A Bright Particular Star (42 page)

“
What, y
ou mean
Verney
hasn
’t
discourage
d
him
?
”

“
Quite the contrary
.
”

“
B
last the idiot
!
”
exclaimed Theo
roundly
.
“
I
knew he c
ouldn
’t
be trusted to watch over her
.
”

“
Now you
perceive
the reason for our haste
,
”
said Sir Seymour.
“S
loane is b
ecoming increasingly frustrated
.
Having lost his chance of stealing the sapphir
e
, he
will not
want to
see his efforts fail
entirely
.
”

“
I
hoped to a
void a scandal which touches
Miss Devereux and Miss Sloane, but matters have reached the point where we can no longer stand b
ack,
”
admitted
Grey.
“S
loane
will soon discover
where Miss Devereux is keeping t
he Star.
”

“S
he keeps it with her
.
”

“
I had reached
that conclusion.
So, I believe, has Sloane and that is why s
he is at
great
er
risk
.
Do you know
exactly where it
is?
”

Theo told him
and
afterward
Luc
nodded, observing
,
“
I wondered why she always wore
the
pin
—
it did not seem quite her style
.
I
called in Brook
Street yesterday afternoon
to discover
Sloane
had escorted her to the British Museum wi
thout her maid.
Alarmed,
I hurried to Bl
oomsbury to find them
still looking at the exhibits.
Now I think of it, she was wearing the pin.
I don
’t
know
what Sloane had
planned,
but
his manner seemed different.
”

“D
o you think he suspects where the Star is concealed?
”

“
It
’s
a strong
possibility
.
I had to
get
him away from Miss Devereux
so I invited him to dine with me.
Although
clearly
he
thought it an odd r
equest,
he agreed.
As it happened t
he evening passed off uneve
ntfully, but he has something planned
,
I know it.
And
he
definitely
suspects
I am not all I seem
.
”

“
Perhaps his
accomplices know of his plans
.
”

Luc shook his head.
“T
hose two
were
to wait at
T
he Dog and Duck un
til he sent word.
Needless to say,
we have posted r
unners
in their place.
”

“
What do you propose
now
?
”

Sir Seymour sighed.
“T
here lies the difficulty.
We could arrest Sloane, but we don
’t
have enough p
roof
.
All we have is the testimony
of two known felons
—
h
ardly the sort
of evidence
to
convince a jury of
Sloane
’s
guilt.
Outwardly
he is a respectabl
e member of society
,
and it will
take more than flimsy
circumstantial evidence to convince a jury he is a
lso a
notorious criminal.
Miss Devereux and Miss Sloane
could endure the
distress
of a court case
,
only to see Sloane walk free.
”

“
But we
can
’t
stand by
and do nothing!
”

“T
hat
’s
why we came,
Theo,
”
said Sir Seymour.
“
Much as we dislike the
investigation being interrupted and justice potentially not being served
as a result
, Miss Devereux
’s
safety has to
be paramount.
L
uc
therefore
proposes
to warn
her about
Sloane
.
We
think
you
should
go too
;
she trusts you and Luc
thought
you would want to be involved.
”

“
I do, for more reasons than
you might guess.
What about Verney
? S
hould he be told?
”

“
Not immediately
.
The
fewe
r people who know
about this
,
the better,
”
said Luc.
“S
ir Seymour has
agreed
, though,
that I can talk to
Miss Sl
oane about her brother.
An unpleasant task
, but I will
do my best
to soften what will be a devastating
blow
.

An
odd feeling
had
crept over Theo as he listened.
It was
like being touched by invisible
hands.
Recognising
it as
a presentiment of fear
—an
unfathomab
le, soul-deep terror for Sophie
—
he
jumped
to his feet.
“T
hen l
et
’s
waste no
more time
!
I
’
ll summon
a hackney.
”

“
N
o need
.
My carriage and team are
waiting at the end of the street
,
”
said Luc.

Sir Se
ymour levered himself out of his
chair.
“
Go with Luc
.
I
’
ll take a hackney
to Bow Street
and see if any more information has em
erged from Sloane
’s
accomplices.
”

As they prepared to leave, Theo
thru
st his hand in Grey
’s
direction.
“
I’m
sorry I didn
’t
trust you,
”
he said, gruffly.

