“Your mama wanted to know what you could be thinking, but your papa said there was no time to argue with you if you were not all to be late. He told me to remind you that most of the guests, not to mention the queen’s ladies, are supposed to be present at a state ball before Her Majesty makes her entrance. I don’t mind telling you, miss, he had that look on his face when he said it, too.”
Letty did not have to ask what look Jenifry meant. She had seen it often enough to know. The marquess was a mild-tempered parent by most standards, but when one did manage to rouse him to anger, the result was unpleasant for all concerned. She did not look forward to their next meeting, but she could not dwell on its likely consequences now.
“It is not like you, miss, to put off unpleasantness,” Jenifry said quietly.
Letty did not speak for a long moment, well aware that she was behaving like a coward. Then, with a sigh, she said, “They are going to be so disappointed in me, Jen. Heaven knows I am disappointed in myself! Still, before I can tell them everything that’s happened, I must learn the worst of it. Lady Tavistock’s note mentioned no specific crime, only that my activities were meretricious. Until I know what, exactly, has come to light, I simply cannot involve Papa. Not now.”
“He would not agree with you, miss.”
“I know, but I must deal with this myself. Now hush, and let me think. Surely, Lady Tavistock will tell me what she has heard, at least, if I can just ask her. And the sooner I can do so, the better, or everyone will hear about this. As soon as we can get away from Miss Abby, I’ll go to the palace. I won’t go to the ball, of course, but perhaps I can arrange for a brief private meeting with Lady Tavistock.”
“What if they won’t let you in?”
“I’ve got my badge of office, and I doubt that anyone will have ordered the guards at the front gates to keep me out, so I’ll not worry about that until it happens. First we’ll attend to Miss Abby’s life-and-death matter, though. Not that I believe it is any such thing, mind you.”
Everything looked normal enough when the coach drew up before the house, but Letty’s complacence disappeared in an instant when the door flew open, and Miss Abby pushed past Jackson to greet her with tears pouring down her face.
“Thank God, you’re here at last,” the old lady exclaimed, adding in a rush of words, “I thought our man must have missed you! He’s killed Lady Witherspoon, all because she would not let him misuse poor Liza in the most shocking way. Oh, my dear, my dear, what devilry have we brought upon ourselves?”
Hastily pulling Jenifry and the old lady inside and telling Jackson to shut the door, Letty said, “Hush, ma’am, they’ll hear you in the street. Did you say that Catherine is dead? What is she doing here? She is supposed to be at the palace.”
“I know, I know, but she said he made her come here, that it was a test of his power over her, and now he’s gone and murdered her in our house, and we don’t even know who he is! At least, she must be dead by now, because—”
“Good gracious, could she still be alive? Why did you send for me, then, and not for a doctor?”
“But we did send for the doctor,” Miss Abby said, brushing a hand across her cheek. “We did that at once, but we did not know what else to do, or how to keep him from telling the world she died here! We cannot think that would be a good thing, you know, not until we can invent a good reason for her being here at all.”
“We can talk about inventing reasons later,” Letty said. “Where is she?”
“In the yellow bedchamber, the one where you found them the first time.”
Without waiting to hear more, Letty ran upstairs.
Inside the bedchamber, she found Mrs. Linford and a thin little man standing quietly beside the bed. Catherine lay still against the pillows, her eyes shut, her face as white as the lacy pillowcase.
“Is she …?” Letty could not speak the words.
Mrs. Linford shook her head. “Not yet, my dear, though we fear she will expire at any moment. We must fortify our spirits as best we can.”
“The poor, poor dear,” Miss Abby said, entering behind Letty with Jenifry right behind her, peering over her shoulder.
“We ought to send for Witherspoon,” Letty said impulsively.
“No.”
To her surprise, the single, harshly muttered word came from the figure on the bed. It drew the doctor, equally astonished, to bend over her at once.
Catherine’s eyelids fluttered, then opened slightly. Her lips parted again. “Letty, don’t.” The words were barely audible, but the effort visibly exhausted her. When she tried to speak again, Letty moved closer but was not sure she heard correctly. She thought Catherine murmured, “He mustn’t know.”
