What Remains of Heaven

Chapter 10

Sebastian had no doubt Miss Jarvis was more than capable of tossing the Prince Regent’s well-dressed friend Lord Quillian to the proverbial lions if that was what it took to distract attention from whatever she herself was trying to hide. But on the off chance the middle-aged exquisite might indeed have been involved in the Bishop of London’s untimely demise, Sebastian spent the better part of the afternoon tracking the dandy through the fashionable male shopping precincts of Bond Street, Jermyn Street, and Saville Row.

He finally ran Quillian to ground in the discreet premises of Schweitzer and Davison on Cork Street. A slim man of medium height with lean cheeks, an aquiline nose, and heavily lidded green eyes, Lord Quillian was of the same generation as the Prince. Born a second son, he had come into his inheritance late in his twenties, on the death of his older brother. Like so many of the Prince’s cohorts, the Baron was addicted to games of chance, to free-flowing wine and free-spirited women. But his ruling passion was fashion, the vast majority of his time—as well as much of his considerable fortune—being expended on the arrayment of his person.

When Sebastian came upon him, Quillian was dressed in fawn-colored breeches of the finest doeskin and a flawlessly tailored coat with silver buttons. He had a silver-headed ebony walking stick tucked up under one arm, and was pensively debating with his tailor the rival merits of superfine and Bath coating.

“I hear the Beau swears by the Bath coating,” said Sebastian.

“True,” said Quillian. “But then, Brummell began his career as a Hussar. Once a military man, always a military man.” Glancing sideways, the Baron frowned at Sebastian’s own well-tailored but nonchalant rig. “I daresay you order your coats from Meyer’s on Conduit Street, and always in Bath coating.”

“Frequently, yes.”

“Well, there; you see?” He nodded to the tailor. “Let’s say the superfine, shall we?”

Mr. Schweitzer gave an obsequious bow, and withdrew.

“Walk with me a ways,” said Sebastian, falling into step beside the exquisite as they left the shop.

The aging roué cast a dubious eye at the sun shining brightly from the clear sky. “Well, I can walk with you to the end of the street, I suppose. But then I fear I really must call a chair. I’m frightfully susceptible to the sun, you know; if I’m not careful, I quickly turn as brown as a savage.”

Sebastian blinked at the exquisite’s creamy white complexion. “Just so.” He waited while the dandy paused to inspect the tray of buttons displayed in a nearby shop window, then added, “I assume you’ve heard of the death of the Bishop of London?”

The Baron gave a delicate shudder and moved on. “Who, pray tell, has not? The description in the Morning Post nearly brought on my spasms—not that I ever had anything but the utmost contempt for the man himself, but still. Violence of any sort is so . . . crude.”

“Yet I’ve heard it said you fought two duels yourself, when you were younger.”

Quillian gave a tight smile, the sleepy eyes suddenly looking considerably less lazy. “Surely you don’t mean to conflate what happened to Prescott with a duel conducted under the gentleman’s code? I mean, to have one’s head bashed in is so, well, plebeian, wouldn’t you say?”

“Not to mention fatal.”

“I suppose.” Quillian sniffed. “Although it’s Prescott’s own fault, really. He should have thought of the consequences before.”

“Before . . . what?”

“Why, before he set about putting up the backs of half the men in town, of course.”

“I hear you quarreled rather publicly with the Bishop yourself. Last Saturday, was it not? In Hyde Park,” Sebastian added, when the exquisite continued to stare at him blankly.

“Oh, that.” Quillian waved the incident away with the flap of one slim hand gloved in snowy white kid.

“Yes, that. Over abolition, I assume?”

Quillian sniffed. “The bloody, righteous idiot was trying to push a Slavery Abolition Act through Parliament. If you ask me, even to suggest such a measure in time of war is tantamount to treason. The financial repercussions from that kind of foolishness would be ruinous.”

“For you.”

“For England.”

“I suppose the Bishop believed he labored in the service of a higher power.”

“The man was a fool.”

Sebastian watched the Baron’s hand tighten around the silver head of his walking stick. Sebastian owned a similar piece; the ornate handle unscrewed to reveal a long, slim dagger.

He said, “I’ve heard speculation that someone may have been trying to blackmail Prescott. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

“Blackmail? Truly?” Quillian’s lips stretched into a thin, tight smile, but his eyes were hard. “Are you suggesting there was something in His Righteousness’s past that could have left the man open to blackmail? How very . . . entertaining. If only one had known of this sooner, one might have made use of it.”

Sebastian studied the exquisite’s carefully powdered face. “You’re saying you don’t know of anything in the Bishop’s past that might have made him vulnerable to blackmail?”

“Blackmail is so . . . sordid. Don’t you agree?”

“Like murder,” said Sebastian.

“Exactly. If you want my opinion—and I take it you must, since you have obviously sought me out to discuss this dreadful matter—the authorities could do worse than to look into the movements of that horrid Colonial.”

“Colonial? You mean an American?”

“That’s right. Franklin, I believe his name is. I understand he used to be governor of New Jersey or some such place, before the recent unpleasantness.”

“You mean William Franklin? Benjamin Franklin’s son?”

“Yes, that’s the one. He was leaving the Bishop’s chambers just as I arrived on Monday afternoon.”

“You saw the Bishop this past Monday?”

“I did,” said the dandy, swinging his walking stick by the handle. “It was my hope to persuade the Bishop of the advisability of giving up his intention of delivering an impassioned attack on slavery before the Lords this Thursday.”

“By appealing to his better nature?”

“Hardly. By threatening to have him blackballed from his clubs.” Quillian sniffed. “You’ll agree, I assume, that there is considerable difference between threatening to blackball a man and threatening to blackmail him? Hmmm?”

Actually, threatening to blackball a man struck Sebastian as a form of blackmail, but all he said was, “And Franklin?”

“As I said, the man was leaving as I arrived. Their exchange had obviously been heated, for as I entered the antechamber, I heard the Bishop say it would be a dark day in hell before he ever had dealings with a traitor’s son. To which Franklin replied . . .” Here the exquisite hesitated, as if suddenly overcome by an eleventh-hour attack of scruples at the realization that he might be implicating a man in murder.

Sebastian dutifully prompted, “Yes?”

“To which Franklin replied, ‘Hell is where men such as yourself belong.’ ” Quillian glanced over at Sebastian expectantly.

Sebastian said, “You’re suggesting, I take it, that Franklin meant it as a threat?”

“Well, it could certainly be construed as such, could it not?”

“Perhaps. You wouldn’t have any idea what their exchange was about?”

“I’m afraid not.” Quillian brought the back of one hand to his forehead. “Merciful heavens. I do believe I am in danger of beginning to perspire. This is all your fault, you know. Expecting me to walk down the street like some milkmaid making deliveries.” He raised his voice. “Chair! Chair, I say!”

A couple of chairmen lounging before a nearby public house jerked to attention and rushed toward him. “Carlton House,” said Quillian, settling back against the sedan chair’s quilted squabs.

“One more thing,” said Sebastian, resting a hand on the chair frame to delay him. “Exactly where were you last night?”

Quillian’s eyes widened in a show of indignation. “Why, with the Prince.”

“All evening?”

“Of course,” he snapped, and nodded to the chairmen to move on.

Sebastian took a step back, his eyes narrowing against the glare of the sun as he watched the chairmen trot away.