by Evelyn James
Annie was silent a while, considering all this.
“Then you think Reverend Parker is wrong?”
“I think he is the one the Devil is pushing, if there is such a thing, which I am not convinced there is,” Clara replied. “I think he has found a cause to keep him going and that is that. Remember, it was a man who worked out the age of the earth based on the Bible, and who is to say he got it right?”
Annie still looked uncertain.
“I’m starting to think I should have stayed at home.”
“What did you make of the scones?” Clara changed the subject onto one she knew would distract Annie.
“Call those scones!” Annie declared in a sharp voice. “I’ve made rock cakes lighter than those!”
Annie spent the rest of the journey dismantling Wilhelmina’s refreshment choices. All concerns about God and evolution were forgotten. Clara secretly smiled to herself.
Chapter Nineteen
They were stood outside Miss Holbein’s house.
“You understand the plan?” Tommy asked Victor for the fifth time. He was more agitated than anyone over this plot working.
“Leave him alone,” Captain O’Harris said languidly. “He knows what to do.”
Tommy stared across at the house, bracing himself.
“All right then, Victor, I’m going in,” Tommy glanced at his two comrades, still hesitating. “This feels like crossing No-Man’s Land.”
“Without the shellfire,” O’Harris dismissed his concerns.
Tommy grumbled and marched across the road. He was bracing himself for all sorts of trouble. Miss Holbein had to be one of the most obnoxious women he had come across in a long time. He really didn’t want to be at her front door again, but there was no choice. He had to resolve this matter once and for all, or she would not leave him be.
He stood on the front step and knocked. A few moments passed and he almost retreated, but then the maid opened the door.
“Thomas Fitzgerald calling to see if Miss Holbein cares for a walk?”
The maid looked at him with a strange expression, he wondered what was going through her mind. Then she disappeared, shutting the door on him. Tommy counted slowly in his head to pass the time, he figured if he reached one hundred before Miss Holbein appeared it was fair enough for him to retreat. He promised himself he would not have to endure longer. Unfortunately, Miss Holbein appeared at the door before he had reached sixty-three.
“Oh Tommy, you scoundrel!” Miss Holbein snapped at him, hands on hips, dark eyes glaring. “You ignored my notes!”
“I had things to do,” Tommy shrugged at her. “I am not at your beck and call.”
Miss Holbein gasped and then her face broadened into a smile. Tommy felt ghastly that the woman was actually enjoying his defiance and disregard.
“I’m here now, if you want to go for a stroll,” Tommy acted as if he really didn’t care one way or the other. Actually, he would rather like it if Miss Holbein refused.
“I shall just grab my hat!” Miss Holbein declared in excitement, much to his disappointment.
Tommy glanced over his shoulder to where he had left the others, while Miss Holbein was busy. He couldn’t see them at all, which was good, because they were hiding. He just hoped they had not abandoned him. He really felt he was being quite the hero in helping out poor Victor, who seemed truly smitten with this appalling woman. It was quite remarkable.
Miss Holbein returned, wearing the most enormous sun hat and with a parasol on her arm for good measure.
“You know, I was beginning to think I was going to have to come and fetch you!” She said as she stepped outside.
Reluctantly, Tommy offered her his arm.
“How did you find out my address?” Tommy asked her casually.
Miss Holbein laughed.
“Mrs Wilton spilled it out when I mentioned your name to her. She almost jumped at the idea of you replacing Victor Darling in my affections. Apparently, you are wholly respectable compared to him,” Miss Holbein chortled, it was a rather vulgar sound. “That woman is so obsessed with my life! I really want to scream sometimes.”
“She cares what will become of you,” Tommy defended poor Mrs Wilton, though he was close to adding that he couldn’t see why she cared so much.
Miss Holbein simply laughed again.
“She cares more about my late mother’s reputation and what people might say,” she snorted. “Mrs Wilton does not really care who I marry, as long as they are from the right social echelon. She doesn’t worry about how they might treat me, only if they will try to steal my money. Honestly, I would rather marry a poor man who understands he must be kind to me to earn my money, than marry a rich man who can do as he pleases.”
“Surely it would be better to simply marry a man who loves you?” Tommy frowned, feeling that Miss Holbein had missed the point.
“You really think love makes for a good marriage?” Miss Holbein raised an eyebrow at him. “How many relationships that start with love end in misery and hardship? The beaten wife who loves her abuser. The cuckolded husband who adores his philandering spouse. The starving couple with too many children and only ‘love’ to console them. I am not so dim. I see the world for what it is, and I use that to my full advantage. How many women marry a man simply because he is wealthy? It is the backbone of the upper- and middle-class marriage market, and don’t think otherwise. The first thing a girl asks her friends when she looks upon an eligible bachelor at a party is how much is he worth? She does not contemplate his looks, his temperament or even his age, she judges him by the money he has in the bank.
“No one questions that. It is accepted as part of life. So why should I be any different just because I am a wealthy woman rather than a wealthy man? People assume that I am vulnerable because of my money, but no one thinks that of a man with money. These days, a girl can tie up her money so her husband can’t touch it. It’s not like in the past where a woman’s property became that of her husband the second they married. No, I am in full control of my fortune. Better still, I understand what motivates these men to court me and that is a power I have over them.”
