“Laurie, you seem shocked,” Charlotte says. “This isn’t the warm welcome home I was expecting.”
She’s mocking me. “What do you want?” I ask curtly.
“Yes, let’s cut to the chase. I’m here because I want a divorce,” she says with a dramatic pause. “I understand the prenuptial agreement will see me left with very little, but I think we both know we should never have married and, to be frank, I’m in need of my freedom.”
“We can discuss that later,” I reply. It’s typical of Charlotte to air our dirty linen in public. “Are the police aware that you are in one piece?”
Charlotte no doubts shrugs, for there’s the standard careless grunt from her.
“I shall tell them that you’re safe and well and not one bit concerned about the chaos you’ve caused,” I say and then direct my conversation to where I think Lady Dornan is sitting. “It’s also the authorities who are interested in the comings and goings to your house in County Down.”
“I beg your pardon? Comings and goings? Whatever do you mean? To my house?”
“Yes, Ravenscairn. Is the house still called that?”
“I’ve changed the name. It’s now called The Old Rectory.”
“I’m working with General Ashfield,” I say, wondering how much I should share. I am ill-prepared. Norah had planned to do the questioning and I agreed for I’m tired of not seeing people’s reactions to my questions. “Your house came up in some enquiries that I’m making.”
“How odd!”
“How odd that you didn’t tell us Charlotte was alive and well and coming with you!” I snap. “It might have prepared us. We might have had less worry.”
“I wasn’t sure that Charlotte would agree to come,” she says. “I knew that since you’ve come home from the war she’s been troubled by your behaviour. But, here we are. I think it is fair to say, Charlotte, that you felt you should come and say your piece and I suppose me being here means that you’re safe to do so.”
“What?” I sit forward. “Safe? Why is she not safe in Davenport Manor? This was her home.”
Charlotte coughs and says, ”You can see his temper building for yourself. This is what I’ve been dealing with, Lydia.”
My heart jumps and I barely hold back a gasp. Lydia! Lady Lydia Dornan! Surely she is not the woman of Eve’s stories? Is Lady Lydia of Ravenscairn and the Sinful Roses sitting in my drawing room with my murder-hungry wife?
“Are you quite all right?” Charlotte asks. “You’re pale as snow.”
“As if you care! Have you made out to Lady Dornan here that I’m a cad? I’ve never given you even a cross word, Charlotte. I’m now a blind cripple. I cannot harm a fly.” I instantly regret saying that. Pointing out my frailties is not exactly a good move when I am alone with two dangerous women. “Where is Giles with that tea?” I ask loudly.
“The war has scarred you terribly,” Lady Dornan says. “It is changing men irrevocably. And there’s no sign of it ending. This rationing is terrible. I’m surprised that you can get your hands on tea.”
“Laurie would never do without,” Charlotte chips in. “His friends, like that snob General Ashfield, see him well cared for.”
“And your vehicle, Charlotte? It was just abandoned. And not a word! You don’t care much for anyone else, do you?”
“It wasn’t my automobile and it has been returned to the owner. No harm done and you don’t need me. You never have. This divorce will be a relief to us both.”
I was about to tell her that when I returned home I needed her desperately, but thankfully Giles arrives with the tray. The tinkling of the cups is very pleasing.
Giles pours the tea and hands the cups around, then says, “I’ll be just outside, sir, and I’ve had the men guarding the house return that item I needed for protection.”
“Men guarding the manor?” Charlotte scoffs.
Giles leaves. I never wanted him to stay more in all of my life.
“What do you need them for?” Charlotte asks. “Where are they? I didn’t see any.”
“Well, you wouldn’t if they’re good at their job,” I tell the room and sip my tea. I neglect to mention that they don’t come to the manor until dusk. “It is to do with my new job. Top secret and all that.”
“And this job led you to investigating Ravenscairn?” Lady Dornan asks.
“It was part of my investigation, yes,” I say. “You shouldn’t have come all of this way. I only wished to know about the house before you purchased it. Who did you buy it from, for instance?”
