'Nonsense! They are longing to meet you. And this party is being given by Rebecca Rosen, Mr Silbermann's sister. I'm sure he will be there, and I thought it would be a good way for you to meet him.'
'Why could he help?' Luke asked, rather bewildered. 'Just because he has employed Mrs Robinson doesn't mean he knows anything about Redditch House.'
'But a few days ago he also employed a new coachman, by name of Gilletty.'
'Gillitty? I see. That is rather odd.'
Luke lay awake that night wondering whether it was coincidence, or there was some simple explanation, or something more sinister in the fact that some of the Earl's servants were coming to work for the same City merchant. Unable to find a satisfactory solution, his thoughts swung to Bella, who must have been wondering if he had abandoned her for the past few days. He would try to meet her tomorrow. On that delightful thought he fell asleep, and dreamed of riderless horses galloping round and round the drawing room at Redditch House, prancing up and down the stairs, and stopping outside the Earl's bedroom to drop poison into a huge urn full of chocolate.
***
He was heavy-eyed when he woke and found it was late. He ached from the constant riding of the past few days, and decided that a long walk to Red Lion Square was necessary to ease his limbs. But when he went downstairs he found Sam in the morning room, drinking coffee and eating a hearty breakfast.
'Slugabed,' Sam said cheerfully through a mouthful of kidneys. 'I've been up for hours already.'
'I wouldn't have thought you needed to, the state Redditch House is in, all sixes and sevens with no family there and no butler in charge,' Luke responded, helping himself to coffee.
'Aha, but the Countess returned late last night, and what a to do when there was no one to open the door to her!'
Luke raised his eyebrows.
'She's quarrelled with her daughter,' Sam said, grinning. 'I don't know whether it was the daughter or the husband who couldn't put up with her any longer, but I understand she walked out after a fight with one of them. And I was in bed, it was after midnight when she came, and Joseph was sulking somewhere. In Drummond's pantry, I think, downing the port. He's had a tiff with his girl.'
'Is the young Earl back too?'
'No, he's still away. But I had a word with Miss Armitage, and she said she'd talk to you later today. She has something on her mind, I think. Will you come?'
Luke nodded. 'As soon as I've finished my breakfast. I don't know where else to look, I can't discover any more than I knew at first. It's beginning to seem hopeless to try and find the truth of it. Has the constable found out anything?'
'If he had he wouldn't tell us. He still wants to talk to you again.'
'This meeting? It's not a trap, is it?' Luke demanded. 'Mrs Grimsby was no friend of mine.'
'She was nobody's friend. Housekeepers are far too superior to mingle with the lower orders,' Sam said, laughing.
'So they have not the constable lying in wait for me?'
'No. They have some problem. They've been closeted together whenever they could ever since the Countess came back. For some strange reason they think you can help.'
Luke grinned at him. 'If only I could.' He pushed the thought of Bella aside. He would not have opportunity now to try and meet her today, but tomorrow, he promised himself, nothing would prevent him from seeing her, even if he had to call at Lady Bates's house again on some pretext. 'Let's go then.'
'Gilletty's gone, by the way,' Sam said as they walked towards Mayfair. 'He's found another job, here in the City, I think.'
Luke glanced at him. Didn't he know where Gilletty was? Surely that was rather odd? 'Don't you know where?'
Sam shook his head. 'All I know is that someone told him this job was available, and he went after it. He came back for his things, but he only saw Amos. Why? Is it important?'
Luke shook his head. It might not be. He'd try to speak to Amos and find out who was giving this information to the Redditch House servants.
***
Chapter 14
They walked swiftly, and Luke kept a wary eye open for both the constable and Bossard. On the way Sam told him that Mrs Grimsby was becoming increasingly annoyed that the constables had not yet unmasked the murderer.
'She thinks we're all under suspicion, and she doesn't like it. She said to take you to her room, and you can have a natter with Miss Armitage there. I think she's worried about something.'
'But why me?' Luke asked, puzzled.
'She's heard how you've been asking questions. After all, you're probably the most likely suspect.'
'And also still the most obvious,' Luke said with a sigh.
