‘I take it you didn’t agree with his politics?’ Bunny pushed his empty plate away, now intent on the conversation. Whatever had preoccupied him up until then had apparently been forgotten.
‘You could say that.’ William paused before continuing. ‘I always felt Sergei had treated the Jews badly during his governorship, though we agreed to disagree over certain subjects. That day, his carriage had passed through the Nikolsky Gate when a revolutionary tossed a bomb into his lap. The blast shook the ground and rattled the windows where Ella and I sat drinking coffee.’
‘How horrible.’ Flora squeezed her eyes shut as the room stilled until the only sound was the tick of a clock on the mantelpiece.
‘Ella rushed straight outside, although I tried to stop her, but—’ He exhaled slowly, gathering his courage. ‘Sergei’s carriage lay in burning pieces all over the courtyard, and yet there was Ella, calmly kneeling in the bloody snow picking up what was left of her husband.’ William snatched up his glass and downed half the contents, dabbing his napkin hastily at a spilled drop on his sleeve.
‘Oh, my goodness!’ Alice whispered.
‘The poor man.’ Flora took a mouthful of wine to counteract the sourness in her throat but it did not help. ‘How horrible for poor Duchess Ella. Did they catch the assassin?’
‘Yes. He was found injured beside the carriage’s rear wheels. He said he expected to die in the explosion. Instead he’ll most probably be hanged.’
Before Flora could ask what Bunny thought, Stokes reappeared with a new bottle of wine.
‘I’ll do that, Stokes.’ Dismissing him, Bunny circled the table and refilled their glasses while a heavy silence expanded into the room.
‘Alice?’ Flora rapidly searched for a change of subject. ‘Is it true that you have resigned from St Philomena’s?’
‘Er… yes. I have.’ Alice looked momentarily flustered. ‘Mr Buchanan is not in the best of health these days and needs me to care for him. The scandal last year at the hospital affected him badly. I doubt he’ll return to the Board of Governors.’
‘Are we talking about the child-abduction ring you single-handedly broke up last winter, Flora?’ William’s grin teased, though his eyes shone with pride.
‘I cannot take all the credit,’ Flora said. ‘Had Alice not brought their activities to my attention, no one would have done anything about those missing children.’
‘And yet you made no mention of having found Alice again after all these years, Flora?’ The accusation in William’s eyes made Flora’s insides shrivel. ‘We spent Christmas together and you said not a word.’
‘I’m sorry, and I realize I should have explained before now,’ Flora began. ‘But Alice didn’t want you to know everything at once. We thought—’
‘Please don’t blame Flora,’ Alice gripped Flora’s forearm, silencing her. ‘I was the one who asked her to wait until I could tell you myself. It was a shock for her to discover I had run away all those years ago when she had been told I had died. She needed time to get used to the idea before telling you.’
‘You remember when I discovered you were my father and not Riordan Maguire?’ Flora held his gaze, silently pleading for him to understand. ‘That was hard for me to accept at first too.’
‘I remember.’ William’s eyes darkened with recollected memories. ‘You couldn’t look at me for weeks.’
‘We’re both responsible for deceiving Flora. I shouldn’t have married Riordan, I knew that from the start but you weren’t there and so I ran away.’
‘I apologize to both of you.’ William swallowed and stared at the table. ‘I have no right to demand reasons from either of you, when I’m equally to blame.’
‘I tried to contact Riordan several times,’ Alice began, ‘asking to see Flora but he refused. He was legally her father and the law was on his side. Wives who leave their husbands have no rights. I lost her.’ She blinked away sudden tears. ‘I found her again when she and Bunny visited St Philomena’s Hospital, which is when we both became involved in the child abduction case.’
‘It might sound odd, but I knew who she was from that first meeting,’ Flora laced her fingers with Alice’s. ‘When I summoned the courage to ask her, she told me she had known who I was all along. My next task was to tell you.’
‘I had no idea Flora knew you were her father, William,’ Alice said. ‘Or that she was in contact with you.’
‘That’s why I planned this evening, to bring you two together.’
‘Quite devious, eh?’ Bunny pushed his plate away and relaxed back in his chair. ‘I told her it wasn’t a good idea. Not everyone likes surprises.’
