The Viscount's Dangerous Liaison: Regency romantic mystery (Dangerous Deceptions Book 3) Page 18

  ‘Will you not call me Jared?’

  ‘Thank you, I will, if you call me Laura. How do we find out if the Hoggets are our agents or not?’

  ‘Write to Cal and get him to make enquiries at the Home Office,’ Theo suggested.

  ‘I will,’ Jared began as Mrs Bishop came in to announce that dinner was served and the front door knocker sounded.

  ‘Now who is that?’ she demanded irritably. ‘Just when the food’s hot and on the table.’

  ‘There was the sound of Terence speaking at someone at the front door, footsteps in the hall and then Will appeared at the doorway. ‘I’m sorry, but I have rather burned my boats and I cannot stay at the Rectory any longer.’ He looked pale and strained and, Theo suspected, not far from tears. ‘I have resigned.’

  ‘From the ministry?’ Laura jumped up and put an arm around him. ‘Oh, Will. You are cold and tired. Come and have dinner and a glass of wine.’

  ‘No, not the ministry, but from my post here.’ He allowed himself to be led into the dining room. ‘When the Archdeacon had gone Mrs Finch demanded to know where the papers were that I had intended to study for information about the tomb.’

  The others came in and he broke off in confusion, was introduced, blinked at the discovery that Flynn, who had taken the seat opposite him, was the Duke of Calderbrook’s valet and subsided into silence.

  ‘They know all about it,’ Theo said and brought Will up to date with the descent of the Swinburns, Pitkin’s masquerade, the reason the other two men were there and Laura’s adventures that afternoon.

  By then Will had consumed a bowl of oxtail soup, a glass of wine and was making inroads into a crab savoury and his colour was returning to normal. ‘I’m sorry to arrive without any notice at all, but I didn’t have anywhere else to go,’ he apologised.

  ‘Where else would you come?’ Perry asked, clearly meaning it to be rhetorical. ‘We are all friends here.’

  ‘And now I can appoint you to one of the livings at my disposal,’ Theo said. ‘Welcome, Vicar Thwaite.’

  ‘I… Thank you. You are so kind. But the Bishop may not think me worthy, especially with all this.’ He waved a hand as though to encompass everything from false tombs to smugglers and French gold.

  ‘Bishop Bathurst seemed to feel you had nothing to feel guilty about and the bishop in question for those livings of mine is the Bishop of Bath and Wells who is a distant cousin. If he doesn’t trust my judgment we’ll have Cal to write a reference and smother it with ducal seals. That will do it.’

  ‘So you can stop worrying and tell us why you were driven to resign,’ Flynn said, reaching for the last of the crabs.

  ‘It was all very awkward, my arriving unannounced on the doorstep with the Archdeacon and having to explain why I had gone behind my Rector’s back and then there was the awful news to break to Mrs Finch about her uncle. And then we had to go up to the Manor and tell Sir Walter. And he was raving about scandal and interfering curates and why couldn’t the Reverend Finch keep me under control? And I thought Giles was going to hit me and Charles looked as dense and confused as he always does and kept asking for it all to be explained over and over until Lady Swinburn burst into tears.’

  ‘Aunt weeping?’ Laura looked as though she could not believe it.

  ‘It was temper mostly, I suspect,’ Will said, looking uncomfortable. ‘Then Mrs Finch became angry too – with her brother and sister-in-law, I think, and said several rather regrettable things in French. I suppose it sounds more, er, genteel than in English. Like menus,’ he added, looking confused by his own train of thought.

  ‘Anyway, we finally left to drive back to the Rectory and Mrs Finch asked what I had done with the documents that I said I was going to study when we were researching the tomb. She wanted to know where I had found them. And I suddenly felt, quite strongly, that I did not want to tell them, which was very wrong of me, but – ’

  ‘Instinct,’ said Jared.

  ‘That’s it!’ Laura exclaimed before Will could reply. ‘I knew there was something the other day – it was the fact that Will had the documents and was attacked whereas Theo, who didn’t, has been left alone.’

