“You know it for your own?”
“Cursed be the day I painted it — yes,” he cried. “I have had neither peace nor happiness since Maria Siddons died; and if I had never met, nor believed myself to love her, I should be a better man today.”
“Maria Siddons?” I enquired eagerly. Was this, then, the Maria Richard Portal had named in his final agony — the Siddons girl beloved of Hugh Conyngham?
A swift glance from Lawrence, while Lord Harold stooped to retrieve the pendant. “The same. She was the younger of the Siddons daughters; and I was so foolish as to engage to marry her.”
Lord Harold sought the ruined sketch of the spectral lady, and held it up to the light. Even at the distance of several feet, I could perceive the likeness of the eyes.
“I must entreat you to tell me how you came by this thing,” Lawrence said again, with obvious trepidation. “I had thought it buried with her.”
Lord Harold turned. “It was found on the breast of a murdered man,” he replied, “who whispered Maria as he died. We may presume that whoever stabbed him, uttered the name with conviction as the blade went home. A killing of revenge, perhaps, but visited upon the wrong person. For it was you, Mr. Lawrence, the assassin intended to kill.”
“I?” The unfortunate painter looked all his bewilderment.
“You were dressed in the guise of a Harlequin at the Dowager Duchess’s rout, were you not?” I observed.
“I was,” Lawrence said, comprehension dawning, “and I shuddered when another, so similarly garbed, was murdered in that hideous fashion. I gather you were also present that unfortunate evening.”
“I was,” I replied; and saw again in memory Mr. Lawrence’s Red Harlequin, conversing with Madam Lefroy.
“Then I may tell you that I quitted the house before the constables arrived. But you cannot mean that Portal’s end was meant for me?” The horror of the truth overcame him, and he threw his head in his hands. “Then the attack upon my chair — the gang of ruffians — was occasioned by a far more malevolent purpose than I had supposed.”
“There can be no other satisfactory explanation.” Lord Harold set the eye portrait before Lawrence; but the painter started with revulsion, and thrust his chair from the table.
“This is madness!” he cried. “It cannot be otherwise. We are cruelly imposed upon — for I know this portrait to have been held as sacred by one who should never have given it up.”
Lord Harold’s eyebrow rose, and he glanced at me. “Pray explain yourself, Mr. Lawrence.”
The painter stabbed a finger in accusation at the offending miniature. “You must know that Maria was for many years plagued with the consumption that ultimately proved her ruin. I painted this portrait of Maria for her mother, Mrs. Siddons, who feared the girl’s sudden end. The great lady’s talents being so much in demand, and her family generally in want of funds — as who is not? — Mrs. Siddons was frequently burdened with engagements abroad. It was a comfort to carry some token of her daughter about her person.”
Lord Harold retrieved the miniature and turned it delicately in his fingers. “And while painting Maria’s grey eye — you fell in love with the lady?”
Lawrence shrugged and averted his gaze. “I was, at the time, pledged to Maria’s sister — Miss Sally Siddons, the elder of the two. But you will understand, my lord, that Sally was a gentle creature, of unassuming aspect and mildest disposition — her temper was unmoved by storms of passion. Maria was … utterly different.”
“Her gaze alone is smouldering,” I observed.
“It is. Or was.” Lawrence swallowed convulsively, his eyes averted from the pendant. “Maria was jealous of her sister — jealous of what she believed was Sally’s stronger constitution and happier fortune — and she set about to ruin her life.”
It was fortunate the young lady was prevented from any reply, I thought, since Mr. Lawrence saw fit to so abuse her in death. I could not like or approve him; but he was clearly never without torment — and in this, I deeply pitied him.
“Under the most desperate infatuation, I broke off my engagement to Sally, and caused there the greatest pain a lady may know,” he continued. “Within a very few months, however, I realised the folly of my impulse. I begged dear Sally to forgive me, and attempt to love me again; to Maria I explained the whole — but the result was most unsatisfactory. From disappointment or pique, Maria went into a decline from that day forward — and died not long thereafter.”
“How dreadful!” I whispered. “And was she very young?”
