City of Schemes

by Victoria Thompson

  “Why would she do a thing like that?” Elizabeth asked with genuine curiosity and continued without waiting for a reply, “And you may be under the mistaken impression that I live here alone, but I share this house with two college professors, both of whom are perfectly capable of summoning the police when they find a strange man has forced his way into their home and is holding two young women as prisoners.”

  “Damn you.”

  “Did I mention they will be home any moment?” Elizabeth asked sweetly.

  “All right, all right, when is this duke or whatever he is meeting with Bates?”

  “One o’clock, I believe.”

  “But how will you arrange to meet him?” Anna asked.

  He gave her a look that could have curdled her blood if she had been the least bit intimidated by him. “I’ll just introduce myself.” He turned to Elizabeth. “If he isn’t there, I’ll be back to find you, now that I know where you live.”

  “If he isn’t there, it will be no fault of mine, I assure you. I want nothing more than to pay you off and be rid of you once and for all.”

  They all heard the front door opening.

  “Elizabeth, we’re home,” Aunt Cybil called.

  “We have company,” Elizabeth called back, giving Thornton a phony smile.

  He scowled in return. “I know where to find you.” He moved toward the hallway and the front door, passing Cybil and Zelda without a word and completely ignoring their curious stares.

  “Who was that?” Cybil asked, coming into the parlor without even removing her coat.

  Only then did Elizabeth notice Anna was shaking. Or maybe she had just started shaking.

  “Are you all right?” she asked, taking Anna’s hands in hers. They were icy.

  “I’m so sorry, Elizabeth,” she said. “I didn’t know what else to do. He forced his way into our house, and he wanted to know where to find you. He said he needed the money you were going to pay him right away and couldn’t wait until Thursday.”

  “Are you going to pay that man money, Elizabeth?” Zelda asked in amazement.

  “No, dear, I’m not.” She turned back to Anna. “Did he say why he needed it early?”

  “No, he didn’t. I tried to convince him you wouldn’t have the money until Thursday, so then he wanted to know who you were getting it from.”

  “So you told him I was conning a duke?” Elizabeth guessed, impressed.

  “It was all I could think of, and I thought he’d believe a duke would have a lot of money. I tried to explain that he couldn’t meet the duke because that would spoil everything, but he said if I didn’t tell him where to find you, he’d do something to Mother. When I remembered what he had done to his wife . . .”

  “You did exactly the right thing, except you should have just told him where I live instead of coming with him.”

  “I couldn’t let you face him alone. I didn’t know what he might do.”

  Elizabeth felt the sting of tears at Anna’s courage. “And you thought you could protect me?” she teased.

  Anna smiled wanly. “I don’t know what I thought. I just hope I didn’t make things worse.”

  “No, you were brilliant.”

  “May I assume,” Cybil said, unbuttoning her coat, “that the man who just left is somehow dangerous?”

  Zelda was still frowning with concern, obviously not certain if she should be upset or not.

  Elizabeth gave them both an apologetic smile. “He’s the man Jake and I conned in Washington City.”

  Cybil and Zelda knew the story, and they gasped in dismay, but Anna let out a yelp of distress. “You and Jake? Oh no! Don’t tell me he knows Jake.”

  “I’m afraid he does.” Which was the information Anna didn’t have before.

  Anna moaned, but Elizabeth squeezed her hands reassuringly.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll work this out. I just need to make a few telephone calls.”

  * * *

  —

  Percy arrived at the offices of Devoss and Van Aken promptly at one o’clock on Wednesday afternoon. He had worn a particularly impressive suit cut in the Continental style and made of a striking shade of blue wool. He’d chosen an ascot instead of a tie, and he’d wrapped a white silk scarf around his neck over his tweed overcoat. Today he carried his small valise and a walking stick with an elephant head on the knob, and he’d worn a monocle.

  He strode into the building and stopped in the middle of the lobby, fully expecting to be greeted, which he was, although not by a clerk. Instead, a very ordinary-looking man jumped up from his seat in the waiting area and approached him.

  “Earl, is that you?”

  Percy affixed his monocle more firmly and examined the man from head to foot with undisguised disdain. “I do not believe I have made your acquaintance, sir.”

  “Oscar Thornton, at your service, Earl.” Thornton thrust out his hand, but Percy merely glared at it.

  “Lord Percy?” the clerk asked, scurrying out to greet him. He gave Thornton an uneasy glance and silently dismissed him. “I hope I haven’t kept you waiting.”

  “Not at all, my good man. Not at all.”

  “Allow me to escort you back,” the clerk said with another glance at Thornton.

  “Thank you.” Percy spared the upstart Thornton one more dismissive glare before following the clerk down the hallway. “Who was that man?” he asked the clerk, knowing full well Thornton could still hear them.

  “One of our clients,” the clerk said, as he had no doubt been trained to do.

  The clerk escorted him to Mr. Devoss’s office after relieving him of his hat and overcoat. The two men greeted each other and shook hands. Devoss invited him to be seated and offered him coffee. Percy preferred tea, so that was brought after the weather had been thoroughly discussed.

