Craning her neck from her fixed position, Lil saw to her astonishment that she was none other than Veronica Whiteley. Her cheeks were red, and she appeared a little breathless, but as always she was holding her head very high and looking as if she thought she had more right to a front-row seat than anyone.
‘Turn around please, Lilian. You will see that the back of this gown is particularly spectacular,’ went on Madame Lucille in a low, soothing voice, attempting to restore order.
But Lil was not listening. Veronica was staring at her, with an expression of great concentration and purposefulness. Was she trying to telegraph some kind of a message? Her eyebrows were waggling meaningfully and she seemed to be mouthing words. She looked at the floor in front of her. Then up at the clock. Was she trying to say Meet here? At some particular time? After the dress show, perhaps?
‘Lilian! ’ Madame Lucille had become rather sharp, and Lil recollected what she was supposed to be doing. She performed a graceful turn.
‘Thank you, Lilian,’ said Madame Lucille huffily. ‘Now on to our next model,’ she went on, as the next mannequin emerged from behind the draped velvet curtains and struck an exaggerated pose, leaving Lil to glide away.
The dress show finally over, the ladies departed, Lil slipped out of the mannequins’ dressing room to find Veronica pacing up and down in the now-empty salon .
‘I didn’t expect to see you any time soon,’ Lil couldn’t resist saying.
Veronica had the grace to look embarrassed. ‘I didn’t know what to do,’ she said anxiously. ‘I believe I’ve found out something about Lord Beaucastle. I – I rather think that you might be right. There is something suspicious about him.’
Lil arched her eyebrows. ‘As it happens, we’ve discovered some information that you might be interested to hear too,’ she said. For a moment she hesitated, then she said: ‘Come with me. We ought to speak to the others.’
Veronica might have been feeling distressed, but she was not so agitated that she failed to notice that Miss Rose was taking her on a most peculiar route out of the shop. Rather than going down the grand, sweeping stairway that the customers used, she instead hurried her down a back staircase, then through a door and out into a stable-yard, where grooms were rubbing down horses and porters were hurrying by with stacks of boxes. It was all rather rough, Veronica thought, wrinkling her nose daintily: the men were shouting at each other in coarse-sounding voices; there was the clatter of hooves on cobbles; and she had to lift up the hem of her gown to prevent it trailing in the mud – or worse, she thought, with an affronted sniff.
‘Where are we going?’ she demanded, but Miss Rose – or Lil, as she had abruptly announced Veronica should call her – did not reply. To her astonishment, Veronica found herself being led into a stable, where Lil insisted she climb a ladder into a dirty sort of attic full of straw. Once there, she found she was expected to sit down upon a hay bale.
‘No thank you, I believe I shall stand,’ she announced haughtily, intending to impress upon them all – Lil, Sophie and the two boys – that she was not at all accustomed to such places. But when she saw how comfortably they had settled themselves down upon their makeshift seats, she began to regret what she had said, and after a moment or two, she sat down after all, hoping that no one would notice.
It did not take her long to relate what she had overheard at Lord Beaucastle’s mansion. ‘So, do you believe us now?’ demanded Lil, as soon as she had finished.
Veronica was annoyed to feel her face flushing. ‘I – I don’t know,’ she said. ‘All I know is that Lord Beaucastle is hiding things. He’s up to something – and I don’t like it.’
‘What do you think he meant about your father’s mines?’ asked the younger of the two boys, Billy, who had been scribbling in an old exercise book with a stub of pencil all the time that she had been talking. ‘What kind of mines are they, anyway?’
‘Some of them are coal, and some are iron ore. One is a diamond mine. They’re in South Africa.’
‘Your father owns a diamond mine ?’ repeated Billy, incredulously.
‘It’s not a very big one,’ said Veronica, a little peevishly.
‘Is Lord Beaucastle involved in mining himself ?’ asked Sophie.
‘Not as far as I know. But from what they said, it sounded like they knew about something special in the mines – some sort of mineral. That man – Henry Snow, the scientist – he talked about doing experiments that were something to do with incendiaries – at least that’s what I think he said.’
‘Incendiaries?’ repeated Lil.
‘Weapons that start fires,’ explained Billy.