“If you must know I inherited it from a rich American relative.”
“I see. And was that relative renting it out to someone before that?”
“I have no idea. My solicitor dealt with the transfer of property.”
“Do you spend any time there now?” I ask.
“It is shut up now. My husband is taken up with matters here in London.”
“That’s right. Your second husband. And what does he do?”
“What are all these questions about? He sits in the House of Lords and runs a company that supplies materials to the army.”
“And your first husband?”
Charlotte interrupts. “Lady Dornan has kindly let me stay with her in London. The bombing is fierce so we might stay here for a couple of nights.”
“That’s not possible,” I say quickly.
“Laurie, don’t be difficult,” Charlotte says. “This is wartime and you must make exceptions. I’m your wife.”
“I think this is the opportune time for you to take the last of your belongings and go for good. Lady Dornan has her big car with her, no doubt, and you can drive away into the sunset knowing I will gladly grant your divorce.”
“Laurie!” she gasps. “You are really a cold fish. Have you no heart left?”
“Perhaps it’s for the best, Charlotte,” Lady Dornan says, setting down her china cup with a clink. “It’s time for you to start anew. I can see that you are a deeply troubled man, Laurie – and, Charlotte, you have your whole life ahead of you.”
If I fling the cup I might just hit the shadow of one of them. I grip the handle and take a soothing sip instead.
“I may be in touch with more questions,” I tell them, praying inwardly that they both leave and let me be. “Good day to you both. I shan’t get up.”
Giles opens the door with a flourish. He must have been eavesdropping.
I could hug him when he booms, “The maid has packed all of Mrs Davenport’s things and she’s left them in the hall! I can help take them outside. Let me get your coats.”
I can tell that Charlotte lingers, watching me, as Lady Dornan walks to the door.
“Goodbye, Charlotte,” I say to the shadowy figure.
“This is not over,” she whispers. “Do you hear me, Laurie? This is not over by a long shot.”
“It most certainly is.”
The figure moves away and I close my eyes. Little changes in what I see but everything has altered in how I feel. I’m relieved to be rid of my wife. Overjoyed to be free of that unbearable tension and the resentment she carries around. And more than delighted to be alive and safe.
Norah’s scent tiptoes into the room and she comes directly to my chair. She hunkers down and places a hand on my knee. “I’m here,” she murmurs. “Giles and I heard everything. We were right outside.”
I want to tell Norah that I’m a brave man who wasn’t in the least afraid of two women in my own house, but I cannot lie to her.
“They’re both in the Murdering Wives Club,” I tell Norah. “I might be blind but even I can tell that they are Sinful Roses.”
Chapter 20
Laurie Davenport
Norah has poured us whiskeys. It’s the first time in days that I think of my morphine stash. My head and joints ache.
“Why didn’t I think of her being the Lydia from the Sinful Roses?” I say. “She owns the bloody house!”
“I suppose you didn’t know her first nam
e – she’s normally referred to as Lady Dornan. And Eve said Lydia was a criminal. Lady Dornan didn’t fit who we were looking for until I spoke with Fredrick and he sent over some papers just now. And now that I see her, Lady Dornan fits the description Eve gave us. In the photographs we have of her she looks different. I had almost discounted her until I came across some scandalous tales from the past. This is going to make you scream out loud – Lady Dornan was once known as Lydia Babbington. And wait for it, Laurie. You’re going to have a fit when I tell you this. Lydia Babbington murdered her first husband and did fifteen years for his murder. She was given a reprieve some years ago. Her present husband, Lord Dornan, has a liking for dangerous women, it seems. He visited her and other women prisoners. But took a shine to one in particular and proposed and married Lydia a year after her release.”
“Good gracious!” I take a large gulp of whiskey.
“I know. Apparently Lord Dornan fell in love with her when she was incarcerated. It was only a short time after her time in prison that she married a lord and became a lady!”
“I cannot believe it!”
“It was a scandal for a time. Now rarely spoken about. Lady Dornan did a good job reinventing herself.”
