A Death at Crystal Palace

by Caroline Dunford

  Thoughts whirled in my head. I could reach no conclusions and Rory remained occupied. Then I became aware of another sound. It had been in the background for a while, but it was only now I identified it. It was the sound of muffled crying.

  Immediately I sprang up. I ran from room to room, but I could see no one. I even looked out of the windows to see if someone was hanging from the ledge, but with no success. I came back to the settle where I had first heard it and stood still, willing my heart to calm within my chest, so I could hear beyond my own heartbeat. Finally, I understood the direction. I opened the door of the sitting room cabinet and there, squashed up among the bottles, was a sobbing Amy. I pulled her out and into my arms. She clung to me and cried as if her heart would break.

  I comforted her as best I could. I hugged her, smoothed her hair and told her she was safe. But it was only when Rory came, somewhat shakily, back into the room that she responded. She broke out of my arms and ran to him. He staggered backwards under her assault but managed to keep them both upright as he caught her in an embrace. Then he picked her up and carried her to the settle. He sat down himself, with obvious relief, and pulled her onto his lap.

  ‘She hid in there,’ I said, pointing to the cabinet.

  ‘Clever girl,’ said Rory. ‘I told her to hide when I heard them at the lock. They did not even try to see if the suite was unlocked but jemmied the door with a crowbar. I managed to disarm the first man of that, but the second one stepped over the first and hit me so hard in the face I saw stars. After that, it is all a blur. I threw punches and they hit me. They were skilled fighters. I was in a brawl or two in my younger days, but these men knew what they were doing.’

  Amy looked up from Rory’s shoulder. ‘They spoke funny,’ she said. ‘I heard them talking after the fight. I listened very hard. I thought they might say something important, but I did not understand a single word. I am sorry,’ she said and began crying anew. Rory petted her.

  ‘I did not think they resembled English gentlemen,’ said Rory. ‘Their suits were not merely cheap but oddly cut.’

  ‘There speaks the valet,’ I said attempting to smile.

  ‘Can you remember anything of the funny words they said pet?’ Rory asked Amy.

  ‘One of them said “scheisse” a lot,’ said Amy.

  ‘German,’ said Rory. ‘One of the few words I know. A man at the exhibition said it earlier and Bertram told me what it meant.’

  ‘What does it mean?’ said Amy.

  ‘It’s a bad word, pet,’ said Rory. To me he said, ‘What do you want to do? Do we wait for Bertram or do we act?’

  ‘Someone must stay with Amy,’ I said. ‘Where is Glanville?’

  ‘She went shopping,’ said Amy. ‘She said mummy’s stockings were a disgrace.’

  ‘Convenient,’ I murmured. Rory caught my gaze and looked a question. ‘I had no idea who is involved other than Richard. Or to be honest, even if he is behind this. It could be…’ I was about to tell him about Fitzroy calling Bertram and I to action. Could it be that our intervention with Klaus had earned us this terrible revenge?

  ‘Of course it’s Richard,’ snapped Rory. ‘He convinced Amy to play the trick up the tree, so she’d be sent back to the hotel. He wanted all the children together. He didn’t count on my coming with her. I am not exactly a nursery maid.’

  I nodded. It was the version of events I preferred, cowardly though it was to think this way. Rory broke in on my thoughts again. ‘So, do I wait for Bertram?’

  ‘You are in no state to go anywhere,’ I said. ‘You can barely stand up and you may well have a concussion. I will fetch help.’

  ‘No,’ said Rory, ‘I must at least try to find Bertram if you will not let me go to the police. He may be in trouble.’

  Amy clung tightly to Rory. ‘Don’t leave me,’ she begged.

  ‘I am not going to Bertram’s aid,’ I said. ‘I have no indication as to where he might be. I am going to get help. Amy, I need you to stay with Rory. If he gets sleepy you are to pick up the telephone apparatus over there and ask someone from reception to come and help you. This is very important. Do you understand? I need you to look after him.’

  This allocation of responsibility worked better than any of my previous attempts to soothe the child. She stopped crying and nodded. ‘I will take care of him, Aunt Euphemia.’

  ‘Euphemia,’ protested Rory, but I was already half-way to the door.