At Redditch House he was greeted with a mixture of suspicion and relief by the maids gathered in the kitchen. Cook had not been replaced, Sam had informed him, and Jenny was doing her best to provide meals for the household. She gave Luke a harassed smile, and brushed a floury hand across her face.
'Are yer stayin' fer dinner?' she asked.
Luke shook his head. 'No, thanks, I have to go somewhere else. And I should think you have enough to do without extra people to feed.'
'More than enough, an' some folk seem ter think cookin' can be done by any fool 'oo can wave a rollin' pin abaht,' she added, casting a venomous glance at Maggie, who was sitting beside the range sewing a ruffle on a fine cambric chemise.
Maggie gave an exaggerated sigh. 'Just because you can't sew anythink finer than an 'orse blanket, an' then yer makes a mess of it, you'm jealous,' she said.
'Through here,' Sam said hurriedly, and led Luke towards a short passage off which led the housekeeper's room and the butler's pantry.
Mrs Grimsby was waiting for them, and so was Miss Armitage. Mrs Grimsby was tall and dignified, dressed always in black, and scorned the latest fashions. Not for her the low necks, high waists, and sheer fabrics her mistress favoured. Her gown was of fine wool, trimmed with narrow braid, and full-skirted. Her hair was swept up in an uncompromising knot on the top of her head. Miss Armitage, by contrast, though much the same age, wore fashions suited to a girl half her age and half her girth. They were almost certainly the Countess's cast-offs.
'Come in, Mr Peters,' Mrs Grimsby said, inclining her head graciously. 'Sam, you may fetch us a tea tray. Sit here beside me, Mr Peters.'
Luke took the seat offered, and was then ignored while the ladies continued to discuss the situation of the recently married daughter. He gathered that she did not control her servants satisfactorily, and her husband was less attentive than might have been supposed either to a new wife or that wife's recently bereaved mother. It was unclear whether the Countess had quarrelled with him or her daughter.
Sam reappeared, bearing a tray, and Mrs Grimsby turned her attention to making tea. Only when this had been made, brewed properly, and the merits of various tea merchants compared, did they come to the purpose of the gathering.
'You have been oddly out of touch, Mr Peters,' Mrs Grimsby said severely. 'Did you not know the constable wished to ask you more questions? Until I asked him directly even Sam had been denying that he knew where to find you.'
'Sam's a loyal friend,' Luke said quietly. 'And yes, I have been avoiding the constable, in the hope that I could find another more likely suspect before he arrested me,' he admitted.
'Let us hope you can discover the truth,' Mrs Grimsby said reprovingly. 'Now Miss Armitage has something to ask you,' she added, handing round some small sweet cakes. She settled back in her chair.
Luke lifted an enquiring eyebrow. 'About that morning, I suppose,' he said encouragingly.
Miss Armitage nodded, and wiped her lips with a small, lace-edged handkerchief. 'I believe it is being said that I was alone upstairs, when the Countess was called to hear the dreadful news about her son,' she said slowly.
Luke considered her with interest. She was nervous, though doing her best to conceal it. What did she have to be nervous about, other than the suspicion that she might have poisoned the chocolate? That, he fe
lt certain, could not be true. But was she afraid people thought so?
'I don't know precisely when the chocolate was left,' he said carefully. 'The times are all so confused. Did you see the tray at all?'
'No. Sam came to give the Countess the message, and after a while she went to the drawing room to see the soldier. I remained in her room, tidying her clothes, until I was called to her when she collapsed.'
'And it wasn't there when you went to her?'
'I didn't notice it, but I think I would have done, something unusual, you know. The thing I wanted to say, though, is rather delicate. It's about young Maggie.'
'She now admits she was with the Viscount – the new Earl, I mean,' Luke said.
'But she wasn't!'
Luke started at her in surprise. 'How do you know?'
'It was earlier, when I was taking up my lady's tea. That was before the chocolate was made, was it not?' Luke nodded. 'I saw Maggie, and I must confess I was horrified at her behaviour. She positively flounced out of the Viscount's room, and was saying some extremely impolite words to him. Well, shouting them, in fact. I really couldn't bring myself to repeat them,' she asserted, her cheeks red with embarrassment.
