Death On Blackheath (Thomas Pitt 29)

by Anne Perry

  He studied her face in the firelight. He could see that she was frightened. She had told him only what she knew he would almost certainly have worked out for himself. It might be painful, immoral, but it was a common tragedy. Not even poets and dreamers imagined all marriages were happy, or faithful.

  ‘Miss Ryder … I need to know,’ he insisted. ‘Who are you afraid of? Knowing that Mr Kynaston was having an affair with his brother’s widow was unfortunate but – as you said before – servants know all kinds of things. Did you say something to him?’

  Her eyes widened. ‘No! Wot do you think I am? A blackmailer?’ She was angry, but she was also hurt.

  He could have bitten his tongue. ‘No, that’s not what I meant! I’m trying to get you to tell me why you ran away. Nothing you’ve said so far is more than a domestic unhappiness: deep, maybe, but nothing for Special Branch to care about, still less to threaten your life. What is it that makes that matter, Kitty?’

  ‘She were Mr Bennett’s wife,’ she answered, staring at him almost without blinking. ‘But before that, she were someone else’s wife … in Sweden.’

  He blinked. ‘Does that matter? Or are you saying she was still married to him? Then her marriage to Bennett would be bigamous. Is there money involved? Did she inherit from Bennett?’

  She shook her head. ‘I don’t know. She seems sort of … comfortable, but not rich.’

  ‘And Mr Kynaston knew that you’d found that out? How did you find it out anyway?’

  ‘She were staying a day or two with Mrs Rosalind, like she did quite often. I had some cream for her, special made to keep ladies’ hands white and soft. I’d made enough for both ladies, an’ I took some to her.’ She was watching Stoker carefully, her eyes never leaving his face.

  ‘She has this ring she always wears, sort of wide and a bit flat, with stones set in it, but not like usual. Just little stones, and she never takes it off. But she had to for this, ’cos the cream would get in it, maybe even not be good for it.’

  ‘Go on,’ he urged.

  ‘I went in to turn the bed down, an’ she was sitting there using the cream on her hands. The rings were on the table by the bedside. I moved them in case the bedcover flipped over them and knocked them off. I saw what was inside the special one.’

  ‘What was it?’ His mind raced.

  ‘“Anders and Ailsa, July 1881 – and forever”,’ she answered. ‘I must have froze, because I looked at the mirror on the dressing table where she was sitting, and I saw her staring back at me. I wanted to say something but my tongue was stuck in my mouth and I felt the room was swaying round me like I was at sea. The look in her eyes, she would have killed me. Then I heard Mr Kynaston coming up the top o’ the stairs and along the landing. She changed all of a sudden like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, and she were all sweet an’ gentle with him. I went out past him and down the stairs into the kitchen.’

  ‘How was she next time you saw her?’ Stoker asked.

  Kitty’s face was pale. ‘I only saw her once, going across the hall. I heard her tell Mr Kynaston that there was something missing from the room, something valuable. I knew she was going to say as I took it.’ She closed her eyes, then opened them again suddenly, staring at him. ‘I did something stupid. I couldn’t afford to lose my place, or my character either. Nobody’s going to take on a maid who steals!’ she gulped. ‘I stopped and I said to Mrs Kynaston that I’d be happy to come with her and help her look for it. I looked straight at her when I said it, too. If what were written on that ring mattered that much, then let him see it too! She knew exactly what I meant, and she changed her mind. Said to him that she probably hadn’t brought it with her, and she was sorry for making a mistake. Then she looked daggers at me, and went on up to bed.’

  He admired her courage, if not her sense.

  ‘Did you tell Mr and Mrs Kynaston about the ring?’ he asked.

  ‘No. I went to the kitchen and waited till everyone had gone to bed, then I just left.’ She hesitated for a moment. ‘I went out the back door and just kept walking. It wasn’t that far to the pub, and I knew they’d put me up for the night, till I could get as far as Harry’s the next day. I knew he’d look after me. But it weren’t long before someone came asking questions, and I couldn’t stay. Not fair to him neither, because I didn’t want to marry him. I like him well enough, but not that much.’

  ‘And how did the blood and hair get onto the steps from the areaway to the street? And the broken glass?’

  She looked down, clearly embarrassed.