  ‘Secure the door behind me as best you can,’ I commanded. ‘We do not know if they will return to look for Amy.’ I strode out of the suite as if I knew exactly what I was doing.

  Only outside the room did I realise that I had blood on my hands and my dress. I did not have time to go back. Instead I located the servants’ stairs – a skill from my below stairs days - and made my way quickly outside. I ran to the nearest cabbie. He took one look at me and shook his head. I took a leaf out of Bertram’s book. ‘Two guineas if you will take me to Crystal Palace,’ I said.

  ‘You’re one of ’em suffragettes, ain’t you?’ said the cabbie. He spat a plug of tobacco on the pavement. ‘I ain’t havin’ any truck with you lot. Get back to the kitchen where you belong.’

  ‘Three,’ I said desperately. I had some money on me, but not enough to cover this fare. I reasoned I could always bolt at the other end.

  ‘You got a homemade bomb in that bag of yours?’ said the cabbie. ‘I should call the coppers on you! Get on with you.’

  I moved to the next cabbie, who had overheard. He returned much the same answer, but with expletives. However, the third cabbie took me up. ‘It’s not a bomb, is it love?’ he asked.

  ‘No, I swear on my life I have no such thing, nor any projectiles or anything offensive. Only my coins in my bag,’ I said. My despair had brought me to the edge of tears.

  ‘’Op in then, darlin’’ said this cabbie. ‘I don’t have any problem with women getting the vote. I’ve let me wife be one of you lot, just as long as she doesn’t get into any trouble. I’m not having any of this “deeds not words” nonsense.’

  I thanked him profusely and climbed in. I dared not ask him to go faster in case he thought I was up to some mischief. Instead, during what seemed an interminable journey, I counted out the coins in my purse. I had two and a half guineas and a shilling. However, the carriage turned one corner rather quickly and the shilling escaped my gloved grip and rolled under the seat. I had enough sense not to try to find it in a bouncing carriage. I had no desire to end up in Rory’s predicament.

  When the carriage drew up outside the Crystal Palace I clambered down. ‘I am very sorry,’ I said to the cabbie. ‘I appear to only have two and a half guineas. There is a further shilling under one of your seats. Will this do?’

  ‘That’s a’right, love,’ said the man, leaning down to take the coins from me. He smiled showing a gap between his teeth. ‘The fare’s nowhere near that.’ He took only what was necessary. ‘That’ll do,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what trouble you’re in and I don’t want to know, but you look like you need the rest.’

  I swallowed back sudden tears and thanked him. Then lifting my skirt above my ankles, something which I was becoming all too accustomed to, I ran into the pavilion. The guard on the door let me past. He either remembered me or was uninterested in running. Admittedly, he had already had a day that had been far more active that he must have anticipated when he accepted the position.

  I stopped in the middle of the central hall and looked around wildly. For once, luck favoured me. The delegation must have completed another leg of their tour, as they were being herded into the tea shop where I had been taken by Klaus what felt like a lifetime ago. I spotted several waiters buzzing around the delegation. Fitzroy stood further back, observing all, and watching the delegation and their interactions like a hawk. I contemplated a full on confrontation but decided running through the atrium flashing my ankles had been enough of a show. I moved closer to a large potted plant and waited a few moments, so that
my breathing slowed and my facial colour returned to normal. I tweaked my blouse and skirt, so that they looked slightly askew, but the blood spots were less evident. Then, moving slowly, I sidled around the edge of the room towards the spy.

  Normally I would not expect to have the remotest chance of taking Fitzroy by surprise, but his attention was all on the delegation and on sweeping the room around them for threats. He clearly thought he remained innocuous enough that he would go unnoticed. Or rather that his skills of blending into the background were excellent. If Fitzroy has a failing - and while he may have many personally - as a spy he is excellent, except that he has never been a man of modesty. He did not notice my approach. Behind him I noticed a recess over which the exterior shades had cast their shadow. It would be perfect for my purpose. I crept forward much as I had done when playing Grandmother’s Footsteps with little Joe. Only at the last minute did I dive forward, throwing myself at the spy and hurtling us both into the recess. Fitzroy immediately threw me off and pinned me painfully on the ground. I do not think he even recognised it was I until he had me completely at his mercy.

