What Would Jane Austen Do?

Chapter Fourteen

Eleanor tried to make sense of the scene before her. Teddy, who had changed into plain traveling clothes, knelt in front of an open iron cabinet built into the wall behind a movable section of wainscoting. He unloaded items and threw them into the portmanteau he’d used in the play and didn’t notice she’d entered.

“What are you doing?” she blurted out without thinking.

She startled him, and he dropped an oblong green velvet box. A necklace, bracelet, and earrings fell out. She recognized the emerald necklace as the one Mina had a paste replica of in her drawer upstairs. Those must be the real emeralds.

Teddy jumped up, grabbed a pistol off the desk, and pointed it at her. “What in bloody hell are you doing in my estate office?”

“Rather a long story. I—”

“Never mind. It doesn’t matter. Sit down and keep silent,” he demanded, his expression hard and ugly.

Shocked, Eleanor slipped into a nearby chair.

He returned to his task, laying the pistol on the floor next to his knee, and occasionally glanced up to make sure she hadn’t moved.

She realized he was stealing the girls’ jewels, and she was a witness. Not a good omen for a long life. She couldn’t expect anyone to rescue her. Deirdre and Mina would never think to look for her here and would likely be distracted from their search in next to no time. Weren’t the fireworks supposed to start soon? Once they did, he could shoot her with impunity, and no one would even notice. She had to escape before then. She looked around the estate office and noticed the door leading outside, which was used by tradesmen so they didn’t come through the front entrance. If she could distract him from the weapon, she might have a chance to run for it.

“Why are you taking Deirdre and Mina’s jewelry?” she asked.

“I told you to keep silent.”

“I will, if you tell me why you’re stealing from your sisters.”

“Adoptive sisters,” he said in a derisive and contemptuous tone. “If Father had married my mother as he should have and brought her back to England, she wouldn’t have died.”

“You can’t know—”

“By the time I arrived here, he’d already married that insipid, mewling female and produced those two whining brats. I hated her for taking my mother’s place, and I hated him for stealing my true inheritance.”

“Those jewels are from their mother’s family and not part of your—”

“They stole from me first. Every bit of food in their mouths and every piece of clothing on their backs came out of what was due me. These jewels are scant repayment.”

“If you do this, where can you go? You’ll be hunted as a thief.”

“Hah! Let them search. I’m returning to the land of my birth and the land of my ancestors. I will stand with Napoleon and find my real family.”

Eleanor was confused. “But your father was English.”

“The man who raised me was not my real father. My father died on the guillotine before my parents could marry. Mother feared her aristocratic blood would lead to the same end for herself and me, so she wrote to the Englishman she’d met while he was on his Grand Tour and claimed the child was his. Lord Digby was so desperate for a male heir, he sent for the mother and child immediately, even though he knew he could not marry her.”

Teddy’s emotional outburst wasn’t making logical sense. “How do you know all this is true?”

“Aunt Patience confessed the truth when I came into the title. How Mother died to see me safe and how she honored Mother’s wishes and brought me here and stayed to help raise me after my stepmother died.”

“If Digby wasn’t your father, shouldn’t you have refused the title? The girls should rightfully—”

“No! The title and all it entails is mine! Digby legally adopted me, though he named a bastard in the process, shaming my mother’s memory. As an American you should understand my hatred for the English. Your people are at war against them, as are mine. We are on the same side. Come with me. I have a carriage waiting down the road and two berths on a fast ship to Holland. From there …”

Eleanor shook her head. Her memory of her history classes was a bit weak on Napoleon, but she was sure any man who crowned himself emperor and tried to take over the world was no George Washington. “Stealing isn’t honorable, no matter what the cause or justification.”

Teddy gave her a hard look. “If you are not with me, then you are my enemy. Unfortunately, I cannot leave you behind to raise the alarm.” He closed the portmanteau and directed her at gunpoint to pick it up.

The fireworks hadn’t started yet. A gunshot might be noticed, but that would do her no good if she were dead. So she did as she was told. As long as she stayed alive, she might have a chance to escape.

He motioned her toward the tradesmen’s door.

Shermont entered the estate office to search for evidence and found not only Digby, but Eleanor. They appeared to be on their way out. Both spun around at the sound of the door closing.

“Oh, Shermont,” Digby said. “Your bloody timing is fortuitous. I just caught this female stealing my sister’s jewels. I’ll hold her while you fetch the constable, but quietly, so as not to disturb the festivities.”

