Rakes Vow c-2

by Stephanie Laurens

  "Mr. Cynster, sir. Her Ladyship's asking after you. Urgent, she says-quite in a tizz. She's in her parlor."

  Vane shed his wolf's fur in the blink of an eye. With a curt nod for the footman, he started up the stairs. He took the second flight two at a time. Frowning, he strode rapidly for Minnie's rooms.

  The instant he opened the door, he saw the footman hadn't lied; Minnie was huddled in her chair, shawls fluffed, looking like nothing so much as an ill owl-except for the tears streaming down her lined cheeks. Closing the door, Vane swiftly crossed the room and went down on one knee beside the chair. He clasped one of her frail hands in his. "What's happened?"

  Minnie's eyes were swimming in tears. "My pearls," she whispered, her voice quavering. "They're gone."

  Vane glanced at Timms, hovering protectively. Grim-faced, she nodded. "She wore them last night, as usual. I put them on the dresser myself, after we-Ada and I-helped Min to bed." She reached back, lifting a small brocade box from the side table behind her. ' They were always kept in this, not locked away. Min wore them every night, so there never seemed much point. And with the thief delighting in tawdry glitter, there didn't seem much threat to the pearls."

  Two long, matched strands, with matching drop earrings. Vane had seen them on Minnie for as long as he could remember.

  "They were my bride gift from Humphrey." Minnie sniffed tearfully. "They were the one thing-the one piece of all he gave me-that was the most personal."

  Vane swallowed the oath that sprang to this lips, swallowed the wave of anger that one of Minnie's charity cases should repay her in this way. He squeezed her hand, imparting sympathy and strength. "If they were here last night, when did they disappear?"

  "It had to be this morning, when we went for our constitutional. Otherwise, there wasn't any time someone wasn't in the room." Timms looked angry enough to swear. "We're in the habit of going for a short amble around the walled garden whenever the weather permits. These mornings, we usually go as soon as the fog lifts. Ada tidies in here while we're away, but she's always gone before we return."

  "Today"-Minnie had to gulp before continuing-"as soon as we got through the door, I saw the box wasn't in its usual place. Ada always leaves everything just so, but the box was askew."

  "It was empty." Timms's jaw locked. "This time, the thief has gone well and truly too far."

  "Indeed." Grim-faced, Vane stood. He squeezed Minnie's hand, then released it. "We'll get back your pearls-I swear on my honor. Until then, try not to worry." He glanced at Timms. "Why not go down to the music room? You can tell Patience while I set a few matters in train."

  Timms nodded. "An excellent idea."

  Minnie frowned. "But it's Patience's practice time-I wouldn't want to intrude."

  "I think you'll find," Vane said, helping Minnie to her feet, "that Patience won't forgive you if you don't intrude on her practice." Over Minnie's head, he exchanged a glance with Timms. "She won't want to be left out."

  After seeing Minnie and Timms to the music room, and leaving his godmother in Patience's capable hands, Vane met with Masters, Mrs. Henderson, Ada, and Grisham, Minnie's senior servants.

  Their shock, and their instant anger against whoever had dared hurt their generous mistress, was palpable. After assuring them that none of them was suspected, and receiving assurances that all the current staff was utterly reliable, Vane did what he could to bolt the stable door.

  "The theft has only just occurred." He looked at Grisham. "Has anyone requested a horse or the gig?"

  "No, sir." Grisham shook his head. "They're not much for getting out an' about, this lot."

  "That should make our task easier. If anyone asks for transportation-or even for a groom to deliver something-put them off and get word to me immediately."

  "Aye, sir." Grisham's face was grim. "I'll do that, right enough."

  "As for indoors…" Vane swung to face Masters, Mrs. Henderson, and Ada. "I can't see any reason the staff can't be informed-the outdoor staff, too. We need everyone to keep their eyes peeled. I want to hear of anything that strikes anyone as odd, no matter how inconsequential."

  Mrs. Henderson fleetingly grimaced. Vane raised his brows. "Has anything odd been reported recently?"

  "Odd enough." Mrs. Henderson shrugged. "But I can't see as it could mean anything-not to do with the thief or the pearls."

