“There’s not much to it, sorry to say.” Warden Newman scratched his craggy cheek. “But for the moment, it’s the best I have to offer.”
“I’m glad for it, and I thank you, Warden Newman, for welcoming me into your home.”
Anna entered the room, a portmanteau in her hand and a fearful look in her eyes. She’d very rightfully never counted on this kind of service when she’d signed on as Tess’s maid.
Warden Newman tilted his head. “Yer maid won’t be able to stay, unless of course she pays her room and board as well.”
“She won’t be staying.”
Anna straightened. “I am, too!”
Tess sighed. “This is no place for you, Anna. You can come during the day to assist me, but can return home at night. I assure you, I’m fine.”
Anna’s face was horrified. “Begging yer pardon, ma’am, but my mother would kill me if she found out that I’d abandoned my post!”
“Not if I dismissed you for the night.”
Snorting, Anna pushed into the room, opened the portmanteau and began unpacking it.
Tess didn’t like putting her maid through this, but she was inordinately relieved that Anna didn’t want to go. She wasn’t looking forward to being alone in this frightening place.
“I got here as soon as I could.” Heath strode into the room, his face flushed, his dark hair whipping behind him. He was such a welcome sight, it brought tears to Tess’s eyes.
I won’t break down. Not now. Not ever.
She looked down, pretending that she was smoothing her skirts while she collected herself. This was going to be a difficult morning and she needed to be strong to get through it. Her biggest fear was that Heath would abandon her. She knew that he cared for her, but she was going to test that fondness, and the threat of losing him was more than she could bear at the moment.
Looking up, she gave him a wobbly smile, and the look he shot her warmed her down to her soul. He was the best of men, mayhap he’d understand…
“Warden.” Reaching out, Heath shook John Newman’s hand.
“Mr. Bartlett. Are you prosecuting Lady Golding?”
“No, sir. I am here to lend my support.”
“Support. I didn’t know that Officers of the Crown did such things.”
“My role here is to see justice done.”
The warden’s gaze was knowing. “I see.”
Bills entered the small room, huffing and pressing his hand to his chest. “It’s a blasted maze getting through this place.”
“What are you doing here?” Heath asked.
Bills’s gaze was confused. “The letter was signed Lady Golding, but I thought you were behind it.”
“Not I.”
Both men’s gazes moved to Tess. She clasped her hands before her to keep her nervousness from showing. She felt like a juggler in a carnival with too many plates in the air. She just prayed that nothing broke. Especially not her relationship with Heath…“Thank you for coming, Bills.”
Warden Newman bowed. “Since you have so many visitors, I will take my leave, Lady Golding. If your maid will come with me, I will show her where she can find certain necessities.”
Tess licked her lips, fearing to insult the man, yet unwilling to take any chance with Anna’s well-being. “Thank you, Warden. I feel I must ask…Anna’s safety…I would not want—”
The warden held up a hand. “Have no fear, Lady Golding. You maid will be extended every courtesy and will be perfectly secure within these walls.” His gaze sharpened. “No one shall molest her or you.”
Tess exhaled. “Thank you, sir. Very much.”
After Anna and the warden had left, Heath pulled Tess into his arms. “Are you all right?”
She sighed. “I’m better now. Thank you for coming, and for taking care of the funds.”
“Of course I’d come. I won’t leave you.”
His words were so sweet, she smiled. Inhaling his rich, earthy scent, she leaned her head on his shoulder, relishing the shelter of his embrace. It was amazing how much his touch inspired confidence. It was as if she were a well running dry and he a welcome spot of rain. She prayed that it would not end, not anytime soon, anyway. Even though all good things inescapably ended…just not today, please not today…I need him.
The thought was more than a bit unsettling. She hadn’t relied on a man since her husband…
His hug tightened, and then he pulled away, looking down at her. “I believe we have much to discuss.”
Silently she nodded, sad for the intimacy to end, but sensible that this discussion was inevitable just the same.
Holding open his hands, Bills asked, “Do you want me to step outside?”
“No, Bills, I asked you here because I wish to retain your services.” Tess motioned for them to sit at the table. “If you would?”
Moving away from Heath, Tess sat. She needed to be strong and not depend too heavily on anyone. She had to resist the desire to crawl into Heath’s arms and ignore the world. She understood from past mistakes that only she could navigate her future.
Bills lowered himself into the chair opposite her. “As I told you at Marks-Cross Street Prison, I’m not a criminal lawyer.”
“I know. But what I need is counsel and I trust your opinion.”
“You don’t have to retain me for that.” Bills chuckled. “I’m quite free with the stuff.”
“Yes. But I want all communications between us to be privileged.”
Bills nodded. “I see. Very shrewd of you. Then yes, I will take you on as a client. But I set my fee at one guinea.”
Tess smiled, touched by his gallantry. “You hardly know the nature of the services.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
Reaching across the table, Tess squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”
Heath sat down beside Tess, his nearness reassuring. “We’re both here for you. You can count on us.”
Bills jerked his head toward his friend. “You do realize, Tess, that any communication with Heath is not privileged. Heath can only represent the Crown.”
