“You are very late,” she said.
“I arrived soon after midnight, but allowed Miller a respite from his duties for a while.”
She guessed what Mr. Miller had done with this respite, while he was free to roam this house. She should scold Christian for aiding his servant in making free with her own, but she had neither the heart nor the hypocrisy to deny Isabella whatever happiness she could have right now.
“Miller asked me how long you would be staying in England. He wants to know how much longer he has with her.”
The night's poignancy increased with his statement. He was not only talking about Miller and Isabella.
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him that I thought you would be leaving soon. You said that your introduction to Howard the other day was fruitful, so I imagine it won't be long before you go.”
“Not too long, but not so soon either. That meeting was perhaps too fruitful. I am faced with an embarrassment of riches. I have a difficult choice to make.”
“Is it your choice alone?”
“Actually, it is not mine at all. I meant my brother will have a difficult choice. In the end it will be his decision, of course.”
“Of course.”
If one could hear a smile, she did in the way he said that. He did not believe Gaspar would make the choice any more than St. John did. It was true what St. John had said, that Gaspar was still green. Her brother would probably follow her counsel in this as in so much else.
“Both St. John and Mr. Howard would be good allies,” she explained. “The difference is that St. John wants to swallow Montgomery and Tavares, but Howard will allow us to remain independent. So the two alliances offer very different things.”
“Which one resolves the problems that brought you here?”
“St. John would solve the immediate ones. I do not think pirates prey on his ships. And his trading network is very big. He said that he does not think the Company's monopolies will be renewed when their charter expires. He wants us for when it ends, for our Chinese base. He has it all planned. Our appeal is that we are so weak he can demand control.”
She puzzled it out in ways she had avoided. She did not lie to herself about the reason she kept putting it off. She had met her traders, and she had obtained the potential alliances. Her primary duty in London, her reason for making this journey in the first place, would be over once she settled this question.
“Howard no doubt also sees advantage in your Chinese base,” he said. “Since he does not want to swallow you, if the monopoly ends you will be free to reap the rewards yourself, and only share what you choose. Would you prefer that?”
He appeared genuinely interested. He lay on his side, that hand on her breast, and joined her in weighing it all. His questions encouraged her to think it through.
“Five years from now, if we make no serious missteps, we will flourish if we ally ourselves with Howard.”
“Then the choice is clear, is it not?”
Perhaps, but that future would happen only if she continued to guide Montgomery and Tavares the way she had the last six years. Gaspar could not steer the company that cleverly yet.
She wished now that Christian had not helped her to clarify the choices. He should have done more with his hands than hold her breast. He should have seduced her to remain indifferent to her duty.
“The other mission can be settled soon too,” he said.
“I do not have even one name, Christian. Not a single one, besides your father. Nor have I been vigilant in looking for them. Lady Phaedra asked me about my last letter for Minerva's Banquet at Caroline's engagement dinner, and I pretended it would be sent to her soon. Only it has not been written the way I intended. With what I learned about my father and yours, I lack the courage to investigate this now.”
He kissed her cheek. “If I thought that you would walk away from it with no regrets or guilt, if I believed you would be safe in retreat, I would urge you once more to put this matter aside.”
She turned her face toward his. “It might be better if I did.”
“That is different from knowing that you should. I have a name for you, darling. You need to tell me if you want me to finish this my own way, or if you want to face the man your father invisibly fought and write your last letter the way that you planned.”
She did not know what to say. Of course she wanted to confront that man. She wanted to see him ruined, along with any other men involved in this. Her belief in their evil had not changed.
Everything else had, however. She could not expose these men without also exposing Christian's father. Christian deserved more loyalty than that.
Nor could she write about this mission in Minerva's Banquet without admitting her own father's smuggling. His conversion would add drama to the story and absolve him in most eyes, but he would be forever linked to that evil.
“Once we do this, I will have no excuse to stay,” she said.
He rose up on his forearm and looked down at her. He kissed her. He lay down and pulled her on top of him so her body touched his from her head to her toes. His warmth lured her away from the sad future and back to the contented present.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
Barnabas Meadowsun was crossing the courtyard of Doctors’ Commons when he noticed Christian. Christian took Leona's arm and walked in Meadowsun's direction, leaving Tong Wei near the gate. The cleric had no choice except to acknowledge them.
“Easterbrook. This is unexpected. It is a pleasure to see you, of course.” He barely smiled but then he never allowed his mouth to reflect joy or sorrow. Discretion had bred in him the ability to make his face a mask and his heart a locked vault.
Christian wondered if the man did not only hide emotions, but also eschew them. It was possible to achieve a state where nothing caused ripples in one's spirit, let alone waves. Christian had come close to that himself, after all.
Christian made introductions. Meadowsun made a little bow to Leona, but his manner conveyed that he was a busy man and had little time for social visits.
Meadowsun's mouth formed its bare smile again. “Are you here for the Faculty Office?”