Eleanor dropped the portmanteau and stood up straight. “He’s lying,” she said in a quiet, dignified voice.

“Silence, thief,” Digby demanded. “She is obviously an imposter who has wheedled her way into our affections for her own nefarious purposes.”

Shermont had only a moment to make a decision. He wanted to believe her, but could he trust his heart? She could still be a foreign agent, and Digby could be sacrificing her to make his own escape.

When Shermont hesitated, Digby said, “Better yet, you keep her here, and I’ll go find the constable.” He slid the pistol across the desk, and Shermont caught it before it fell off the edge.

A bold move, especially since Shermont had decided to believe Eleanor.

“I should not be gone longer than an hour.” Digby headed toward the exit, pausing to pick up the portmanteau. “I’ll take this for safekeeping.”

“Halt,” Shermont said, raising the pistol. Once he’d made the leap of faith, the details he always drilled Carl to notice vindicated his belief in Eleanor. Digby was dressed for traveling, but she was still dressed for the ball. She looked pale and scared, while he appeared flushed and frustrated. She’d dropped the portmanteau like a hot potato, and Digby had refused to leave it behind. “Put the portmanteau on the floor,” Shermont said, the steel in his voice brooking no defiance.

Digby complied, but before Shermont could demand an explanation, the tradesmen’s door opened. Patience entered, armed and in a towering rage. Digby flashed Shermont a smug look and opened his arms to his Aunt Patience.

“Ma chère tante. Your timing is impeccable. Keep these two under guard for half an hour, and then join me at the meeting place,” Digby said as he again picked up the portmanteau. His cocky grin faded as he realized she had her weapon aimed at him.

“Leaving without me, I see,” Aunt Patience said.

“Not at all. I just said I’d meet you at—”

“And you think I believe you, you ungrateful little guttersnipe. If not for me, you’d still be wandering the streets of Paris stealing crusts of bread or prostituting yourself like your mother.”

“My mother was an aristocrat!”

“Ha! Victorine was a soubrette.”

“You said Digby met her at court.”

“He did. Aristocrats often invited actresses to their wild parties. Rent the right clothes, put on a few false airs, and they fit right in. It usually resulted in a romantic assignation and gifts of money and jewelry. Most women of the stage did it. Your oh-so-sanctified mother was one of the best.”

“You malign your beloved sister?”

“Not my sister.” Patience laughed. “I was the one with breeding who had fallen on hard times. I was the one who belonged at court. But Victorine got everything she wanted simply because she was beautiful. The vicious little bitch treated me like dirt beneath her shoe. Your father could have been one of dozens or even hundreds. She forgot one as soon as another better looking, richer, and more generous one appeared.”

“Stop it. I don’t want to hear more of your lies,” Digby said, putting his hands over his ears.

“I find it fascinating,” Shermont said. Patience had a lot to get off her mind, and he knew the longer they stayed in one place, the more likely his valet would find them. He laid his pistol on the desk, propped one hip on the top, and crossed his arms. “I’ve always said the lady with the weapon has the floor for as long as she wants it.”

Patience nodded with a smug smile. “After Victorine and her sickly baby died, I went through her possessions, hoping I could sell something to pay my long overdue wages. When I found a great number of love letters, I hit on the scheme of writing to each as if I were her, claiming the child as his and asking for money to aid in his care.”

“You mean you blackmailed them in her name,” Digby sneered.

Patience shrugged. “While I waited for the money to arrive, I had to sell her fine clothes and jewelry. Months passed until finally one wrote back and sent money. My neighbors were jealous of my bounty and were going to turn me in as an aristocrat in hiding. So I decided to emigrate to England, but I could hardly appear on Lord Digby’s doorstep without an appropriate child. So I went out and found you—filthy, dirty, snot-nosed, dressed in rags, crying on a street corner. You had the white-blond hair Digby had mentioned in one of his letters as a family trait. I promised you a good meal, and you said you would do anything I wanted. I’d say you’re lucky it was me and not some white slaver who—”

“You lie.” Digby shook all over.

“Yes, I admit I lied to you when you were a boy, but it was for your own good. Fat lot of profit in it for me. You can take the boy off the street, but you can’t take the street out of the boy. You will always be an ungrateful guttersnipe. Now hand over that portmanteau, and we’ll all go outside quietly in single file.”