‘In this case she was right,’ William’s mouth quirked into a wry smile. ‘This was a good surprise. I’m sorry if I sounded accusing. I spend too much time with diplomats and spies who never say what they mean.’
‘This is exactly what I was trying to avoid,’ Flora slapped both palms onto the table top. ‘Recriminations over what none of us can change.’
‘Now we’ve got that out of the way,’ Bunny asked, in an obvious attempt to defuse the sudden tension in the room. ‘What was it you were saying about Raymond Buchanan, Alice? I doubt William knows how you two are connected.’
‘Ah, yes of course.’ Alice took a moment to gather herself. ‘When I first came to London, Raymond and his wife became my family; even more so since his wife died. When the scandal got into the newspapers, his health deteriorated. Lately, the slightest exertion leaves him breathless, and he complains of chest pains. When he discovered his son was… that is—’ she broke off, unwilling to say the actual words. ‘I’m sure the stress contributed to his illness.’
‘Sounds like angina,’ Bunny interjected. Looks of bemused enquiry swivelled his way, eliciting his casual shrug. ‘My father had it. Killed him off eventually. The medics didn’t agree, but then they know very little about how the human heart works.’
‘Doctors don’t like to be seen as fallible,’ Alice said.
‘Forgive me asking, Alice,’ William began, ‘but how did a respectable man like Buchanan become involved in such a dire practice as child abduction from a hospital?’
‘Let me explain,’ Flora interrupted, aware that Alice had begun to look uncomfortable. ‘Raymond’s son, Victor, has certain – proclivities. Illegal ones. Photographs existed which were used to blackmail Raymond into providing one of his ships for their activities.’
‘Raymond didn’t know anything about the trafficking,’ Alice interjected. ‘He believed they were legitimate in helping families emigrate. He co-operated to keep Victor out of prison. By the time he became suspicious, it had gone too far. His complicity still haunts him.’
‘A situation anyone might find themselves in.’ William nodded, then clapped his hands together, adding brightly, ‘Enough of sad things. Come along, Flora, what good hostess allows her guest’s glass to remain empty?’
‘Oh, of course.’ Before Flora could react, Bunny rose from the table and refilled William’s glass.
‘Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?’ she whispered when he resumed his seat. ‘You’ve been miles away since you arrived.’
‘Um, no, it’s nothing important. Now,’ he set the bottle down and rubbed his hands together, ‘who’s for pudding?’
Chapter 2
Flora tugged her shawl tighter around her exposed shoulders and shivered in the cool wind gusting across the porch. It had been a warm day for April, but as night drew in, splatters of rain streaked the windows from air cooled to a wintry chill. She raised a hand to wave at Alice who occupied the seat beside William in his two-seater Spyker motor car.
‘She’s a real beauty, isn’t she?’ Bunny sighed.
‘Indeed, she is.’ Flora leaned into her husband’s one-armed hug. ‘I hope I’ll look as good when I reach Alice’s age.’
‘I meant William’s motor car.’
Flora tutted, nudging him. ‘Our Berliet is perfectly adequate and far more practical. Besides, ther
e would be no need for a chauffeur and you would have to discharge Timms.’
‘Hmm, I hadn’t thought of that.’ He followed the gleaming green vehicle with his eyes until it disappeared around the corner.
Flora knew the prospect of losing Timms would not appeal. The chauffeur’s previous employer, a former client of the firm of solicitors Bunny worked for had been jailed for fraud. On learning that the man’s out-of-work valet was also a keen amateur mechanic, Bunny installed him in the mews behind the house. The pair spent hours tinkering with the engine of Bunny’s beloved motor car; more like friends than employer and chauffeur. In their brown coveralls and with their heads ducked beneath the metal hood, even Flora was hard put to tell them apart.
‘Well, despite the host’s unexplained absence, I think the evening was a success.’ Flora returned to the relative warmth of the hallway.
‘I’ve already apologized for that.’ Bunny tightened his arm round her and nuzzled her hair just above her ear before guiding her back into the sitting room, where Stokes was clearing away the coffee cups and empty brandy glasses. ‘You do realize bringing them together without warning like that could have gone horribly wrong? Suppose they had harboured some long-buried resentment in the intervening years, or worse, didn’t like the person they had each become?’
