Deadly Engagement: A Georgian Historical Mystery (Alec Halsey Crimance)

by Lucinda Brant

  “The regular monthly outgoings are also notated, but one is more puzzling than the other. The first is marked LJG; the second is simply marked with the letter D. The first I have no idea to whom or what but I can make a very good guess as to the second.”

  Sir Cosmo, who had no head for figures, had no idea what she was talking about. “Spoken to J-L’s man of business about it?”

  “Andrews?” Selina was scornful. “He had no idea this ledger existed. Seems J-L was withdrawing substantial sums of money from the estate and placing the lot into this account. Well, he was so wealthy he could afford to siphon off bags of money without it really impacting on our day-to-day lives, couldn’t he? I guess that’s why Andrews never made a fuss.” Selina flicked through a few pages and stopped at a month at random. “See. The same occurs for March and for April and May. The money J-L was depositing into this account is clearly written, as are the usual expenses for food, coal and so on, but I have no idea why he felt he needed to channel it into this secret account. And who or what was getting the monthly wad of bills?”

  “How did you come by this ledger if Andrews knew nothing about it?”

  Selina closed the account book. “It was lying open on J-L’s desk the morning he was found in the wood.”

  Sir Cosmo’s mouth dropped into a frown. “Odd.”

  “Odd?”

  “Odd that he should leave open on his desk a ledger he obviously kept secret from his man of business and then go out to shoot. You think he would’ve secured it before heading off.”

  “He may have intended coming back to it. It wasn’t Andrews’ day. No one else was likely to enter the study. Maybe he went to the wood to clear his mind before returning to finish up the figure work?”

  Sir Cosmo rubbed his clean-shaven chin. He wasn’t convinced. “Clear his mind? He blew his head off, my dear girl. Why have the ledger open at all? More important to leave a note behind than try to balance the books before you’re about to shoot yourself in the temple!”

  “I wonder what the letters GC stand for?” Selina muttered, ignoring her friend’s incredulity. “This ledger had nothing to do with his racing interests or his gambling or payment of IOUs made at his club. Andrews saw to those and I checked the accounts. They are all correctly accounted for. But studying this ledger one would almost presume J-L to be running a quite separate and secret establishment, as if he kept a mistress. But we know that not to be the case so—”

  “There is the Ganymede Club,” Sir Cosmo suggested lightly. “The initials fit.” When Selina stared at him uncomprehendingly he gulped. “Ah. Don’t know about that then?” He drew a deep breath. Why was it left to him to dredge up the muck? First Alec about J-L and now Selina about her husband’s sordid other life. He cursed his ability to get himself into such tight corners. He tucked his chin in the high collar of his striped silk banyan and said in a clipped voice, “Male brothel above an apothecary’s shop in Fleet Street. Tremarton was an habitué; so it seems was Jack. Can’t think why any self-respecting gentleman would be interested in young boys—”

  “Young boys?” The word was wrenched from her.

  Sir Cosmo put up his hands. “No! No! Not boys. No. Youths. Young men.”

  “Boys? Youths? Young men? That makes a difference?” Selina answered in an anguished whisper. She leaned against the table and looked so white Sir Cosmo wondered if she was about to faint. Yet, her voice did not waver as she held tight to the table top, gaze fixed on her friend’s face. “You knew about this male brothel, this Ganymede Club?”

  “I’ve only just found out about the place, m’self,” explained Sir Cosmo, following her into the sitting room. “Believe me, Selina. Had I known—”

  “Had you known, what then, Cosmo?” Selina asked angrily and tossed the ledger on the chaise and sat down heavily beside it. “You’d have ignored its very existence as everyone ignored Jack’s homosexuality and J-L’s wife beating? As long as the Honorable George Jamison-Lewis played at being Duke’s grandson in public, frequented White’s and Newmarket as good fellow well-met, presented his wife in drawing rooms and at balls with her bruising carefully concealed, what he did in private was best not thought about?” She ran cold hands over her face, her throat so dry it hurt to swallow. “Did no one confront him about this Ganymede Club?”

