The Jacobite Murders

by G. M. Best

  ‘It is not entirely to my liking but it will suffice,’ he said.

  Shortly afterwards Woodforde took his leave and, once he had gone, Lady Overbury rushed to Jones’s room to discover what had been said between them. Swearing her to secrecy, he told her all, despite having been asked not to do so. In ordinary times Lady Overbury would have been deeply shocked by what Sophia Westbrook had done, but her heart had gone out to the young couple and she found herself weeping with the despondent lover at the tragedy that had befallen them. What she might have said or done was forestalled by Sarah Darr entering the bedroom. She informed them that Henry Fielding had arrived downstairs bringing news from Beau Nash that Sir Robert Benson was arriving on the London coach that very day. This news sent Lady Overbury into an understandable panic. She immediately returned to her room, demanding that Darr assist her to change her clothes before Sir Robert arrived. She also rang for Mrs Fleeting and asked for some light refreshments to be prepared.

  When, sometime later, Lady Overbury entered the drawing room she found Henry Fielding in a highly agitated state. ‘I have bad news, madam,’ he said.

  ‘I am not sure that I want to hear it!’ exclaimed Lady Overbury. ‘There is a limit to what my nerves can take. Has something terrible happened to Miss Westbrook?’

  ‘Miss Westbrook? No, I know of nothing that affects her. Why do you ask?’

  ‘Oh, no reason. Silliness on my part, that is all,’ she muttered, trying to extricate herself from her unfortunate comment. ‘What is your news?’

  ‘The man murdered in the King’s Bath this morning was Humphrey Watson. Whoever paid Watson to kill Tom knew that we would begin searching for his attacker and so has eliminated him.’

  ‘But to kill the man in such a public place! It is the act of a madman!’

  ‘Or a desperate one.’

  ‘Whichever is true, what you are saying to me is that the real instigator of what has happened in this house is still free and our one clue to his identity – this murderous soldier – has been successfully removed.’

  He blinked a little, unsure of how to respond. Deciding reassurance was necessary, he replied, ‘Not entirely. We still are seeking the man who lacks a thumb. He may well be the assassin of all those who have died.’

  Lady Overbury tried to draw some comfort from his words. ‘Perhaps Sir Robert can help us identify this thumbless man?’ she queried.

  As if he was choosing his timing to fit these words, a knocking on the outside door indicated Sir Robert’s arrival with Beau Nash. As Darr showed them in, Lady Overbury rose gracefully to greet them. Sir Robert was a man of medium height and slightly round-shouldered, but he bore himself with all the grace of a born aristocrat. Sometimes those who met him for the first time were put off by the way he kept turning his head from side to side and by the tendency of his right eyelid to droop, but any such reaction was speedily overcome by his good humour and ready wit. Lady Overbury had a great respect for him, but on this occasion his grim, unsmiling face showed how much he was currently weighed down by overwhelming grief at the loss of his heir. Nevertheless, his forthright gaze commanded respect and his large, greenish-grey eyes displayed both intelligence and good sense. He bowed to Lady Overbury and then acknowledged the presence of Henry Fielding with a circumspect courtesy and no hint of condescension.

  ‘I want you all to know that my son was no traitor,’ he said, addressing them all in a tone that brooked no denial. ‘I grant you that appearances may look otherwise but what can appear true is often false. All three of you need to know the real truth if you are to help me find my son’s killer. However, I must caution you that what I have to say is told to you only in the strictest confidence.’ He paused and both Nash and Fielding nodded their acceptance of this condition. Lady Overbury hesitated and then also agreed. Lord Robert remained standing but beckoned them to sit down. All three did as they were bid and then listened to what he had to say with mounting astonishment.

