With Good Grace (Victorian Vigilantes Book 3)

by Wendy Soliman

  Which explained a lot, Jake thought. Marcus really was the one with the business brain, explaining why he kept Hubert on such a tight leash within his agency and did not permit him to become a partner. ‘Are you still in business alone?’ he asked Rupert.

  ‘What’s that to do with the matter?’

  From which Jake took it that either Rupert had given up his business, or trade was not booming, as it most assuredly ought to be in the current climate. He cared only because he didn’t want Olivia’s conscience troubled by her direct family’s impecunious state.

  ‘Idle curiosity,’ Jake replied.

  ‘Hubert was excited about something when he went off this time,’ Lady Grantley said into the awkward silence that ensued. ‘He told me not to worry. That if things worked out in the way he expected them to then our troubles would be over.’

  ‘Ah, I see.’

  And Jake did see, all too clearly. He exchanged a glance with Olivia and could tell that she was highly suspicious too. Any situation that would restore Grantley’s fortunes at a stroke would be highly speculative or illegal. Possibly both. The need to discover whom Grantley had been engaged to meet with on the day he disappeared became more pressing by the second. That person was referred to in his appointment book as A.C.

  ‘Your husband was driven to the station in your gig on the day he left here with the intention of catching the train into London?’ Jake asked.

  ‘Yes. We only keep one groom nowadays and he confirms that Hubert was safely delivered to the station, in time for the eleven o’clock train. I assume he boarded it and reached London but from there the trail goes cold.’

  ‘He always went to the Garrick Club when he was in London,’ Rupert said. ‘He made a point of it because he was well acquainted with a lot of the members and liked to keep on top of the latest gossip in the theatrical world. Whoever he was meeting, he had most likely arranged to do so there. And yet Hubert did not appear. I know because I asked the porter on door duty that day myself. Those porters know everyone and miss nothing.’

  Jake made a mental note to call at that establishment and ask if anyone arrived claiming to have an appointment with Grantley. He doubted whether Rupert had thought to ask that question, and anyway he would prefer to do so himself.

  ‘You told Olivia that you thought nothing of it when he did not return home that night, Lady Grantley, even though you were expecting him.’

  ‘He sometimes got embroiled and missed the last train.’ Lady Grantley shrugged, her embarrassment and distaste for the question clearly apparent. ‘When that happened he stayed over.’

  ‘Where, or with whom?’

  Another shrug. ‘I really could not say.’

  Jake did not pursue the issue, suspecting that Grantley would have stayed with a woman, accounting for Lady Grantley’s preference not to know.

  ‘Is there anything you wish to ask, Olivia?’ Jake asked.

  ‘No, Jake,’ she replied, standing. ‘I think we have heard enough to start our enquiries.’

  ‘You should not involve yourself in this business, Olivia,’ Rupert said. ‘It’s not fitting for a lady.’

  ‘I am not a lady. I am a suspected murderess, in case you had forgotten.’

  ‘Nonsense, my love,’ Olivia’s mother said. ‘No one ever believed you culpable.’

  Jake was obliged to bite the inside of his mouth to prevent himself from reminding the woman that that was precisely the view they had taken.

  ‘Are you sure you will not come and see your Papa?’ Mrs Maynard asked. ‘I know the sight of you would cheer him no end.’

  ‘No, Mother, thank you. We shall return to London immediately.’

  ‘Please try not to worry, Lady Grantley,’ Jake said as they took their leave. ‘I will be in touch with you again as soon as I have news to impart.’

  ҉

  Olivia expelled an expressive sigh as she and Jake walked through the door that the maid opened for them and descended the crumbling steps towards Jake’s waiting carriage. Her hands were trembling, which infuriated her. She didn’t want her family to affect her in any way at all.

  ‘I feel as though I have just been ambushed,’ she said indignantly.

  ‘You ought to have let me come alone today,’ he said, patting the hand that rested on his sleeve.

  ‘Because it is unsuitable work for a lady?’ Olivia suggested with a half-smile.

  Jake grunted. ‘I would back you against your brother when it comes to untangling this conundrum any day of the week.’

  ‘Don’t underestimate Rupert. He is not quite as dim-witted as he sometimes appears.’