  ‘It doesn’t make sense,’ he said quietly. ‘I have to know.’

  She raised her eyes. ‘I’m not lying! Everything I told you was true.’ She swallowed hard. ‘Mrs Ailsa came after me into the kitchen. I knew she was ’oping to get me. She had a glass in her hand and she was smiling. I ran for the back door and she came after me. We fought on the steps. It was my hair she pulled out, but her blood … Just from her finger where she broke the glass. I didn’t hurt her, I swear! I didn’t even try—’

  ‘I know,’ he said quickly. ‘Thank you. I don’t know why it matters enough to come after you, but it must have something to do with what we suspect about treason. You stay here with Gwen. Don’t tell anybody else about this – in fact don’t talk to anyone at all until I tell you it’s all right.’

  She looked at him. ‘What happens if you don’t catch them?’

  ‘I will catch them,’ he said a little rashly. ‘I always catch them. But I’m not alone. There are lots of us. Just stay safe here.’ He stood up. ‘Gwen’ll look after you until I come back again. I may not do that for a little while. I’ll be busy, and … and you’ll be safe if no one knows you are here. Gwen’s name’s different from mine. No one around’ll connect her with me. Please … do as I say!’

  She nodded, her eyes suddenly filling with tears as she realised that for a little while, at least, she was safe.

  He said good night to Gwen and her husband in the kitchen, and thanked her again. Then he went out into the night smiling to himself, his step light, the ground easy under his feet.

  Pitt telephoned Narraway at home and was told that he had gone to the House of Lords. An hour later he had received a message from Narraway, in answer to his request. They met on the Embankment. It was still only a little past ten in the morning and the March wind had a new softness to it. It was easy to believe that spring would begin in a day or two.

  Briefly Pitt told Narraway what Stoker had told him when he had arrived at Keppel Street a minute or two after seven. Narraway listened as they walked, without interrupting.

  ‘Then it seems inescapable that Ailsa Kynaston is the force behind Dudley’s betrayal of his country,’ Narraway said when Pitt had finished. ‘The questions are why, and to whom is he giving the secrets of our naval submarine plans, which possibly cover the whole area of weapons, on which our survival might depend! We need to know a hell of a lot more about her!’

  ‘And Bennett,’ Pitt added. ‘Perhaps about his death. It may be irrelevant, but it more likely has something to do with it. And we need to do it very quickly.’

  Narraway gave a brief, tight smile. ‘I hadn’t thought you were telling me simply to satisfy my curiosity. That would have done over dinner, when you had the solution.’

  Pitt made no excuses. ‘You have connections I don’t, people you know who won’t trust me yet. I’m going to speak to Sir John Ransom and find out exactly what Kynaston has knowledge of, and see what I can learn from him. I’ve got to discover where the information is going, and through whom. What a mess!’

  ‘Be careful how you tell Ransom,’ Narraway warned. ‘He may find it very hard to believe. The whole Kynaston family has been highly respected for several generations.’ His face pinched as he said it, imagining the grief, the refusal to accept what would in the end prove to be unavoidable.

  ‘He already has a good idea of it,’ Pitt replied, remembering Carlisle’s account, and his sadness for a friend betrayed. He
turned and smiled at Narraway, a mirthless means of communicating that he had no intention of telling him how he knew. It was not that he did not trust Narraway, but that he did not want to place on him the burden of keeping it from Vespasia. Neither of them yet knew where this was going to lead.

  Narraway did not press him.

  ‘I’ll let you know immediately,’ Pitt added, coming to a stop along the path. The wind off the river was still cool, the bright sun on the water deceptive. ‘Tell me if you learn anything new that would help.’

  Pitt recalled Kynaston’s study and the paintings he had said were of Sweden, several of them clearly attached to memories. He mentioned them, then thanked Narraway and turned to walk back to Westminster Bridge. He was not looking forward to having to tell Ransom what he now knew, but since it was unavoidable, the sooner it was done, the better. This was his job, one of the darkest sides of it.

  Ransom received him immediately. He was a quiet man, tall and thin with grey hair receding from a high brow.