  ‘Last November Lord Kearsley was approached by one of those closest to His Majesty. He was told that the government had discovered that for many months a man called James Butler had been relaying information about the strength of Jacobite feeling in England to the French king. Butler had successfully avoided discovery for so long because ostensibly he had been touring the country to purchase bloodstock in his capacity as King Louis XV’s Master of Horse. It had subsequently emerged that among other things he had held meetings with no less than twenty to thirty members of the Corporation of London in early August and held private talks with the Lord Mayor, Robert Willimot, and many other leading figures. Butler reported back to France in October 1743 that there was a great zeal for a revolution against King George.’

  ‘So that explains, my dear sir, why the French king in recent months has been prepared to back Bonnie Prince Charlie!’ Fielding exclaimed earnestly.

  ‘I am afraid so,’ corroborated Sir Robert. ‘My son was told that British spies in Paris had uncovered the fact that another French agent would be sent out this year to obtain firm promises of support from English Jacobites for a rebellion. The government agent asked my son to begin voicing open support for the Young Pretender in the hope that the French spy would contact him. At worst he might be able to unmask the traitor, and at best he might gain access to the entire list of English Jacobites and convey it into the government’s hands, along with whatever plans they had made. My son recognized that the task he was being offered was extremely dangerous but he did not hesitate to accept.’

  ‘Lord Kearsley played his part exceptionally well, sir, because there can be few who have not heard of his outrageous attacks on leading government figures,’ commented Fielding.

  ‘Aye, he played it so well he even deceived his own father!’ snapped back Sir Robert. ‘I raged at him for his traitorous behaviour, especially after I heard the shocking news in February about the planned French invasion. That news was leaked to the government by a senior clerk in the French Foreign Office, who sold the names of some of the Jacobite traitors, including the Duke of Beaufort, Lord Barrymore, and Sir Watkins William Wynn. They were arrested but there are many more whose names we do not have.’

  ‘But in response the House of Commons passed a loyal address,’ chimed in Lady Overbury, anxious to show that she was not entirely without some political awareness.

  ‘Yes, but almost a third voted against it. In the wake of that you can imagine the row that I had with my son! I think I would have disinherited him on the spot for being a traitor had not news quickly followed that a storm had scattered the French fleet, causing the invasion to be cancelled. As it was, I merely threatened him in the hope that he would see reason. You can imagine my dismay when weeks later I heard how the wretched Young Pretender had landed in Scotland and won support there.’

  ‘I understand your feelings, sir. There is no doubt that the prince will launch an invasion from Scotland if he can be sure of enough English Jacobites joining his cause.’ Nash reflected on how much he had personally lobbied for Lord Kearsley’s arrest for that precise reason. The government’s reluctance to imprison such an open critic was only now understandable.

  ‘Exactly, sir,’ responded Sir Robert. ‘Lord Kearsley was this country’s main hope in uncovering those whom we cannot trust. Unfortunately my son had overplayed his hand by being such an outspoken critic of the government. Jacobite plotters approached him, but his sympathies were judged to be too well known for them to make him a safe repository of their plans. It was in this situation that my son came to me for my advice last month. It was not at first a very happy meeting because I was in too much a hurry to condemn him to hear a word he said and I said much about his character that I wish I could now unsay. But eventually I stopped my flood of invective and he persuaded me to listen. The more he spoke the calmer I became. By the end I was a prouder father than I had ever been before.’ Tears sprang into the father’s eyes. He bent his head and covered his face with his hands until he had composed himself aga
in. ‘I wish now that I had dissuaded him from doing anything more but, alas, I did not,’ he muttered.

  ‘You must not torture yourself, sir,’ whispered Lady Overbury, full of distress at the memory of seeing the poor man’s murdered son lying on the kitchen floor.

  He acknowledged her sympathy with his eyes and then, turning to Nash and Fielding, he commented, ‘My son had discovered that a series of meetings was to be held in Bath between a Catholic priest, who was acting as the agent of the French king, and various nobles. Out of those meetings would come a list of those who would rally to the Young Pretender if he invaded England.’