  ‘That could be it,’ Will said. ‘It was certainly instinct that made me say that I did not know where they were and pretended I was confused about finding them because of the knock to my head. And that was very wrong, because I did know. But I salved my conscience because I had left them in my bedchamber here and I wasn’t precisely sure where they might have been put.’

  ‘Laura’s right, they were probably what almost got you killed,’ Theo said. ‘I think you were very wise to say you didn’t know.’

  ‘Not wise,’ Perry contradicted. ‘Because if Finch is behind the attack then they’ll keep pursuing it.’

  ‘The Rector?’ Laura and Will said in chorus as Perry rang the bell for dessert.

  ‘I have always thought him ambitious, but here he is, stuck in rural Norfolk which, however charming, is hardly at the centre of affairs. I suspect that his wife did not bring a large dowry and he does not appear to have a great deal of family money, or influence, behind him. What if he has discovered a source of wealth that will help him to his ambitions?’

  ‘This has been going on for some time, this loss of agents and gold,’ Jared said. ‘Surely the Rector would be making his move before now?’

  ‘We had better locate the box of papers and look at what’s in it tonight,’ Perry said. ‘But we haven’t told you or Laura about what we found in the tomb this afternoon.’

  ‘You went back?’ Will said. ‘Wasn’t that a risk?’

  ‘We thought no-one would dare go there until at least the Archdeacon had left,’ Theo said. ‘And look what we found.’ He dug in his pocket and dropped six more gold coins on the table. ‘Just like the first one, marked by the London Mint.’

  ‘Where were they?’ Laura asked.

  ‘There was a pile of rubble in one corner, they’d rolled into the cracks. And the floor was…’

  ‘Was what?’

  ‘Stained,’ Jared said. ‘It might not have been blood, I suppose, but it looked very like it to me.’

  ‘Dear God,’ Will said. ‘Those poor souls.’

  ‘They were killed down there, our agents?’ Laura said. She looked fiercely angry. ‘The place is not swarming with the French – this is treachery by Englishmen. We have to stop them.’

  I love her, Theo thought, watching the fierce anger and determination on Laura’s face. And I am going to have to talk to her. ‘We will stop them,’ he promised. ‘Somehow.’

  After dinner Perry found the dusty old valise that had been sent over with Will’s belongings from the churchwarden’s house, lugged it in and spread the contents on the library table.

  ‘Oh dear,’ Laura said, feeling that was slightly inadequate to describe the spill of old, crumpled, stained papers that slewed across the polished mahogany. ‘I thought it was going to be notebooks and registers.’

  ‘It is what happens when the curate doesn’t fill in the registers immediately but keeps notes on scraps of paper,’ Will said with a sigh. ‘Although judging by the handwriting, which is atrocious, he seems to have got the verger to keep the notes. If I had realised that it was this bad I would have tried to sort them out long ago and double-checked them against the registers. There could be any number of missed births and burials and marriages in here.’

  ‘Paid to Jos. Tompkins for catching rats, one shilling and four pence three farthing,’ Flynn read. ‘For digging Widow Pepper’s grave, she being a pauper, five pence. There are accounts as well.’

  ‘This is going to take days.’ Perry poked the nearest pile with a finger and it slid aside exposing the corpses of several spiders.

  ‘A quick sort on the handwriting would speed things up,’ Theo said. ‘We’re looking for something that relates to one of the gentry families around here, aren’t we? We could put all these with writing that is nothing but pot-hooks and blots to one side and l
ook for an educated hand.’

  ‘That’s brilliant.’ Laura smiled at him and caught her breath at the look on his face when he smiled back. It is not simply male desire he feels for me, there is more, my instincts are not wrong… But we can’t. She picked up a handful of paper at random and bent her head over it to hide her expression.

  Ten minutes later Will said, ‘Here. Look.’

  Half a dozen sheets had been fastened together with a pin that was now rusty from damp. The writing showed far more clearly than on the scattered notes that lay across the table.

  ‘The ink is better, that’s a decent nib and the writing is educated, if old-fashioned.’ Jared picked up the papers. ‘It’s an accounting for contraband: two dozen of brandy from JB; fine lace of Alençon, two parcels for AY; Geneva, two barrels best grade… It goes on. From the state of the paper and the style of the writing, I would hazard a guess that this was produced by the Reverend Swinburn. It would be easy enough to find specimens of his handwriting in the registers to compare, I would guess.’