  Sir Cosmo hunched his padded shoulders and could not look at her. “One must presume not. I had no idea of the club’s existence until yesterday. And obviously those who did were clients. We are all guilty of hypocrisy, Selina. Some of us probably wouldn’t have believed it of George had he proclaimed it to the world. Not the sort of thing one wants to believe of a man who belongs to your club.” He sighed and shifted the ledger onto the table with the breakfast things so he could sit beside her. “Forgive me, my dear, for not rescuing you… For not being man enough to stand up to George… For—”

  “For God’s sake, Cosmo!” she demanded impatiently to hide her embarrassment at his look of total contrition. “There was nothing you could’ve done! You know as well as I that wife beating is a tolerated prerogative of a husband. Besides, George would’ve killed you. He was without conscience and for you to step in and do the manly thing would’ve served no purpose. I’d have lost one of my dearest friends, that’s all! As it is we have lost Jack and that’s almost too much for both of us to bear. Here,” she said thrusting the chocolate pot at him, “be useful and pour us both a mug while I take another look at these ledger entries.” She balanced the book on her knees. “If we assume you are right about the GC denoting the Ganymede Club then it looks to me as if J-L was running the place as his own private male brothel. And quite an expensive establishment to run by the amounts deposited into this account. But what I don’t understand is the notated outgoings…?”

  “Must have cost a bit to run such an establishment,” Sir Cosmo suggested meekly as he handed her a full mug. And then he had a flash of brilliance and hurriedly gulped down a mouthful of warm chocolate. “And when you think about it, brothels can only keep their doors open through the unspoken cooperation of the local authorities: paying off shopkeepers, the beadles and the parish magistrate. They’d all put their hands out for a share of the profits to keep their eyes and ears shut to the carryings-on of the nobility.”

  Selina was not at all surprised. Her eyes narrowed. “Then it is very likely that the letter D does stand for Delvin—”

  “Delvin? What?” Sir Cosmo’s mind boggled at the thought. “Egad, Selina! Delvin wouldn’t go within ten feet of a male brothel!”

  Selina looked smug. “He wouldn’t need to. Not to collect payment.”

  Sir Cosmo set down his chocolate mug with an unsteady hand. “You think Ned was blackmailing J-L?”

  “He was most interested in J-L’s account books when he forced his presence on me the other night. Couldn’t keep his eyes off them. And now those three ledgers are missing.”

  “But to blackmail J-L?” Sir Cosmo shuddered. “It’s not that I don’t doubt Ned capable, after what he did to Jack and his appalling behavior toward Alec this weekend, it’s just that to blackmail J-L… God, Ned must be mad!”

  “There is a fine line between fearlessness and madness, Cosmo,” Selina said with a smile. “Besides, J-L could afford the payment. The question is, why did Delvin need the money?”

  “What about the other initials mentioned in the ledger? Perhaps this other unknown blackmailer is the one who stole the ledgers?”

  Selina took a sip of the sweetened hot chocolate and pulled her silk dressing gown closer about her shoulders. “Then you must presume that we have two blackmailers here in this house.”

  “God. I never thought of that!”

  “I stand corrected. Three blackmailers. Although, as the third is the recently deceased Mr. Tremarton he hardly counts, does he? You seem certain Delvin shot Simon. Just as he coldly and callously murdered Jack, and all because Tremarton threatened to expose our dear Earl as a fraud with a letter that he did not have and that does no
t actually exist? But that’s not a very convincing argument is it, Cosmo?”

  “It’s as if you don’t believe in the existence of Lady Margaret’s letter,” he replied, a little wounded by her skepticism. “I need not remind you, my dear, that you helped flame that rumor into a house fire.”

  “Willingly. But I don’t have to believe such a letter exists to do so.” She smiled mischievously. “I’ll happily spread any scurrilous piece of gossip about Delvin, if it helps tarnish the gloss. The man is not worth his birth right.”

  “But that’s just it!” Sir Cosmo argued, his eyes brightening. “Ned isn’t worthy of his birth right because it isn’t his to claim. It’s my belief Jack discovered the truth about Ned and Alec and threatened Ned with exposure. Perhaps Jack was using the letter to counter Delvin’s blackmail of J-L? Jack probably discussed the letter with Tremarton, or showed it to him. He may have given it to the man for safe keeping and then when Jack died Tremarton sought to use the letter for his own ends. He had nothing to loose.”