“I am here to see you. The archbishop's clerk at Lambeth Palace said you were here today,” Christian said. “Miss Montgomery, perhaps you would like to sit here while I talk to Mr. Meadowsun.”
Leona accepted the invitation to perch on the nearby garden bench.
“I have been looking into my affairs,” Christian said. “Digging through my father's papers.”
“Ah, so that is why you are in the City. I am glad to see you taking up the reins of your position. It is my hope that you will expand your renewed interest in the world to include government duties. The archbishop feels the same way, and just mentioned it to me this morning.”
“His concern is generous. Now, regarding those papers. I found references to a company in which my father invested years ago. A trading company. No ships, though. The best I can tell, captains were contracted to move the cargo, and paid per shipment.”
“It probably is a common method of arranging trade. Your solicitor could explain it. I confess that most business legalities escape me.” Meadowsun managed not to see Leona sitting two feet away. He pretended she was not watching him with great interest and dangerous eyes.
“My solicitor has been very helpful, but I believe you can enlighten me further. I found evidence of this partnership, but I have received no income from it. My brother, who has been managing my investments, says the partnership must have been dissolved before my father passed away, but my solicitor—he has been helpful , as I said—finds no documents to that effect, or even to the partnership's founding.”
Meadowsun glanced around the courtyard, seeking someone to save him from this boring conversation.
“Was it dissolved, Meadowsun?”
“How would I know?”
“You are one of the other partners.”
The barest fr
own. “I do not recall such an investment. If there are no documents how can you assume my involvement?”
“Correspondence indicates that at least four men invested. My father, you, Denningham, and Rallingport. Four of the men who met on a regular basis, to choose where and how to throw their united influence to preserve and protect England.”
The perplexed frown did not smooth. The face did not react.
“You still cannot remember? Hayden tells me that tracing this company's owners and earnings will not be difficult once we go to court. I thought I should speak with you first, however. A good deal of money has gone missing.”
“You are talking nonsense. I am no trader, no shipper. Nor was your father or the others you mention. What possible interest could we have in such things?”
“Profit,” Leona interrupted from the bench. “Profit of the worst kind. A good deal of profit. An obscene amount, I would guess, if the primary cargo was opium and the destination was China.”
Meadowsun's eyes turned wizened and shrewd. “I doubt you will find much relief in a court with this mythical business, Easterbrook.”
“I expect that I will. I certainly will get a hearing regarding your attacks on Miss Montgomery.”
“My attacks? You are mad. Completely insane. I will have to speak with the bishops about that, and seek counsel on whether your fellow peers should be made aware of your condition.”
“Are you threatening me, Meadowsun?”
“I am concerned for you, that is all.”
“You would be wiser to be concerned for yourself. Winterside told me all about your involvement in the attempts to dissuade Miss Montgomery. He described his meetings with you, and your insistence that he approach me to request my help.”
“Nonsense. He would not dare such a thing.”
“He would not dare to cross you, you mean? He did not like the way you arranged for his to be the visible face in this game. He realized that the finger might point to him if anyone sought a culprit for those—what did he say you called them the other day—episodes regarding Miss Montgomery.”
Leona rose from the bench. Her eyes blazed. “Episodes? Episodes? You hounded my father to his grave. You nearly ruined him, and we spent years waiting for the next strike, the next fire or scuttled ship. You tried to run me down with a horse here in London and set fire to my house, and you thought of these crimes as episodes?”
An expression of disdain twisted Meadowsun's face. He looked at Leona with revulsion.
He turned on his heel. “I will not be insulted by this woman. If you have more to say, come to my chambers, Easterbrook. But leave your whore here.”
Christian gestured for Tong Wei to join them.
“Sit here. Wait for me,” Christian said to Leona.
“I will not. I am going in there and I am going to claw that man's eyes and—”
“You will sit here and wait.” He physically emphasized the command by pressing her shoulders until she was on the bench again. “Tong Wei, do not leave her side.”
“You said I could confront him,” Leona protested.
“And you have. I will do the rest alone.”
“I want him to admit he did it. I want him to pay.”
“He will pay, Leona. I promise.”
He looked back and checked on her twice while he crossed the courtyard to the building's entry. It would be just like her to follow him.
He made his way to Meadowsun's chambers. He closed the door after he entered. Meadowsun sat near a window, his profile limned by the bright light outside, his face resolute and his eyes mean.
Christian walked over to him. He grabbed him by the coat, stood him up, and smashed a fist into that creased, astonished face. Meadowsun landed back in his chair with a bad fall. He scrambled to right himself, holding his hand against his jaw. Christian hit him again.
“That is for the insults out there to Miss Montgomery, and the way you have endangered her. Be glad you are a cleric or I'd call you out and kill you.”
Christian walked away and forced some calm. Meadowsun collected the fear that had crashed out of him and tucked it away.
