He must have heard Jemima’s footsteps and emerged from his reverie, glancing up when the door opened. The hope that briefly filled his eyes dissipated when he looked at Jemima and he returned his attention to his brandy with insulting speed. But at least his disregard swept aside her fledgling sympathy.
‘Papa,’ she said briskly.
He looked up again and blinked. Jemima tried not to mind when his gaze fell upon her face and then drifted, probably without his being aware of it, to her withered hand. She reminded herself that she was no longer ashamed of it and tried not to instinctively hide it from view but old habits, it seemed, died hard.
‘How is your mother?’
‘Asking for you.’
Papa let out a long breath. ‘I will go up directly.’
‘I want to talk to you first.’
There must have been an edge to her voice because she was conscious of finally having her father’s complete attention.
‘About what?’
‘Annabel, of course. I know you are attempting to protect Mama’s feelings by not sharing your thoughts with her, but I don’t need your protection. I am more than capable of imagining the real purpose behind her disappearance, and would like to discuss the implications with you.’
Papa shot her a wary look. ‘Then you have the advantage of me.’
Jemima lost all patience with him and only just refrained from stamping her foot in exasperation. ‘Don’t treat me like a mindless nincompoop!’
‘Remember to whom you are speaking, Jemima.’
‘As though I could forget.’ Although she was surprised that Papa could remember who she was. ’We both know that she has either eloped with a lover or been abducted by one of your political adversaries.’
‘Annabel would not elope.’
‘She would if she had formed an attachment to a young man of whom you would not approve.’
‘But we know of no such attachment.’
Jemima thought it interesting that Papa did not immediately dismiss the possibility, as Mama would have done. Perhaps he understood the conniving side of Annabel’s character better than Jemima had realised.
‘Precisely my point. Mama has made it very clear what type of man she expects Annabel to encourage, but has failed to make allowance for the fact that she might actually fall in love. Or be persuaded to suppose that she is,’ Jemima added emphatically.
Papa stood and refilled his glass, taking so long about it that Jemima assumed he was deciding how much he was prepared to tell her. ‘There is every possibility that this is political,’ he conceded with a heavy sigh as he resumed his seat. ‘I certainly hope that it is, since Annabel will at least then be kept alive.’
Jemima nodded. ‘I had reached the same conclusion.’
‘Anyway, the political aspects explain why I went along with your mother’s suggestion and involved Lord Torbay.’
‘But she doesn’t realise it.’
Papa gave a mirthless smile. ‘Very likely not.’
‘Mama thinks she was irresistible in her younger days and has encouraged Annabel to make the same assumptions about herself,’ Jemima said pensively. ‘It can’t have been easy for my sister to live up to such expectations. I had not considered the matter in that light before.’
‘Your mother living vicariously through our daughter, you mean?’
Jemima couldn’t hide her surprise. For the first time in her recollection, Papa was treating her like an equal. ‘Yes,’ she said softly. ‘That is exactly what I mean.’
‘I am not quite as dim as you seem to think, my dear. I am well aware that your mother miscalculated. She wanted Jake Morton as he was then, but he was not heir to the Torbay earldom. So she threw herself at his elder brother, who subsequently died, by which time she had revealed her hand and lost her chance with the man she really wanted.’
‘She should have followed her heart, not her ambition, but at least she won your affection, Papa.’
‘No, child, I am not so naïve as to think so. I loved her absolutely at the time. I was besotted by her, as were most of the young men in our set. I simply had the most money and best prospects, and was not too particular about her circumstances.’ Jemima frowned, wondering what he meant by that, but knew he would not say more. ‘I have always known that she regretted not holding out for Jake. And now…well, we rub along together, but I bury myself in my work and it will not have escaped your notice that we live more or less separate lives.’
Jemima was fascinated by her father’s candid appraisal of the situation and wanted to ask him more. She didn’t know where to start and he brought an end to the subject by changing it in a manner that totally astounded Jemima.