  Jake drew his brows together. ‘Only sometimes?’

  Olivia laughed, aware of the brother in question watching them through the grimy drawing room window and scowling; whether because his transparent efforts to mend bridges that were beyond repair had failed or because he objected to Jake’s familiarity, she neither knew nor cared.

  ‘I would not mind quite so much if I thought that my mother and brother were anxious to re-establish communications because they regretted abandoning me in my hour of need. I might even look kindly upon them if I thought their concern for Margaret was genuine, but clearly she was merely a means to an end.’

  ‘They have tried to contact you before this?’

  ‘I receive letters almost weekly from Mother. Rather less frequently from Rupert. He sometimes calls on me when he is in town but will not accept that our connection is at an end. I have had Green turn him away on the last two occasions.’

  ‘You are overset. I should not have—’

  ‘How could they know you would call upon Margaret today, or that I would be with you if you did?’

  Jake smiled at her. ‘They understand your character. You are more tender-hearted than any of them and they knew you would pass on Margaret’s request to me. They probably suggested that she make it. They also knew that curiosity would compel you to accompany me today.’

  Olivia flashed a wry smile. ‘And we all know what curiosity did for the cat.’

  ‘But cats are survivors, as are you.’

  ‘Oh yes.’ Another protracted sigh. ‘I have, of necessity, perfected that art.’

  ‘Ah, there is Parker.’ Jake nodded towards his horses’ head. Parker was standing there, engaging the groom in conversation. ‘I wonder how he got on.’

  ‘What did you have him do?’

  ‘What he excels at.’ Jake treated her to a puerile grin. ‘A little snooping.’

  Since it was impossible to ask Parker how he had fared with the groom still present, it would have to wait until they were back in London. Jake helped Olivia into the carriage, and Parker resumed his seat beside the driver as he gave his team the office. Olivia was not sorry to leave Grantley Hall behind them.

  Back at Cheyne Walk, Olivia invited Parker to join her and Jake for tea whilst he related all he had seen and heard.

  ‘They are in a sorry way,’ Parker said.

  ‘We ascertained that much for ourselves,’ Jake replied impatiently. ‘Care to be more specific?’

  ‘There’s just the maid who let you in, a cook and another young gal who does a bit of everything. Oh, and the groom.’

  ‘That is a large house for so few staff,’ Olivia remarked.

  ‘Most of the rooms have been closed up,’ Parker told them.

  ‘What happened to Jute?’

  ‘The butler?’ Olivia nodded. ‘He found another position. He hadn’t been paid for two quarters and clearly saw which way the wind was blowing in that household.’

  ‘He was an experienced butler. I dare say he found it easy to get another position and I don’t blame him for seeking one.’

  ‘Sir Hubert’s valet and his wife’s maid have gone as well. The only reason the others stay if because they can’t get anything better and a roof over their heads, albeit a leaking one, is better than the workhouse. I get the impression that creditors are lining up to fight over the spoils. The cook told me everyt
hing of value has already been sold, apart from a few bits of Lady Grantley’s jewellery that she’s most reluctant to part with.’

  ‘How did matters degenerate so fast?’ Olivia mused.

  ‘Perhaps that was why Grantley and his wife virtually lived with you in Belgravia,’ Jake replied. ‘Much cheaper for them that way.’

  ‘Should I help them?’ Olivia looked to Jake for advice. ‘At least pay the boys’ school fees and sponsor Catherine’s come-out.’

  ‘They don’t deserve your compassion,’ Jake replied with a gentle smile. ‘But it does not surprise me that despite the way they treated you, your thoughts have turned in that direction. You have a good heart.’

  ‘The children have done nothing wrong. They do not deserve to have their futures blighted through no fault of their own.’

  ‘Only you can decide but before you give it serious thought, I would suggest concentrating our efforts upon finding Grantley. Unless he has met an untimely end then he cannot have disappeared into thin air. I sent a message to Henderson today, asking him to inform me if any unidentified bodies turn up.’ Jake waved a hand. ‘Sorry to be so blunt, Olivia, but we both know it is a possibility.’