  “Except his life. Stupid man! Cosmo… Have you mentioned any of this to Alec?”

  “Discussed it in depth,” was Sir Cosmo’s smug reply. “A’course Alec’s not convinced his mamma would commit to paper something so damning of her character. But I’ll tell you one thing, my dear girl, your Bothwell knows his brother for a fraud.”

  Sir Cosmo’s earnestness did not lift Selina’s frown. “If that’s so, then Plantagenet Halsey also knows it, and if he knows it why hasn’t he, the upholder of justice and truth in all manner of causes, seen fit to expose his nephew the Earl as a fraud? And don’t tell me the uncle would keep his tongue between his teeth to avoid a family scandal; he’s no hypocrite.”

  Sir Cosmo continued to look smug which only annoyed Selina. “Ah, now here’s where I amaze you, my dear. Plantagenet Halsey considers a man’s achievements in life, what he has himself accomplished, of greater merit than say a mere earldom.”

  “Oh, I know that,” Selina said dismissively. “But it doesn’t explain the old man’s unwillingness to right a wrong.”

  “Well, there is the fact Alec don’t want to be an earl.”

  This had an immediate effect on Selina whose annoyance turned to anger. “How like him to dismiss what is rightfully his because of some ridiculous prejudice instilled in him by that silly old fool!” She threw a cushion at Sir Cosmo who was grinning at her. “I don’t see why you are being horridly gleeful, Cosmo!”

  Sir Cosmo chuckled. “Our republican friend’s worth rises and falls with the tide of your feelings, my dear.”

  “There is the possibility that Plantagenet Halsey didn’t champion Alec’s cause because he knew all about the Countess of Delvin’s adultery, and although Alec is legally the eldest son he is not his father’s son and thus not entitled to the earldom.”

  “Meaning?”

  “That Alec may be his mother’s first born but that does not necessarily make him the earl’s first born son. If that is the case, Plantagenet Halsey, in good conscience, could not support Alec’s claim when in truth Delvin is the earl’s rightful heir, despite being the second son. Did you not think of that possibility, Cosmo?”

  “No,” Sir Cosmo answered glumly and devoured a breakfast roll in two bites, adding in a forced, disinterested tone, “You mean to have him anyway, though, don’t you?”

  “Nothing has been resolved between us.”

  “I would’ve thought his declaration on the balcony resolution enough…?”

  Selina turned her face to the window, but not before Sir Cosmo saw her ready blush. He sighed deeply.

  “It wounds me but I shall live, my dear. Though don’t expect me to be at your wedding. I shall go into a decline and take the waters at Bath or some such watering hole for the ill and the mentally wounded.”

  She laughed but said perfectly seriously, “Well, we can take the waters together because I intend to remain a widow.”

  “I can well understand your prejudice against the married state but we’re talking about Alec. Marriage to him would be a wholly different proposition from that of your first.”

  “Yes. But for the first time in my life I have my freedom and I cannot contemplate giving it up so soon…”

  Sir Cosmo screwed up his mouth and shook his head. “He’ll not understand it, y’know. He may have the reputation in foreign court circles of being a bit of a rake but once wedded he’ll give and expect total devotion; that’s his nature.” He chided her under the chin. “Be careful, my dear. Alec won’t settle for anything less. He has scruples; his uncle’s upbringing I’m afraid. And he won’t take you as his mistress, if that’s you’re thinking. You must play by his rules or you risk losing him… Perhaps, this time forever.”

  “Here you are!” Lord Gervais bellowed at Plantagenet Halsey as he entered the breakfast room, the Earl of Delvin two steps behind him. “Be so good as to close the door, my lord,” he said to the Earl and fixed an eye on Sir Cosmo. “You’re here, too, are you, Mahon? Very well. For that I am glad. If this—gentleman is unwilling to cooperate perhaps you will!”

  Lord Gervais’ very manner instantly put Sir Cosmo off side. He frowned and looked to the Earl, who merely shrugged and took out his snuffbox.

  “What do you mean by this intrusion, Gervais?”

  “You may very well ask!” said Lord Gervais puffing out his cheeks.

  “He is askin’,” the old man quipped and speared a kipper on his plate.