‘Never imagine I am disappointed in you, my dear,’ he said, ‘since nothing could be further from the truth. I always have too many things to occupy me, leaving me with little leisure time for my family. By I am inordinately proud of your intellect and common sense.’ Jemima blinked back tears, thinking it the kindest words either of her parents had ever spared for her in all of her eighteen years. ‘And I am equally aware of the faults in your sister’s character.’
‘But in spite of them you still think her abduction is politically motivated, and that she is alive?’
‘I must believe it,’ Papa replied, running a tired hand through his thinning hair. ‘Otherwise I would lose my mind, which is probably what my opponents are depending upon. Then they can influence the choice of a replacement who will be more sympathetic towards their demands. But I’m damned if I’ll give ’em that satisfaction.’
‘Have you received any demands?’
‘If they have her, they are playing a waiting game. But I am perfectly sure I am being watched so that they can gauge the right moment.’
‘You told Lord Torbay this before Mama and I joined you?’
‘I did indeed, for all the good it will do me.’
‘Do you have any idea who is behind it?’ Jemima sat forward. ‘Do you suspect that horrible man, Quinn? I hear he is very captivating and has a lot of influential supporters. I can just imagine Annabel being taken in by him. Perhaps we are both right. It is an abduction, but Annabel thought she was eloping. After all, no one heard her cry out when she was snatched and she would have screamed the place down if she had been taken against her will. I know they were outside, but even so, someone would have seen or heard a young woman fighting off her abductors. Lady Torbay and I are going to speak with Fiona Farrell again tomorrow. She might reveal things to me that she didn’t dare tell you.’
‘I don’t want you involved in this business.’
‘I am already involved, Papa. I want to help.’
‘Then be very careful. I would prefer not to lose another daughter.’ He gave another weary sigh and pushed himself to his feet. ‘I am glad we had this opportunity to talk,’ he said, awkwardly patting her good hand. ‘But now, I had best go and see to your mother, if you will excuse me.’
Chapter Eight
Ros had given his man, Field, leave to attend to a family emergency and so was obliged to fend for himself during his absence in the two rooms he occupied in St Ann’s Street, a comfortable stroll from the Palace of Westminster. He was in the process of pulling a brush through his tangled hair when his recognised his landlady’s light step on the landing that preceded her knock on his drawing room’s door.
‘There’s a gentleman downstairs asking for you,’ she said.
‘Ah, he’s early. Send him up, Mrs Gaunt.’
Jake strolled through the door a short time later, immaculately turned out as always.
‘Sorry about this,’ Ros said with a sheepish grin as he slid his arms into his coat. ‘My man is away.’
‘Don’t rush on my account,’ Jake replied, glancing through the open double doors into Ros’s bedchamber. Ros suppressed the urge to apologise for the tangle of bedclothes that it hadn’t occurred to him to straighten. In the absence of Field to provide that s
ervice, he would simply fall back between the crumpled sheets that night and make the best of it. He kept papers of a sensitive nature in his rooms and was careful to ensure that no one had accidental sight of them. He trusted his landlady absolutely, but even she knew better than to enter his domain in his absence. ‘Olivia was anxious to collect Miss Aitken and begin their sleuthing, so I had the carriage drop me here. We can walk to our first appointment,’ he added, consulting the sheet of paper he extracted from his inside pocket. ‘Archie Lawrence doesn’t live far away.’
Satisfied with his appearance, Ros picked up his hat and gloves and peered over Jake’s shoulder. ‘Are we going to quiz them all?’
‘That rather depends upon whether or not Lawrence is honest with us. Parker had his people ask a few questions last night and it seems he was the keenest of Annabel Aitken’s admirers. If I am satisfied that he really doesn’t know what happened to her then I doubt whether any of the others will be able to enlighten us, so it would be better not to alert their curiosity by asking too many questions. Lawrence is not known for his quick thinking but some of the others…’
‘Quite. What reason will we give for speaking to him?’ Ros asked as he carefully double locked the door behind him.