  ‘I hoped you would not come,’ he said, shaking his head a little. They were in his office, a large space, which he had managed to fill with books and papers. They were jammed in together on the shelves that lined three of the walls, and still they spilled over into piles on odd chairs, and even on to the floor. Pitt wondered how much he lost, or if actually he knew what every pile contained. From the steady eyes of the man and his gentle, precise voice, he imagined the latter.

  ‘I hoped so too,’ Pitt replied. They were both still standing. Somehow it did not seem the occasion to sit. ‘I’m afraid it is now necessary.’

  ‘Kynaston?’ Ransom asked. ‘Or am I pre-empting what you have to say?’

  ‘No, you are actually making it easier,’ Pitt said truthfully. ‘It is not yet proved, but I can see no alternative explanation for what I know.’

  Ransom was pale. ‘It appears I was denying what, if I were honest, I had already accepted was true. But I thank you for coming. Are you arresting him?’

  Pitt shook his head. ‘Not yet. I need proof before I blacken a man’s name. I don’t need to tell you that you do not allow him access to any further new material. And I need to have you tell the Government of the information he could have passed to our enemies – or even our friends, for that matter.’

  Ransom smiled sadly. ‘When it comes to weapons of war, it is not always so easy to tell the difference. I have not had such a thing happen since I have been in charge here. Of course I have thought of it – one has to – but somehow the reality hurts more than I had foreseen. I like the man. What in God’s name can have made him do it?’

  ‘I don’t know yet,’ Pitt answered. ‘We may never know.’

  Ransom looked at him, frowning, his face filled with misery. ‘I suppose you find this sort of thing again and again, in your profession. How do you go on trusting anyone? Or don’t you?’ He stopped, searching to defend his idea in words. ‘Do you learn whom to trust? Is there some sense, some formula that you use? How do you know when a man you have liked and believed in for years is actually heart and mind serving someone else, something else, different sorts of ideals and beliefs altogether? Do you then doubt everyone else as well?’

  ‘No,’ Pitt answered before he allowed himself to think of it. ‘Then you are allowing them to destroy you, as well as themselves. Over time and experience you make enemies, for lots of reasons, but you also make friends. People who will disagree with you openly, but never betray you to another, even when you are wrong.’

  Ransom said nothing.

  ‘Actually I like Kynaston too,’ Pitt added. ‘You might be pleased to know that Kitty Ryder, the maid who disappeared, is alive and well. I would prefer it that you did not make that public, for her safety.’

  Ransom sighed and rubbed the heel of his hand over his forehead. ‘That’s something. Although some poor woman is dead, whoever she is.’

  ‘We’ll give her a decent burial,’ Pitt promised. ‘Both of them. Thank you for your time, sir.’

  Ransom shook his hand and Pitt left to begin the next step.

  Narraway thought long and hard about whom he should approach regarding the death of Bennett Kynaston, and the relationship he had had with his brother. Certain records were easy enough to find: birth, schooling and university. He checked them, but it only confirmed what he already knew. The Kynaston brothers were wealthy, privileged in Society, extremely well educated and both of them well above average intellect. Dudley was slightly the more serious of them: Bennett had the charm and was the one of whom all had expected great success. Nothing suggested tragedy to come.

  Nobody was going to be willing to give away secrets. Narraway knew from the beginning that he would have to find someone who owed him a debt the payment of which they could not afford to refuse. Narraway found it distasteful to collect on a debt of help that had been freely given. Yet the only alternative was worse. The choice between good and bad was simple; anyone could make it without a moment’s hesitation. It was the choice between bad and what might or might not be worse that tested the judgement.

  And yet Narraway barely hesitated. He debated with himself all the way to see Pardoe, the man whose debt he was about to call in, but he did not digress from the path. A long time ago he and Pardoe had been in the army together. Pardoe had made a bad error. It was an honest mistake, but it would have looked like cowardice, and that would have ruined not only his army career, which he had not cared about so much, but his social career as well. ‘Coward’ was a word that closed all doors irrevocably. Narraway had covered for him, at some risk to himself, although in the end he had not suffered any consequences. But since he had put himself at risk, the debt existed.

  He went to the offices in Whitehall where Pardoe worked and left him a brief, sealed message. Two hours later he and Pardoe sat down to dinner at Narraway’s club.

  Narraway approached the subject immediately. There was too little time to waste, and to begin with pleasantries would be almost insulting.