“I’ll say! Did you see the two of them? What did Charlotte look like, do you think? Well? Tired?”
“She’s a very beautiful woman. I can see why you married her.”
“I’m glad that you can for I’m at a loss. She’s a stranger to me now. What was I thinking marrying her? It was the romance of war. I was such a mammy’s boy and she was rebellious, flirtatious and, I suppose, salacious.”
“Don’t feel bad about it. As I said before, most men do their thinking with an organ much lower than their brain.”
I laugh. Norah’s right, of course. She is in much better humour. How has she got me laughing about all of this? She’s a marvel.
“Charlotte isn’t coming back,” I say with a satisfaction that fades. “She’ll not be back,” I say again, letting it sink in. The finality of it thumps pain between my eyes.
“The General will be glad too,” Norah says.
Is Norah happy at Charlotte being gone for good? I suppose she might be. I hope that she’s delighted.
“Are you going to be all right, Laurie?” Norah asks after I have finished most of my whiskey. “You’re very quiet and pale. I’m sorry I was snappy this last while. I think Eve Good is a bad influence on me.”
“I barely noticed,” I lie.
“We still don’t have a lot of proof that these women have done much wrong,” she says with a long sigh. “The General is at pains to point out that the most we have on them is that they are part of a subversive organisation. But then they can say they meet to discuss jam recipes and occasionally one of the members’ husbands meet with a sticky accident. There’s very little proof of any wrongdoing.”
I hold my glass aloft, hoping Norah might refill it for me. I easily could try to do it myself and I am going to have to make an attempt to look after myself if my wife is divorcing me.
Norah is dutifully at the whiskey decanter.
“Perhaps it is all over for us now?” I say. “With Charlotte alive and yet gone for good there’s no need for me to be involved in this mess, is there?”
“And what about the crimes and the men who might lose their lives in the future?” Norah asks.
“I suppose. But a blind man like me is not exactly going to change all of that, now is he? I mean we must be realistic about this, Norah. This is pointless. I am pointless.”
“There it is again. This sorry-for-yourself nonsense. Giles told me that he was delighted to see the old you coming back. All fight and vigour you were. Where is that Laurie Davenport? I want him to come back home.”
Perhaps it is the whiskey talking for she sounds emotional.
“We’ve hit a dead end though, haven’t we?” I say. “I know Lydia might be Lady Dornan but what of it? I didn’t ask her much for I was afraid to let something slip. I was worried I’d alert them to what we know. And, to be totally honest, I was petrified of them both. I was scared of two women in my own home.”
“That’s understandable. I thought I’d antagonise them further if I came in. Mrs Davenport would resent me being here. Although I’m sure she’s aware of my existence. Lady Dornan knows you have an assistant because I took her calls but I doubt they know we’re a strong team hot on their heels.”
“I don’t have your enthusiasm about being close to making this stick. Sherlock Holmes wasn’t a blind fool.”
“I thought I was Sherlock and you were Watson?”
I snort.
“Anyhow, Watson, I've a plan I want to tell you about,” she said. “If these Sinful Roses are real then I’ve thought of a way to infiltrate them right at the heart of their organisation. The only thing is, it will take time to worm my way into the club.”
“That’s not a good idea!”
“It most definitely is. We can look out for an advertisement for a Ravenscairn close by and write to them and wait.”
“They’ll look into the applications. They’ll know that you’re not married! It will not work at all. No way is this a plan of attack. They won’t let you in – even if they don’t know you are my assistant.”
“Very few people know about our connection,” Norah says. “And I can always get married. People are marrying quickly these days because of the war. Finding a husband is the easiest part to all of this.”
My heart sinks. Norah wants to marry someone.
She takes a deep breath. “General Ashfield has no wife and with your help I’m sure that I can persuade him to be bait in this case. He won’t be an easy man to kill, I grant you, but that’s a good thing. It will make my plight all the greater. This group seem to often help women with military or police husbands and I’m sure I can persuade the Roses that I want to murder a general! Especially Ashfield. He’s a snob. I’ll have to say that I married him for his money and status. He’s not ugly but I couldn’t marry him for love. And of course my Irish family will not approve and therefore they won’t attend the wedding. He’s the perfect bad husband for me.”
