The Shadowcutter

by Harriet Smart

  Now he glanced at Lord Rothborough as he read the letter. He looked pained and laid down the letter with sigh. Then he picked up the letter again. “She sails on Wednesday, from Liverpool,” he said. “There might still be time to persuade her otherwise.”

  “You will go and see her?”

  “I should not, but I think –” he broke off. “She will not like it, but I can’t quite bring myself to forbear. Even if it is just for half an hour of her company.” He shrugged and handed the letter back to Felix.

  “Keep it,” Felix said.

  “I think, I shall, if you don’t mind,” said Lord Rothborough. There was silence until the carriage turned up Silver Street.

  “Now, just another thing, before you go,” Lord Rothborough, “before I forget to mention it.”

  “Yes?”

  “This is, no doubt, superfluous advice to you, as a man of science, but I give it to you anyway, just in case – there are ways that a man and a woman can avoid the natural consequences of –”

  “Oh, yes, I am well aware,” Felix said, hastily.

  “I thought you would be, but one can never be too careful about these things. The glove is a very good method, I have always found –”

  “Yes, quite!” said Felix, wishing he would stop.

  “There is a shop in Old Compton Street, that makes very reliable items,” Lord Rothborough went on, quite unperturbed. “But perhaps you know that already?”

  The carriage had barely stopped and Felix already had the door half open, anxious to escape. He leapt out into the street, even before the footman had let down the the steps.

  “Don’t forget Mrs Connolly’s parcel,” said Lord Rothborough.

  Felix picked it up. It was surprising heavy and he staggered a little under the weight.

  “Old Compton Street – Brownes,” said Lord Rothborough, as a parting shot, and then the carriage bowled off down the street.

  He put down the hamper and rang the bell. He had not yet seen over the house and he was surprised by the size of it.

  Mercifully it was Sukey who opened the door. He had been worried that she had already filled the house with servants – she had been setting about the business with formidable efficiency.

  His first desire was to enfold her in his arms, but the whole street might have been watching them, so he picked up the hamper and went into the house. The moment the door was closed, he put down the hamper and moved to greet her properly but she put up her hands and shook her head.

  “I’m not alone,” she whispered. “Major V...”

  “Oh God!”

  “He knows. He guessed.”

  “Of course.”

  “He wants to live here.”

  “What?”

  She reached for his hand and squeezed it.

  “It is for the best. It makes it look –” she said.

  “Yes, yes of course,” Felix said. “It is just that...” He broke away from her and wandered into the hall, looking up the handsome staircase. “It is vast!”

  “Yes. And sunny! I don’t think I have even been in a house that caught the sun so well. What is this?” she said, indicating the hamper.

  “For you. From my Lord.”

  “What is it?”

  “I have no idea what it is. It weighs a tonne.”

  “It’s from Wedgwood,” she said examining a label.

  “Oh, then it may be a tea service,” Felix said, after a moment. He got no chance to explain further, for Major Vernon now came downstairs, looking as if he belonged in the house far more than Felix did himself. He could not decide if he felt disconcerted or pleased at this new development.

  Sukey had got the hamper open and was standing with a teacup in her hand.

  “Oh, this is very pretty,” she said. “But why?”

  “Mr Carswell,” said Major Vernon, shaking his hand.

  “Sir,” said Felix.

  “A good journey, I hope?”

  “Rather tiring,” said Felix.

  “I should think so. Well, you will excuse me just now? I have a few errands to attend to. Perhaps I will see you for dinner?”

  “Certainly,” Felix said.

  “Good day, Sukey, and thank you again.”

  “With pleasure,” she said, showing him to the door.

  When the door had shut, she leant against it and burst out laughing.

  “And we’re alone now?” Felix said, catching her hands and pinning her against the door.

  “Yes,” she said, when he had finished kissing her.

  “Three weeks was too long,” he said. “I almost died of longing.”

  “Me too,” she said.

  “So, where is your room, in all this magnificence?”

  “Just there. By the back door. Is that all you have been thinking about?”

  “No, not at all. It never crossed my mind. Not once.”

  “Liar,” she said, and slipped out of his grasp and ran across the hall to her bedroom door.

  -0-

  As he was waiting for Carswell to join him for dinner, Giles looked around his office and wondered if he would miss it. It had been a haven and a retreat for so long, with Snow dozing by the fire. But she too had moved on. Laura had not much cared for Snow and Snow had not cared for Laura. She had gone to live with Sergeant Maple and his family, where she had become the pampered idol of all, a state of existence to which she had taken with her usual sense of entitlement. Maple had plans to breed from her, and promised a puppy from the first litter. Giles wondered if Sukey would mind a dog about the house and if he had time for a dog with the new venture.

  Carswell came in, a little late, but that was to be forgiven in the circumstances, and they sat down to their meat and wine, as they had done on so many occasions before.

  “So,” said Carswell. “When will Captain Lazenby be taking over?”

