‘Yes, is the simple answer,’ he said. ‘But like you said, you’ll have to give me time to prove it. If it helps, it would make no sense for me to incriminate myself in a scandal or whatever Mr Tripp had planned, and now that I know you and your kindness, it makes even less sense. But what seals it for me, what made me change my mind and confess, if you like, is Thomas.’
‘Because you have fallen in love with him?’
‘Sir, it was bigger than that.’ James’ reticence to talk about himself left him in a blink of pale lashes. ‘I was bringing a telegram, and Thomas answered the door. I mean, that was it. Never met him before, but soon as I saw him, it was like I’d known him all my life, like everything made sense, you know?’
‘Just as I experienced when I first laid eyes on Silas.’
‘Yeah, but you two behave as though you’ve been married for years like my mum and dad. A double act I suppose.’
Archer chuckled at the man’s innocence. ‘I don’t know how your parents behave together,’ he said, ‘but I know what you mean. They are comfortable together. My parents were the opposite, and it was hard to see the woods of love for the trees of their behaviour. It was not a happy relationship. In fact, our adversary, Quill, used to refer to their marriage as “A grim era.”’
‘Oh dear,’ James said, but Archer’s words had raised the hint of a confused smile.
‘A grim era being a cognate anagram for marriage,’ Archer explained. ‘Not one of his best. But the point I was attempting to reach, was that not every pair is well matched. As soon as we met, Silas and I knew we were meant to be together even in a world where we shouldn’t be, or can’t be. One instantly understood the other. We have what he calls an easy friendship. It is, of course, deeper than that, and behind closed doors, devilishly physical.’
‘Oh,’ James said, looking away and blushing.
‘I take it you and Thomas haven’t…?’
‘No, Sir. Luckily.’
That was an odd thing to say. ‘Do you not have feelings for him after all? Or has he put you off with his sulk?’
‘I reckon I’ve put him off, but I say luckily, because, to be frank, I wouldn’t have a clue where to start.’
The penny dropped. ‘Ah, I see. Then I shall embarrass you no more, my apologies.’
‘Not at all, Sir.’
‘Once again, Jimmy, not a word until the time is right, but what is as yet unexplored for you is equally as unexplored for Tom. Also once again, you will hear this in no-one else’s company but mine. I, for one, hope that you are both able to explore the delights ahead, together and soon. You’ll find a way, trust me.’
‘I do, Sir, and I will.’
‘Any news on your shipping theory?’
Silas was approaching through the drawing room. Archer waved to him so that James realised why he had changed the subject so curtly.
‘I’ll get right back to it,’ the footman said, already in tune with Archer’s way of working.
‘Getting anywhere?’ Silas asked, entering and making directly for the decanters.
‘Not yet,’ Archer admitted.
While James was busy scanning the newspapers, Archer took the opportunity to draw Silas to one side.
‘I wanted to give this to you tonight.’ He spoke quietly and handed Silas the box. ‘I was planning a bath and some time alone in the private sitting room tonight, but instead, we shall be speeding into the unknown. So, would you mind if we celebrated at a later time?’
‘’Course not, you daft eejit,’ Silas laughed. ‘What is it?’
‘Open it.’
Grinning, Silas undid the ribbon and lifted the lid.
‘Fecking hell,’ he gasped, his grin vanishing beneath a wave of disbelief. ‘Archie!’
‘I hope you like it.’
Silas lifted the gold and gemstone ring to the lamp where it glistened. ‘It’s got our initials in it,’ he said.
‘It’s a green tourmaline,’ Archer beamed. ‘Green for your homeland.’
‘Westerpool?’
‘Well, I meant Ireland, so, green for your heritage.’
‘S and A written in a jewel. Me mam wouldn’t have believed it. For me?’
Silas’ delight was reflected in the happiness his expression gave Archer.
‘Sorry that wasn’t a very romantic presentation.’
‘Ah, get away with you.’