I cannot reply. I’m dumbstruck. She cannot be serious.
“This is the best way to get the information I need. Sorry, I should say that this is how we get the information we need. If I’m a Sinful Rose I’ll be trusted and learn what we need to know from the inside. I can be a spy in their camp.”
“Please stop, Norah. This is making me weak with worry. There’s no way that the General would agree to this and there’s no way that I’ll let you do it.”
“Let me?” Norah sounds cross. “It’s not up to you to let me do anything! I’m a grown woman and I’ve a mind of my own. The General was saying similar things yesterday when I suggested it on the phone. He thinks that I’m a frail female. The cheek!”
“He doesn’t think this is a good plan either then? Well, I’m glad of that.”
“He’s afraid of commitment. Even if it’s a false marriage, he’s afraid of even the pretence. I’ve told him that we can forge the papers. It doesn’t have to be real!”
I stop myself from pointing out that I’m roaringly jealous of such an idea. I throw the remaining whiskey into my mouth. How do I dissuade her without making her more determined? Women!
“Eve is coming to the end of her tale,” Norah says. “She may add small pieces of information but we are not gaining ground quickly enough. I can become one of them. What better way is there?”
“And how can I remain involved?” I ask her.
She taps a nail on the glass. She is thinking.
“Are we not a team?” I ask. “Going into this will mean you’ll be in grave danger. You’ll have three months to do the deed or they might murder you. Think on that for a moment. This isn’t something you can march into lightly. Look at Eve Good and where she ended up. You could die, Norah!”
“They’ve not killed Charlotte,” Norah says. “I’ve been thin
king a lot about all of this. Eve said that Lydia mentioned that were other ways to help the Roses. I think although Charlotte failed to kill you – they like her. They didn’t give Eve another choice because, well, they could see she is unstable and would never follow their rules. They needed rid of her, but Charlotte might have convinced them that she needs more time or can provide something else that they need. Money maybe? Or loyalty? Although Lydia or Lady Dornan came here with Charlotte to keep a close eye on her, wouldn’t you say?”
“Perhaps.” Norah is making sense and I pause for a moment before asking, “I might still be in danger then?”
“Perhaps,” Norah replies. “But wouldn’t I know all of the answers if I was involved with them? I could snoop and find out what Charlotte is up to.”
“But you might be given total strangers to deal with! They might not even know Charlotte. You might learn nothing at all and put yourself in even more danger!”
“Eve wanted out from the moment she went into Ravenscairn,” Norah says. “I believe that much is true. She realised she didn’t need them like normal women do. She is self-obsessed – she didn’t want to know about the others at all. Because she is Eve and only Eve matters. But I’ll be different. I’ll be going into Ravenscairn to learn all that I can and because I want to be there. I’ll make them trust me.”
“This is ludicrous. I forbid it,” I say.
Norah goes on regardless, walking over all my protests. “I will find out all the answers if I become a Rose. I’m eager to see this advertisement. I wonder when and where it will appear.”
Norah is far too good at being a detective. My headache is worsening. I’m not cut out for this business.
“Eve will tell us soon who tried to kill her,” I say. “I’m convinced that she will tell us about her being found on the road to Belfast. She was shot twice, wasn’t she, and left for dead? She might implicate Lady Dornan. We should show her a photograph.”
“Yes,” Norah says. “She wouldn’t say who shot her but her cousin and Marjorie Fellows came forward and Eve was found guilty of murder, attempted murder and arson. The police didn’t care too much about who tried to kill Eve. Especially if she wouldn’t talk to them. But, if she admits to who it was now, we might be able to get the Roses on an actual crime. We might be able to prove they were involved in the attempted murders of Eve and ourselves.”
The Murdering Wives Club Page 12