’s life. “Her lover claimed they had already made plans.”

  “She’d never get a penny out of the duke.”

  “I don’t think she wanted his money.” I sighed and continued. “She just wanted to escape these crazy people who treated her so badly.”

  “But Roxanne would have wanted to get money from somewhere before she left,” the duchess told us. “Roxanne was middle class, just like me. She understood how necessary money is.”

  “A subject Emily has been teaching me,” Lady Kaldaire said. She turned to me then and smiled. “I am trying to learn.”

  “Would the Duke of Wallingford have cut her off without a shilling if she asked him for some money to emigrate?” I asked both ladies.

  “I’m not sure,” the duchess said.

  “No. The duke wouldn’t have given her money to travel to Australia,” Lady Kaldaire said. “I can see him setting her up in her own household near her family in the north, but Australia? Never. He doesn’t believe in women traveling to the colonies. He sees it as men’s work to tame the natives. Make their fortunes. Women are to wait at home for the men to return.”

  The duchess, who’d once run a bookshop, and I, who ran a millinery shop, looked at each other as if to say Men can be so foolish.

  “Then, knowing Roxanne as you did, do you believe she would have gone elsewhere for money to take with her to Australia?” I asked.

  “Yes, and I’m sure her family would have helped her, but with her mother’s lingering illness and the sad state of the family brewery, I doubt they could give her much. And I don’t know anywhere else she could get money,” the duchess said.

  “How about her friends at the Marlowe Club? Lord and Lady Ravenbrook? Lady Westkirk? Lord Armstrong?” I asked.

  “What about Lucky Marlowe?” Lady Kaldaire said.

  As the duchess gave us both puzzled looks, I replied, “I’ve heard he might have lent her money for her passage. I think the ship will sail soon.” I really didn’t want to give away my contact with the club owner.

  “And you think she would have gone elsewhere for more money?” Lady Kaldaire asked.

  “I would have,” I said. “Setting up life in a new place halfway around the world can be expensive.”

  “I would have also,” the duchess said. “I wonder if she pawned her jewelry.”

  “According to Lulu, some of her jewelry was missing.” When we both looked at her, Lady Kaldaire said, “They thought her death was some sort of robbery, so that was the first thing they checked. Especially since the jewelry wasn’t really Roxanne’s.”

  “Whose was it?”

  “The Hughes family’s. Theo didn’t have any money to buy jewelry for his wife,” Lady Kaldaire said.

  I looked at the duchess. “Would Roxanne have pawned jewelry belonging to her mother-in-law?”

  “I’d have been very surprised if she had,” the Duchess of Blackford told me. “She was very honest.”

  Lady Kaldaire made a harrumphing sound.

  “Most of the tales told about Roxanne weren’t true,” the duchess said. “The drunken carriage race? That was Theo. After the crash, Roxanne shoved Theo inside the carriage and dealt with the police and the damage to the carter’s wagon. The constables never knew Theo was there.”

  “I bet Her Grace didn’t thank her, either,” I said.

  “Is this true?” Lady Kaldaire demanded.

  “Yes. And the debutante who was the worse for wear at one of the balls? Roxanne didn’t get her into that state, she was trying to get the girl home without incident and without her becoming a plaything for Theo.” The duchess snapped at Lady Kaldaire, “Shall I go on?”

  “There’s no point. But how could all of these stories be told about Roxanne if they weren’t true?” Lady Kaldaire asked.

  “Would the Duchess of Wallingford know?” the Duchess of Blackford asked, skepticism in her tone.

  “I don’t think so. She believed them, but she didn’t spread them. Those stories reflected badly on the family, and the reputation of the family means everything to her,” Lady Kaldaire told her.

  “Someone must have started them,” I said, angry at this unknown person.

  “But how would we figure out who this someone is?” Lady Kaldaire asked.

  “Let’s talk to Lady Margaret Ellingham, the duchess’s daughter. She’s almost as proud of her heritage as her mother. If we give her what we know, I suspect she’ll help us by narrowing our search for the culprit,” the duchess said.

  “Because she’d be most likely to know who Roxanne’s enemies were outside of the Hughes family?” I asked.

  “Because she’s very observant where the interests of her family are concerned,” the duchess told me. “Shall we find out what she’s observed?”

  I nodded. “And between the two of
you, I’m hoping you can help with something else. Do you know which dancer stepped on and ripped the hem of a gown at your ball?”

  “Emily, will you stop with the ripped hem?” Lady Kaldaire said.

