by Ruby Moone
Kendrick nodded.
Charnley raised an eyebrow, but then turned back to Kendrick. “Any more information? I take it the magistrate now has the pearls?”
Kendrick looked Charnley in the eye. “Aye.”
“How the hell did they get the damned pearls?” David’s ears were ringing. Had someone got into the house, taken them? It was the only explanation.
“Were they in a safe?”
Charnley’s question was a reasonable one, but it sent David’s heart to his boots. “No.” The words were whispered. He put a hand over his eyes. “In my coat pocket.”
When he looked up, Kendrick’s gaze was sympathetic, which made David feel worse. “We need to get him out, Davey boy. Lad will hang for it, sure as eggs is eggs.”
“No, he won’t.” David paced.
“If you have any notion of taking his place, disabuse yourself of it immediately,” Charnley snapped.
“He will not hang. I will see to it. Is Fallows in town?” David asked.
Kendrick nodded. “He is. Has a house on Curzon Street?”
“Right.” David looked at both men. “I’m going to see him.”
“Wait,” Charnley said. “You cannot just go barging in there, you will incriminate yourself.”
“Do you think I care?”
“Well, you should. If Fallows really want to cause trouble they could lay…other allegations at both your feet. That wouldn’t help at all, would it?”
David felt his cheeks flush, but he rolled his eyes. “No need to mince words. Bill knows me well.”
“Hate to admit it, son, but he’s right.” Bill sent him a sympathetic glance. “I did pick up one bit of information that might be of help. The Earl of Standish was seen leaving the Fallows house this morning. Could they be in it together?”
David groaned and put his face in his hands and scrubbed his face. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“Explain,” Charnley demanded.
“Well, Standish and I…” He waved his hand in a general fashion. “A few months back and he wanted a repeat at the Fallows party. I turned him down and ended up with Jeremy.”
Charnley put a hand over his mouth and appeared to think for a moment. “Standish has something of mine. Something that…I was careless. Blackmail. This is punishment for failing to pay. He threatened the family. I have no doubt that from this will come a full exposure of our connection, the family connection, and I have no doubt he will attempt to implicate you in an affair of the heart with young Naylor. It all makes sense now.”
David looked over at Kendrick who shook his head and shrugged.
“So, pay him.”
Charnley looked at David. “I wish I could, but what he wants is…not mine to give.”
“Stop talking in bloody riddles and tell me what he wants.”
Charnley glanced at Bill.
“You can talk in front of Bill. I’d tell him anyway.”
Charnley scrubbed his hands over his face and appeared to arrive at a decision. He took a breath. “Secrets. Secrets from the government. Secrets that would damage us in the war with France. He’s a French agent.”
David was fairly sure his mouth was hanging open, so he snapped it shut. “Standish is a French spy?” That was…words failed him. “Can you get the information?”
“Well, yes, but if I did that I would endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands of men on the continent and the security of the entire country.”
Kendrick cleared his throat. “Couldn’t you speak up at the lad’s trial?”
Charnley shook his head. “They will simply implicate David as Naylor’s lover and accomplice. The two of you were making sheep’s eyes at each other the entire time.”
David clenched his teeth so hard his jaw hurt.
“Give him false information,” Kendrick said. “Make it as close as possible to what he wants but misdirect him.”
David made an exasperated sound. “For God’s sake, Charnley, the man is a spy. Have him arrested and thrown into Newgate. Why are we even having this conversation? Get onto your government people and get the man caught.”
“It’s not as simple as that.” Charnley said. “We need proof.”
“He’s blackmailing you. How much more fucking proof do you need?” David was shouting now.
“For God’s sake, don’t be so naive. I have reported it, and we are looking at the best way to bring him in. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, what I asked you to do for me. I need someone who is discreet and skilled in…theft.”
Chapter 19
Charnley glanced at Kendrick. “Thank you for bringing us the information. Would you excuse us?”
Kendrick raised an eyebrow at David.
“You’d better leave us to it, but if you could keep an eye out and an ear to the ground I would be eternally grateful. I need to get him out of there before they fling him into Newgate. It would be easier to spring him from the Session House. I won’t be long here.”
Kendrick nodded and left, leaving David and Charnley facing each other.
“Tell me everything,” David demanded.
Charnley gestured to a seat. David sat and watched as his brother sat opposite him, brushed at a speck on his breeches, and cleared his throat. “I need a letter returned to me. It is a letter from someone I hold in high regard, and if it were made public it would ruin both of us.”
“A lover?” David asked.
Charnley hesitated, then nodded.
“And if you have the letter in your possession, Standish will have no hold over you and you won’t need to hand over the government information he is asking for?”
“Exactly.” Charnley paused and took a deep breath. “However, this move in having Naylor taken gives us an additional complication.”
David scrubbed a hand over his mouth. “You are making an assumption that Standish has connected us. It may be that he simply wants to punish me for rejecting him.”
Charnley nodded. “True, but I think we should be prepared for him to have made the link and simply be tightening the screw.”