‘They talked about needing access to the mines, and I – well, I suppose I wondered . . . whether the mines might be why he wants to marry me,’ said Veronica, her words coming out in a rush. She could feel her cheeks burning red now.
The others looked at each other. ‘You think he wants to marry you to get his hands on your father’s mines to get this . . . mineral, or whatever it is?’ asked Lil.
‘And make weapons out of it?’ added Sophie.
Veronica nodded miserably. ‘Henry Snow said something like, “He hasn’t the slightest idea of what they’re really worth .” I think he was talking about Father. Whatever they know about the mines, it’s something that my father doesn’t.’
‘And as your husband, would Beaucastle have access to the mines?’
‘Well, perhaps – because I’m my father’s heir, you see. So unless Father and Isabel should have a son, when Father dies, the mines will come to me.’
They all stared at her as they took this in. Veronica noticed, to her great irritation, that they were now looking at her with sympathy in their eyes – even that young man who smelled of stables. She couldn’t bear them to start feeling sorry for her. ‘Look, I don’t know anything about this Baron you keep talking about,’ she said in a tight voice, ‘but Beaucastle’s up to something. I don’t know if he is the person you think he is, but I certainly don’t care for the idea that he’s trying to pull the wool over my father’s eyes, and is marrying me just to get his hands on the mines.’
‘Have you spoken to your father about this?’ asked Sophie. ‘Or your stepmother?’
Veronica made a face. ‘I tried to talk to Father, but he won’t listen. He thinks I’m being silly.’
Sophie thought for a moment. ‘We know now that the Baron is behind what happened to Emily,’ she said gravely, looking around at the others. ‘He’s dangerous, and we have to do something before Veronica finds herself married to him. After that, if your suspicions are correct, goodness knows what might happen to you and your family,’ she said to Veronica.
‘We’re in a tight spot,’ said Joe. ‘If the Baron has even half a clue that we know the truth about his real identity, we’re all in danger.’
‘And we’re not the only ones who know, either,’ added Billy. ‘The Lim family know that the Baron is Lord Beaucastle too. That could surely put them in danger as well.’
Veronica had been listening to all this with a growing sense of foreboding. She was just about to ask who the Lim family might be, when Sophie turned to her. ‘We’ve got some things we need to tell you too. First of all, we know for sure now that Emily did steal the jewelled moth from you at the garden party. But what’s more, we’ve found out more about the moth itself.’
‘Or rather the diamond at the centre of it – the Moonbeam Diamond,’ contributed Lil.
Between them, they poured out Mei’s story as quickly as they could.
‘So Lord Beaucastle didn’t save the diamond at all. He stole it!’ exclaimed Veronica. She suddenly felt very cross, thinking of all those times she had listened to his stories of travelling to faraway places and having exotic adventures – shooting elephants and tigers, and finding treasures in strange ruined temples. ‘Everyone thinks he’s so wonderful!’ she burst out indignantly. ‘And all the while he’s no better than Emily – he’s no more than a – a common thief !
’
‘He stole the diamond from the temple – and then Emily stole it from you,’ said Billy, thoughtfully. ‘You don’t suppose there really could be some sort of curse on the diamond, do you?’
‘No! Of course not – that’s nonsense,’ said Lil briskly.
‘Besides, it hasn’t done the Baron much harm, has it,’ said Joe in his quiet voice.
There was a long pause. Veronica could hear voices shouting and carts rattling by outside in the stable-yard: it all sounded so ordinary. She was suddenly struck by the most unpleasant fancy that if the diamond really could lay a curse upon the person who stole it, then it was surely Emily who had felt the full force of it. Beaucastle seemed to be immune – almost as if he possessed some horrible supernatural power of his own.
She shook the thought away. ‘What ought I to do now?’ she demanded. ‘These people can have their diamond back for all I care. I don’t want the horrid thing – but Lord Beaucastle would notice at once if it were gone. Why, he’s expecting me to wear the jewelled moth at my debutante ball the day after tomorrow!’
‘There’s only one thing to do,’ said Sophie decisively. ‘We simply must find a way to prove without any possible doubt that Lord Beaucastle and the Baron are one and the same. It’s the only way to stop him.’
‘But what evidence do we have to prove that?’ wondered Billy, aloud. He waved his exercise book in Sophie’s direction. ‘I’ve written everything down – but there’s nothing at all that proves a connection between the Baron and Lord Beaucastle. We can’t even prove that he had anything to do with what happened to Emily. It’s all just . . . conjecture. Speculation. We need something definite.’