‘It reminds me of another time,’ Archer said. ‘And, as Hennell has engraved the letters entwined, I hope it will remind you of how much I—’
He wasn’t permitted to finish the sentence. Silas’ lips were on his, and he embraced Archer tightly.
‘Hold on.’
They broke apart at the sound of James’ voice and turned to see him staring, open-mouthed. He’d caught them kissing, but a hint of red on his cheeks was the only giveaway.
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘But I’ve found one.’
‘Show me?’
James folded the paper and drew a line in red ink. ‘There,’ he said as Archer came to look, leaving Silas dewy-eyed and examining his signet ring. ‘The only one I can find. A ship called De Raaf, whatever that means. It’s a Dutch galliot leaving Kingston docks on the morning tide on the twenty-fifth.’
‘Where’s that?’ Silas joined them.
‘Look it up, James,’ Archer directed as he fetched one of his almanacks. ‘Must be a shallow harbour to suit a galliot, though it’ll be a rough crossing. They’re built for coastal waters.’ He opened the almanack and brought it back to his desk, pecking Silas on the cheek as he passed. ‘High tide on that morning will be… Five-sixteen.’
‘And Kingston is a good six-hour ride from Inglestone,’ James said. ‘At least, that’s what I’d reckon from the map.’
‘Ha!’ Archer dropped the book on the desk and lifted his glass. ‘Your health gentlemen,’ he said as if he just won a point.
‘What on earth have you go to be cheery about?’ Silas smirked, waving his whisky in return.
‘The high tide.’
‘What about it?’
‘In order to make the distance, he must have his business with me done by midnight at the latest, earlier if possible. Keep looking for other ships, James, would you?’
‘It’s the only one on the east coast,’ James said. ‘I already checked. There’s others, but they’re leaving from Cornwall, couldn’t get much further away, and some aren’t until the next day.’
‘Very well. We will assume that’s his escape. We must make sure he is time-limited, Silas,’ Archer explained. ‘I shall keep him waiting to the point of distraction and when he is concerned about his getaway, shall attack with the advantage of confidence.’
‘Yeah,’ Silas considered. ‘You could do that. Or you could just wait for him on the ship.’
‘He would be suspicious,’ Archer reasoned. ‘And is probably expecting that. No, we must make him think he has me dangling from his puppet-master strings. This whole thing is just a game to him, but he’s a man who can’t bear to lose. He could have simply vanished by now, but no, he is taunting me, and he knows I won’t stand for that and must react. I shall, but on my terms. Ah, Thomas.’
‘All done,’ Thomas said as he swept into the room. ‘I spoke with Saunders. Her Ladyship has visitors. He will send his under-butler and a maid Lucy is friendly with to be her companion. Clearwater will be guarded and so will the maid.’
‘And we now know how Quill means to escape.’ Archer told him the details, noting Thomas chose to take his books to the couch rather than sit near James. ‘We have the time,’ he said as he crossed to the chalkboard to write. ‘The eve of St Crispin’s day is tomorrow and let’s say midnight is when I will show myself. The accuracy would suit him, his envisaged battle taking place on both the eve wh
en the speech was made and the day itself. He will appreciate the neatness of it, and I will enjoy delaying his departure.’
‘You’re assuming our destination is near Inglestone,’ Thomas pointed out. ‘It could be closer to the port.’
‘True,’ Archer admitted, frustrated despite marvelling at Thomas’ quick mind. ‘Without knowing the place where he intends to kill me…’
‘Er, hopes to kill you,’ Silas butted in. ‘He ain’t going to do it. We’ll make sure of that.’
‘Indeed we will,’ Thomas seconded.
‘Thank you, friends,’ Archer said. ‘I have yet to think on the best way to fight the madman, but until I know the lie of the land, I can’t say if it is a job to be done alone. I am not prepared to put any of you in danger. You are to accompany me for your minds, not your muscles.’
‘I’m pretty good in a scrap, Sir,’ James said balling a fist. ‘I’ll give him a grim time the way I fought the bullies at…’ He broke off, staring into the distance, his mouth open. ‘No!’ Picking up a pen, he began scribbling.