'Why did you wish to tell me this?' Luke asked, rather bewildered.
'The stupid girl won't listen to me! Mrs Grimsby has spoken to her, but all she does is toss her head and say it's none of our business.'
Luke was thinking rapidly. 'First of all she says she wasn't with him, then she changes her story. Why should she, when it places her in an uncomfortable situation?'
'It gives her an alibi,' Mrs Grimsby said sharply. 'That's more important to girls of her sort than reputation.'
'And it gives him one too,' Miss Armitage said excitedly. 'I wouldn't wish to think it possible that his lordship could have harmed his father, of course, even though we all knew they, well, didn't get on very well.'
'Fought all the time,' Mrs Grimsby said. 'You have to admit that.'
'Yes, but it's so unpleasant. We thought, Mrs Grimsby and I, that only when the complete truth is known about what happened that morning will we be able to sleep safely in our beds.'
'And since you are a personable young man, we hoped Maggie might listen to you.'
So that was it. Unable to persuade Maggie themselves, they wanted to use him. Luke groaned inwardly. He was in enough trouble already with Jenny, trying to keep the balance between encouraging her confidences and not encouraging her to hope for a closer liaison than he was prepared to enter into.
'If she changes her story again, she won't be believed,' he said, wrinkling his brow.
'But why did she change her story in the first place, and tell what Miss Armitage believes in untrue?'
'Could she have slipped back in after you had gone to the countess's room? Might that explain it?'
'Unlikely. Now I will send for Maggie, and Miss Armitage and I will leave you here to question her.'
'No.'
'I beg your pardon?' Mrs Grimsby said, her hauteur greater than the Countess's. 'Are you refusing to help us? When we know you have been asking all the servants questions, quite as though you were a constable yourself!'
'I'm not refusing,' Luke explained patiently. 'I'm as anxious as you are to solve the mystery, perhaps more so as I could be regarded as the chief suspect. But if you send for Maggie now, she will know why, and probably refuse to tell me. Let me approach her at some other time, as if casually.'
Mrs Grimsby considered this, and eventually nodded. 'Perhaps you are right. But you need to do it soon.'
'If Sam and I invite Maggie and Jenny to a masquerade at Vauxhall, I could ask questions there,' Luke suggested. 'Will you give them leave to go?'
'If it will help to clear us of suspicion, I suppose I will have to,' Mrs Grimsby agreed reluctantly. 'Can you make arrangements quickly?'
'Within a day or two,' Luke reassured her. He felt rather guilty. This would be keeping his rash promise to Jenny, if belatedly, but now he had absolutely no desire to be with her again. Beside Bella she was coarse, rough, and crude. He shuddered to recall how he had flirted with her, kissed her, and on occasions tumbled her.
'Mr Peters?' Mrs Grimsby asked, and Luke realised he had drifted into a reverie.
'Do you think the constables are going to arrest someone? Have they any more information?' he asked.
'They were here yesterday, talking to the Earl, and afterwards he was in a rare temper.'
'They would have to be very sure before they arrested him,' Miss Armitage said, resentment in her voice. 'They'll accuse any of us with far less proof.'
'If you will – ' Mrs Grimsby began, but halted as shouts from the kitchen interrupted her. 'What in the world is happening now?'
Luke went to the door and opened it. As he stepped into the passage outside Sam saw him.
'Come and help, man! The stables are afire!'
***
An hour later Luke set off for Clerkenwell. He was wet and dirty, and his clothes smelled of smoke, but he had refused to stay and have them cleaned at Redditch House.
He'd raced through the kitchen where the maids had been standing, not knowing what to do, and out into the stable yard. Smoke had been pouring out of the opening through which hay was loaded into the loft.
As Luke ran across the yard he saw Amos and another groom leading some of the horses out, struggling to control the terrified animals.
'Get the others,' Amos panted, and Luke, followed by Sam, plunged into the stables, coughing at the smoke which swirled about the boxes.