‘I wondered the same thing myself. Olivia came up with an answer,’ Jake said, pride in his tone. ‘She has decided to throw a party at short notice and I am obliging her by delivering invitations in person.’
Ros laughed. ‘Your wife is very creative.’
Jake rolled his eyes. ‘You have no idea.’
When Jake and Ros were admitted to the dining parlour in Archie Lawrence’s family home they found him there in shirtsleeves, looking a little the worse for wear. Clearly, he had only just got out of bed, but his debilitated condition didn’t prevent him from tucking into a plate piled high with coddled eggs and ham. Surprised to receive visitors at such an early hour, he was happy to have them shown in but didn’t allow their arrival to interrupt his breakfast.
‘Gentlemen,’ he said, ushering them towards chairs on the opposite side of the table and promptly resuming his seat. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure?’
‘Sorry to disturb your breakfast,’ Ros replied amiably.
‘You won’t,’ Archie told him with a disarming smile, forking eggs into his mouth to demonstrate his point.
‘We were passing,’ Jake said. ‘My wife is holding a soiree in a couple of nights’ time. A spur of the moment decision that requires me to deliver invitations by hand.’
Jake produced the invitation in question and laid it on the table. Archie smiled affably and appeared to take Jake’s explanation at face value.
‘Most kind of Lady Torbay,’ he said, glancing at the invitation. ‘Tell her I shall be delighted. Was there something else?’ he asked politely, pushing his empty plate aside and his chair away from the table.
‘Actually, there is,’ Jake said. ‘You’re probably aware that I take it upon myself to dispense a little justice here and there when the need arises.’
Archie looked confused but dutifully nodded. ‘One hears stories, don’t you know.’
‘Rumours have reached me of some scoundrel committing robberies on Hampstead Heath—’
‘There are always ne’er-do-wells loitering about that place. Have to be careful.’
‘You speak from experience?’ Ros asked.
‘I was there the other day, as a matter of fact. I was invited to join Lady Barlow’s excursion.’
Ros pretended surprise. ‘Not your sort of thing, surely?’
‘Ha! You’d soon change your tune if you were acquainted with Annabel Aitken.’ Archie frowned. ‘Although, I imagine you must have had the pleasure, given that you slave away at her father’ behest. Shame you have to earn a living, Glynde, but at least that leaves the field clear for us lesser mortals. Diamond of the first water is Miss Annabel, and modest with it.’
‘I take it you were not the only buck keen to win her favour, and that Lady Barlow had a surfeit of young men joining her excursion.’
‘Precisely. Lady Barlow made sure all the fellows she invited were aware that Annabel would be there. I couldn’t grab a single second alone with her.’ Archie pulled a mournful face. ‘And believe me, it weren’t for the want of trying.’
‘Which of your rivals did she prefer?’ Ros asked sympathetically.
Archie shrugged. ‘Hard to say. Some said she had fixed her interest upon me but I can’t say that I saw any signs of favouritism, more’s the pity.’
‘You will be a viscount one day,’ Ros pointed out.
Archie’s chest swelled with indignation. ‘As if such considerations would influence my angel!’
‘Everyone has to live on something,’ Jake said in a casual tone, ‘and your father’s estate is a rich one.’
Archie shrugged. ‘Even so.’
‘I should have thought that she would be less well chaperoned on the heath and you would have seized the moment,’ Jake said.
Archie scratched his head. ‘She wandered off for a while at the end and I thought I might follow her. But the others all stuck by me, so the opportunity was lost to us all. Besides, one of the other young women was bound to have gone with her. Lady Barlow wouldn’t have allowed her to go off alone. It wouldn’t be safe.’
‘You didn’t escort her carriage back?’ Jake asked, aware that he had not.