  “In a fortnight. But he is moving here next week. He has a wife and five children to settle in. They have taken a house in Martinsmount.”

  “So if he gets his way about the new Headquarters on the Leeds Road, that will be very convenient for him.”

  “He will,” said Giles. “He is a forceful man.”

  “You are filling with me with dread.”

  “Oh, you have nothing to fear from him, Carswell. He was very impressed by your credentials. He was talking about a cottage hospital for the men and their families.”

  “That would be a sensible step, given the numbers involved now.”

  “So that will give you a new challenge?”

  “If that is what I want,” said Carswell. “To lance boils and deliver babies.” He pushed his hands through his hair. “It is useful, but it is not exactly what I would call challenging.” He refilled his glass. “I realise that you have scant resources, and that there is not enough money for a full time surgeon on your new staff, but the work we have done together – I do not want to give it up, and necessarily I shall have to, if all matters of interest are now to be referred to your office.”

  Giles nodded.

  “For example,” Carswell went on, “I have been attempting to formulate a test to identify the nature of blood stains on various textiles – whether it is human or otherwise. I have some interesting preliminary results, nothing conclusive so far, but given time, I am sure that –” He broke off. “If I continue here I am not sure I will have time for such things.”

  “You would like me to create a post for you?”

  “Could it be done? Would it be of use? I think it would, if you do not mind me saying.”

  “I had been thinking along the same lines myself. I am sorry I have not had a chance to discuss it with you before this. You are right. There will be no time for such work here.”

  “Then might I join you?”

  “I should like nothing better. But the money – there is very little.”

  “I have my rents,” said Carswell. “And since Ardenthwaite is to be let, I shall be well in pocket.”

  “You have de
cided on that?”

  “What else am I to do with the place?” he said. “And Mr Millar, who is Lord Rothborough’s agent, has a tenant for me. A half-pay officer and his family – no less. Colonel something or other.”

  “Then I am sure it can be done – but you will have to find yourself somewhere to live,” said Giles, and could not help smiling.

  “There will be no difficulty about that,” said Carswell sheepishly.

  “Then, I shall see what can be done,” said Giles, topping up his own glass. “Shall we drink to that?”

  “Yes,” said Carswell, raising his glass. “And to the better identification of blood stains!”

  “And to the Northern Office!” Giles added, and they both drained their glasses.

  Also by Harriet Smart

  I hope you enjoyed this book. If so, please consider writing a review. You may also enjoy my other books, including:

  The Butchered Man: Northminster Mystery 1

  Northminster, 1840: a once-picturesque cathedral city, where dirty smoke stacks now rival ancient spires. When workmen make the shocking discovery of a mutilated corpse in a ditch outside the ancient walls, Giles Vernon and Felix Carswell are charged with solving the case.

  Intelligent and practical, Chief Constable Major Vernon has transformed the old city watch into a modern police force, and he throws himself into the investigation with the same energy. But as he probes a murky world of professional gamblers and jilted lovers, he is drawn into a dangerous emotional game that threatens to undermine his authority.

  Newly-qualified police surgeon Felix Carswell is determined to make his way in the world on his own terms despite being the bastard son of prominent local grandee Lord Rothborough. Called to treat a girl in an asylum for reformed prostitutes, what he uncovers there brings him into conflict with his new employer, Vernon, and throws the case into disarray.

  Together they must overcome their differences and find the brutal truth behind the mystery of The Butchered Man.

  The Butchered Man is the first Northminster Mystery featuring intrepid early-Victorian detectives Vernon and Carswell.

  The Dead Songbird: Northminster Mystery 2

  Celebrated singer Anna Morgan has come to Northminster to escape a troubled past and sing at the city's Handel Festival. But when she continues to receive the poisonous letters that have been plaguing her, she turns to Chief Constable Major Giles Vernon and Police Surgeon Felix Carswell to find her persecutor, drawing the two men into her charismatic orbit. At the same time, a talented young tenor is found dead in curious circumstances in a locked chapel, and the hunt for a murderer is on.

  The Dead Songbird is the second Northminster Mystery featuring early-Victorian detectives Vernon and Carswell.

  The Daughters of Blane

  Three young ladies with more beauty and charm than Isobel, Leonora and Vivien Buchanan, daughters of the laird of Blane, would be hard to find; their marriage prospects are exceptional. Indeed, in the summer of 1890, Isobel is already engaged to a duke. But Isobel is secretly uncertain about the man she is to marry. When another, utterly unsuitable candidate presents himself, she is stunned by the strength of her feelings. Suddenly she must make a decision that could have devastating consequences. Younger and more independent, Vivien has always resisted the destiny allotted to women of her class. Marriage to a radical politician seems to offer her the deep and close relationship she seeks; but time and changing ideals can temper the deepest passion. Only Leonora, spoiled and extravagant, is ready to settle for a conventional marriage. But a rich and titled husband is no guarantee of happiness, especially against the pull of true but illicit love.