  "Nevertheless…" Vane gestured for her to speak.

  "The maids have reported it again and again-it's making terrible scratches on the floor."

  Vane frowned. "What's making terrible scratches?"

  "Sand!" Mrs. Henderson heaved a put-upon sigh. "We can't make out where she gets it from, but we're constantly sweeping it up-just a trickle, every day-in Miss Colby's room. Scattered on and around the hearth rug, mostly." She wrinkled her nose. "She has this garish tin elephant-heathenish thing-she told one of the maids it was a memento left her by her father. He was a missionary in India, seemingly. The sand's usually not far from the elephant, but that doesn't seem to be the source. The maids have had a good go dusting it, but it seems perfectly clean. Yet still the sand is there-every day."

  Vane's brows rose high, visions of Alice Colby sneaking out in the dead of night to bury pilfered items floating through his mind. "Perhaps she tracks the sand in from outside?"

  Mrs. Henderson shook her head; her double chins wobbled vehemently. "Sea sand. I should have said-it's that that makes the whole so strange. Nice and silver-white, the grains are. And where, near here, could you find sand like that?"

  Vane frowned, and let his fanciful images fade. He met Mrs. Henderson's eye. "I agree the matter's odd, but, like you, I can't see that it could mean anything. But that's precisely the sort of odd occurrence I want reported, whether it's obviously connected with the thief or not."

  "Indeed, sir." Masters drew himself up. "We'll speak to the staff immediately. You may rely on us."

  Who else could he rely on?

  That question revolved in Vane's brain as, leaving Mrs. Henderson's parlor, he wandered into the front hall. In his estimation, Patience, Minnie, and Timms-'-and Gerrard-had always been beyond suspicion. There was an element of openness, of candor, in both Patience and Gerrard that reminded Vane of Minnie herself; he knew, soul-deep, that neither they, nor Timms, were involved.

  That left a host of others-others he felt far less sure of.

  His first stop was the library. The door opened noiselessly, revealing a long room, paneled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves down its entire length. Long windows punctuated the bookcases along one side, giving access to the terrace; one window was presently ajar, letting a light breeze, warmed by autumn sunshine, waft in.

  Two desks faced each other down the length of the room. The larger, more imposing example, closer to the door, was weighed down with tomes, the remaining surface blanketed by papers covered in a cramped fist. The well-padded chair behind the desk was empty. In contrast, the desk at the far end of the room was almost bare. It played host to one book only, a heavy leather-covered volume with gilt-edged pages, presently open and supported by Edgar, who sat behind the desk. His head bent, his brow furrowed, he gave no indication he had heard Vane enter.

  Vane advanced down the carpeted floor. He was abreast of the wing chair flanking the hearth, its back to the door, before he realized it was occupied. He halted.

  Happily ensconced in the deep chair, Edith Swithins busily tatted. Her gaze fixed on the threads she was twining, she, too, gave no sign of noticing him. Vane suspected she was partially deaf, but hid it by reading people's lips.

  Stepping more heavily, he approached her. She sensed his presence only when he was close. Starting, she glanced up.

  Vane summoned a reassuring smile. "I apologize for interrupting. Do you often spend your mornings here?"

  Recognizing him, Edith smiled easily. "I'm here most mornings-I come down immediately after my breakfast and take my seat before the gentlemen get in. It's quiet and"-with her head she indicated the fire-"warm."
/>
  Edgar lifted his head at the sound of voices; after one myopic glance, he retreated to his reading. Vane smiled at Edith. "Do you know where Colby is?"

  Edith blinked. "Whitticombe?" She peered around the edge of the wing chair. "Good heavens-fancy that! I thought he was there all the time." She smiled confidingly at Vane. "I sit here so I don't have to look at him. He's a very…"-she pursed her lips-"cold sort of man, don't you think?" She shook her head, then shook out her tatting. "Not at all the sort of gentleman one needs dwell on."

  Vane's fleering smile was genuine. Edith returned to her tatting. He resumed his progress down the room.

  Edgar looked up as he neared and smiled ingenuously. "I don't know where Whitticombe is either."

  There was nothing wrong with Edgar's hearing. Vane halted by the desk.