“But eighteen.” He was silent a moment, and touched the blazing pendant. “There was worse than mourning to come, however. For with her dying breath Maria exacted a promise of her sister, Sally — a sacred promise that must endure beyond the grave — never to unite her life with mine. And Sally agreed.”
“A formidable girl, indeed,” Lord Harold said drily, “like a figure from Greek tragedy.”
“I will confess I felt it to be so, when I learned the truth in a letter from my beloved. I was never to see Sally Siddons the more — and though I raved, and went nearly mad for a time; threatened suicide or murder or both — she stood firm in her resolution. Maria had exacted her promise, and to Maria at least Sally might be true.”
“She has never wavered?” I said, appalled.
“Never for an instant,” he retorted, with a bitter smile. “I threatened, I cajoled, I wounded her with silence and attentions to others, including even her childhood friend, Maria Conyngham — but never a word did I receive. And last year, in the full blush of summer, Sally followed her sister to the grave, a victim of the same infirmity. The physician who attended her believes that she contracted the disease while nursing the dying Maria.”[77]
We were silent some moments in horror. Mr. Lawrence’s head was sunk in his hands. But at last Lord Harold broke the stillness. “Tell me, Mr. Lawrence, of Miss Siddons’s childhood friend — Maria Conyngham,” he said. “You attempted to secure her affections?”
“Attempted — and succeeded,” the painter retorted with contempt.
“But surely you must have known that her brother was once in love with the younger Miss Siddons?” I cried.
“I did not,” Lawrence said, with faint surprise. “Maria Siddons would have it that she had never loved anyone before myself.”
“And perhaps, indeed, she did not,” I mused. “For certainly she gave up Hugh Conyngham without a pang. In the gentleman’s breast, however, there were stronger emotions.” I regarded the pendant eye portrait with mounting trepidation, as the murderous scheme declared itself in my mind. “Forgive me, Mr. Lawrence, for so invading your privacy — but can you tell us when you ended your attentions to Miss Conyngham?”
“The moment I learned of Sally’s death. In August, perhaps, of last year.”
Nearly eighteen months ago.
“And did she meet the affair’s end with composure?”
“Tolerably so. There was a period of recrimination — of tears and threats — but I am accustomed to these of old.” The first horror of revelation being now past, Mr. Lawrence smoothed his dishevelled locks with a hand that barely trembled. “I have recently vowed, Miss Austen, to pay my respects in future to married ladies alone; they are far steadier in their attachments, and demand of one a great deal less.”
Was Isabella Wolff, then, so retiring? I considered the turbanned beauty, and thought it rather unlikely. Mr. Lawrence’s callousness should have enraged me, had I not seen evidence of its extent throughout the conversation; but for an instant, at least, I understood the emotions that had moved the Conyngham pair. The torment of brother and sister — the desire for revenge so heated in the bosoms of both — had grown and festered with time. They had waited for the proper moment; had secured their positions in Bath; and had plotted the scene of Lawrence’s destruction, with the pendant eye as silent witness.
“You are aware, sir, that the Conynghams were raised in the bosom of the Siddons family,” I observed
. “Is it so unlikely that certain of Mrs. Siddons’s possessions might have passed to Hugh or Maria?”
“With both of her daughters claimed by the grave, Mrs. Siddons might well regard the Conynghams as even dearer than before,” the painter replied with a shrug. “It should not be remarkable for the lady to convey some memento mori into their keeping.”
One thing only remained a puzzle. Given their intimacy with Richard Portal, how had the Conynghams mistaken one Harlequin for another?
“I wonder, Mr. Lawrence, whether you have recently received any communication from Miss Conyngham?” Lord Harold interposed.
“A single note, nothing more.” Lawrence stood up, and fished among a pile of papers scattered upon a table. “Harnley has made a poor job of packing, I see — but he is greatly distressed about the attack in Cheap Street a few nights ago, and should have bolted to London before this, had I not restrained him. Ah, yes — here it is.”