  ‘Euphemia,’ he spat quietly and with fury. ‘What the devil is the matter with you?’

  ‘Release me,’ I gasped with difficulty. He half sat, half lay atop of me. Cold metal pricked my neck and his forearm was across my throat. The touch on my neck withdrew although the area smarted and I could feel a trickle of blood. He eased back, still pinning me, but with his forearm away from my neck. Instead one strong hand held my shoulder in a vice-like grip.

  ‘I could have killed you,’ he said. He glanced around. ‘I still might. You can thank your God that this area is unpopulated.’

  ‘That’s why I chose it,’ I said. ‘I am not a fool.’ Fitzroy raised an eyebrow at that. ‘I needed to speak with you urgently.’

  ‘There are easier ways,’ he said, still not releasing me. I saw suspicion cloud his eyes. ‘Do they have Bertram?’

  ‘Who is they?’ I demanded.

  ‘Whoever put you up to this ridiculous escapade. I can think of no other reason why you might risk your life so.’

  ‘I am not under anyone’s coercion,’ I said, finally grasping his meaning. ‘This is my own scheme.’ At this both eyebrows rose. ‘Richenda’s twins and Merry have been kidnapped.’

  Fitzroy frowned. ‘Merry? Ah yes, your friendly maid.’ He shrugged. ‘It is nothing to do with me.’

  ‘But I need your help,’ I exclaimed. ‘After all I have done for -’ I got no further.

  ‘You have done nothing for me,’ said Fitzroy, his voice like ice. ‘All has been done in the name of King and Country.’

  Fury overtook me and my voice raised. ‘I acted as your executor when you were thought dead…’ I had more to say, but Fitzroy clamped his hand over my mouth.

  ‘Be quiet,’ he hissed. ‘If we are seen I will have to claim you are a militant suffragette and have you taken to jail.’ I hoped my eyes blazed with the anger I felt. I certainly willed them to do so. I considered biting his hand, but unlike Bertram or Rory, I knew Fitzroy would have no compunction in slapping me. He leaned close and spoke quietly. ‘I regret that Richenda has endangered her children. I wish them no harm. You forget that the scheme to come to Crystal Palace was not of my making. I have no part in this. I am here to protect the interests of our country and I must put that above all else. All else.’ He leaned closer, so our faces were mere inches apart, and spoke the final two words with deadly emphasis. ‘I now require you to fetch Rory and Bertram and bring them to me. Are they here?’ He did not move his hand from my mouth, so I merely shook my head – as much as his grip allowed. ‘The hotel?’ I nodded. I assumed and hoped that Bertram had by now returned to Rory and Amy.

  Fitzroy lowered his mouth to my ear and spoke so quietly that even with his lips almost against my flesh I had to strain to hear him. ‘The King is coming here. He has determined to speak to the delegation directly. It is a desperate plan. I am awaiting my reinforcements. I will now need them to prepare for the King. While I do so, I will require you to resume the task of keeping Klaus Von Ritter alive. This is not a job for which I would choose to use amateurs, but I need all my people to prepare the way for the King’s safety and security. That must take precedence over all else. Remember the service you pledged when you signed the Official Secrets Act. You may not be an operative, but you are my asset to use as I see fit in the guarding of the security of the country. If, when I remove my hand, you utter one word of protest, I will use all necessary force to incapacitate you and have you removed to a gaol of my choosing.’

  He raised his face, so he could look me in the eye. Still speaking quietly, he said, ‘If you complete your duties to my satisfaction, I may choose to use my considerable abilities and assets to help you locate the missing children. Do we have an agreement?’

  Tears burned in my eyes and one ran from the corner of my eye down across his hand. The expression on Fitzroy’s face remained cold and unmoved. I nodded. ‘Good girl,’ he said. ‘That they have taken the maid suggests they are in no immediate danger.’ He rose quickly and held out his hand to me. I pettily refused it and scrambled in an ungainly manner to my feet. Fitzroy looked me up and down. ‘Change before you return but be swift.’ Then he left me. Trembling, I leaned against the glass wall.

  Chapter Nine

  In Bed With The Devil

  ‘The fiend! I will have his heart for this. I will cut it, still beating, from his living body!’ said Bertram when I told him what had occurred.