  ‘And these notes are enough to justify killing Will?’ Laura threw down the sheets she had been sorting through in disgust.

  ‘It might be for the Reverend Finch if it came out that he has married into a family of smugglers, I suppose.’ Flynn sounded dubious. ‘Or for the present baronet. But I find it hard to believe. Smuggling is winked at by more than half of Society. The worst that might happen would be disapproval.’

  ‘You would have to be unhinged to kill for that,’ Jared said flatly. ‘Faugh!’ He brushed his long fingers together fastidiously. ‘Look at the state we are in. Put the smuggling notes to one side, Manners and we’ll shovel the rest back into the case. Your successor can look forward to aligning them with the registers, Thwaite: it is no longer your problem.’

  ‘A game of whist when we’ve dusted off the dead spiders, anyone?’ Perry asked.

  ‘I’m for my bed,’ Laura said. ‘Enjoy your game.’ As she passed the drawing room Theo caught up with her.

  ‘Laura. May I speak with you?’ He gestured at the door. ‘In here?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she said frankly. Being alone with Theo only made the hurt worse.

  ‘My word that I will not so much as touch your hand.’

  ‘It is not that… Oh, very well.’ It sounded ungracious, it felt like surrender. But to what?

  Theo closed the door behind them and stayed on his feet when she took one of the upright chairs. ‘Laura, I love you. I didn’t want to, I certainly did not set out to. But I do. With all my heart. Do you – can you – feel anything for me?’

  This was worse than she had feared and it confirmed what she had seen in his face that evening. He was not protesting feelings that were false in order to seduce her or to tease her. He meant what he was saying.

  ‘It does not matter what I think or feel.’ Somehow she manged to keep her voice steady. ‘You are spoken for.’

  ‘Yes. But tell me the truth, Laura, please.’

  She should get up and walk out. Instead she looked him in the eye and said, ‘Yes, I love you too.’ And just for a moment the world went away, and sounds faded and all she could see was Theo and the almost painful intensity of his happiness at her words. Then, sickeningly, reality came back. ‘And we can do nothing about it.’

  ‘If we ignore it, then we make three people unhappy for the rest of our lives,’ he said.

  ‘Three?’

  ‘Lady Penelope. She does not love me, but if she marries me she will be tied to a man who will always have the image, the dream, of another woman close to his heart. I would do all I could to be a good husband, to treat her with respect, but she will sense it, I realise that now. She should have the chance to find a love of her own.’

  ‘And if you break the engagement she will be gossiped about, her worth would be lessened. It is not a very fair world for a woman, is it?’ Laura asked bitterly.

  ‘No. But I will not give up on this, Laura. Somehow I will find a way without ruining both of you in the process.’

  ‘What did Gerard Redfern call you? The cat who always thought of the solution in the end?’ She should not joke and it was madness to think there was any hope, but it was that or weep.

  His smile was strained. ‘I will do my best, I swear it.’

  ‘I know. I know you will try.’ She turned and walked away because if she stayed she would be in his arms and she had no right to be there. Not now, perhaps never.

  Theo waited until he heard the distant sound of Laura’s bedchamber door closing, then counted up to twenty and made his way to the drawing room where the others were sitting around a card table with two unopened packs of cards in front of them.

  ‘Can’t stop chewing over this business about the harbour,’ Perry said. ‘What we found in the crypt, that dried blood – it makes it all far too real.’

  Theo forced himself to concentrate and caught hold of the wisp of an idea that had been troubling him for at least a day. ‘These agents who are vanishing without trace from Blakeney – surely their masters in London know which ships they are taking?’

  Jared shook his head. ‘Apparently, as a security measure against leaks from within the Home Office, they have complete discretion over which routes they take and the ports and ships that they use. The missing men have been traced, in the most part, to Blakeney. But that has been by piecing together their journeys.’

  ‘If I were an agent who did not know the place and wanted a ship that would take me to France, where would I ask?’ Theo said, taking the empty place at the table between Will and Flynn and leaning his elbows on the baize.