Speaking to the others, Letty said, “What else has she told you?”
“That’s the first time she has spoken,” Mrs. Linford said. “She has been unconscious till now. He must have knocked her down, you see, for we found her crumpled on the floor. The doctor says her head must have struck a hearthstone or the chimneypiece when she fell.”
Her words seemed to upset Catherine, for she stirred, grimacing with pain, and tried again to speak. Letty moved right to the bedside, kneeling down so that she would not miss a word this time.
Catherine’s breathing sounded labored. She said, “Letty, he hit me so hard.”
Trying to think how to learn the most while demanding the least effort on Catherine’s part, Letty said, “Miss Abby told me you were trying to protect Liza. That was very brave of you.”
“No … That wasn’t all. I—I don’t … Letty, you must stop him! He’s going to k-kill …”
Though Letty strained her ears to hear, no more words passed from Catherine’s lips. Her eyes had shut again, and her breathing grew so shallow that Letty could no longer detect even the slightest stirring of the coverlet.
With a surge of terror, she turned to the doctor. “Help her! She mustn’t die. We must hear what she wants to say!”
“I can do nothing more,” the doctor said quietly. “She may last another hour; she may not. Frankly I’m amazed that she found strength to speak.”
Turning to Mrs. Linford, Letty said urgently, “Where is Liza?”
Miss Abby exclaimed, “Liza! What do you want with her at a time like this?”
“Really, Letitia,” Mrs. Linford said, “the child has been through enough tonight. Moreover, I do not think that this is an appropriate—”
“Ma’am, forgive me, but did you hear what Catherine said? He is going to kill someone. We must find out who it is and stop him.”
“But Liza will not know. How could she?”
“Was she not present when he struck Catherine down?”
“She was, Miranda,” Miss Abby said. “You know she was.”
“Yes, that’s true, she was. Very well, my dear, you are quite right.” With that, Mrs. Linford moved to pull the bell.
“Wait,” Letty said. “You go, Jen. Find her and bring her here at once.”
While they waited, Letty tried again to urge Catherine to speak, but she did not, and it seemed an age before Jenifry returned with Liza.
Before Mrs. Linford could so much as begin to interrogate the girl, Letty said, “Leave her to me, please, ma’am. Liza, did you hear what Lady Witherspoon and the man said before he hurt her?”
“Aye.” Liza looked guiltily at Mrs. Linford. “I didn’t know it were wrong, what he wanted. The others does it, and they gets money. I wanted money, too, and he likes me best.”
Miss Abby gasped, looking wretched, but Mrs. Linford said sternly, “Never mind that now. Answer her ladyship’s question at once.”
“Yes, please, Liza. What did they say?”
“He said she was to do what he told her, and she said she wouldn’t. She said he was to leave me be, and that she wanted him to leave her be, too. She said she didn’t believe he cared about her, anyway, only about her position at court.”
“About her position? That’s what she said?”
&nb
sp; “Aye, and he said ’twas true enough, that he seduced her—Be that the right word, m’lady? Seduced?”
“Yes,” Letty said grimly. “That’s the right word.”
“Well, I did wonder, ’cause he said he would tell everyone she did it to him if she said a word about him out … out of school, I think he said.”
“He threatened to say she had seduced him?”
“Aye.” Liza glanced nervously again at Mrs. Linford, but that lady kept her lips pressed tightly together. “He did say that, miss. Said he would tell her husband as much if she tried to make trouble for him with the queen or anyone, or if she had failed in the task he had set her tonight.”
“Task? What task?”
“I dunno,” Liza said. “What they said then made no sense. She said she wouldn’t give you nothing to give Her Majesty, that for all she knew it might harm her or you. He laughed then, all evil-like, and she got wild. She said she believed it were worse than that, that they wasn’t really going to pretend to save Her Majesty like he promised, but to assassinate her for real. What’s ‘assassinate,’ Miss Letty?”