  ‘Why Bath and not London?’ queried Lady Overbury, now beginning to feel out of her depth in the conversation.

  ‘For reasons we know all too well,’ interrupted Nash. ‘Bath is a city of countless meetings. It is a place to which any man may come without arousing suspicion. It offers the perfect cover to any group of plotters. It has in the past and doubtless it will continue to do so in the future.’

  ‘Quite right, Mr Nash. I suggested to my son that he offer this house as a meeting place and make clear that he would not be present in Bath while these took place. In that way he could allay any concerns that might be felt about bringing him into the full picture of what was going on.’

  ‘I do not understand. If he was not to be party to what was happening, how would that help uncover the traitors?’ asked a perplexed Nash.

  Sir Robert paused before replying, as if judging exactly how much he should and should not tell them. Then he answered quietly, ‘I knew that we could rely entirely on the loyalty of my housekeeper, Miss Grey and I urged my son to bring her into his confidence. He agreed and we asked her to play the role that my son could not. We told her to win the confidence of the Catholic priest sufficiently that she might somehow obtain his papers and copy not only the list of traitors but also any plans that were being drawn up by them. In that way the cursed Jacobites would not know that we had discovered their plans and my son’s loyalty to the government would not be revealed. We also told her that I would invite Lady Overbury to take up residence in the house in early November so that the plotters would know that they only had a finite time to engage in their work.’ He turned to face Lady Overbury, who had been taken aback by this latest revelation. ‘I am sorry, madam, that I have exposed you to such dangers. I really thought that by the time of your arrival everything would be over.’

  ‘Whatever inconvenience I have faced is nothing compared to the loss of your son,’ she replied graciously.

  Sir Robert tried to smile but his mouth began to quiver with emotion. ‘It is indeed a most grievous loss to me and to the country,’ he finally managed to say.

  ‘It was a highly dangerous task to set your housekeeper,’ said Fielding grimly, reluctant to voice how unwise he judged their action.

  ‘Yes, and I appreciate that now more than I did then. What I did not foresee was that, Miss Grey, in her determination to defeat this country’s enemies, would eliminate one of the men we most wanted to capture and interrogate.’ He pulled out of his pocket a letter. ‘This was the first intimation we had of this. Let me read it to you. It is addressed to my son:

  “My dear Lord Kearsley,

  Please return to Bath as soon as you can. I have much valuable information to provide you with. As you requested I have kept a list of the names of those who have visited this house over the past week. I think you will be surprised because some of them are men of great status and power in the land. Unfortunately trying to see the papers of the Popish priest has proved more difficult. The man remained far too suspicious, despite all my attempts to make him trust me.

  When I told him that the time had come for Lady Overbury’s arrival at the house as the guest of Sir Robert and he would have to hide elsewhere, he expressed annoyance but did not suspect that anything was amiss. He announced this morning that he would have to attend a meeting at a nearby house so it could be agreed where he should go next. In his absence I entered his room. He had locked it with a key that I had provided but, of course, he was unaware that I held a duplicate. Searching his belongings took me far longer than I had anticipated because I had to make sure that I put back everything exactly where it had been before lest he discover what I had done. In the end I found papers hidden in the lining of one of his jackets. I had brought the necessary pen and paper and ink with me and I sat at the desk in his room and began to copy everything. Unfortunately I was so engrossed in the task that I did not hear his unexpected early return until I heard the sound of his feet on the stairs. As I quickly thrust all the papers, both original and copied, into my apron pocket I heard him put his key into the lock and try to turn it.

  When he realized the door was not locked he stormed in and, when he saw I was there, he demanded to know what was I doing in his room. I told him that the room required some cleaning and I had thought to do the work while he was out. He asked me how I had got into it when he had left it locked. To this I replied that as housekeeper I had spare keys to all the rooms in the house. This did not please him. He said that in future he did not want anyone in his room unless he had given his express permission. I said that I was sorry if I had inadvertently offended him. He then demanded that I give him the spare key.