  ‘But did you find any sign of where the kidnappers went?’ I asked. ‘How they exited?’

  Bertram shook his head. None of us spoke. We were all considering our positions. Bertram paced angrily up and down our hotel sitting room. Rory, now changed into fresh clothing, sat very still in an armchair. The skin round his eyes had reduced in swelling but had gone an inky dark colour. His cheeks were suffused with burgeoning bruises. The way he held himself told me that this might well be the most visible of his injuries. I stood, my hands tightly clasped together so my fingers dug into my flesh, to prevent myself from breaking down and sobbing. I did not know what to do. Amy had been put to bed in the nursery and, after all the commotion, was sleeping as only an exhausted child might.

  Eventually Rory spoke. ‘Euphemia, are you considering not returning to Fitzroy?’

  ‘Yes,’ I said quietly.

  Bertram stopped pacing and swung towards me, his face ashen. ‘But the King!’ he said.

  ‘He does not want us to protect the King,’ I said. ‘Only the Baron. Who is this Baron against the life of two innocents?’

  Bertram came up to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. ‘It will still be treason,’ he said. ‘But if you determine to follow this course of action,’ he swallowed, and I saw how much it cost him to complete his sentence, ‘I will aid you.’

  I raised my hand to grip his. ‘You are everything to me,’ I said.

  Rory coughed. ‘Crushingly romantic as this moment may be for the pair of you, I think you are forgetting that we have no idea where the babies have been taken. Nor, for that matter, by whom.’

  Bertram released me and faced him. ‘I think we can be certain Richard is behind this.’

  Rory shrugged and then winced with the pain of it. ‘Most likely, but he did not do this himself. He hired others. Germans, if Amy is correct in what she heard. London is a large city and Richard has deep pockets. We do not have the resources to locate them.’

  ‘You imply Fitzroy does,’ I said. The name tasted bitter on my tongue.

  ‘Do you doubt it?’ said Rory.

  ‘He would say anything to bend the situation to his will. Do anything, even,’ I said.

  Rory nodded. ‘I agree. He is without scruples. His treatment of you is unforgivable.’ He raised his hand before Bertram would begin another tirade. ‘But we have never been given reason to doubt that he puts King and Country above all else, have we? In fact, quite the contrary.’

 
‘No, but…’ I said.

  Rory interrupted me. ‘We have to help him. If we do not, the likelihood is we will be in jail long before we can help Merry or the children. We have done many incredible things, Euphemia, but finding one young woman and two small babies hidden in London is beyond us. I hate this as much as you do, but we need Fitzroy’s help. And he has clearly laid out the conditions of his aid.’

  ‘He bargains with the twins’ lives,’ said Bertram in a voice dripping with loathing.

  ‘He does,’ said Rory. ‘That he has bowed to such tactics that would only make us despise him suggests how much in need of our help he is.’

  ‘I do not believe he cares a fig for our opinion of him,’ said Bertram.

  ‘Perhaps not personally,’ said Rory, though I thought he was looking overly hard at me, ‘but it is easier to get us to do his bidding if we are willing.’

  Bertram snorted. ‘More flies with honey,’ he said.

  ‘He must be desperate,’ I said.

  Rory nodded. ‘I do not believe...’

  At that very moment there was the sound of footsteps. ‘Whatever has happened to our door!’ cried Richenda’s voice. She erupted through the door with Glanville on her heels. She glanced around the room, started with horror at Rory’s face and then turned to me. ‘Where are the children? Tell me they are safe?’

  ‘Amy is asleep in the nursery,’ I said.

  Richenda sank down into an armchair which creaked under her weight. ‘Oh, thank goodness. We have only been burgled. Well done, Rory. I take it you fought them off. I came back from the Palace because I could find none of you - and to my surprise I met Glanville on the steps. She has been buying stockings.’ Glanville did indeed have a string-tied brown package in her arms. She had not followed her mistress’ lead and sat down. She cast her eyes about the room. An O formed on her lips. Her gaze locked with mine. Her eyes were wide. As Richenda babbled on about the heat of the inside of Crystal Palace and how shocking cab fares had become in London, she spoke over her mistress.