Veronica spoke up: ‘Perhaps there might be some sort of evidence in Lord Beaucastle’s study,’ she suggested. ‘I saw all kinds of paperwork in there.’
‘That’s it,’ said Sophie. ‘Paperwork! Accounts, letters. That’s exactly the kind of thing we need. We know that the Baron is making large amounts of money from the people of the East End – surely that must be recorded somehow.’
‘So we need to get ourselves inside that study and get our hands on those papers,’ said Joe speculatively.
‘Hang on a minute!’ exclaimed Billy in alarm. ‘You don’t really mean to say we’re going to break in to the Baron’s house, do you?’
Veronica hesitated for a moment. Then she said: ‘There wouldn’t be any need to break in. Lord Beaucastle is going to be hosting my debutante ball. You could come to the party as my guests – and that would get you inside his house.’
‘That’s a splendid idea!’ exclaimed Lil. ‘Everyone will be occupied with the party, and while they are all busy, we can slip through to the study in secret, and find the evidence!’
‘But – but what if the Baron gets wind of us?’ asked Billy, still looking rather horrified by the idea. ‘What if when he sees us, we’re recognised?’
‘Well, if you’re careful, there’s no reason he would have to see you at all,’ explained Veronica. ‘There are over two hundred people coming, you know – surely you’d be able to stay out of sight in the crowds. Besides, it’s a fancy-dress ball, so you’ll have to come in costume. That should make it easy for you to disguise yourselves.’
‘In disguise again!’ said Lil. ‘Gosh!’
She was beginning to sound rather excited at the thought of this new plan, but Sophie’s face was serious as she worked out the details. ‘So we arrive at the ball, just as though we are ordinary guests,’ she suggested. ‘Once we’re inside, we slip away to the study – you can tell us where to find it,’ she added, nodding to Veronica. ‘Meanwhile, you ensure that Lord Beaucastle is occupied at the ball, whilst we search the study, collect the evidence, and then get it safely away, without anyone noticing.’
Veronica found herself nodding. But there was one problem, she realised, looking around at them. Having Lil and Sophie turn up at her ball would be one thing – especially if they could manage to dress themselves in something halfway decent – but she couldn’t see the young fellow with his cockney accent and unpolished manners passing muster at a society gathering. Nor the boy, who, after all, looked scarcely big enough to be out of the schoolroom.
‘I’m not sure that you’ll all be able to come to the ball,’ she said hurriedly. ‘That is – er – I mean to say, it might look rather odd if I suddenly add a whole lot of names to the invitation list.’
‘No problem,’ said Joe, sounding more relieved than anything else. ‘You two girls go to this ball. Billy and I will be outside on watch, hidden somewhere out of sight. Then, once you’ve got hold of the evidence, you meet us somewhere. You can tell us where, miss,’ he added, nodding his head in Veronica’s direction. ‘It could be a side door, a window, the coal cellar if it comes to that – anywhere we won’t be seen. Then hand the evidence to us, and we’ll take it and have it safely away in a jiffy. No one will even know we were there.’
‘The grounds are enormous – there are plenty of places you could conceal yourselves,’ said Veronica, feeling increasingly enthusiastic about this plan. ‘The study is in the East Tower, which is right on the other side of the house, far away from the ballroom, so there won’t be anyone nearby. It’s on the ground floor and it has big windows.’
‘So maybe we could just hand the evidence out to you through the window,’ said Lil, clapping her hands. ‘Perfect! Then Sophie and I will be able to slip back to the ball and make our exit. No one will ever suspect what has happened.’
‘But how will the two of you get into the grounds, if you aren’t arriving as guests at the party?’ asked Veronica, suddenly looking more anxious. ‘There are high walls all the way around, you know. And it will be a terribly exclusive occasion – you won’t be able to just stroll in off the street!’
‘Don’t you worry your head about that,’ said Joe, grinning back at her in a way she couldn’t help thinking was quite unnecessarily familiar. ‘We’ve got ways and means – haven’t we, Bill?’