  Removing his pince-nez, Edgar polished them, staring up the long room at his archrival's desk. "I must confess I don't pay all that much attention to Whitticombe at the best of times. Like Edith, I thought he was there-behind his desk." Replacing the pince-nez, Edgar looked up at Vane through the thick lenses. "But then, I can't see that far, not with these on."

  Vane raised his brows. "You and Edith have worked out how to keep Whitticombe neatly at a distance."

  Edgar grinned. "Were you after something from the library? I'm sure I could help."

  "No, no." Vane deployed his rakish smile-the one designed to allay all suspicions. "I was just aimlessly wandering. I'll let you get back to your work."

  So saying, he retraced his steps. From the door of the library, he looked back. Edgar had retreated to his tome. Edith Swithins was not visible at all. Peace reigned in the library. Letting himself out, Vane frowned.

  Without, he was the first to admit, any logical basis, he had an instinctive feeling the thief was female. Edith Swithins's capacious tatting bag, which went everywhere with her, exerted an almost overpowering fascination. But to separate it from her long enough to search it was, he suspected, beyond his present powers. Besides, if she'd been in the library since before Whitticombe had left the breakfast parlor, it seemed unlikely she could have rifled Minnie's room during the short time it had been empty.

  Unlikely-but not impossible.

  As he headed for the side door, Vane wrestled with another, even more complicating possiblity. Minnie's thief-the one who'd stolen the pearls-may not be the same person who'd perpetrated the earlier thefts. Someone might have seen the opportunity to use the "magpie" thief as scapegoat for a more serious crime.

  Nearing the side door, Vane grimaced-and hoped that scenario, while not beyond him, was at least beyond the majority of the occupants of Bellamy Hall. Minnie's household affairs were tangled enough as it was.

  He'd intended to stroll to the ruins, to see if he could locate Edmond, Gerrard, Henry, and the General-according to Masters, they were all still outside. The voices emanating from the back parlor halted him.

  "I can't see why we can't drive into Northampton again." Angela's whine was pronounced. "There's nothing to do here."

  "My dear, you really should cultivate some thankfulness." Mrs. Chadwick sounded weary. "Minnie's been more than kind in taking us in."

  "Oh, of course, I'm grateful." Angela's tone made it sound like a disease. "But it's just so boring, being stuck out here with nothing to look at but old stones."

  Holding silent in the corridor, Vane could easily envisage Angela's pout.

  "Mind you," she went on, "I did think that when Mr. Cynster came it would be different. You said he was a rake, after all."

  "Angela! You're sixteen. Mr. Cynster is entirely out of your league!"

  "Well, I know that-he's so old, for a start! And he's far too serious. I did think Edmond might be my friend, but these days he's forever mumbling verses. Most times, they don't even make sense! And as for Gerrard-"

  Comforted by the fact he wouldn't have to fend off any more of Angela's juvenile advances, Vane backtracked a few steps, and took a secondary stair upward.

  From all he'd gleaned, Mrs. Chadwick kept Angela close, undoubtedly a wise decision. As Angela no longer attended the breakfast table, he suspected that meant she and Mrs. Chadwick had spent the whole morning together. Neither, to his mind, were good candidates for the role of thief, either of Minnie's pearls, or more generally.

  Which left only one female member of the household as yet unaccounted for. Strolling down one of the Hall's endless corridors, Vane reflected that he had no idea how Alice Colby spent her days.

  On the night he'd arrived, Alice had told him her room was on the floor below Agatha Chadwick's. Vane started at one end of the wing, and knocked on every door. If no answer came, he opened the door and looked in. Most rooms were empty, the furniture swathed in covers.

  Halfway down the wing, however, just as he was about to push yet another door wide, the handle was hauled from his light grip-and he discovered himself the focus of Alice's black-eyed stare.

  Malevolent black-eyed stare.

  "Just what do you think you're doing, sir? Disturbing God-fearing people at their prayers! It's outrageous! Bad enough this mausoleum of a house doesn't have a chapel-not even a decent sanctuary-but I have to put up with interruptions from such as you."