“I don’t like how cynical that all sounds,” Tommy said.
“Because you are a gentleman,” Miss Holbein laughed. “But you can’t deny that this is the way the world works. I don’t expect a man to love me, I expect him to love my money.”
Miss Holbein paused.
“That is, until you came along.”
Tommy suddenly felt uneasy, remembering why he was there and why he had to extract himself from the situation as fast as possible. They were now walking together along the road and Tommy surreptitiously glanced about for any signs of Victor making his move. He was starting to sweat under the anxiety.
“Miss Holbein, you have misunderstood my intentions. I am not here to court you.”
“What? Is this about friendship? You came today, did you not?”
“I only returned your handkerchief,” Tommy pointed out. “I was being courteous.”
“Give it time,” Miss Holbein smirked. “You’ll come to like me, and if you don’t, well, there is always my money.”
Tommy could not get his head around how crass and blunt the girl was, how she considered her fortune her only asset and somehow perceived that as a good thing. Talking was not going to change her mind, probably nothing would except the cruel passage of time and the hard knocks of life that shake the most firmly held beliefs.
“I can only hope…” Tommy started.
He was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Victor Darling, who darted across the road, narrowly missing a passing milk cart. He stood breathlessly before the pair as if he had been running for some time.
“Aha! So, this is the man who you have allowed to usurp my place in your affections!” Victor declared as he stood before them.
“Victor!” Miss Holbein said in astonishment. “I thought I told you to stay away?”
“You! You have stolen
the affections of my dearest!” Victor pointed his finger at Tommy. “I shall not have it!”
“Oh, do go away Victor,” Miss Holbein groaned. “You are making an exhibition of yourself.”
“Good!” Victor stated, his voice rising up an octave. “I won’t let you slip away so easily, my love. If I must prove myself to you, so be it.”
Tommy would have loved to have stepped aside at that instant and said that Victor could have Miss Holbein with his thanks, but he knew he could not. Instead he held his place.
“What is this all about?” He said, acting as if he had no clue who Victor was, even though he had spoken to him at length on the beach in Miss Holbein’s presence.
“Victor was my former…” Miss Holbein waved a hand in the air, the word not forthcoming. “He was walking out with me before you showed up. Don’t you remember him on the beach?”
Tommy pretended he did not.
“Oh, so this is Victor? I do recall him vaguely.”
“You will unhand my dearest, sir!” Victor stood just inches away from Tommy. “You will step back and never return.”
“Victor, don’t be so idiotic,” Miss Holbein snapped. “I really think you should leave.”
“You think I am a fool, Nellie,” Victor said grimly. “You think I will just walk away. I will not. You are my love, my only one and I shall fight for you! Do you hear that, sir? I will fight you for her!”
Tommy disengaged his arm from Miss Holbein’s.
“Is that necessary, old boy,” he raised up his hands. “I am really not serious about her.”
“Thomas!” Miss Holbein looked appalled. “Stand up for yourself!”
“To be frank, I am not about to fight over a woman,” Tommy told her coldly. “I don’t need the hassle.”
“Why, you cowardly, dastardly…” Miss Holbein kicked Tommy squarely in the shin.
Tommy stumbled into the road with a gasp. The blow had been surprisingly painful. He went to place his hand on his leg as Miss Holbein marched towards him to continue the assault. She smacked him hard around the head and tried to kick him again before Victor bravely swept her up into his arms.
“My darling, you need not waste your time on him, I am here!” Victor opined, like some star-crossed lover in a silent movie.
Tommy had hopped further into the road to avoid being attacked again by the irate woman. She was scowling at him like some sort of banshee, her fury rather terrifying.
“I have never been so ashamed to walk with a man!” Miss Holbein spat at Tommy. “What a disgrace you are!”
Tommy almost went to defend himself, then recalled this was exactly what he had wanted. He managed to stand up straight and put his sore leg to the ground.
“My dear, there are times in this life when a man must fight and times when it is best he withdraw,” Tommy said with as much dignity as he could muster.
“I think you should leave now,” Victor told him with a surprisingly fierce twist to his voice.
Tommy was relieved to escape. He turned and, with a slight limp, walked across the road and around a corner. It did not take him long to locate Captain O’Harris; the laughter led him to his friend. Tommy scowled at him.
“You think that was funny?”
“Old boy, I have not seen anything that entertaining in weeks!” Captain O’Harris had to wipe tears of mirth from his eyes. “But cheer up, you achieved what you set out to do. Miss Holbein is back in the arms of Victor and you are well and truly off her Valentine’s list.”
Tommy rubbed at his head where Miss Holbein had slapped him.
“She has a vicious hand.”
“Be relieved you are out of her clutches,” O’Harris clapped him on the shoulder. “Your bravery in the face of the enemy was most extraordinary. Your sacrifice shall not be in vain.”