“But that’s mad,” Letty said, ignoring the rider as she fought a chill that threatened to paralyze her. “I don’t believe for one moment that Sir John Conroy intends to murder the queen. She is the key to all the power he craves.”
Mrs. Linford said, “Sir John?”
At the same time, with surprise in her voice, Miss Abby said, “He wore a mask, as usual, when he arrived, but I don’t think it can possibly have been …”
“Wasn’t Sir John,” Liza said, her voice a dim echo of theirs.
“But if not Sir John,” Letty exclaimed, “then who was he, for heaven’s sake?” Even as she said the words, however, she remembered something Liza had said but moments before. “You said he likes you best! Liza, was it—”
“Mr. Morden do like me best,” Liza said, nodding earnestly.
Mrs. Linford said, “Merciful heavens.”
Letty felt dazed. “The time I interrupted them I didn’t see him because he kept his head under the covers the whole time I was in the room, but a number of things made me think Sir John was the one.”
“Oh, my dear,” Miss Abby said, “I quite see how you came to make the error, for Sir John was here that horrid day when Liza ran away. And it’s perfectly true that he has been a patron of ours from time to time. As we told you, many gentlemen in high places have made use of our service. But he never saw Catherine here, nor she him, for we are most discreet, you know. Moreover, that particular liaison of his has come to an end, so I do hope you will not ask us who—”
“No, no,” Letty said hastily. “Her identity is of no consequence, but good God, what are we to do? I must go to the palace at once, and—Oh, dear, but if they don’t let me in after all, what would I do? What a horrid coil this is!”
“But you must go if our dear little queen’s life is in danger,” Miss Abby said. “Mr. Morden ran out of here like one possessed. I thought he feared that we would send instantly for the police, but of course we can do no such thing until we decide exactly what we should tell them.”
“Hush, Abigail,” Mrs. Linford said when Letty looked pointedly from Liza to the doctor, who had turned his full attention to his patient. Nodding, Mrs. Linford said, “Liza, my dear, if you have no more to tell us, you should go to bed now.”
“Yes ma’am,” Liza said, her shoulders slumping. “I’m sorry I was wicked.”
“I should not have said you were wicked,” Mrs. Linford said, her face flushing. “You did not know any better, and that is quite my own fault. Go to bed now, child. We will talk more of this in the morning, but you have nothing to fear.”
“I’ll take her,” Jenifry said, slipping an arm around Liza’s shoulders.
Letty glanced at the bed, wondering if Catherine had slipped away without even a farewell, but the doctor still hovered over her. Sending a silent prayer heavenward, she fought a nearly overwhelming and most uncharacteristic urge to burst into tears.
Mrs. Linford said, “There is no time to lose, Letitia. You must go at once to the palace, for you can reach Her Majesty more quickly than anyone else here. Only you have the entrée.”
Drawing a breath to steady herself, Letty said, “I’m afraid I no longer have it, ma’am. I received word only this evening that Her Majesty has dismissed me. The queen never really wanted me there, you know, and now that she has practically fought and won a war with Sir Robert Peel over her Whig ladies, she apparently has decided to get rid of me.”
“Mercy on us,” Miss Abby said, clutching a hand to her breast.
“Then you must send for your father,” Mrs. Linford said flatly. “I do not like to do that, as you must guess, but we simply cannot delay when Her Majesty’s life hangs in the balance.”
“But what will people think of us?” Miss Abby wailed. “Everyone is bound to learn why Lady Witherspoon was here, Miranda.”
“Forgive me, ma’am,” Letty said, “but we have reached a point where necessity must take precedence over what people may think about any of us. An image, after all, is only that, Miss Abby. It is time for all of us to face reality.”
“Then you must send for your father, I expect,” Miss Abby said with a sigh of resignation.
“No, ma’am, I won’t do that,” Letty said. “I don’t deny that he could help, but in fact, he has already left for the palace, and even if I knew exactly how to get a message to him, it would take much longer than if I can get to the queen myself. Raventhorpe can help me do that if I can reach him before he leaves Sellafield House, and much as it goes against the grain with me to beg his help, I can hardly ignore my own advice at a time like this.”