  I reached into my apron pocket and drew out my bunch of keys in order to unhook the requisite key. Unfortunately, as I did so, he saw that I had some papers in my possession. Before I could say or do anything he plunged his hand into my apron and pulled out them out, screaming “What is this, woman? Have you been spying on me?’ He grabbed hold of my right arm and twisted it behind my back, demanding that I tell him for whom I was working. The pain was excruciating and in my agony I grasped a stone paperweight from the desk with my other hand and swung it behind me and against his head. The unexpected blow caused him to let go of me and I turned and pushed him as hard as I could. He fell backwards and I ran from the room.

  I expected him to follow, but, to my surprise, there was no sound of pursuit. Part of me urged continued flight but curiosity eventually overcame caution and I climbed the stairs and entered the silent room. The priest was still lying on the floor and a pool of blood was gathering around his head. I looked to see the cause and realized that in falling he must have hit his head on the sharp corner of the fender of the fireplace. It had punched a hole through his skull. My first thought was horror that I had killed a man, but then I thought of all those who would have died if this man’s treachery had won the day and I saw in his death the hand of God. I hope that you will agree with me because I have no desire to hang for what I have done.

  Over the next few hours I sought to remove all the evidence of what had happened as best I could. I managed to lift the priest’s body into a trunk. Then I mopped up all the blood that I could find and scrubbed the floor clean. I took the priest’s belongings and burnt them in the kitchen fire. I am confident that when Lady Overbury arrives she will not see anything amiss. The only thing I have not burnt are the documents that I was caught copying. They contain all the information that you want about those who are seeking to betray the king. I will give the documents to you as soon as you can come. Please do not delay. I will require assistance soon because it will only be a short time before the stench of the priest’s body will begin to permeate the house. I have not the strength or means to dispose of it and I am not sure that I can trust that old fool Graves.

  I will say to any who come seeking the priest that he has left and that he would not say where he was going. I hope that they will believe me. I hope the presence of Lady Overbury will keep them out of the house. If you cannot come soon, send someone you trust and let him carry a sign that he comes from you. I suggest one of those pretty French buttons with a fleur-de-lis that I have always admired.

  Your most loyal servant

  Agnes Grey”

  ‘The poor brave woman,’ said Lady Overbury. ‘I would never have guessed what she had done from the calm way in which she greet
ed me. I assume that whoever killed her gained admittance by showing her the button. For some reason she must have then become suspicious and refused to hand over the document. That person killed her and it explains why after her death he was forced to continue searching the house.’

  ‘It is not as simple as that,’ interrupted Henry Fielding. ‘We have searched this house from top to bottom and the one thing I can assure you is that there is no body hidden here. Where has the priest’s corpse gone? Who disposed of it? Nor is that the only mystery. I do not understand how Miss Grey’s murderer came to know the significance of the button or, for that matter, Sir Robert, why you or Lord Kearsley did not come sooner to the house once you had received Miss Grey’s letter?’

  ‘I cannot answer what has happened to the body or how our enemies came to discover that the button was a signal, but I can answer your question as to why we delayed coming here. Miss Grey directed her letter to my house in Leicester Square, but neither my son nor I were there: we were staying with friends in Oxford. As a consequence her letter was not immediately opened. Once it was my son set off for Bath but with the deadly outcome that we know. He must have entered the house by night expecting to speak to Miss Grey without Lady Overbury knowing of his presence.’ He paused and then added in a voice that cracked with emotion, ‘Unfortunately a murderer was awaiting him.’

  A hush fell on the room as if each of those present were paying their last respects to the unfortunate Lord Kearsley. ‘The only clue as to who this killer might be is Joseph Graves’s statement that Miss Grey had felt threatened by a man who lacked a thumb on his right hand,’ remarked Beau Nash, breaking the sombre silence.