  “What brings you here today, Lord Percy?” Devoss finally asked when all the amenities had been dealt with.

  “A matter of grave concern, I’m afraid, Mr. Devoss. Miss Elizabeth Miles suggested that I bring the matter directly to you, since it concerns the security of your nation.”

  “Miss Miles? You know her?”

  “We are old friends, and she advised me that you were the person to see. She said she had mentioned the situation to you.”

  “Uh, yes, she did speak to me, but only in the vaguest of terms.”

  “Which would have been necessary at that point,” Percy assured him.

  “So it isn’t a legal matter?”

  “Not a personal one, no. Perhaps I should explain. You see, I came to America to represent the British government unofficially in some diplomatic matters. After I arrived and quite by accident, I came across some information about a plot to bring a German operative into the country.”

  “A German operative?” Devoss echoed with a frown. “How did you come to learn about this?”

  “I cannot reveal my sources, but I assure you they are reliable. This woman was carrying—”

  “It was a woman?” Devoss asked, hardly able to credit such a thing.

  “All the better to travel undetected, wouldn’t you say? A man named Leopold Volker was arranging to smuggle her into the country from Mexico. She was carrying a fortune in securities that she was planning to convert to cash and turn over to . . .”

  “To whom?” Devoss prodded when Percy hesitated.

  Percy looked over his shoulder, checking to make sure the door was securely closed. “To some Bolsheviks.”

  “I knew it!” Devoss practically crowed. “We’ve suspected this for months, that the Germans and the Russians had made a secret pact when Russia withdrew from the war.”

  “I know nothing of secret pacts,” Percy hastily assured him. “I only know what I was told about this Volker. I understand the Bolsheviks are planning a revolution in this country, too, and the fo
rtune this woman was carrying was to be used to finance it.”

  “You say she was carrying,” Devoss said. “Does that mean she no longer has it?”

  “It means she was captured by the authorities when the boat that was carrying her from Mexico to New York had to stop in Charleston for repairs. They have seized the securities that were in her possession.”

  “Then the plot was foiled. That’s good news indeed, Lord Percy,” Devoss said.

  “Not entirely. I mentioned that this Volker was assisting her. He was the one who helped her travel from Germany to Mexico, and then he purchased a boat and hired a crew to carry her to New York.”

  “It sounds like this plan was already well financed even without this woman’s fortune,” Devoss said with a worried frown. “Where did Volker get the money?”

  “You are very clever to ask, Mr. Devoss. Volker had a wealthy patron who paid for the boat and the other expenses. When they captured the woman in Charleston, however, Volker escaped, and his patron is also still at large.”

  “That’s very disturbing. Do you know where Volker is now?”

  “No, but my sources tell me he may have gone to Canada.”

  “That’s a pity. But if this plan was so well organized, there must be others who will carry out their original scheme, and surely they are still in this country. We need to find them and stop them.”

  “You certainly do. Miss Miles told me that you are a member of an organization that can seek out these people.”

  “We have no legal authority, you understand, not the kind we had during the war, but we still know how to investigate these things, and we can bring the culprits to the authorities when we find them.”

  “Then Miss Miles was right to send me to you. I know this is a rather outlandish tale, and you would be right to doubt me, but I do have some proof about the German operative and her arrest.” He opened his valise and pulled out a newspaper. He handed it to Mr. Devoss.

  “‘Charleston, South Carolina,’” he read from the front page.

  “The story is here.” Percy pointed to the article and the photo of Alberta Volker.

  Devoss read it quickly, muttering outrage as he did so. “This is horrifying,” he said when he was finished.

  “As you see, they were unable to capture Volker, and he is probably beyond your reach by now, but the other man, the one who funded the entire effort to bring this Miss Volker to America, is still here.”

  “This man Thornton, you mean,” Devoss said, pointing to the name mentioned prominently in the article.

  “Yes, and I happen to know that he is still in this country because I just met him in your front lobby.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Elizabeth had had a busy day, so she was thrilled to see Gideon, who had telephoned to say he was coming to visit her after work. Cybil had insisted he stay for supper, so they didn’t have time for a private conversation until the meal was over. Cybil and Zelda went to do the washing up, leaving Elizabeth free to snuggle with Gideon in the parlor.

  Unfortunately, Gideon was in no mood for snuggling, as Elizabeth had noted the moment he came through the front door.

  “Did you remember that Oscar Thornton is showing up at my office tomorrow morning expecting me to give him a quarter of a million dollars?”

  “I don’t know why you’d be worried about that. I told you the Old Man was taking care of everything.”

  “Does that mean your father is going to deliver a quarter of a million dollars to me tomorrow?”

  “Certainly not, darling. Whatever gave you that idea?”

  Gideon just gaped at her for a long moment. “Then what am I supposed to say to Thornton when he arrives at my office?” he asked when he’d found his voice again.

  “You might lecture him on what a despicable human being he is for trying to blackmail a poor, innocent female,” she suggested.

  Plainly, he did not find that amusing. “And what should I do when I don’t have the money and he says he is going to the newspapers to tell them how you cheated him out of thousands of dollars?”