He held out an unsealed letter, crossed with a feminine hand. “Miss Conyngham required me most urgently to attend Her Grace’s rout,” he said, “so that we might converse privately. She was most pressing in her request that I should meet her in the little anteroom, while the attention of all was engrossed with her brother’s recital.” As he spoke the words, a look of comprehension came into his eyes. “The anteroom — but it cannot be that Maria—”
“And did you meet her there?”
“I did. But as soon as I entered the room, I perceived Miss Conyngham slipping behind a door in the corner opposite, and so I followed her there. She returned to the drawing-room by a back hallway, and I did the same, on the assumption that she no longer wished to speak with me.”
“And did you observe Mr. Portal in your passage through the room?”
“I did. He lay in a heavy slumber upon the settee.”
Lord Harold pocketed the actress’s letter, and retrieved the pendant. “Whatever Miss Conyngham’s duplicity or malice, they can be as nothing to yours, Mr. Lawrence. Were I even remotely attached to the lady, I should be compelled to demand satisfaction. Your behaviour to one in her circumstance and position is nothing short of outrage; though it is of a piece, I collect, with your general treatment of the fairer sex.”
He reached for his hat and gloves, intent upon taking leave of the painter. His hooded eyes were inscrutable as ever, but in his tone I detected an admirable command of anger.
“But it is of no account,” Trowbridge continued, as he escorted me to the door. “The lady has others to act in my stead. And much as I should like you to relate the whole to Mr. Wilberforce Elliot, the magistrate, I must undertake to speak on your behalf. Make for London with the greatest possible speed, by all means, Mr. Lawrence — for your life is not worth tuppence in Bath.”
Chapter 16
The Importance of Appearances
19 December 1804, cont.
“IT IS CLEAR, MY DEAR JANE, THAT WE HAVE BEEN CHASING the wrong hare,” Lord Harold said, as we regained the street. “For all his ingenuity at blackmail, Mr. Portal was never the object of murderous attack. It was another Harlequin — a Harlequin arrayed in red instead of white—who was meant to end on the knife.”
“But who, my lord, struck the murderous blow? For though he surely spoke Maria as he died, Portal could not have meant to name Miss Conyngham. She should have known him regardless of disguise; and Mr. Lawrence did not discover a murdered man in following her through the passage. Maria must refer to the eye portrait of Miss Siddons.”
“So much is obvious,” Lord Harold replied. “It was merely Miss Conyngham’s role to lure the painter to the anteroom. She may have panicked, in finding a slumbering Portal already in command of the place, and fled immediately — Lawrence followed hard on her heels — but the man intended to kill Lawrence could not know of the mistake. He merely stabbed the Harlequin at hand, and left the portrait on his breast.”
“Lord Swithin, perhaps, or the man Smythe,” I said.
“But without a confession from one of them, we cannot hope to prove it.” Lord Harold shook his head. “I intend, however, to place Miss Conyngham’s letter in the magistrate’s keeping, and divulge to him the whole of this extraordinary interview.”
“Mr. Elliot is returned, then, from Portsmouth?”
“He is. It was to hear the summary of his labours that I was called away from Laura Place this morning.”
“Do not keep me in suspense, Lord Harold, I beg! What of Swithin’s ships? Was either the man or his hired tilbury remarked upon the quay?”
“They were not,” the gentleman replied. “From the experience of your brothers, Jane, I must assume you to be cognizant of the traffic about the Portsmouth slips — the embarkation of passengers and crews — the sudden mooring and as sudden sailing of a multitude of vessels. A wearisome business Mr. Elliot found it; and all for naught. At least three Indiamen had put in last week, but all belonged to the Honourable Company; their crews being dispersed on a hard-earned shore-leave, Mr. Elliot could discover nothing of whether any bore news of Swithin’s ships. And of the gentleman himself, and his flying visit to the town, our magistrate saw no sign; for Swithin did not put up at an inn, and one fellow among so many is unlikely to be remembered.”
“That is very bad for the Earl,” I said.
“Mr. Elliot had other news, as well. His man Warren discovered something in London of the discarded tiger pin.”
“And from the turn of your countenance, I should judge it equally unfortunate for Swithin’s case.”