  Letting the tirade drift past him, Vane scanned the room, conscious of a curiosity to rival Patience's. The curtains were drawn tight. There was no fire in the hearth, not even embers. There was a palpable coldness, as if the room was never warmed, never aired. What furniture he could see was plain and utilitarian, with none of the items of beauty generally found scattered throughout the Hall. As if Alice Colby had taken possession of the room and stamped her character on it.

  The last items he noted were a prie-dieu with a well-worn cushion, a tattered Bible open on the shelf, and the elephant of Mrs. Henderson's tale. This last stood beside the fireplace, its gaudy metal flanks glinting in the light lancing through the open door.

  "What do you have to say for yourself, that's what I'd like to know. What excuse do you have for interrupting my prayers?" Alice folded her arms across her scrawny chest and stared black daggers at him.

  Vane brought his gaze back to her face. His expression hardened. "I apologize for disrupting your devotions, but it was necessary. Minnie's pearls have been stolen. I wanted to know if you'd heard anything or seen anyone strange about."

  Alice blinked. Her expression changed not at all. "No, you stupid man. How could I see anyone? I was praying!"

  With that, she stepped back and shut the door.

  Vane stared at the panels-and fought down the urge to break them in. His temper-a true Cynster temper-was never a wise thing to prod. Right now, it was already prowling, a hungry beast seeking blood. Someone had harmed Minnie; to some, not exactly small, part of his mind, that equated to an act of aggression against him. He-the warrior concealed beneath the veneer of an elegant gentleman-reacted. Responded. Appropriately.

  Drawing a deep breath, Vane forced himself to turn from Alice's door. There was no evidence to suggest she was involved, any more than anyone else.

  He headed back to the side door. He might not stumble instantly over the culprit by checking people's whereabouts, but, at present, it was all he could do. Having located all the women, he went in search of the other males.

  Warring with his instinctive conviction that the "magpie" thief was a woman had been a half-fledged hope the whole affair might prove a simple misdemeanor-like Edgar, Henry, or Edmond being strapped for cash and being foolish enough, and weak enough, to be tempted to the unthinkable. As he strode over the lawn, Vane let that idea die. Minnie's pearls were worth a small fortune.

  Their simple thief, assuming it was one and the same, had just made the step up to grand larceny.

  The rains appeared deserted. From the wall of the cloisters, Vane saw Gerrard's easel, set up on the other side of the rains, facing the abbot's lodge, a section of woods at Gerrard's back. The paper pinned to the easel riffled in the breeze. Gerrard's pencil box sat beneath
the easel; his painter's stool sat behind it.

  All that, Vane could see. Gerrard he couldn't see at all. Assuming he'd taken a moment to stretch his legs and wander, Vane turned away. No point asking Gerrard if he'd seen anything-he'd left the breakfast table with one goal in mind and had doubtless been blind to all else.

  Turning back into the cloisters, Vane heard, faint on the breeze, an intense mumbling. He discovered Edmond in the nave, sitting by the ruined font, creating out aloud.

  When the situation had been explained to him, Edmond blinked. "Didn't see anyone. But then, I wasn't looking. Whole troop of cavalry might have charged past, and I wouldn't have noticed." He frowned and looked down; Vane waited, hoping for some help, however slight.

  Edmond looked up, his brows still knit. "I really can't decide whether this scene should be acted in the nave or the cloisters. What do you think?"

  With remarkable restraint, Vane didn't teH him. After a pregnant pause, he shook his head, and headed back to the house.

  He was skirting the tumbled stones when he heard his name called. Turning, he saw Henry and the General striding up from the woods. As they neared, he asked: "You went for a stroll together, I take it?"

  "No, no," Henry assured him. "I stumbled across the General in the woods. I went for a ramble to the main road-there's a track that leads back through the woods."

  Vane knew it. He nodded and looked at the General, huffing slightly as he leaned on his cane.

  "Always go out by way of the rains-a good, rousing walk over uneven terrain. Good for the heart, y'know." The General's eyes fastened on Vane's face. "But why'd you want to know, heh? Not into rambles yourself, I know."

  "Minnie's pearls have disappeared. I was going to ask if you'd seen anyone acting strangely on your walks?"

  "Good God-Minnie's pearls!" Henry looked shocked. "She must be terribly upset."