Eleanor glanced at Shermont and could tell he was thinking what she was. If they left the house, they would never return.

“What happens then?” he asked.

When Patience glanced toward Shermont, Digby lunged forward, grabbed the bag, and headed toward the door. Shermont tackled him by the ankles and the two fought, rolling around on the floor. When they stood, trading blows, Patience took aim with her pistol at Shermont’s back.

Eleanor jumped forward and seized Patience’s arm. They struggled for control of the weapon, but the older woman outweighed her by a good fifty pounds and shoved her aside. She fell to the floor as Patience again took aim.

“Look out,” Eleanor cried as she got up and went after Patience again.

The pistol retort bounced off the walls of the small room, deafening the inhabitants. The echoes seemed to go on and on, but Eleanor realized the fireworks display had started outside. When the roomful of acrid smoke cleared, Teddy was on the floor, his chest a bloody mess. Shermont knelt beside him and pressed his handkerchief over the gaping wound.

Patience dropped the pistol and put her hands to her mouth, not quite stifling her cry of dismay. She turned from the sight and ran outside.

“Give me your handkerchief,” Shermont said, shrugging off his coat.

Eleanor still had her reticule looped over her wrist. When she found her handkerchief and held it out, he had covered the other man’s face with his coat. She swallowed. She didn’t have to ask if Teddy was dead.

Shermont took her handkerchief and said, “I’m afraid I’ll ruin it.”

“Go ahead.” She pressed it on him. As he dabbed at his bleeding lip and wiped his hands, she said, “Hurry. Patience is getting away.”

“We’ll deal with her later.”

As soon as his hands were clean, he tossed the handkerchief to the floor and wrapped Eleanor in a tight embrace. “Are you all right? For a moment there …” He choked up and couldn’t put into words the terror that had swamped him while Digby aimed his pistol at her.

“I’m fine.”

He knew she lied because she was trembling.

“Patience is a murderer,” she said, her quivering voice rising in pitch. “And she’s getting—”

“Eleanor!” He took her by both shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. “Right now we have other problems. I need you to remain calm. Take a deep breath. That’s better. Undoubtedly, any number of people heard the gunshot—”

“The fireworks …”

“Military men and hunters will know the difference and will likely investigate the source. We can’t keep this disaster quiet for long, but I don’t think the girls deserve to hear about this from a curious crowd.”

“Of course not.”

“I’m glad you agree. I want you to find them and use whatever excuse you can to get them someplace private.”

“Our rooms?”

“Excellent. You can tell them—”

“I don’t think I should be the one to tell them. It should be someone who knows them well and loves them, like their Uncle Huxley.”

“Good thinking.” He kissed the tip of her nose and gave her a quick, tight hug. “I knew I could count on you to keep a cool head. I’ll send Huxley to your rooms as soon as I can.”

Carl was the first to arrive in the estate office. Eleanor left on her errand. Outside the door, she leaned against the wall, her knees like Jello and her hands shaking. All her bravado of earlier had drained away.

Omigod. Shermont could have died. She could have died. She wanted to run back into the room and hold him. Just being with him gave her strength. But he was depending on her, and she had a job to do. She took a deep breath and straightened. She had to be strong. Her friends Deirdre and Mina needed her.

Eleanor found them in the ballroom about to line up with their partners for the next set.

“I need to speak to you,” she said. “Privately.”

“But it’s the supper dance,” Mina said.

That meant it was close to midnight, her deadline. But she hadn’t prevented Teddy’s death. Did that mean the ghosts would not take her back? She couldn’t worry about herself now.

“You look terrible,” Deirdre said. “Is your toothache worse?”

“We looked for you,” Mina said. “But you weren’t—”

“I know. This is important.” Eleanor looked at the young men. “If you gentlemen will excuse us.” She stepped between them and took each girl by the elbow, guiding them out the door and toward the stairs.

“What—”

“I can’t tell you here. We’re going to our room where we can’t be overheard.”

As they walked up the stairs, Deirdre said, “I know the secret. Shermont has asked you to marry him, right?”

Eleanor shook her head but didn’t slow the pace.

“I don’t think it’s a happy secret,” Mina said.

“Oh dear,” Deirdre said. “You’re carrying his child, and he refused to marry you.”

Eleanor started. “Whatever gave you an idea like that?”