Heath stiffened. “Don’t be ridiculous! I’d never share a word!”
Looking up at his dear face, she understood that she needed to give him one last chance. “Heath, I don’t want to put you in a situation where you have divided loyalties.”
Heath held her hand in a cocoon of warmth and reassurance. “My only concern is protecting you, nothing else.”
Bills shifted in his chair. “I feel I must speak up on this issue, Heath. I know that you are the most loyal, best friend anyone could have. But let’s be realistic, you do prosecute cases. What if helping Tess conflicts with your work for the solicitor-general?”
Shaking his head, Heath looked determined. “It’s impossible to have a conflict when seeing justice served is my primary goal.”
Tess smiled, touched. “You believe I’m innocent.”
He leaned back as if utterly confident in his knowledge. “Of course. You are incapable of harming anyone, and certainly not someone you love.”
“I can’t help but agree,” Bills intoned.
For a moment, Tess couldn’t speak, emotion constricted her throat. She busied herself with taking a linen from her pocket and wiping her eyes.
She exhaled. Maybe this wouldn’t be quite as terrible as she’d feared. “I am innocent of…” The words wouldn’t come as sorrow lashed through her once more.
Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, Heath hugged her, giving her his strength. “Do you know of anyone who would want to harm Miss Reed? Do you know anyone who might want to blame you for this terrible crime?”
“Whoever did it needs someone to blame,” Bills interjected. “It may be directed at Tess, but it may be simply a way to deflect a murder charge. Kill Miss Reed and then cover it up by implicating Tess. If the murderer has a gripe with Tess, all the more reason to point the evidence her way.”
“Well, he’s doing a bang-up job of it,” a lilting voice intoned.
Heath jumped from his seat, his hand extended. “Mr. Bernard, thank you for coming. May I introduce Lady Golding. Mr. David Bernard, Esquire, the barrister I told you about.”
Bills rose, a look of distaste on his face. “Mr. Bernard.”
Bowing to Tess, the little man shoved his spectacles up the bridge of his pointy nose. “Lady Golding. I wish I had the pleasure under better circumstances.” He lifted his nose in the air. “Mr. Smith.”
The little man made a drama of taking a seat and adjusting his papers while Bills stood behind Tess, with Heath sitting beside her.
Mr. Bernard began, “I will get right to the crux of the matter, if I may, Lady Golding. The charges against you are quite serious and the evidence against you compelling.”
“What evidence?” Heath asked. “What could possibly tie Tess to this crime, since she had nothing to do with it?”
From the pile on the table before him, Mr. Bernard pulled a sheet of foolscap with chicken scratch on it. “The victim in question was found with a satchel of jewelry in her possession, that very same jewelry having been sworn out in an affidavit claiming that Lady Golding had stolen such property.”
The muscle in Heath’s jaw worked. “George Belington lied. Tess never stole those jewels.”
“If you would allow the lady to speak,” Mr. Bernard chided, his eyes boring into Tess.
Tess licked her lips. “The jewelry was a gift, given to me by Mr. Belington. I tried to return it on two occasions, but he refused to accept it. A third time I even left it at his residence, and later that afternoon it was delivered to my door.”
“You see!” Heath pounded his fist on the table.
Shoving his spectacles up his nose, Mr. Bernard asked, “Why, then, do you believe that Miss Reed had them in her possession?”
“I asked Miss Reed to deliver them to Mrs. Catherine Dunn, Headmaster Dunn’s daughter-in-law and the current mistress at Andersen Hall Orphanage. The institution is struggling financially since Headmaster Dunn’s death, and I thought…well, I don’t like the jewelry, I will not wear it, so it might as well go to some good use.”
“The jewelry is hardly indicative of a murder,” Heath insisted.
Mr. Bernard nodded, his face impassive. “Perhaps. But I have a friend at the magistrate’s office who tells me that the case is hardly insubstantial.”
Heath shouldn’t have been surprised that Bernard had a “friend” at the magistrate’s office; he’d always suspected as much. The man was too clever by half, but for the first time Heath was glad for it.
“Hardly insubstantial?” Bills straightened. “What the blazes does that mean?”
Heath nodded. “Yes. What could possibly tie Tess to this terrible crime? The jewelry can be explained. Belington lied, and once we interview him, I’m sure he’ll recant. So what else could they possibly have?”
Pulling the sheet of foolscap closer to his nose, Bernard pursed his lips. “I concur that the jewelry, although not a favorable bit of evidence, can be dealt with. Especially if Belington’s servants can testify that what you say is true. The other evidence is more troubling and much more difficult to refute.”
Heath smacked his hand on the table. “How can it be difficult to refute? Tess is innocent! So whatever the evidence is, it’s faulty!”
“They have someone claiming that Lady Golding is not who she appears to be. That she is wicked and has engaged in some kind of terrible act.” Bernard rubbed his nose. “The words are quite damning.”
“Well, he’s lying, and once we get him on the stand, the truth will win out!”
Removing his spectacles and cleaning them with a monogrammed handkerchief, Bernard sniffed. “That might be hard to do. Since the person making the claims is dead.”