‘I don’t doubt your muscle power, James,’ Archer said, wondering what he had thought of. ‘But this man has been trained in all manner of combat, and you have read in the newspaper what he is capable of.’
‘James knows?’ Thomas was surprised.
‘We must all be aware of the facts and Quill’s history, Tom,’ Archer said, placating him. ‘What we are not aware of is the place and his reason. Have you found anywhere in your guide books that look remotely like the ruin in the postcard?’
‘Not yet,’ Thomas sighed and returned to his reading.
‘Then we must work faster. The train leaves in five hours.’
‘Is there a place in your book called Ebb Bay, Mr Payne?’ James asked.
‘Ebb…?’ The name rang a bell with Archer, but it was one of his fluttering, caged birds; a memory that needed time to find its way out.
Thomas turned pages. ‘Yes, why?’
James took the postcard and sat beside Thomas, holding it above the book so they could compare the pictures. Thomas made room for him, but although there was plenty of space, James chose to sit with their bodies touching. As he held the postcard aloft, he leant in and their heads connected. Encouragingly, Thomas didn’t pull away.
‘Well?’ Archer prompted. ‘Any similarity?’
‘Ebb Bay Castle,’ Thomas read. ‘Ruined since the Cromwell era, only the church is in use. It’s on the cliffs above Ebb Bay, popular in the summer…’ He compared the card to the book. ‘Completely different angle, but yes, that’s your destination.’
‘Our destination,’ James emphasised and nudged Thomas playfully.
Thomas frowned and moved away, denting Archer’s hopes.
‘Is that a guess, James?’ he asked.
‘No, Sir.’
‘So how d’you come up with it?’
James grinned with confidence cocky enough to put Silas to shame. He came to Archer offering the postcard. ‘I don’t know much about what’s happened, My Lord,’ he said. ‘But if I’m not mistaken, being caught up with this Doctor Quill must have been a pretty ugly time. You might even call it “A grim era”.’
Nineteen
Archer read the message he had read many times before, and it still meant nothing. ‘I have no idea what you are alluding to,’ he said looking at the words and trying to see how they might connect to the name of a tourist location in the north-east.
‘You’re an elegant man, Sir,’ James replied.
‘Thank you for the praise, but…?’
‘What did you call it? An anagram? Elegant Man, same letters as gentleman but in a different order. Like marriage is a grim era, not that I’m likely to find out.’ He turned the card to read the message. ‘The way you twisted words to a scabby tale B… Except it’s not “be” with an E, it just the letter B which makes no sense. Not unless you take the instruction hinted at there at the beginning and change the order of what follows. In that case, you can make Ebb Bay Castle.’
‘Once more unto the breach, Ebb Bay Castle… Good Lord, James, you’re a genius.’
‘I bet you could make a hundred words out of that nonsense,’ Thomas grumbled.
‘Give me half an hour, Tom, and I’ll prove you right.’ James sat at the table and began writing furiously. Twenty minutes later, surrounded by pages of scribbled text, crossed-out letters and mistakes, he announced. ‘I think I have something.’
The others gathered behind him, leaning over to look as he took them through his findings.
He pointed to the first line of the coded message. ‘Here, we have the call to battle with the quote from the play. Lord Clearwater and Quill are going, once more, into battle. After that, the reference to the act and scene as you pointed out, Sir, a scene which takes place on the eve of St Crispin’s Day. The next line, The way you twisted words, made me wonder if perhaps there was an incident in your past where he was angry at something you said, or misinterpreted.’
‘There were plenty,’ Archer said.
‘Either way, I just thought, what if he means you to twist his words around? When you mentioned anagrams, I was reminded of some of the coded messages I’ve seen on telegrams, when, for example, a man doesn’t want his wife to know he is contacting his mistress. Not that I read other people’s messages.’ He coughed. ‘Very often. Apparently, it’s quite a thing nowadays, the puzzle of unscrambling letters I mean, not reading private letters.’ His blustering was amusing and endearing. ‘I didn’t see any truncations as we call them, and the odd letter B and the strange word, ireded, stood out as being so obviously wrong they could only be intentional. I tried all manner of combinations from the word “to” until the end, using everything that followed and twisting the words. There were too many letters, so I broke it down.’