Christian gazed down at the man. “The opium trade is not illegal under our laws. Nor the secrecy. Even the attacks on Montgomery—they were long ago and far away and I doubt I can prove your hand in it. Recent events in London, however, were neither legal nor distant. And this company smuggles more than opium, and its ships are not only going to China. You will hear what I say and answer my questions or I will see you answer for all of that with your freedom.”
“Then have your say. Ask your damned questions.”
“My father kept records of the payments he received. I assume as much or more profit was made in the years since he died. I know how much you stole from me. It adds up to a significant fortune that I did not receive. Why would you risk being caught in such a theft?”
Meadowsun carefully touched his jaw and winced. “You could not be trusted.”
“And Denningham and Rallingport could be?”
Meadowsun just looked at him.
“Ah, I see. It was not just me. It was them too, after they inherited. You kept it all.”
A silence hung while Meadowsun weighed his situation, and his words. “The sons were not the fathers. I could tell as you one by one took your places at the whist table. Denningham was dim-witted. Rallingport was a drunk. You—well, you were too odd to trust. I stole nothing. The initial investments had been repaid many times over.”
So Denningham had been ignorant all along. There was some relief in hearing that.
Meadowsun smiled slyly. “You won't accuse me. I do not care what Winterside said. You don't dare air this in any court. The world would know then. Everyone would know that your father started it all. It was all his idea, and the rest of us bought in after it was well underway.”
“That might be true. Or not. If it comes to it, though, I will let a judge sort the facts. I cannot allow you to continue these crimes now, not to protect his name or mine.”
Meadowsun sneered. “See, this is why I did not trust you. Why your father's share in the partnership was buried with him. There was the danger you did not take after him, but after that madwoman of a mother.”
“You must like being thrashed, Meadowsun. You should be careful. You never can be sure how far a madman will go once he starts.”
Meadowsun's face fell. He eyed Christian more cautiously.
“Why did you publish that death notice?”
“Her father was a nuisance, just like her. He was one of the early shippers contracted by our man in Calcutta, then he had a change of heart. He turned against the trade completely, like a damned reformer. We didn't care about that. There are always other shippers. But he had to go writing all those letters, and trying to ferret out who we were. He wrote to the Company. He wrote to members of Parliament. He began to talk to captains, and suspect our shipments into England and France. When he died, it was in our interest to make sure all those recipients of his letters knew he was gone.”
“You could not resist indicating he died of that which he condemned, though.”
“It would call into question his state of mind when he made his accusations.”
Satisfied that he had all of Leona's answers for her, and a few he needed for himself, Christian made himself comfortable on a chair. “So, how would you like to pay me this money?”
Meadowsun's face fell in shock. “ What? You come at me like an angel of justice, and all you really want is your share? This is about money?” He cackled. His eyes cleared, relieved at this most ordinary goal.
“I would like to settle it.”
“I am certain we can work something out.”
“I would like it now.”
“You really are mad. You are speaking of years’ worth of payments. It isn't just sitting in my library, to be handed over.”
“That is unfortunate. That puts you in a bad spot, doesn't it?”
Meadowsun stared at him.
Emotions finally burst out of him. Dismay. Panic.
“I could force the matters through the normal means. Both those of the money, and the attacks on Miss Montgomery. Perhaps a less public solution would be better. You remember how it goes. You have sat around that whist table enough in your years, while alternatives to the king's courts were debated and chosen. Our friend in Kent, for example.”
“There were nine others at that table, sharing the decisions. Not just one mad marquess.”
“Imagine if you will that Mr. Montgomery sits with me, aiding my judgment. Here is what I propose. First, you will resign your position. When this comes out, you do not want to embarrass the archbishop.”
“Comes out?”
“In Minerva's Banquet. Miss Montgomery will be explaining this company's opium trade in her last letter. She will name names. She thought to hold back for my sake, but I insisted she go forward. The story will bring her lessons about the opium trade home to her readers as nothing else will.” He paused. “If you are very good, and do as I say, it will only be the opium smuggling that will be published. You will face moral accusations for it, but not criminal ones. The rest of the Four Corners smuggling, however, must end too.”
“No one gives a damn about the opium trade. They want their tea and they don't care how many Chinamen die for it.”
“They will not be able to claim ignorance at least. Second, my brother Hayden will investigate the extent of this business over the years, and you will aid him, so we determine the full amount due. My solicitor will meet with yours to determine the value of your property and financial holdings. You will pay what you can and give me a note for the rest. Whatever I receive will be donated to charities recommended by some good ladies I know.”
“You bastard. You want to ruin me.”
“You will be left with enough to live modestly, but I will hold a note for whatever I do not take. You will be out of this trade, however. You will be out of the church and out of London. Mr. Winterside has agreed that the Company will be watching for me, to make sure you do not start it up again. If you do, or if any misfortune befalls Miss Montgomery or her brother, I will call the note and leave you beggared.”
The Sins of Lord Easterbrook Page 26