Chapter 27
Tess turned to Heath, her face filled with consternation. “Dead? The person accusing me of such things is dead? How can there be someone speaking against me who’s no longer living?”
Heath could hardly imagine how she was able to maintain such calm in the face of such obvious injustice. Furious, he turned to Bernard. “This is bloody rubbish! You can’t be serious.”
The barrister shook his head. “I wish I weren’t. The victim, Miss Reed, left behind a letter that marks Lady Golding as the prime suspect.”
Tess stood. “What? That makes no sense.”
The men rose to their feet.
Bernard handed a piece of foolscap to Tess as Heath and Bills leaned over her shoulder for a better view.
Sir,
You know that I only did what you asked of me out of concern for Lady Golding’s safety. So your warnings that she was not who she appeared to be rang false in my ears. I didn’t believe it, I couldn’t believe it.
But now…oh, the shocking things I have seen! The immoral way she has behaved! I cannot explain in this letter, but must meet with you. Even then, I don’t know how I will find the strength to impart the terrible details. Pray, you will tell me how I can face her after seeing what I have seen, after knowing what kind of wicked woman she is. She must never know that I know! I fear how she will react! You must guide me!
Your faithful servant,
Fiona Reed
P.S. Per your directions to share any and all matters pertaining to my employer, I have some jewelry of Lady Golding’s in my possession that she has asked me to dispose of. I will bring them to you when we meet.
Tess’s hand shook as she read the letter. Her face was filled with shock and disbelief as she looked up. “Fiona didn’t write this, it’s not her handwriting.”
Bernard nodded. “This is not the original, Lady Golding. This version was copied by my man at the magistrate’s office.”
Tess looked pained as she shook her head and dropped into the chair. “I can’t believe that Fiona would write such things about me.”
“Are they sure the original note was written in Miss Reed’s hand?” Heath sat, troubled. A victim’s own words laying guilt upon someone could be potent evidence indeed where a jury was concerned. Even though Heath knew that everything in the note had to be false, it was going to cause them trouble.
Mr. Bernard removed the note from Tess’s hand and sat down. “The victim’s mother identified it as Miss Reed’s writing, quite convincingly, I might add. She also spoke against Lady Golding, saying that her daughter was always honest. If she was upset by things that Lady Golding had done, then they had to be terrible indeed. It was her testimony that swayed the magistrate to issue the warrant.”
Sitting, Bills whistled. “It’s hard to call a victim a scheming liar.”
Loaded silence descended in the small room, only broken by the tap-tap of the barrister’s fingernails drumming on the table.
“Where was the note found?” Heath asked.
“Not far from the body.”
Heath straightened. “So it wasn’t actually in Miss Reed’s possession.”
“No.”
“Was it sealed?”
The barrister shook his head. “The seal was broken and the letter crumpled, but very readable. I know what you’re thinking. That the person to whom Miss Reed sent the letter could be the killer. It’s a good supposition that we will bring up at trial, of course. But the prosecutor will likely argue that Miss Reed never had the chance to post the letter, implying that Lady Golding somehow knew of it. Regardless, the more difficult issue is why Miss Reed would write such things and what, exactly, they mean.”
Bernard turned to Tess. “Does Mrs. Reed bear any ill will toward you?”
“We’ve always gotten on favorably well. Yet…” Tess bit her lip, her brow furrowed, obviously distressed.
Heath reached for her. “What is it, Tess?”
She looked up, those crystal blue ey
es pleading. “I don’t want you to hate me.”
“I could never hate you.” Heath squeezed her hand.
“Thank you, but you might not be so sympathetic once I tell you the truth about me. I’ve done some things…some things that many people would abhor…”
Bernard’s fingers froze mid-tap.
Bills leaned forward.
Although Heath’s chest constricted with anxiety, he said calmly, “Whatever it is, it cannot change how I feel about you.” He realized it was true; his regard for her went well beyond anything he’d ever felt for any woman before. He couldn’t imagine anything altering his powerful feelings.
Still gnawing that lower lip, Tess nodded. “I hope so. What I’d really hoped was for you never to find out. But I realize that such reticence will do me no good. And it certainly won’t serve justice for Fiona.”
The silence grew thick with anticipation.
Tess exhaled. “After my husband died, I was destitute. We’d lost the house, the bank accounts were empty, and the creditors were pounding at my door.” Astoundingly, her tone contained no bitterness; she was simply laying forth the facts, facts that would have flattened most of the ladies he knew.
She continued, “My parents took me in. But they were appalled by the scandal and Quentin’s behavior and suffering under pressure from my in-laws and Lord Berber’s family, too. As a means of trying to distance themselves from all of it and show disdain for Quentin, my father pressed me to marry again, and quickly.”
Bills made a reproving clicking sound with his tongue. “Heaping scandal on top of scandal.”
“Very much so. But they were desperate and upset and irate with me.” Tess exhaled. “I refused. They cut me off. My father thought I’d come running back, begging for the chance to do his bidding.” She looked up at Heath, admiration in her gaze. “But as someone once told me, I’d ‘sooner take up arms than go begging to someone I felt had wronged me.’”
Sari Robins Page 21