  “Do whatever you want, darling. Laugh if the mood takes you, although I’m sure Thornton would expect you to be angry.”

  “Elizabeth,” he said, trying a different tack. He was being reasonable now, because he was obviously certain she was being quite unreasonable. “I need to know what is going to happen tomorrow.”

  She gave him a loving look. “No, you don’t, darling. It’s really for your own good.”

  “How can you say that? Do you think I need to be protected from something?”

  Oh dear, now he was angry. “Gideon, my love, you know how much I hate involving you in my little endeavors.”

  “Little?” he scoffed.

  She ignored that. “And you know how much you hate being involved in anything dishonest.”

  “And yes,” he continued when she did not, “I know I’m a terrible liar, so I’m not any help to you.”

  “Which is one of the many things I love about you,” she hastened to add. “And which is also why you shouldn’t know what is going to happen. You won’t have to lie, and you will be genuinely surprised, just as Thornton will be.”

  “But he’s going to expect me to give him a lot of money. Don’t you even have some boodle made up to fool him?”

  Elizabeth had never loved him more. “I can’t believe you said ‘boodle.’”

  He was still not amused. “I know what it is, too. You wrap up a bunch of paper with a genuine hundred-dollar bill on the top and bottom and band them the way the bank does. Gullible people think it’s all real money.”

  “We won’t need boodle for Thornton, though, because we aren’t giving him anything at all.”

  “Nothing?”

  “Not a cent.”

  “And what do I say when he asks me why I don’t have it?”

  “I don’t think Mr. Thornton will even notice. Really, Gideon, you don’t need to concern yourself about any of this.”

  He rubbed a hand over his face, and this time when he turned to her, she saw only concern in his beautiful eyes. “You do know that none of this matters to me, don’t you? I don’t mean the plots and schemes. I mean the gossip and the blackmail and Thornton’s threats. I know you’re worried that people will shun us socially and refuse to do business with me, but even if you’re right, it won’t matter to me. We can just live quietly. Society isn’t as much fun as you might think and my father left me some money. We won’t starve.”

  Elizabeth thought her heart would burst. He really did love her. “And if we do become destitute, I can always run a con. I’m sure the Old Man would find something for me.”

  He smiled in spite of himself. “I’m sure he would.”

  “But don’t forget my dowry. I’m afraid the Old Man will insist that we accept it, so we will actually be very comfortable, even without your job. Perhaps we can pass ourselves off as nouveau riche. We can create our own upstart society where reformed con artists are considered respectable citizens.”

  “I’m sure everyone we include in our upstart society will need help planning their estates, too. They’ll have no idea how to preserve their wealth, so they will need my expertise. You see, my love, Thornton can’t hurt us at all.”

  “No, he can’t,” she lied, because of course he could. Elizabeth had no intention of spending the rest of her life suffering the condescension and outright snubs of society matrons or seeing Gideon and, even worse, his mother—who had done nothing at all to deserve it—being laughed at or pitied because of her. No, she had no desire to live quietly because she had made her husband a pariah. She would do whatever must be done to take Thornton’s power from him. Remembering what he had done to his wife and Thornton’s warning that he knew where she lived, she might be risking her very life, but if she succeeded, she would be free once and for all.<
br />
  * * *

  —

  Gideon tried to remember exactly when the course of his life, which he had once thought was immutably set, had changed so drastically. He hadn’t realized until he’d actually said the words to Elizabeth last night, but he had once lived quietly. Each of his days had been much like all the others as he moved uneventfully through his life. Pinpointing the moment of change was actually easy: it was the day he’d met an auburn-haired suffragist who had been jailed with his mother for demonstrating outside the White House. One look into those startlingly blue eyes and he had been lost forever. Had he thought her just another society girl who would fit neatly into his ordinary world? Perhaps he had, at least for a moment or two. If so, he had quickly realized his mistake, however. Elizabeth Miles was not at all ordinary. He had almost lost her twice, or so he’d thought at the time, and he wasn’t going to allow a villain like Oscar Thornton to ruin her.

  Gideon had been sitting in his office the next morning, staring at the same documents for over an hour, and he still could not have said what any of them were about. His mind was too occupied with his upcoming encounter with Thornton. When Smith knocked on his door to announce Thornton’s arrival, Gideon actually felt relief.

  Thornton stepped into Gideon’s office and looked around expectantly. “I thought maybe Elizabeth would be here.”

  “Don’t you dare use her first name,” Gideon warned him, fighting the urge to rise to his feet. He didn’t want to show Thornton any respect, but the desire to punch him in the nose was almost overwhelming.

  “Or what, Bates?” Thornton scoffed. “You’ll challenge me to a duel?”

  Gideon might have to punch him in the nose after all. He took a deep breath and tamped down his fury, reminding himself that Elizabeth had assured him Thornton would be suitably humbled before this day was out. “Have a seat, Thornton.”

  “I didn’t think I’d be here that long,” Thornton said, eyeing the two client chairs as if trying to judge which would be more comfortable. After another moment of consideration, he chose one and sat. “If you’ll just give me my money, I’ll be on my way.”