“The brooch was fashioned for his lordship’s mother, by Thomas Grey, the jeweller in Sackville Street, a very reputable old firm. It has been in the family’s possession some thirty years.”
I sighed.
“But Warren learned something even more intriguing, Jane — from a pawnbroker in Cheapside. The tiger brooch was lately pawned, and then redeemed, by a man who called himself Mr. Smith.”
“John Smith, no doubt.”
Lord Harold smiled. “The man did not answer at all to the Earl’s description. He was burly and bearded, by all accounts.”
“Then perhaps he spells his name Smythe,” I suggested, “or may be found in the person of Lord Swithin’s groom. Can the Earl’s fortunes be so reduced, as to require him to pawn his mother’s jewels? It is incredible!”
“Incredible, indeed,” Lord Harold said wryly. “But I have delayed already too long. I will conduct you to Green Park Buildings, my dear, and then away.”
We turned in the direction of Seymour Street, our umbrellas raised high against the fitful gusts of rain.
“We are so much more advanced in our researches than a week ago,” I mused, “and yet we come no nearer to our purpose. How do you hope to effect the murderer’s exposure, Lord Harold? A confession would be everything — but how to provoke it?”
“I do not know, Jane — or at least, not yet. But I think I shall attend the Rauzzini concert this evening, and carry the Conynghams in my train. Brother and sister are unnecessary to the company’s performance in Bristol, it being a Christmas pantomime; and they are shrewd enough to profit from the chance to learn just exactly how much I know.”
“Hugh Conyngham consents to quit his rooms, then?” I cried.
“He does; and shows no inclination for flight. No doubt he will enjoy the little diversion offered by Mr. Rauzzini’s music.”
“I understand that Lady Desdemona is to be escorted by Colonel Easton.”
“Yes — we shall happily make a crowd in the Wilborough coach. You spoke with Mona this morning, then?”
“And with Easton himself. The Colonel carried me to Laura Place, but soon retreated, upon finding the position already held by his enemy.”
“Swithin?”
“The redoubtable Earl.” I hesitated, then plunged on. “Lady Desdemona seemed most happy in his lordship’s attentions, and excessively sorry to refuse his offer of escort to the concert. Unfortunate girl — I feel for her most exceedingly. The Colonel is excellent in
every respect, and yet—”
“And yet, Jane?” Lord Harold enquired keenly.
“And yet she cannot love him.” I managed a smile. “We are a perverse race, are we not, my lord, in being given to the bestowal of affections upon the least worthy of objects?”
“It is certainly a family failing,” he mused. “So the Earl is to be treated to the spectacle of both Miss Conyngham and my niece accompanied by his rivals! We may expect Swithin to look daggers at the Colonel, and toss a challenge at my feet, before Mrs. Billington has accomplished half an aria. I begin to enjoy the prospect of this evening’s entertainment all the more. To assemble so many of the principals, in one place! What an invitation to scandal and display!”
“But how should the mere public appearance of the Conynghams and the Earl hope to gain your point?”
He dismissed me with a wave of the hand. “You have lived long enough in the world, my dear, to know that appearances are everything.”
“Even, perhaps, when they are meant to deceive,” I added thoughtfully; and we walked on some moments in silence. Presently, however, Lord Harold observed, “You are melancholy, Jane.”
“I cannot but believe, my lord, that Anne Lefroy died because of my indiscretion.”
He frowned. “I do not pretend to understand you.”
“Had I never spoken of Madam Lefroy to Hugh Conyngham, she might well be alive today.”
His lordship’s footsteps slowed, but his gaze remained fixed upon the glistening pavement at our feet. “When did this interesting discourse occur, my dear Jane?”
“At Friday’s Assembly in the Lower Rooms. Mr. Conyngham chanced to speak slightingly of a gentleman’s constancy, at which point I reminded him of his enduring attachment to the late Miss Siddons. It was Madam Lefroy who imparted the history of the affair to me, in the midst of Her Grace’s rout. She was privileged in knowing Mr. Conyngham’s parents, you understand, many years ago — and had followed their childrens’ careers ever since. I freely owned as much to Conyngham while we danced.”
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