“Oh, shut up,” Tommy shoved him, though not without a smile on his face. “Do you really think this is a happy ever after for Victor?”
“At least until next week,” O’Harris grinned. “That harpy has no intention of settling down anytime soon, but we did our part and you are free of Miss Holbein.”
“Is it a charitable act when both parties are only out for either power or money?” Tommy mused.
“I’ve lost my ability to understand all this,” O’Harris shrugged. “Somewhere along the line I became completely baffled by it all. Still, you are now a free man and Victor has a temporary reprieve in the eyes of Miss Holbein. As good deeds go, it might not be the best, but it is at least a triumph.”
“She gave me a headache,” Tommy pressed a hand to his temple. “She actually made my ears ring with that blow.”
“I think she would have done more than just that if Victor hadn’t stepped in.”
“I supposed I owe him my thanks.”
“Don’t worry about it,” O’Harris said. “After all, the whole point was so he could inspire Miss Holbein’s affections once again.”
“Which would not have been a problem if I had not interfered in the first place,” Tommy pointed out.
O’Harris was blithe about the whole thing.
“She would have found someone else if you had not come along, she’ll probably find someone else as it is,” O’Harris kicked at a stone on the pavement. “She is that sort of woman. Victor is blissfully unaware of the fact that she will cast him aside, eventually.”
“Or maybe he is the one she will keep coming back to. She’ll dally with others, but Victor will be the man who is always steadfast and there for her.”
“You think that is a good thing?” O’Harris looked surprised. “Poor fellow always playing second fiddle to some novelty lover?”
Tommy had to admit he had not thought that one through.
“You know, as remarkable as it seems, I actually think Victor is fond of Miss Holbein,” O’Harris said thoughtfully. “I think he started out by being interested in her money, but then he got to know her and, as challenging for us as it may be to understand, he actually appears to have affection for her. There is clearly a part of her less than charming personality we have failed to see.”
“Love is blind,” Tommy grimaced. “Now I feel we should have Victor confined for his own good.”
“Don’t worry about him, we all make our own beds to lie in. Probably they’ll be happy in their own way.”
“Do you really believe the nonsense you spout sometimes?” Tommy taunted the captain.
O’Harris laughed.
“I think life has a way of working out, sooner or later,” he said, trying to ignore Tommy’s smile. “Now, what do you say to a pint before we tell Clara what we have done?”
Tommy came to a sudden halt. O’Harris walked on a pace before he too stopped, so suddenly had his companion become motionless.
“I forgot about Clara,” Tommy said. “I forgot what this was really about.”
O’Harris patted his shoulder sympathetically.
“I think you are going to need that pint.”
Chapter Twenty
“You did what?”
Clara flopped into an armchair, aghast at what Tommy and Captain O’Harris had just told her. Annie was stood to one side, a strange look on her face.
“It was the only way Clara, I appreciate it was not what the case was about…”
“All you were meant to be doing was learning who Victor Darling really was,” Clara groaned, rubbing wearily at her eyes. “Not encouraging the romance between the two of them!”
“On that front we do have good news,” O’Harris quickly interjected. “We are confident that Victor Darling is really a test engineer in a plant that specialises in putting mechanical components through their paces. We don’t know much more than that, as he is being very cagey, but he seems a decent fellow.”
“We are both agreed that he seems devoted to Miss Holbein too,” Tommy added. “We think it is about more than her money.”
Clara sighed.
“Well, what is done, is done,” she pulled a face as she thought
about telling all this to Mrs Wilton. “Dare I leave you in charge of finding out more about this man for the sake of the case?”
“Clara, I made one error…”
Clara glared at her brother. Annie folded her arms across her chest and scowled.
“All right, it was a big error,” Tommy admitted to them both, hoping to dissipate their bad humour. “But I’ll make it right. I’ll find out everything there is to know about Victor Darling and then you will have done your duty to Mrs Wilton.”
Clara shook her head.
“I really don’t know what to say about all this.”
“How is your other case going?” O’Harris tactfully changed the subject.
“Well, so far I have no suspect for the murder of John Morley, though I am convinced he was accompanied by someone to the town hall. As it stands, I am not supposed to be investigating his death, only who might be behind the threats levelled at the exhibition and, on that count, I have come to a dead end.”
“I thought you were going to talk to the League for Christians Against Evolution,” Tommy said.
“I did, their leader, Reverend Parker, denies that the league is behind the threats. Though who else might have sent them I can’t say. I am going to go back to the Inspector and ask to see the letters. Maybe that will provide some insight.”
“I am very sorry, Clara,” Tommy said apologetically. “I never meant to make life difficult for you.”
Clara waved away his apology.
“Oh, it doesn’t really matter, as long as you and Annie are friends again.”
Tommy glanced at Annie. She scowled for a moment longer, then broke into a smile.
“Only a true gentleman would take a beating for a girl, from another girl,” she said.
“And that is that,” Clara smiled. “Right, I am going to go and…”
They all came to a halt as the doorbell was rung vigorously. Captain O’Harris was stood just inside the bay window of the front parlour and could see who was at the door.
“It looks to be a police constable,” he said.