  The duchess spread her hands in a vague manner. “I heard Lord Armstrong, or Lord Stapleton, or Lord Walters, who is the clumsiest man I know. I’m afraid I didn’t see the accident.”

  Lord Armstrong might have stepped on the gown as a signal. I’d never heard of the other two in relation to the Marlowe Club, and suspected if they had trampled on the woman’s gown, it was by mistake.

  A few minutes later, after the duchess gave instructions to the staff and put on her hat and gloves, we walked out of Blackford House, holding our umbrellas against the drizzle, and climbed into the ducal carriage.

  “The duke isn’t back with the fancy carriage, so I’m afraid all I can offer is the family coach,” the duchess said. The carriage was plain black with a thin gold line painted along the edges of the sides and the door. The seats were a close woven beige and brown plaid and a little hard. The carriage didn’t give a comfortable ride, but it was dry, and I considered that to be the important thing.

  The home of Lord and Lady Ellingham was only three streets away. I’d have thought nothing of walking that distance in worse weather than this light rain, but apparently ladies didn’t risk their fine clothes and expensive hats on the tiniest bit of water.

  The Duchess of Blackford led the way up to the door and rang the bell. When the butler opened the door, the duchess gave our names, starting with hers, as she handed him her calling card. He must have been sufficiently impressed, because he bowed us in and escorted us up the stairs to the main drawing room.

  As he went off to inform his mistress of her callers, I looked around. The decor was a mixture of Victorian and Edwardian. The furniture was large and heavy, but I guessed this room had been twice as crowded in the late queen’s reign. The curtains had recently been replaced by a lighter fabric in a pale blue that wasn’t yet dulled by smoke.

  Lady Margaret Ellingham walked in a few minutes later in a gown of gray and violet for second mourning that made her look more than ever like her mother, the Duchess of Wallingford.

  The duchess walked up to her and said, “Margaret, I’m so glad to see you relieving your mourning a little. I hope your heart is a little lighter, too.”

  “Thank you, Georgia. I think I would be reconciled to all that has happened if Mama could let go of her grief and anger.”

  “That is to be prayed for. And along those lines,” the duchess said, “I’m convinced that Roxanne didn’t kill your brother and didn’t do half the things she was accused of.”

  Lady Ellingham turned away and walked toward the door. “I wish that were true, but she was undoubtedly guilty.”

  “Margaret, did you personally see Roxanne do any of the things she was accused of?” Lady Kaldaire asked.

  “Do you remember when the Smith girl had to be removed from the Castlewells’ ball? I overheard Lady Westkirk berating Roxanne afterward for her part in it.”

  “Do you remember exactly what she said?” I asked. It could be useful, although I had no idea why at that moment.

  “Bianca Westkirk said…” Lady Margaret scrunched up her face in thought. “She said Roxanne shouldn’t interfere in other people’s lives. Roxanne replied that Bianca was an expensive whore, but a whore nonetheless.”

  “How do you know they were talking about that incident? They could have been talking about something entirely different. The two women didn’t get along, did they?” I asked.

  “They didn’t,” Lady Margaret Ellingham agreed. “They never mentioned the subject of their disagreement, but it seemed reasonable to assume they were talking about the girl who’d been helped out not five minutes before.”

  “I’d heard from someone who saw the incident that Roxanne acted quickly to keep embarrassment to a minimum. If that’s so, then it was good she did interfere,” the duchess said.

  After a moment of silence, Lady Kaldaire said, “I didn’t want to believe it either, out of loyalty to your mother. But I’ve been persuaded that most of the crimes and bad behavior Roxanne was accused of in gossip was only that. Gossip.”

  “But who would start such malicious tales? And who really carried out these dangerous pranks?” Lady Ellingham said, turning to face the room again.

  “We were hoping you could help us. Who wants to harm your family? Or perhaps harm Roxanne?” the duchess asked.

  “Everyone knows my mother detested the notorious Lady Roxanne. There was no way to harm our family by making her look bad.”

  “What started the feud between your mother and Roxanne?” I asked.

  “My mother had arranged a marriage for Theo with the daughter of one of her friends. Then Theo insisted on marrying Roxanne. My mother thought it made her look foolish, but of course it couldn’t be Theo’s fault.” Lady Ellingham sounded bitter as she said the last words.

  “Who did she want him to marry?” Could this be the answer?

  “The prospective bride? Priscilla Lawson, daughter of Sir Leonard and Lady Lawson.”