  “Uncle, you will not be so snide when you hear what Gervais has to say,” the Earl said quietly.

  Plantagenet Halsey ate the kipper. “No? Tell me. You’ve come to arrest me?”

  Sir Cosmo reached out a hand to him. “Sir! Please do not even fun about such things.”

  “Where is your nephew, sir?” Lord Gervais demanded.

  Plantagenet Halsey put down his knife and fork. “Standin’ behind you.”

  Lord Gervais’ face fired. Sir Cosmo let out an involuntary laugh. The Earl rolled his eyes.

  “Where is Mr. Alec Halsey, if you please?” Lord Gervais said in a voice that was near to breaking.

  “How should I know,” the old man shrugged. “He don’t make a habit of tellin’ me his whereabouts. And that’s as it should be.”

  “Sir, if you frustrate my efforts in this I will have no choice but to arrest you for complicity! You will answer my question and answer it truthfully!”

  “Will I?”

  Delvin frowned. “I advise you to answer him, Uncle.”

  “And when did I ever take your advice?” Plantagenet Halsey snapped.

  Lord Gervais puffed out his cheeks even further. “Sir—”

  Sir Cosmo interrupted with a cough into his fist. “May I ask a question?”

  All three gentlemen looked at him.

  “Why do you wish to know Alec’s whereabouts?”

  “Because, Mahon,” said Lord Gervais in a voice that could not hide its note of triumph, “he is wanted for the murder of Simon Tremarton!”

  Lord Gervais’ proclamation failed to produce the desired effect. No sooner had the words left his mouth than Plantagenet Halsey laughed in his face. A great belly ache of a laugh it was too, which only deepened the color in the judge’s cheeks. When he had recovered from the initial shock of such an absurd accusation, Sir Cosmo also laughed. His effort was more of a titter, and he did nothing to stifle the absurd sound. Lord Gervais demanded calm. He demanded to be heard, but his audience, bar one, stared at him as if he had gone raving mad. He looked to the Earl for guidance. The Earl was no help to him. He had propped himself in the window and was gazing out on the terrace.

  “I fail to see—” stuttered his lordship.

  “—how you became a judge!” scoffed Plantagenet Halsey.

  Sir Cosmo smiled at the old man and mouthed the word ‘buffoon’ as he took snuff.

  “You may think of me what you will, sir,” Lord Gervais said through thinning nostrils. “I have an accusation brought against Alec Halsey for
the murder of Simon Tremarton and I mean to see that he is brought to answer the charge.”

  “Ballocks! I don’t know why I’m still here listenin’ to this tripe! Accusation by whom? Christ! Alec was nowhere near the gardens when it happened. He was with the rest of us on the terrace and surrounded by half-a-dozen bared breasts I shouldn’t wonder!”

  Sir Cosmo’s eyes went very wide and he slowly shook his head at the old man who squinted at him. Fortunately for them both, Lord Gervais had his back to Sir Cosmo as he said, “He may well have been, yet he must answer to the charge. That is the law, sir.”

  “Is it? Well, it’s a damned stupid law! Accusin’ Alec indeed!” The old man fixed a blazing eye on the Earl. “What have you got to say to this, eh?”

  The Earl turned his powdered head to look at him. “I? Nothing whatsoever. As Lord Gervais has told you, Second must answer to the charge. If he is innocent, then he merely has to say so. I’m sure there must be half-a-dozen—er—bare breasts who can vouch for his whereabouts. Mayhap even yourself and—Cosmo?” When his uncle looked instantly uncomfortable the Earl smiled slightly. “Can’t, can you, Uncle? A pity. Such an outstanding member of the community as yourself would make an excellent witness for the defense.”

  Sir Cosmo blinked. “You can’t be serious, Ned! You can’t really think there is anything in this accusation?”

  “I don’t know what to think, Cosmo. Sad, isn’t it?”

  “But… But what earthly reason could Alec have for wanting to—” Sir Cosmo stopped himself and unconvincingly went into a coughing fit.

  “Yes, Cosmo?” the Earl prompted silkily.

  “Who brought this accusation?” demanded Plantagenet Halsey.

  “You think it was I?” The Earl looked astonished. “Come, come, Uncle. The last thing I relish is a family scandal.”