‘No, Lady Barlow asked us to provide that service for some of the others. We weren’t too happy about it but couldn’t decline. Besides, the same rules applied. If we, all the single men that is, were together then none of us could make headway with Annabel.’
Ros admired Lady Barlow’s discretion. She had got rid of the majority of the party as soon as she realised Annabel was missing, even though it reduced the number of people she had left available to search for the girl. She must have realised that she hadn’t simply wandered off, or she would have been quickly found.
‘We should speak with Lady Barlow,’ Ros said, as he and Jake took their leave. ‘I cannot help wondering why she felt it more important to protect the girl’s reputation than to instigate a full search.’
‘My thoughts precisely,’ Jake said with a grim nod. ‘Clearly, Lawrence is in the dark regarding Annabel’s disappearance, so it’s safe to assume that the rest of the party, outside of Lady Barlow’s immediate circle, are also ignorant of the circumstances.’
‘Unless one of them arranged her abduction, with her cooperation.’
‘I have not dismissed that possibility,’ Jake replied, hailing a cab and giving the jarvey Lady Barlow’s address, ‘but Lawrence, don’t forget, was very keen on the chit. He would have been watching her every move, her smallest reaction. If there was a man at that picnic with whom she had colluded with a view to eloping, Lawrence would have noticed her partiality for him. However well she tried to hide it, someone as smitten as Lawrence admits to being would have seen something. Besides, Parker checked and all the men in question are still in town, going about their daily business. Best not set them to wondering. As far as everyone is aware, Annabel is in the country, recovering from an indisposition. I would prefer for them to continue labouring under that impression.’
Ros nodded, wincing when he jolted his shoulder against the side of the cab as it hit a pothole. ‘None of her admirers would disappoint their families, one would hope, by doing anything quite so scandalous as eloping, no matter how swept away by passion they happened to be. Besides, they are all respectable members of the plutocracy, and if Annabel had lost her heart to one of them, there was absolutely no reason why they couldn’t have made their announcement, even if her intended isn’t a marquess’s heir and Mrs Aitken stood to be disappointed.’
‘Well, here we are,’ Jake said as the Hansom came to a halt outside Lady Barlow’s residence in Finsbury.
Ros paid the jarvey and took a moment to get his bearings. ‘Has it occurred to you that there are a lot of Irish living in this a
rea?’ he asked pensively.
‘The situation had not escaped my notice,’ Jake replied.
‘Coincidence, I hope. I cannot imagine Lady Barlow having anything to do with Irish subversives but still, it makes one wonder.’
‘And is not a question we can ask her.’
‘Naturally not.’
‘However, it will be interesting to hear how she justifies her actions regarding Annabel. Shall we?’
‘By all means.’
They ascended the steps that afforded them access to the front door of a modest detached residence, set in neat gardens. Their knock was answered by a maid, who took their cards and asked them to wait in a small parlour whilst she ascertained whether her mistress was at home.
‘Barlow didn’t leave his widow well provided for, it seems,’ Jake said, taking in the proportions of the poorly-furnished room.
‘He died almost ten years ago,’ Ros replied. ‘He was on the periphery of politics, knowledgeable about affairs of state and his opinion was respected. Lady Barlow made a name for herself as a political hostess of note. I’m told she preferred to remain in the city when she was widowed, close to the hub of things, rather than rusticate in the country. She has no children but enjoys a position of absolute authority and respect within the ton.’
‘And would not be persuaded to sacrifice her principals for financial expediency?’
Ros shook his head. ‘I don’t know her well, but I doubt it. As far as I am aware, she is above suspicion.’
Jake’s expression remained grim. ‘You underestimate the importance matriarchs place upon their ability to influence opinions and fashions.’
Before Ros could reply, the door opened and the maid told them that her mistress would receive them. The two men followed her into a small drawing room that was only slightly less shabby than the salon in which they had waited. When they entered, Lady Barlow rose from behind a small table at which she appeared to have been writing a letter, and sent the maid off again to fetch coffee.
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