Archer glanced at Thomas, standing over James and regarding him distrustfully through narrow eyes. Silas, on the other side, was more interested in what the footman had to say, and his face was a picture of admiration.
‘Then,’ James continued, ‘I broke down phrases, so… Another example, or your truth which gave me all kinds of daft things like…’ He referred to some papers. ‘“Hurry to tour”, “Your truth or”, and, “Try hour tour”, none of which made sense. But, I was able to make sense of others. Embed publica, gives us a bumbled epic, which I like, but also makes no sense in this context, and public bade me, where I thought I might be getting closer. “Bade me” is an anagram of “be made”.’
‘You’re losing me,’ Thomas said. ‘What’s the message?’
‘Alright, Tom,’ Archer placated him for a second time. He would need to speak to Thomas; he couldn’t have his men at odds with each other. ‘James is doing his best.’
‘If I’m right,’ James said, seemingly unaffected by Thomas’ curtness, ‘the whole message reads as follows: “Once more unto the breach. (IV. III) The way you twisted words. To Ebb Bay Castle, be prepared to die or your truth be made public.”’
All heads turned to Archer.
‘So,’ he said after consideration. ‘He is baiting me and threatening blackmail. He threatens to make my true nature public if I fail to meet him.’ He put an arm around Silas and drew the man’s light frame close, kissing his hair. ‘Good luck with that, Benji Quill.’
He let Silas go and resisted the temptation to congratulate James with a hug.
‘Good work,’ he said. ‘We now fully know his intentions. What he doesn’t know are ours.’
‘Which are what?’ Thomas asked.
‘Now I have this information which, if nothing else, confirms my suspicion, I will redraw my battle plan.’
‘Perhaps while you are doing that, James should see to your dinner,’ Thomas suggested.
‘For all of us, yes please.’ Archer not
iced the time. ‘The hours are passing swiftly, men,’ he said. ‘We must prepare. Once again I feel we should be disguised. Silas and I will attend to that while you two assist Lucy and bring us all some supper. Fecker too. Tom, if there’s anything lying around the pantry we can take for the journey, will you see to it?’
‘Certainly. James?’
Thomas headed for the doors where he waited impatiently as James, the wind taken from his sails and crestfallen, joined him.
Dinner was served in the breakfast room and followed the usual conventions of the butler serving the viscount, and the footman his secretary. The unusual aspect was Fecker who was invited to join them, so he could be clued in about the journey and task ahead. The coachman was his usual self, unbothered about anything he was asked to do and unimpressed that the man who had tried to kill Archer previously was trying again. Albeit in a more convoluted, crazy way than before.
‘I break his neck,’ was all he added to the suggestions of the best ways to trap Quill.
‘I would rather capture him alive,’ Archer said. ‘So that he can be brought to justice, even if it would mean scandal be brought upon me. Quill has gone far enough, and I am coming to the opinion that I should have told Inspector Adelaide everything.’
‘Then your truth would already be known,’ Thomas pointed out. ‘And Quill would be in the Netherlands seeing to the release of your brother. You’ve done the right thing.’
It was the most positive thing Thomas said throughout the meal.
Archer became distracted with thoughts of Thomas and James and what he could do to mend the rift. He concluded as he returned to the study, that the best thing was to watch, and at some point on the journey, see if he could intervene. James was infatuated with Thomas, possibly in the same way Archer had been up until Silas changed his life. It was an easy thing to do, to fall for the handsome redhead and his gentle manner, his alluring eyes and manly figure, but, with James, it was more than infatuation. Archer could tell by the way he accepted Thomas’ cold shoulder, and, sad though he looked, was prepared to wait for Thomas to heal.
Twisted Tracks (The Clearwater Mysteries Book 2) Page 22