David knew in his heart it was too much of a coincidence. His heart sank. “So even if we get the letter…” He couldn’t finish the sentence.
Charnley sighed. “There is no guarantee that if we get the letter, or even give him the information he is looking for, that we will get Naylor out. To do that, we would have to admit our connection and your relationship.”
“Bastard. Absolute bastard. Where is the letter?”
Charnley fidgeted in his chair. “I presume Standish will have it in his house somewhere unless he has secured it in a vault. If that is the case, we are finished.”
“Bank vault?”
Charnley nodded.
David’s heart was pounding. “A bank vault isn’t impossible, but it would take time. Too much time.” He paced, running a hand through his hair. “I will visit the house tonight,” David said. “If it’s there, I will find it.”
Charnley nodded. He hesitated a moment, then looked closely at David. “I admire your fortitude,” he said, quietly.
“What?” David wasn’t really listening; his head was whirling. “Can you get to Standish this afternoon and tell him he will have the information he needs, but only if he gets Jeremy out of the Session House?”
“I can try, but I imagine he will want the information first.”
“Not a chance. I want Jeremy out of there before he gets a thing.”
“You imagine that I have any influence over what this man does?” Charnley said, holding up his hands. “David, the man is a French spy. One whose advances you rejected in favour of a footman, so now he has not only a way to gather information for his cause but a chance to get back at you. I don’t think either of us is in a position to start making demands, do you?”
David frowned. “How does Standish know Jeremy is important to me?”
Charnley rolled his eyes. “I have no idea, but you were rather partial at Fallows’ party and the
lad seems to be living under your roof. Either might have ventured a hint in that direction.”
David closed his eyes and groaned. The situation was ridiculous and frankly, unredeemable. “So, Standish feels rejected, knows I am your half-brother, and that you are making the beast with two backs with someone you shouldn’t. Who is the lucky lady, by the way?”
Charnley stiffened. Mouth tight. He sucked in a breath and squared his shoulders. “Not a lady.”
Well, that took the wind from David’s sails. He shook his head as a smile formed at the corner of his mouth. “Is that why you have kept trying to befriend me? Because you are the same as me?”
Charnley looked away, clearly uncomfortable.
“Who? Is it someone I know?”
“Do I have your word this will remain between us?” Charnley looked him in the eye.
David was surprised into nodding.
“Major Timothy Kingston.”
Well, there was a surprise. No wonder the handsome Kingston had been impervious to his charms. “That explains a lot,” he said.
Charnley frowned. “Explains what?”
David just shook his head. “Does Kingston know Standish has the letter?”
Charnley nodded miserably. “He does. He is terribly anxious.”
“Bloody mess,” David said. “Who wrote the letter?”
“I did.”
David let the words hang between them for a moment before replying. “I thought you worked in the Alien Office. That you’re some sort of spy for the king?”
“I do, but I’m not exactly a spy.”
“What sort of King’s Man writes an incriminating letter and leaves himself open to blackmail in the worst possible way?”
Charnley ran a hand over his face and stood up. He paced restlessly.
“Never mind,” said David. “Do you have any information that will help me to locate the letter quickly?”
“All I know is that he has a safe in his study. If I were him, that is where I would put it.”
David tapped his lip with his thumb. “What information is he looking for from you?”
“Information about the movement of troops on the continent that would give Bonaparte the advantage. After his recent losses, the French are desperate.”
“In that case you need you to start looking at a document which you could amend to give false information that could be handed over if I can’t get to your letter.”
Charnley appeared to think for some time. “I need the letter back.” He closed his eyes. “I need to know Major Kingston is safe just as you want Naylor safe.”
David bit back the retort that hovered on his lips. “In that case, start working on it. We may need to move quickly.”
“Of course. What will you do now?”
“I will go to Standish’s residence and find the letter. I will return once I have something.” David paused. “How much time do we have to get him out of there?”
“Time?”
“Before he is tried?”
Charnley thought for a moment then shrugged. “Well, his case will be taken before the Grand Jury to decide if he should be tried. If they decide he should…not long.”
David nodded, gut churning.
“A lot of cases are thrown out. They do call the Old Bailey, ‘the Hope of London Thieves’ on account of the number of cases that are thrown out,” Charnley said.
“Well, we both know Standish won’t let that happen.”
Charnley sighed. “No, and once he goes before the jury the prosecutors will be able to testify and give further evidence if they need to. It might be at this juncture he introduces the evidence for sodomy and implicates all of us.”
“If Jeremy is tried, how long before they…” He couldn’t bring himself to say the word ‘hang.’
“A couple of days?”
They were both silent for a moment until David shook himself. “I need to go and do something, or I will run mad.”
“I will begin work on the materials you suggested.” Charnley surprised him by holding out his hand. David hesitated a moment, but took it and gave it a brief shake.
* * * *
David raced back to his house and slammed the door behind him.
Jo Crawford ran into the hallway, closely followed by Spencer and. “Any luck?”
David shook his head. “Not yet, but we might have a plan.”