  “Who is Miss Lawson friends with? Has she married?” I asked.

  “She was very good friends with Lady Victoria Abbott, who died two months ago or a little more. Priscilla is now engaged to Hugo Watson, Victoria’s brother.”

  I felt certain this was important, but I couldn’t figure out how. Unless someone told Priscilla the secret of the hidden passageway and she or Hugo Watson used it to kill Roxanne or Theo. I could understand why either of them might have wanted to kill Theo for Victoria’s death, and if they believed the story about Roxanne’s involvement, they would have wanted to kill her, too.

  “Was there anyone else who was close to Priscilla Lawson or Victoria Abbott?” the Duchess of Blackford asked.

  “Certainly no one close enough to want revenge by killing Theo and Roxanne,” Lady Ellingham said.

  “It makes no sense,” Lady Kaldaire said. Then she stared at Lady Ellingham. “Have your parents closed up the passageway to the carriage house?”

  “Yes. At least, Father ordered it sealed up after he learned of the tunnel. I don’t think the work has begun yet.”

  That meant one good outcome of our sleuthing. “Your Grace, could you arrange for Lady Kaldaire and me to interview Miss Lawson and Mr. Watson?” I asked.

  “Of course,” the Duchess of Blackford replied.

  “Why?” Lady Ellingham asked, glaring. I couldn’t tell if she was always skeptical or this was just her reaction to me.

  “If your brother and his wife died because of Victoria Abbott’s death, or rumors about her death, Miss Lawson and Mr. Watson may know something that will help us get to the truth,” I told her.

  “And why do you want the truth?” Lady Ellingham asked, leaning forward slightly with her hands planted on her waist and staring hard into my eyes.

  I stared back, certain I was coming close to hearing the truth. “Because I believe Theo died when someone tried to protect baby Alfred from harm, and because Roxanne may well have died because of a rumor started about her.”

  Lady Margaret Ellingham paced for a moment, her skirt swirling around her ankles. “No one killed Theo. His death was an accident. My parents assured me no one was to blame in his death. He fell and hit his head.”

  “Your parents saw this, my lady?” If she said yes, I would consider that to be the end of any concern I had that someone had killed their son.

  “No. My father arrived to find Theo on the floor, lying on his stomach, with the back of his head broken and bloody. The night nurse was also sprawled on the floor with a head injury, but still alive. Dorothy was kneeling next to Alfred, picking him up, rocking him, and screaming hysterically. The baby was whimpering. The nursery was in shambles, with the fireplace tools spread out on the floor and a chair laying on its side.”

  “I’ve spoken to the night nurse, who claims to have been attacked by Lord
Theodore. He apparently gave her the head injury and she was unconscious for whatever transpired later.” Not hiding my disgust, I added, “The injured nurse was thrown out of the house at daybreak without a reference by the duke, making her unemployable.”

  Lady Ellingham shook her head, as if she couldn’t take in any more.

  I continued, “That leaves Lord Theo alone with Lady Frethorton, who would do anything to protect her baby.” I looked at the three ladies standing around me. “I believe we can assume, having heard of Lord Theo’s rough treatment of small children and pets, that Lady Frethorton may have pushed Theo to get him away from Lord Alfred.”

  Lady Margaret sucked in her breath.

  “He may have stumbled or tripped and hit the back of his head on the way down, and landed on his stomach.”

  Seeing the expression of relief on Lady Margaret Ellingham’s face, I knew I was right. Dorothy struck Theo over the head to save her child. I couldn’t condemn a mother to the gallows for protecting her infant. “When I was in the nursery, I saw that the fireplace shovel and the poker were dented. You said that the fireplace tools were spread out across the floor. Which did Lady Frethorton use on Lord Theo to stop him from hurting her baby?”

  Lady Ellingham shuddered. “The poker. When we calmed her down, Dorothy told us what happened. It’s not fair for Dorothy to be punished for protecting an innocent child.”

  I wasn’t certain if this qualified as self-defense under British law, but it was close enough for me. “Obviously just a terrible accident.”

  Lady Ellingham let all her air out and dropped into a chair. Lady Kaldaire patted her shoulder. The duchess held Lady Ellingham’s hand. All three women watched me in silence.

  “There’s no reason to believe anyone broke into Wallingford House and murdered Lord Theo, since it was an accident, but then who,” I looked at each lady in turn, “killed Roxanne? And where? And why?”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “What is this rumor you’ve heard about Roxanne?” Lady Margaret Ellingham asked, gesturing us to sit.