“I’m not as naïve as you think,” Deirdre said smugly. “If you hadn’t found us in his room, you would have been there alone with him. And then you left again, but the next day you said you hadn’t seen Teddy.”

“That’s right,” Mina said. “I didn’t even think of that.”

“I’m not pregnant,” Eleanor assured them as they entered the sitting room. Both girls sat on the settee and looked at her with expectant expressions. Where was Huxley? She needed to stall for time. “We need tea.” She used the bellpull to call the maid.

While Shermont explained to Carl what had happened, Huxley entered and listened. Shermont then sent his valet to apprehend Patience, both assuming she would head to the oak tree to meet her contact.

Huxley looked down at the body of the man who had pretended to be his nephew. “My brother thought the world of him, but I always knew he was a bad apple. I’ve always said, never trust a man who mistreats animals.”

“What story do you want to tell the girls?”

“The truth. There have been enough lies already. The girls are stronger than you think, stronger than they themselves know. No, I won’t have them grieving for a beloved brother when he never deserved their regard.”

“I’ll support whatever you decide.”

“I would appreciate it if the facts did not become common knowledge. No sense dragging the girls’ names into his disgrace.”

“A few need to know the truth, but I guarantee their discretion.”

Huxley gave him an assessing look before nodding. “I’ll make a succinct announcement, canceling the balance of this evening’s festivities. The story will be that Digby was fatally wounded during a robbery attempt.”

“As you say.”

“I’ll make funeral arrangements befitting his former position. But I refuse to have him buried in the family plot. His true grave will not carry my brother’s name.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“Will you make it look—”

“I’ll straighten up in here. The scene will reflect the story.”

The two men shook hands.

“One moment,” Shermont said. “I’d like you to witness that I’m returning all this jewelry to the safe. If anything is missing, I want you to know I’m not responsible.”

“I trust you with my family’s name. Compared to that, those baubles are inconsequential.” Huxley left without another word.

Shermont unpacked the portmanteau and was surprised to find two red leather portfolios. He recognized the folders used for diplomatic dispatches. The seals had been broken. He opened one and found it addressed to Wellington and signed by the Prince Regent.

Major Alanbrooke and Captain Rockingham burst into the room. Alanbrooke quietly assessed the situation, but Rockingham blurted out, “What happened? Hey! What are you doing with those?” He started forward with his hands outstretched.

Alanbrooke stopped him. “Give the man a chance to explain.”

Shermont faced Rockingham with a stern expression. “You’re supposed to be on your way to Spain, aren’t you?”

The captain’s ears turned as red as the folders. “I leave at dawn. Digby promised me his fastest horse. Said I could make up two days during the trip, and no one would ever know.”

“So you gave him these?”

“To keep safe. Away from prying eyes. Like yours. How dare you open—”

“Just a moment.” Alanbrooke laid his hand on Rockingham’s shoulder. “Now would be a good time to start talking,” he said to Shermont.

“I’m an agent of His Majesty. And I expect you, Major Alanbrooke, to arrest Captain Rockingham for dereliction of duty.”

“Hell you say,” Rockingham said. A rivulet of sweat ran down his temple. “We don’t believe your cock and bull—”

“The less you say, the better off you’ll be,” Alanbrooke said to the belligerent captain. “What happened here?” he asked Shermont.

“Lord Digby was fatally shot during a robbery attempt.”

Shermont could see Alanbrooke didn’t believe him either, but not for the same reasons as Rockingham.

The door opened, and the two lieutenants who had also heard the shot entered. Alanbrooke ordered them to take the captain into custody and to keep him under guard in his room until further notice. Rockingham protested until Alanbrooke silenced him by whispering something in his ear. The three men left.

The two remaining men looked up when the music came to a sudden halt. Shermont stood. “Huxley has made the announcement. I would appreciate it if you and any men you can round up could facilitate the rapid exit of the guests. Less time for gossiping. And send a footman for the constable.”

“What are you going to do with those dispatches?”

“Return them to the sender.”

“Are you going to tell me what really happened?”

“No.”

“I can guess. Digby is wearing traveling clothes. The hidden wall cabinet is standing open. The portmanteau he used during the play is packed with his clothes, jewelry cases, and I assume those dispatches were in there. Only one shot was fired. And a government agent is found standing over his body.”

While Alanbrooke talked, Shermont put the jewelry cases back in the secret cabinet, locked it, pocketed the key to give to Huxley later, and replaced the wainscoting. Although he was impressed by the other man’s observations, he kept his face impassive.