“What did they take him on?”
David swallowed. “Theft. The Framling pearls.” He glanced at Jo. “I take it they searched the house?”
Jo nodded, frowning.
David closed his eyes. “They were in my pocket.”
“Oh, Lord…”
He opened his eyes to find Jo and Spencer staring at him. “You can’t say anything I haven’t already said to myself.” David’s chest was so tight it was hard to breathe.
“So, what’s this plan? What is it? What can I do?” Jo took a practical tone, and David was grateful for her changing the subject. She was a good person. The very best. He quickly appraised them of his conversation with Charnley and was only faintly surprised when she came to him and put her arms around him. He allowed himself to be held for a moment.
“We’ll get him out,” she said.
David squeezed his eyes closed. They had to get him out. “We need to work fast. I’ve been in Newgate. I know what it is like. It will kill him.”
Jo nodded. “I know.”
David drew a breath. “I’m going to change into something less conspicuous and head to Standish’s house. I have to find the letter and get it to Charnley. If I do, we may have leverage to make Standish have Jeremy released, but I have a feeling that even then we will have trouble. Standish has a vile streak.”
“I’ll accompany you and keep watch,” she said and hurried off.
Spencer shook his head and clapped him on the shoulder and gave him a squeeze. “What do you want me to do?”
“Go with Kendrick and find out as much as you can. Anything that might help. Anything at all.”
Spencer nodded and left, and David took the stairs to his chamber three at a time, tearing off his coat, waistcoat, and cravat as he went. He rummaged in his wardrobe and came up with clothes more befitting a tradesman and went about transforming himself. When satisfied, he ran lightly down the stairs and found Jo waiting for him in the hallway wearing a very similar set of clothes. Clothes she hadn’t worn in many a year. His heart clenched.
“You don’t have to do that,” he said, going and taking her arm.
Jo smiled, but it was a little sad. “I can move faster like this. Less conspicuous.”
David was more moved than he could say. Joseph Crawford had been one of his closest friends from when he was first flung into the stews of London. Helping him become the person that he was meant to be, Josephine Crawford, had been a long and difficult road, but one he had been glad to travel with her. He wasn’t at all happy she’d opted to be a housekeeper and hide away in his house. He’d wanted her to pose as his sister, but that was her choice and as much as he disliked it, he respected it. He also remembered how badly dressing in men’s clothing affected her and knew how much this must be costing.
“Dammit,” David said, and pulled her into a brief but tight one-armed hug.
She grinned at him. “Feels like I’m in disguise.”
“Silly sod,” David whispered, squeezing his eyes tight shut on a wave of emotion.
* * * *
David forced himself to ignore the cold and sit for two hours watching the residence of the Earl of Standish. He sat in a quiet, unobtrusive spot and waited until a carriage bore the owner away, and then, nodding to Jo, who was similarly occupied, made his way to the rear of the house where he located the servant’s entrance and the stables. A door was open, and voices could be heard shouting in the distance, so he slipped in, closely followed by Jo, and walked purposefully on. They passed a maid and nodded to her. She nodded back. His heart was beating fast, but he was calm. The house was
enormous. One of the largest Piccadilly had to offer, and as such, there was a veritable army of servants and tradesmen about most of the time. He walked through the servants’ halls, the kitchens, and the scullery as though he had every right to be there. He had long since learned people rarely challenged a man who looked as though he knew what he was doing and where he was going. He paused, and Jo caught him up. It had been quite some time since they had worked together in this way.
“Look for a study,” he said. They hurried up the servants’ staircase and emerged into an imposing hallway with a magnificent staircase sweeping up to a gallery. The house seemed to be made of pink marble and gilt. It was awful.
“You take that side,” Jo said, and slid away. The house was deserted, with a few maids and footmen about and they were easy to avoid. David tried a few doors and peered inside but found nothing that might resemble a gentleman’s study, which might contain a safe. He met up with Jo at the back of the house.
“Anything?”
“Nothing that looks like it might be a good place to store important documents.”
“What about a library?”
“Possibly,” Jo said, and grabbed him by the arm to pull him behind a massive pillar as a woman bustled into the hallway. She looked like a housekeeper or something and they managed to stay out of sight as she hailed an older man. Once the hallway was clear again, they nodded at each other and headed up to the first floor. They split the house between them.
“Back here when you’ve done?”
Jo nodded and walked down the corridor, peering into rooms as she went. David did the same. He found a ballroom, an enormous dining room, several smaller rooms, parlours and God alone knew what, but nothing that looked as though it might hold a safe. He made his way back to the staircase, and found Jo standing in a window, just out of sight.
“Anything?”
“Study,” she said with a smile, then turned on her heel. David followed, and they arrived at a large, masculine looking room with huge windows overlooking the front of the house. David closed the door quietly and turned the key in the lock.
“Keep a lookout for him returning,” he said, then set about examining every inch of the room. He went through drawers, and found many, many letters, but nothing from his brother. Eventually, he located a safe hidden behind a smallish painting that was easy to lift from the wall.