  ‘Unless his body is in the Thames, in which case it may never be found or identified.’

  Jake nodded, his expression grim. ‘True, but let us not think the worst just yet.’

  ‘Where do you want to start looking?’ It was Parker who replied.

  ‘I shall make enquiries at the Garrick Club tomorrow. See if anyone with the initials A.C. had an appointment with Grantley there on the day he disappeared. In the meantime, you and I, Olivia, ought to compare the initials in Grantley’s journal against his list of friends and the clients Barber inherited from your husband. I’ll bet half my fortune that this business is connected somehow to the theatre. Your husband was murdered because he interrupted a burglary that was being carried out when you were all supposed to be away for the evening. You said yourself that you returned early to your house because Miss Aspin tired of the party at the theatre, so no one other than the servants ought to have been there and they would have been in their own quarters at that time of night. Experienced burglars would have had no difficulty in gaining access. And now, two years later, Barber’s office has been ransacked and someone else has forfeited their life.’ Jake rubbed his chin. ‘I would give a great deal to know what is so valuable that a person would go to so much trouble to find it.’

  ‘I have racked my brains,’ Olivia replied. ‘I thought of little else whilst I was incarcerated. I knew Drake was making no effort to think of an alternative reason for Marcus’s death, other than that I had killed him. Of course, I did not know at the time that there had been burglars. They didn’t make much mess; almost as though they didn’t want anyone to know they had been there, whereas those who broke into Mr Barber’s office were not nearly so considerate. Even so, Jake, I must agree that the theatre is the key to it all.’

  ‘Or someone wants you to think it is,’ Parker remarked.

  Green materialised, wanting to know if Jake was remaining for dinner. Olivia looked at him and he nodded.

  ‘Thank you, that would be helpful, if you don’t mind my not changing.’

  Olivia smiled. ‘The same goes for me,’ she said.

  ‘I think I can stand to bear your company dressed as you are.’

  Olivia sent him a droll look. ‘You are too kind.’

  Green cleared his throat. ‘Master Tom is anxious to see you, ma’am. He has something he particularly wishes to show you.’

  ‘When does he not?’ Olivia smiled. ‘Have Jane bring him down immediately, Green. It is almost his bedtime.’

  ‘Take the carriage back to Grosvenor Square, Parker, and have it call back for me later. Come with it yourself. I might have something I need you to do by then,’ Jake said, smiling as Parker nodded, wished Olivia a good evening and left the room just as Tom barrelled into it, a large wooden ship grasped in both hands.

  ‘Mama!’ he cried. ‘Look what arrived today.’

  Olivia admired the brightly-coloured sailing ship and its intricate rigging. Pollock’s familiar mark was on its base.

  ‘What is it, Olivia?’ Jake asked, presumably because he noticed her frowning.

  ‘You should not have done this, Jake,’ she said softly. ‘I will not have him spoiled.’

  ‘I did not.’

  ‘Then what…’

  Jake shushed her, and then devoted his attention to playing an energetic game with Tom that required him to chase the boy round the furniture and tickle him when he caught him, causing Tom to giggle wildly. His own father had never shown him half as much attention, Olivia thought, smiling indulgently as she watched them, wondering which of them was having a better time of it. Boys, it seemed, never really grew up. In fairness, Tom had been little more than a baby when Marcus died. Even so, Olivia was perfectly sure Marcus would not have had much time for the boy until he was considerably older. Perhaps not even then. But no matter how taken with Jake her child was, Olivia simply refused to have Jake indulge his every whim. Tom must learn that he could not have everything his heart desired, certainly not immediately; a lesson that could not begin too soon.

  ‘Time for bed,’ she said to Tom, kissing him, tousling his hair and handing him over to Jane.

  ‘Jake,’ she said as soon as the door closed behind her beloved son. ‘About that ship.’

  ‘I did not send it.’ He held up a hand to stay the protest she was formulating. ‘I can assure you of that. I would not buy him extravagant gifts without your permission.’

  ‘Then who…? Green, when did it arrive?’

  ‘This afternoon, madam. It was labelled for Master Tom’s attention. Unfortunately he happened to be in the kitchen when it was delivered to the tradesman’s entrance. Once he realised it was for him, there was no peace until he was permitted to have it.’