Luc took the proffered hand, shook it and
flashed
Theo
a
brief
but
rueful
smile
.
“D
on
’t
be
.
I’m
sorry I
couldn
’t
take
you into my confidence earlier
.
I
spend my life keeping secrets.
It
’s
my duty
and
I’m
used to it
,
but it
’s
a
hard price to pay
at times.
”

****

Sophie emerged from the lawyer
’s
of
fice into bright sunshine
.
Mr
Sands had been amiable and
helpful and
,
de
sp
ite her unhappiness
,
she could
now
try
and
lo
ok to the future
.
S
he would gain
control of her in
heritance
very soon
.
A
part from the Star
,
there was
some
money invested in the funds.
It was
enough for her and
Olivia to live on
,
although t
hey would not be ri
ch enough to move among the
ton
.

She had questioned
Mr
.
Sands
as to whether there w
e
re
any
leg
al reasons why she could not sell
the Star
.
It appeared t
he
re were none
.
It had been
passed down to the eldest child
through
tradition,
not through entail.
B
ut
Mr
Sands, looking
at her
over his spectacles,
advised
in stentorian tones against selling it
now
.
In his
opinion she would not
realize
its full value if it became
known s
he
needed money
.
Sophie assured him she had no desire to se
ll
—
it was, after all, her last
remai
ning link with her family
—
but
had been
merely confirming
th
e option was open to her
.

So
phie had never
given
much
thought to the
difficulties that came with owning the Star
.
T
hat
had changed
.
B
eautiful and
valuable
it may be
,
but
conflict and despair
followed it too
.
E
asy
to see why it was considered a bringer of bad luck to anyone who
was not its
rightful keeper
.

Sophie
knew of
only one oc
casion when it had proved
of
practical use.
Her father and mother had placed little store by wealth
.
T
heir marriage had been a love match and they had been content to liv
e modestly but
,
a
fter a reversal of fortunes on the
stock
ex
change,
he
r
fa
ther had contemplated selling
the gem.
In the end
h
e had decided against it, instead
borrow
ing
money agains
t the value
of the Star to clear his debts.
T
he Star had proved
a for
ce for good
then
, but Sophie thought
it ironic
that
it was its potential value, rather than the realisation of it, that had helped her father.

Yet perhaps
that was
how it should be
.
The
Star had
a mystical
,
almost unearthly
quality that c
ould nev
er
properly
translate into a
monetary value
.

With th
eir discussion concluded, Sophie and
Mr
Sands
had parted on good
terms,
the lawyer
agreeing to draw up a shortlist of suitable
houses and companions
.

R
eaching
the bottom of the steps
outside
Mr
Sand
’s
chambers
, Sophie
pulled on her gloves and
prepared to
hail a hackney.
Only
Olivia knew of
her visit here
today
.
She had
slipped away from Brook Street
while
Lady Verney had
been taking her
afternoon
nap, thus avoiding
awkward questions
about
where she was going
.

A
ha
ckney drew up alongside the pavement
.
She w
as about to give the jarvey
directions back to Brook Street
,
when
to her astonishment
Perry emerged from the carriage.
He
stepped toward her
, a smile on his
lips
.
“
Well met,
cousin
.
”

“
Perry!
What
are you doing here?
”

“
I
followed you
.
”

Perry
’s
eyes were
curiously blank, leaving
Sophie
unsure what
to make of his remark
.
Deciding
it must be
his idea
of a joke
,
she
gave a little laugh.
“
Indeed?
Well,
my errand i
s done and I am about to go back to Brook Street
.
Lady Verney must be
wondering where I am.
”

“
L
et me escort you.
”

“
It
is
not necessary
,
”
she said with a shake of her head.

“
But s
omet
hing has arisen that I
need to talk to you about
urgently
.
”
When Perry
saw he
r
hesitate
, he added,
“
It concerns Olivia.
”

Sophie
started forward in concern
.
“
Is she ill
?
”

“
No
.
There is a delicate matter tha
t needs to be
discuss
ed
.
”