  ‘I need a little help from you,’ Narraway began. ‘I wouldn’t ask if it were not of the utmost importance.’

  ‘Of course,’ Pardoe responded, but already the shadow was across his face. He knew Narraway too well to imagine he was going to be given an alternative. Narraway had never asked anything of him before, and now the debt was due. Pardoe cleared his throat. ‘What can I do to help?’

  ‘Tell me about Bennett Kynaston, Ailsa, and Dudley,’ Narraway replied.

  ‘What about them?’ Pardoe was confused. ‘Bennett’s been dead for years. I think Dudley looks after her to some extent, for Bennett’s sake. He was devoted to him. But I’m sure you know that. It’s hardly a secret.’

  ‘Let’s start with how Ailsa and Bennett met. Was it through Dudley?’

  ‘Good heavens, no!’ Pardoe was clearly surprised. ‘It was by chance, in Stafford, I think. Ailsa was over on holiday.’

  ‘Over? From where?’

  Pardoe was slightly surprised. ‘Sweden. Ailsa is Swedish. I think originally her name was Ilsa, and she changed it to the more Scottish-sounding name. I think she did not wish him to know she was Swedish.’

  ‘Why not?’ Narraway was puzzled. ‘I thought both Bennett and Dudley loved Sweden?’

  ‘They did, until …’ Pardoe was obviously embarrassed.

  Narraway could not afford to ignore anything. ‘Until what, Pardoe? I haven’t time for delicate answers.’

  Pardoe clenched his jaw and there was a small muscle beating in his temple. He looked wretched.

  ‘Look, Narraway, this is all a long time ago, and a private tragedy. It happened when Bennett was on a trip to Sweden, and it can’t have anything to do with whatever you’re looking for. It wasn’t his fault. It could happen to anybody. You of all people should know that!’

  Narraway was surprised. ‘I should! Why?’

  ‘You’ve sown a few wild oats, and certainly used your charm to extricate yourself a few times.’ There was an edge of bitterness in Pard
oe’s voice.

  ‘Pardoe!’ Narraway said sharply. He hated having to do this, but he was too good at it to find it difficult. ‘Stop mincing around and tell me the story.’

  Pardoe gave in. The weight of his obligation was something he could never have denied. He might have told any other man to go to hell, but not Narraway. Their relationship was old and deep, going back to their time together in the army in India.

  ‘Bennett was very charming,’ Pardoe said quietly. ‘It was perfectly natural, not an act or something he turned on and off. He went for a long break, several months, to Sweden. He stayed with a family called Halversen. They all got along well, except that their younger daughter, Ingrid, was about fifteen. Lovely young girl, but a bit of a dreamer, very intense. I dare say we all are, at that age.’ His face grew tighter, the muscles in his back strained.

  ‘Go on,’ Narraway prompted.

  Pardoe resumed reluctantly. ‘Ingrid fell in love with Bennett, and wrote him love letters that she never sent. He had no idea. When he finally found out, he was horrified. He had no intention of having anything but the occasional friendly conversation with a girl that age. He was about thirty at the time. Perhaps he wasn’t as gentle as he could have been, or maybe he was! Regardless, the result was that she felt rejected, humiliated, even deceived. She took her own life, rather dramatically. Drowned in a stream near the house, but it was definitely suicide. The family blamed Bennett and read her letters to mean that he had seduced and deflowered her, and she died of misery and shame.’

  ‘What a wretched tragedy,’ Narraway said quietly, trying to imagine the pain of it, the misunderstanding, the hysteria of youth. ‘Is that why Bennett couldn’t go back to Sweden?’ He was disappointed. It didn’t seem to be relevant to Dudley’s treason, but he could not tell Pardoe that.

  ‘Good God, no!’ Pardoe gave a grating laugh. ‘The … family regarded him as a rapist and had him charged. The whole town was up in arms and he was arrested pretty much for his own safety. The father was a man of some influence. Gradually he prevailed on the local authorities to make the charge stick, and bring Bennett to trial. He was painted as an arrogant foreigner who went around seducing young girls too decent and too innocent not to be taken in. Abuse of hospitality is one of the most morally repellent of crimes in a lot of cultures. It’s a betrayal of all that’s basically good. It’s practically a denial of God to some people—’