  She managed a half-smile. ‘I would imagine not.’

  ‘Was there anything to suggest who had sent it, Green?’ Jake asked.

  ‘Not that I recall, my lord. I assumed Mrs Grantley had ordered it.’

  ‘All right, Green, that will be all for now,’ Olivia said, when it became apparent that her butler knew nothing more. ‘What does this mean, Jake?’ she asked, her brow creasing with concern as the door closed behind Green.

  Jake sat beside her and took her hand. ‘I am afraid it means that someone knows you and Tom went to the docks yesterday.’

  Olivia gasped. ‘Someone was watching us? But why?’

  ‘That is a very good question. Presumably someone is trying to send you a message. They want you off-balance.’

  ‘They are succeeding.’

  Jake squeezed her hand and leaned forward to briefly cover her lips with his own. ‘Someone knows Tom is your weak point. One of my enemies trying to get to me through you, most like. This is just what I hoped to avoid.’

  ‘What shall we do about it?’

  ‘You need to come to Grosvenor Square until we get to the bottom of things.’

  ‘You don’t want to be seen with me, yet you want me to live in your house?’ She shook her head. ‘That makes no sense. I know your servants are discreet but word is still bound to get out.’

  Jake stood and ran a hand through his hair, a sure sign that he was discomposed. His reaction frightened Olivia more than the mysterious appearance of the toy ship and the implication that her movements were being observed. Jake was always a tower of calm reasoning in crisis situations, which was what she required him to be now.

  ‘It would be for the best, Olivia. Please don’t fight me on this.’

  He turned and sent her a supplicating smile; the type of smile that found its way into her soul and that almost always made her agree to whatever he asked of her. In spite of her concerns for Tom, a small part of her brain reminded her that if she were to stay with Jake, there would be no impediments to the resumption of their intimacies. He chuckled as he watched her face,
probably gauging precisely when that notion occurred to her; the presumptuous devil! She had a good mind to stick to her guns and insist upon remaining in her own dwelling, just to remind him that she was no shrinking violet. But thoughts of Tom being in danger, no matter how indirectly, decided her.

  ‘Very well,’ she said. ‘But we cannot move until tomorrow.’

  ‘I will leave Parker here when he returns to collect me later.’

  Olivia frowned. ‘Is that necessary?’

  ‘It would reassure me.’

  It would reassure Olivia too, but she was not about to make that admission. ‘What shall we do to try and discover who sent the ship?’

  ‘I shall add Pollock’s to my list of establishments to visit in the morning,’ he replied. ‘Now come, drink a glass of sherry,’ he said, moving to the sideboard and pouring it for her himself. ‘You look as though you are in need of it.’

  Chapter Six

  ‘Stay alert.’ Jake clenched his jaw, speaking to Parker in an undertone he prepared to leave Cheyne Walk. ‘I have no idea who we are up against or what they are searching for. Whatever it is must be worth a great deal to someone—’

  ‘Or could destroy them if it fell into the wrong hands?’

  ‘Quite, and it’s connected to Mrs Grantley’s late husband in some way.’ Jake’s mind whirled with unpalatable thoughts. ‘This establishment is the next logical place for them to look for it and they have already shown that they won’t permit anyone to stand in their way.’

  ‘Either Finch or I will be awake the entire night. No one will get past us.’

  Jake slapped Parker’s solid shoulder. ‘I depend upon it.’

  Olivia drifted into the hallway and greeted Parker. ‘His lordship is being over-protective again, Parker. I am sorry if that causes you inconvenience.’

  Parker’s lips twitched. ‘Best let him have his way, ma’am. Life is much easier then, I find.’

  ‘Who’s life?’ Olivia demanded to know.

  ‘Oblige me by doing as I ask, for once,’ Jake replied.

  Olivia’s accusatory scowl bounced harmlessly off Jake’s amused expression. He was delighted that she had recovered her fighting spirit since the visit to her relations, but was still sick with worry about her welfare and wished he could stay himself to watch over her. He trusted Parker with his life, had done so on more than one occasion, but was unsure if he trusted anyone else with Olivia’s.