‘And once we’ve got the evidence safely away, we can keep it until Mr McDermott comes back,’ Sophie went on. ‘If we make sure it’s absolutely watertight, he can take it to Scotland Yard – and they might be able to arrest Lord Beaucastle at once.’
‘But wait!’ exclaimed Veronica, all at once quite aghast. ‘Lord Beaucastle is supposed to be announcing our betrothal at the ball, at midnight – and I’ll have to accept him! We’ll be engaged – and if he is arrested after that, it will be simply dreadful! I mean, I’ll be able to break off the engagement of course, but it will be a scandal. I’ll be disgraced!’
Lil looked disgusted. ‘Is that really what you’re worrying about?’ she demanded, hands on hips. ‘Emily is dead, and the Baron could be planning to bump off your father and you once you’re married, for all we know – and all you’re worried about is what some idiotic society people will think of you?’
‘As if you could possibly understand!’ snapped back Veronica, annoyed. ‘This is important! It’s my whole future – I’d never be able to make a good match after something like that. I’d probably end up a spinster!’
‘And what’s wrong with that, I’d like to know? I’d much rather be a spinster than a complete and utter ninny!’
‘This isn’t helping!’ interrupted Sophie sternly. ‘You’re both wasting time.’ She turned to Veronica impatiently. ‘Look – you say that Beaucastle is supposed to announce your betrothal at midnight?’
Veronica nodded, looking most affronted.
‘Then we need to be sure we get the evidence from his study before then, that’s all. As soon as Billy and Joe get the evidence away, we’ll let you know – and then you can sham a sudden illness. After all, he can’t propose to you if you’ve been taken home unwell, can he?’
‘But how would I do that?’ Veronica asked, sounding rather put out.
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, use your imagination!’ interjected Lil, rolling her eyes. ‘Say you’ve eaten something that disagrees with you. Shut your
self in the ladies’ cloakroom and make terrible noises, as though you’re being sick. Then recover just enough to be taken straight home in a carriage.’
Veronica wrinkled her nose. ‘But how mortifying!’ she exclaimed, apparently repulsed by the very idea.
‘Well, you can take your choice. You’ll either have to pretend to be ill and be jolly convincing about it – or become Lord Beaucastle’s affianced bride,’ said Lil shortly.
Veronica said nothing for a moment. Then: ‘Very well. I suppose I could do that.’ Even as she spoke, relief flooded through her. She had felt as though she were tangled in the web of a terrible spider; but now, at last, she could see that there might really be a way out. If the others really could find the evidence, she would not have to marry Beaucastle.
‘I do appreciate your assistance in this matter,’ she said, feeling rather awkward. ‘I will, of course, ensure you are paid well for all you are doing to help me. Would another ten pounds suffice?’
They all stared at her in silence, frowning. ‘I could increase the fee,’ she went on hurriedly. ‘What about twenty pounds?’
‘We’re not doing this for money,’ said Billy indignantly, finding his voice at last. He sounded offended. ‘We’re doing this because we have to stop the Baron. We have to prove who he really is!’
‘Oh I – er – I beg your pardon,’ Veronica faltered.
‘And because we want to help you!’ added Lil, with decision. It was obvious that even if she did think Veronica was a ninny occasionally, Lil was still determined to fight her corner.
Sophie nodded. ‘This isn’t a job,’ she said crisply. ‘It’s about doing what’s right. You don’t owe us anything, Miss Whiteley. We’re in this together now.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
It was midsummer’s eve in London. The shadows were beginning to lengthen. In Hyde Park the air was drowsy with the scent of flowers.
On Piccadilly Circus, Sinclair’s department store was closing. The ruched silk curtains were descending in each of the enormous plate glass windows, signalling that the day’s entertainments were now at an end. The last lingering customers were departing, having made their final purchases – a spotted silk handkerchief, a fan, a blue glass bottle of eau-de-cologne. The golden clock in the entrance was chiming, and Sid Parker was sweeping a low bow as he closed the great doors. Upstairs, the salesgirls were totting up the day’s takings. In Mr Sinclair’s offices, the clerks were calling farewell to one another whilst Miss Atwood carefully blotted her ledger and neatly set away her pens and ink bottles. Mr Betteredge walked through the deserted store, jingling his keys. The corridors and stairways that just a little while ago had been crowded with people were suddenly empty, echoing with new quietness.
The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth Page 15