“Oh dear, Justin will be so angry,” Miss Abby said fretfully.
When Mrs. Linford winced, clearly agreeing, Letty nearly had second thoughts, but she stiffened her resolve. It occurred to her then that she might not find Raventhorpe at Sellafield House, that he might already have gone on to the palace. If that proved to be the case, she decided, she would just have to gain entrance by herself, one way or another.
Leaving the two old ladies and the doctor with strict orders to do nothing until they had heard from her, Letty shouted for Jenifry and hurried to her carriage, knowing well that her chances of finding Raventhorpe still at home were slim. If she missed him, she decided, she would just have to act on her own.
TWENTY
RAVENTHORPE STOOD IMPATIENTLY BEFORE the cheval glass in his dressing room, while Leyton twitched the tails of his evening coat into place and brushed away bits of lint that somehow had managed to mar the perfection of the dark blue material.
“My lord, if you will not stand still, I cannot be answerable for the result.”
“Tardiness is not a trait Her Majesty will forgive, damn it. I should have been gone twenty minutes ago.”
Calmly Leyton said, “Although you have frequently credited me with accomplishing miracles, sir, I cannot turn back the hands of time.”
“I know that,” Justin retorted. “If I’m short-tempered, blame the damned weather. What the devil do you want?” He addressed the last few words to his brother, who entered the room without ceremony, still in his shirtsleeves.
“I wanted to know if I’ve got this blasted cravat tied properly,” Ned said, looking him in the eye. “You’re always saying that I should effect a more fashionable style, but if you are going to roar at me, I’ll go away again.”
Justin sighed. “Don’t go. I’m in a black mood, that’s all. No cause to take out my temper on you. You’ve tied that very well.”
“I say, that’s decent of you, thank you,” Ned said, peering around him to catch a glimpse of himself in the glass. “Just for that, I shall warn you that Father is looking for you. I told him you might have already left for the palace, but if you don’t leave at once, he is likely to track you down. I daresay he wants to borrow money again,” he added, smoothing a fold of his cravat with a fingertip.
“Thank you,” Justin said dryly. “Are you ready to go now?”
“No, I’m not, as you can see perfectly well, since I have not even got my coat on. Moreover, I don’t mean to go for a while. I ain’t a lord-in-waiting, I’ll remind you, and I don’t want to spend the whole night dancing attendance on Mama or Susan Devon-Poole, although I believe I might try my luck with her since you don’t want her.”
“You won’t succeed,” Justin said. “She is looking for bigger game, my lad. She’ll most likely refuse Puck Quigley, and he’s got more to offer than you have.”
“The devil you say! We’ll just see about—”
“Here you are,” Sellafield declared from the doorway. “You might have told me he was still here, Ned. Justin, I want a word with you before you go.”
“I’m off,” Ned said instantly, shooting a sympathetic glance at his brother as he slipped past Sellafield.
Resigned to the inevitable, Justin signed to Leyton to leave. When that worthy had disappeared into Justin’s bedchamber and shut the door, he said curtly, “If you have come to ask for more money, sir, I can only tell you that I meant what I said the last time.”
“Thunderation, lad, you can’t mean to leave me in debt to an ass like Conroy. I won’t have it. No right-thinking son would leave his father in such a fix.”
“No right-thinking father would put himself in such a fix,” Justin said unsympathetically, picking up his hat and gloves from the table where Leyton had put them.
“Now, see here, Justin,” the earl snapped. “I am still your father, and you owe me respect. I won’t have you talking to me that way, by God. We’ll see bailiffs here in Sellafield House if you don’t straightaway set things right with Conroy.”
“Just how much do you owe him, for heaven’s sake?”
“Five thousand pounds now, I think it is.”
Justin stared. “How the devil—? No, don’t try to answer that. I don’t want to know. Very well, sir, I will pay your debt to Conroy, but—”
“I knew you would,” Sellafield said on a note of profound relief. “No son of mine could leave his father in such a pickle. Why, I’d have to blow my brains out, that’s what I’d have to do.”
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