‘That didn’t occur to me,’ Flora lied. ‘I was confident they would behave as if the last twenty years had never happened.’
‘William couldn’t keep the smile off his face, and all those long looks.’ Bunny chuckled.
‘He was like a young boy with his first tendre.’
‘Except this particular tendre had already produced a grown-up daughter.’ Flora summoned a distracted smile, her thoughts still on William and whether or not he might be recalled to Russia if the situation there worsened.
‘Stokes,’ Bunny halted the butler on his way out with a loaded tray. ‘Before you retire, would you kindly bring us some fresh coffee?’
‘Of course, sir.’ Stokes bowed and left.
‘None for me, thank you.’ Flora frowned. ‘I shan’t be able to sleep. After such a long day, I would have thought cocoa would have been more appropriate’
‘Coffee.’ Bunny’s eyes hardened and he caressed her shoulder. ‘I have a feeling we might need it.’
‘You’ve been very distracted tonight,’ Flora dragged her thoughts back to the present. ‘Are you sure something isn’t bothering you?’
‘Don’t change the subject. We were talking about your parents.’ Bunny took the place beside Flora on the sofa. ‘I sensed at some point during the evening you became somewhat tense.’
‘Did I?’ She sighed having hoped he had not noticed. ‘You might think I’m being selfish, but in all the drama of getting them together again, the past – my past has been overlooked. I still don’t understand why Riordan told everyone that Alice, or Lily as she was known then, had died.’
‘She left him, Flora. Did it occur to you that might have hurt his pride? Pretending to be a widower meant no one would whisper about him behind his back.’
Flora silently acknowledged he was probably right. Her mother had married the head butler at Cleeve Abbey when she had fallen pregnant by William. The family had made it clear a marriage between Lily and William was out of the question and sent him abroad. Too young and overawed by their respective families to fight back, they had both obeyed. However William pined in America and Lily was miserable at home, until she could stand no more and ran away leaving Flora behind to be raised by the man she married to preserve her reputation.
Riordan Maguire had adored Flora and despite Lily’s urging, had refused to let her see Flora again, preferring to explain away her absence by spinning a story acceptable for a child.
‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if William and Alice found happiness together after all this time? It’s just—’ she broke off, smothering a yawn at the reappearance of Stokes who set down a tray in front of them, wished them both goodnight and withdrew.
‘I’m going up to bed. Enjoy your coffee.’ As she rose to leave, he grasped her hand and tugged her gently onto the squab.
‘Could you give me a moment, Flora? There’s something I need to tell you. Well, more show you actually.’
‘Something which explains why you were late for dinner?’ she asked, yawning again.
‘In a way.’ He stood, one hand held palm downwards in a command for her to stay. ‘Wait here. I’ll be back in a moment.’
‘Can’t whatever it is keep until morn—’ she broke off with a sigh as she addressed an empty room.
More for something to do than a desire for some coffee, she poured herself a cup and stirred in milk, the gentle tinkling of silver against china the only sound in the room as the hot, aromatic coffee triggered her senses.
The evening she had anticipated with such pleasure should have been one for celebration, but as she had observed her parents smile at each other across her dining table, all her unresolved feelings had resurfaced.
The knowledge that Lily Maguire had cared for other people’s children in a London hospital while her own daughter grew up without her remained a cruel irony. That Lily had instigated contact again went some way to compensating for the past, although a deep-seated antipathy persisted for all the lost years in between.
Flora’s childhood had been far from unhappy with Riordan Maguire, who had always been a loving parent, if an uncompromising one. His halo had slipped slightly when she discovered he had known Lily had been alive all this time. He had even destroyed the letters she sent him pleading for forgiveness. Letters Flora had known nothing about, but which Alice had told her she had written in an effort to see her again. That he had been killed protecting Flora made it impossible to harbour bitterness against him, but also meant he could never explain.