He grasped one horse by the mane and dragged it out, fighting to control it. Sam had one which wore a head collar, and this one came more calmly. Luke clung to the horse which was trying to shake him off, attempting to rear, and then to bolt, until a groom from one of the other houses came running to help and they managed to slip a halter over the terrified animal's head. The other groom led it away and Luke went back. The wooden beams of the hayloft were now alight, and flames were shooting out of the apertures. He was almost blinded by the smoke, but managed to reach the last horse, one of the carriage team, and to his relief found it tied up to a ring. He pulled the knot free, and was almost dragged off his feet as the beast charged into the yard.
Joseph had appeared and was organising buckets of water filled from the pump. One of the first soaked Luke as he emerged, towed by the terrified horse.
The women were filling the buckets, and the men hurling the water as far as they could reach, but it barely touched the flames. Men from nearby houses, mainly grooms and coachmen, came to help and brought more buckets and brooms, but the fire was now so fierce they could not get near enough to try and beat it out. Despite all their efforts they could not manage to reduce the flames. Then a cry went up and galloping hooves were heard as the Company fire cart hurtled into the mews.
They had more water, and hand pumps, but it made little difference. They could not get much nearer, even with their pumps, and reached only the edges of the flames.
'Will it spread to the house?' Mrs Grimsby asked, watching from the kitchen doorway.
'Only if the wind carries it across,' Luke panted. 'Have the maids stand by ready to beat out any sparks which fly anywhere near.'
As he spoke there was a great roar and the roof collapsed. The burning hay and timbers fell crashing into the hollow made by the brick outer walls, and for a few minutes the fire burned more fiercely than ever. Sparks flew, were pursued and beaten out. Smuts settles on clothes and faces, and smoke whirled, making breathing and speaking troublesome. It became slightly easier, however, to reach it and control the flames. All the dry hay, which had been burning fiercely, was gone. The wooden beams and the partitions of the stalls were smouldering more than flaming, and the fire fighters, their water added to by the arrival of another cart, soon brought it under control. All that was left of the once neat range of stables was a soaked, filthy heap of scorched timber in the midst of skeletal, smoke-grimed walls.
***
For his visit to Redditch House Luke had been wearing his plain black breeches and coat, the clothes he normally wore for his duties as valet. They were wet, filthy from smoke and smuts, torn where he'd caught his sleeve on a nail as he struggled to free one of the horses, utterly disreputable. Mrs Grimsby tried to persuade him to change into one of the Viscount's old suits, but Luke, recalling the excesses of that gentleman's attire, refused.
'I'll go back to my room and change there,' he said to her. 'And don't worry, I haven't forgotten what you asked me to do. I'll try to see Maggie tomorrow.'
In Clerkenwell he cajoled Aunt Caroline's maid to heat plenty of water for him to have a bath, then he flung the damaged clothes in a heap, wondering if they would ever again be fit to wear. It was fortunate, he reflected, as he regarded the rest of his wardrobe, that he had not disposed of the more fashionable attire he had worn while he was an undergraduate. It was at least two years out of date, but he had no desire to emulate the Viscount with his elaborately tied cravats and the high collars necessary to support them.
'What ought I to wear?' he demanded of his aunt later, recalling the party he was invited to.
'That blue frock coat, and the pale pantaloons,' she said briskly. 'This waistcoat will be ideal, not too dandified. And I think shoes, not boots. We are quite fashionable here in the City, you know.'
He grinned at her. 'I know. As dress gets plainer, it's becoming more difficult to separate country gentlemen from city merchants and courtiers. What time do we leave?'
'You have just over an hour. Will that allow you time to dress?'
'As I have only three cravats I shall not waste time ruining them,' he promised.
His uncle, who had been protesting for days that he did not wish to attend any party, looked neat in a suit of black with a grey silk waistcoat discreetly embroidered with dark red flowers. Aunt Caroline had chosen a dark blue silk gown, high waisted and with a slender skirt and elbow-length sleeves. She draped a shawl of fine, paler blue wool, across her shoulders.
'You don't look a day above twenty,' Luke complimented her when they gathered in the drawing room to wait for the carriage Joshua had ordered.
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