  ‘An ale house, would be my choice.’ Flynn pushed a glass of brandy towards him. ‘Or an inn.’

  ‘There’s enough of those,’ Perry said. ‘As a magistrate I have to licence them.’ He shoved back his chair. ‘It’s a chore, but it does mean that I’ve got a list of them.’ He went out and returned ten minutes later with a file of loose sheets. ‘These are the parishes closest to Blakeney and Blakeney itself.’

  ‘The agents are going to arrive by stage or mail, I’d have thought,’ Jared said. ‘Hiring a horse or a carriage would mean leaving them somewhere and using a post chaise seems an unlikely extravagance for someone keeping a low profile. Besides, we have to start somewhere. The coaches come from Norwich. We need a map as well.’

  After an hour they had marked all the likely ale houses and inns for someone approaching Blakeney from the south and those in the port itself because, as Flynn pointed out, some of the men might have travelled by coaster from London in order to confuse their trail.

  ‘Twenty four,’ Perry said in dismay when they counted the result.

  ‘You know, if I were doing this, I don’t think I’d ask in some harbour-side ale house,’ Theo said slowly. ‘Most people who take ship here have booked in advance: isn’t someone turning up in a crowded tavern and asking around for a captain who’ll take him off the main shipping route going to attract attention? An inn or ale house away from the waterfront sounds more likely to me.’

  ‘You know what I’m thinking?’ Perry said. ‘I’m thinking that the Mermaid is possible. The place just shouts smugglers, if you ask me. All as innocent as apple pie when you go in, but it is just a bit isolated, yet on the coast road. All the local fishermen use it. In Blakeney you’ve got the coastal trade and shopkeepers and so on, more mixed.’

  ‘What we need is someone to send in to start asking the questions.’ Jared looked around the table. ‘Perry and Theo are known locally and so are the male servants. Our grooms and coachmen will have been seen. There’s me, of course and Flynn.’

  ‘And Rob Pitkin,’ said Flynn. ‘No-one outside this house has seen him, have they? And we know he can act a part.’

  ‘I can’t ask that of him,’ Theo protested. ‘He’s my valet.’

  Chapter Eighteen

  Flynn narrowed his eyes at Theo.

  ‘I don’t mean he isn’t up to it because he’s a valet but he’s ne
rvous and unsure of himself.’

  ‘Still? He looks a lot more confident now, quite a change since I first saw him.’ Flynn got to his feet. ‘I’ll ask him.’

  ‘He won’t come to any harm just enquiring,’ Perry said confidently. ‘I mean, they must be murdering them at sea and dumping the bodies overboard.’

  ‘Sure about that? Remember the stains in the crypt? If that’s blood then it is more than a tap on the head to knock someone out.’ Theo said. ‘If I was involved I’d much prefer a nice tidy murder on dry land, then a bundle to take out to a small boat and drop over the side, rather than risk being seen getting someone onto a larger vessel and then coming back soon afterwards with no passenger. You can’t pretend to someone that you’re taking them to France in a rowing boat or a small skiff.’

  The sound of a throat being cleared made him turn. Pitkin was standing in the doorway looking a trifle pale. Flynn gave him a friendly push into the room. ‘Come and sit down, Rob.’

  ‘I can’t, not with the gentlemen.’

  ‘Please,’ Theo said. ‘We would appreciate it.’

  Pitkin sat, looked round the table from under his curls. ‘Michael told me what you wanted. I’m game to give it a try.’

  ‘You’ve heard us talking. These are murderers we are dealing with. It will be dangerous.’

  ‘I want to do it,’ he said firmly. ‘Michael says they are killing Englishmen for the French. That’s not just murder, that’s treason and they’ve got to be stopped.’

  ‘We don’t have a viable plan yet,’ Theo said.

  ‘While we’re making one I’ll cut your hair,’ Flynn said, eyeing Pitkin’s curls. ‘They’re the most recognisable thing about you.’

  While Flynn set to work with comb and scissors they thrashed out a plan. Jared and Will would stay at the Grange. Will because he was still not strong enough if things came to a fight, Jared, because Theo trusted him to protect Laura more than anyone he knew. He, Perry, Flynn and Pitkin would tackle the Mermaid.