“I’d say you were tracking Digby for some reason,” Alanbrooke concluded. “He was probably selling information to Napoleon. You caught him trying to escape and shot him.”

“I didn’t shoot him.”

Alanbrooke nodded and headed toward the door. He stopped and turned at the sound of Shermont’s voice.

“If you ever decide to try a different career, contact Scovell. I’ll write you a recommendation.”

Alanbrooke raised an eyebrow. “I think not. I wear my country’s colors proudly. I’ve no respect for agents who skulk in dark corners buying and selling military information like loaves of bread.”

“Actually, I agree. What would you say about those tasked with catching those same agents?”

“I’ll have to think on that.”

“That’s all I ask. By the way, what did you say to Rockingham?”

Alanbrooke smiled. “He’s always had a fondness for rum, and I reminded him that I had half a bottle stashed in my room.” He turned on his heel and left.

“Just tell us,” Deirdre said, a bit of exasperation sneaking into her tone. “Whatever it is, we’ll …” Her voice faded as the music stopped mid-song on a discordant note. She cocked her head. “What is that?” She started to stand.

But Eleanor couldn’t let her leave to investigate. She quickly pulled a footstool to a position in front of the girls and took their hands between hers. “There’s been a terrible accident,” she said, her voice hoarse with emotion.

A scratching on the door preceded Twilla’s entrance with a large tray. Nothing else could be said while the servant was in the room. Eleanor hoped it would take the maid a long time to serve the tea, but Deirdre curtailed any fussing.

“Just leave the tray on the table,” she said. “That will be all.” As soon as Twilla left, Deirdre turned to Eleanor. “Just tell us.” This time her tone was gentler, but wary.

Mina added her other hand to the rest. “I’m scared.”

“I hate to be the one to tell you,” Eleanor started, but a knock on the door interrupted her. “Enter.” She hoped it was Huxley. She glanced over her shoulder. The poor man looked as if he’d aged a decade in the last hour.

Shermont wrapped the dispatches in one of Digby’s shirts, so he could carry them to his room with no one recognizing them for what they were. He hid the portmanteau under the desk where Huxley would find it when he sat there to go through Digby’s papers.

Carl entered from outside. “Patience wasn’t at the oak tree. They must have had a different prearranged meeting place for the escape, but no horses are missing from the stable.”

“She may have decided to make her own way, so she wouldn’t have to explain his absence. Check any stage stops within a two-mile radius. I don’t expect she got any farther than that without a horse.”

“There’s only one stop in a five-mile radius. The mail coach stops daily at nine o’clock in the morning. That’s it. I checked the inns, and they promised to let me know if anyone answering her description appears looking for a room.”

Shermont wrapped the pistol that had been fired in another shirt and moved Digby’s weapon to a spot a few inches from his hand. He used a penknife to scratch the outside of the lock on the tradesmen’s door.

“What are you doing?”

“The official story is that Digby was fatally shot during a robbery attempt. I’m helping the constable come to the desired conclusion.” He gave his valet the shirt-wrapped packages. “Please drop these off in my room.”

“What’s in the other one?”

“Diplomatic dispatches.”

Carl raised a questioning eyebrow.

“I’ll explain later. One of us will have to take them back to the Prince Regent tomorrow. Where are you going to search next?”

“I’m thinking she might be hiding on the estate, waiting for daylight to travel cross-country to the coast. I’m going to check the outbuildings and then the neighbors.”

“As long as you’re going upstairs, look in her room for clues first. Letters from friends might point to a possible escape route or hiding place.”

Carl nodded and started to exit by the door to the hall.

“You’ll have to use the tradesmen’s door again,” Shermont said. “Tuttle and Digby’s valet are guarding that door until the constable arrives. I recommended they allow an officer of the law to view the scene of the crime. They didn’t appear to agree, but couldn’t argue with me.”

“Who is guarding the other door?”

Shermont grinned. “I am.”

The session with the constable went as Shermont expected. The country lawman was more used to dealing with stolen pigs and taproom brawls than murder. Shermont’s title gave him an advantage. The obsequious constable accepted everything he said unchallenged. The investigation took only minutes, and the body was released to the servants for preparation to be laid out in the front parlor.

Shermont left, intending to go directly to his room. He passed servants stopping clocks and draping mirrors as he approached Eleanor’s door instead.