At the sound of the rear hall door closing, she returned her cup to its saucer. The smile she had summoned in anticipation of Bunny’s return faded instantly when she realized he was not alone. A young man with light brown hair hovered a pace behind him, his head down and shoulders hunched as if unsure of his welcome. He lifted his head, his eyes meeting Flora’s for a second before he ducked away, his cheeks flushed red.
‘Eddy!’ A shaft of delighted recognition ran through her and she leapt to her feet, crossed the room in two strides. ‘How lovely to see you. But why are you here this late? Has something happened?’
‘Hello, Flora.’ Eddy slumped onto the centre squab of the closest sofa, ignoring the fact she remained standing. The cheeky-faced boy she had been governess to five years before had changed into a handsome young man. His angular frame had filled out into a sturdy athletic build, and his eyes so similar to his Uncle William’s, were red-rimmed. His suit was rumpled as if he had slept in it, his collar half undone and his hair stuck up on one side.
‘Eddy, whatever’s wrong?’ Flora dropped her arms, mildly hurt he had avoided her welcome hug. ‘Has something happened? Is it your parents?’
‘As far as we know, Lord and Lady Trent are still enjoying their trip to New York,’ Bunny answered for him.
‘Oh, yes, of course.’ Flora frowned as she recalled the Trents had sailed to America two months before to see their eldest daughter, Lady Amelia, and her American husband for the first time since her marriage five years before. They planned to bring them back to England with their children for the summer.
‘Eddy arrived at my office this afternoon.’ Bunny lifted the coffee pot towards Eddy in enquiry but was waved away. ‘He wasn’t making much sense at first, so I sat him down with a brandy until he grew calmer and could tell his story.’ Bunny poured a cup for himself and strolled to the mantelpiece, taking an occasional sip. ‘Knowing William would be here tonight, I felt it wise to take him to the chauffeur’s room until he and Alice had left.’
‘What story, Eddy?’ Flora eased down onto the seat beside him, her arm loosely wrapped round his stiff shoulders. Why wouldn’t he want his Uncle William to know he was in London?
‘It’s Ed.’ He adjusted his jacket flaps and loosened his tie, possibly to disguise the fact his lip trembled when he spoke. ‘I’m nineteen now, too old to be called by my nursery name.’
‘Ed then.’ Worry knotted Flora’s insides. ‘What did happen this afternoon?’
‘Tell Flora exactly what you told me, Ed. Take your time.’
‘I…’ he began, his voice soft. ‘I got bored at Cleeve Abbey with everyone away, and term doesn’t start for a couple of weeks, so I decided to spend a few days in town at my sister Jocasta’s. I thought I’d take in a show with a few chums maybe.’ He shrugged as if the idea seemed nonsensical now. ‘Anyway, I took the afternoon train from Cheltenham and got into a compartment with another chap.’
‘What chap?’ Flora asked, impatient for him to get to the point.
Bunny shushed her, pointing his coffee cup at Ed. ‘Go on, Ed.’
‘We chatted for most of the journey.’ Ed rocked back and forth, his hands clenched so tightly, his knuckles showed white. ‘Then he fell asleep. Just dozing, you know. Maybe I did too, I can’t be sure. When the train arrived at Paddington, I shook him. Told him it was time to get off, but he didn’t wake up.’ He massaged his forehead with one hand. ‘The guard arrived and said we had to leave the train. I started to explain he must be ill, when the guard announced the man was dead.’
‘What?’ Flora brought a hand to her throat. ‘He was really dead?’
Ed nodded. ‘Then another guard came running and the first one told him I had killed the fellow and he should summon the police. Then everything became confused and there was lots of shouting.’
‘That’s outrageous!’ Flora said, angry that anyone could make such an assumption. ‘How could they think you were responsible?’
‘I tried to explain I had done nothing, but when the guard refused to listen, I elbowed the nearest one in the ribs and made a run for it.’
‘You ran away?’ Flora stared at him as the full horror of his situation sank in.
‘I didn’t know what else to do.’ He cupped his chin in his hands, his elbows on his knees in a stance which reminded her so much of the boy she had cared for, a pang of nostalgia made her bite her bottom lip. ‘I couldn’t go to Jocasta’s, and you were the first people I thought of who wouldn’t call the police.’
The Bloomsbury Affair Page 2