  Set against the turbulent events of the 1890s and moving from the Western Isles of Scotland to London society, from slum life in Edinburgh to a palazzo in Venice, and finally to the battlefields of the Boer war, The Daughters of Blane is the passionate and ultimately triumphant story of three women who refuse to fit the mould society has made for them.

  Green Grow the Rushes

  In the summer of 1900, a group of young people are brought together in the decaying splendour of the Quarro, a Scottish country house owned by the down-at-heel Lennox family. As their lives touch, new alliances are formed – some doomed to failure and bitter despair, others that will endure against the odds to bring lasting happiness.

  A sweeping, panoramic survey of turn-of-the-century Scottish society – from country house to industrial slums, bohemian free-thinking to High Tory Politics – Green Grow the Rushes is peopled with a cast of memorable and vividly realised characters.

  “Smart’s characters have a feel of authentic life and move in and out of a backdrop which cunningly incorporates political change, trade union rebellion, suffragette noise and good food” – The Sunday Times

  The Wild Garden

  Kate Mackenzie is on the brink of success as an artist when she meets Gabriel Erskine, twenty-two years her senior. She’s not looking for a relationship, but Gabriel’s understanding of paintings and his outlook, so different from that of her friends, captivate her. Six months later, she moves into Allansfield, the beautiful house in rambling gardens on Gabriel’s estate in Fife. She doesn’t know him well, but what better way to change that than by living with him?

  Touching, involving and honest, The Wild Garden is an utterly contemporary novel about life’s choices, love’s different aspects, and second chances.

  The Lark Ascending

  When Chris Adam receives a proposal from wealthy, young Guy Lindsay, her family are delighted – this would be a fine match indeed for a daughter of the Manse. Chris is tempted, for she is attracted to Guy, but her vocation is to be a composer, and instead of marriage she chooses to study music in Edinburgh.

  There Chris meets Angus Bretton, who has been sent down from medical school in disgrace. Though he seems strangely restrained after the passionate Guy, Chris falls deeply in love with him, and it is Angus who comes to her rescue when events conspire against her and all her dreams are in ruins. But Angus is not all that Chris imagines him to be and their happiness is shortlived. A chance meeting with Guy gives Chris a glimpse of the fulfilling life she might have had – but now Guy is married to one of Chris’s friends.

  As war breaks out across Europe in 1914, tragedy, betrayal and scandal lie ahead before Chris can fulfil her musical destiny and stand by the side of the man she loves.

  Reckless Griselda

  On an impetuous journey to stop her father making an unsuitable marriage, Griselda Farqharson meets dashing Tom Thorpe. They fall instantly in love and into trouble. After she indulges in a sensual clandestine encounter with him, Griselda is forced to face the consequences of her reckless disregard for the rules of society. For this is England in 1816 and Tom is a wealthy baronet, caught up in a net of emotional entanglements and family conflicts. Determined to do the right thing and preserve Griselda’s reputation, he must face the ruin of his own. As a whirlwind of scandal engulfs them, will Griselda and Tom be able to transform their passionate attraction into a true and lasting happiness or will their love be destroyed by it?

  Moving from the Norfolk countryside to the fashionable drawing rooms of London, Reckless Griselda is a hot-blooded regency romantic comedy that asks the question: should you let your heart rule your head?

  A Tempting Proposal

  Adela Ross is reduced to singing in Macreadies’ sordid supper club in Edinburgh to keep bread on the table and a roof over her head.

  Sir William Urquhart must marry within a month or forfeit the estates and fortune left to him by his uncle.

  When Adela faulters on stage in front of a rough crowd, Will intervenes and rescues her. Impressed by her determination and spirit in the face of adversity, Will decides that she may be the solution to his awkward problem. He asks her to marry him: purely for convenience. It is to be a business arrangement so that they can both save their families from misery and poverty.

  Adela says yes, although her sisters chide her for it, fe
aring for her happiness. But how can she refuse such a tempting proposal? She will be an independent woman of means, while Will goes away to Rome, a husband in name only.

  But after their hasty marriage they go to Balnagowan, Will’s enchanting Highland estate, and the trouble begins. Obliged by circumstances to pretend it is a love match, Adela finds her resolve to stay aloof from Will crumbling fast. The game of playing happy husband and wife is seductive enough and Will is dangerously attractive. But there are a hundred question marks about his past and no satisfactory answers. Can Adela resist a man who looks likely to break her heart? Is it such a tempting proposal after all?

  About the Author

  Harriet Smart was born and brought up in Birmingham. She attended the University of St Andrews, where she read History of Art, and then married a fellow student. She now lives with her family in Edinburgh.

  Harriet has published nine novels as well as co-designing the innovative creative writing software Writer’s Café.

  She is presently working on The Northminster Mysteries, a series of crime novels set in early Victorian England. Her research for the books included wearing stays and hand-sewing a man’s shirt.

  Harriet blogs at www.harrietsmart.com and can be found on Twitter @fictionwitch.