Victorian Vigilantes 01 - Saving Grace (26 page)

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I shall be back shortly,” he replied evasively.

She hated it when people avoided direct answers, but he appeared tense and preoccupied so she didn’t take him to task for it. Presumably his outing had to do with Franklin. She wanted to call him back and beg him to take care. If anything were to happen to him, her life really would come to an end.

Of Lord Torbay and Olivia there was no sign. At a loose end, Eva went upstairs to check on Rose. She appeared much better today and was helping Olivia’s nanny to entertain Tom. Eva could see she really did enjoy children which, given her condition, was just as well.

Eva wandered about the house with nothing to do, other than to worry.

“Everyone has an occupation except me,” she muttered to herself. She ran her hand idly along the spines of the books shelved to one side of the fireplace and thought about selecting one. No, reading was out of the question. She wouldn’t be able to concentrate. Isaac’s tension had rubbed off on her and she felt anxious without knowing precisely why. Something was about to happen, she could sense it, and it would place Isaac in danger.

Please God, keep him safe
.

The door opened and Olivia sauntered in, looking overheated but charming in tight-fitting breaches and a loose linen shirt that clung to her svelte form. Lord Torbay followed behind her, similarly attired.

“We have been fencing,” Olivia explained, throwing herself into the chair beside Eva. “He beats me, even using his left arm. It is most humiliating.”

“She fights like a tigress,” Lord Torbay replied, “and gives no quarter.”

“Certainly I don’t, and I should be offended if you made any allowances for me.”

Lord Torbay chuckled. “I would not dare.”

Eva wondered how they could think to indulge their sporting proclivities when so much hung upon Franklin’s success or otherwise. Eva herself was a bundle of nerves and uncertainty. Patience had never been her strong point, even though she’d been obliged to display an abundance of it during the years of her marriage. Today of all days, disciplining herself to remain calm was completely out of the question.

“When shall we receive news?” she asked, glancing at the clock for the umpteenth time.

“Patience, Lady Eva.” Lord Torbay flashed a reassuring smile. “We will know the lie of the land soon enough.”

“I wish you would tell me what’s happening.”

“When I know, so too will you.” He inclined his head. “Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I ought to change my attire.”

Eva noticed Olivia watch him until the door closed behind him. She never favoured him with such direct attention when he was facing her, reconfirming Eva’s suspicions about her feelings for the handsome yet elusive earl.

Olivia herself didn’t seem to be in any hurry to shed her masculine garb and turned to Eva with a kind smile.

“Shall we have a hand of cards?” she suggested. “It would help to pass the time.”

“Why is Lord Torbay here, when he ought to be out there with Isaac, making sure everything is as it should be?”

Olivia laughed. “He’s better off here, co-ordinating matters. Believe me, he might look relaxed, but his mind is like a sabre.” She patted Eva’s hand. “Trust me, my dear, he knows what he is doing.”

***

William and Stoneleigh sat across from one another in the carriage, neither of them speaking. William was deep in thought. Stoneleigh stared sullenly out the window at streets still slick from an earlier shower. They were halfway to the warehouse when it occurred to William that Stoneleigh’s hands were empty.

“I assume you collected the papers for this morning’s transactions before we left the house,” he said.

Stoneleigh shrugged his massive shoulders. “You didn’t say anything about papers.”

“Fool! Must I attend to every little detail myself?” He’d gone over the contracts for this morning’s business the night before and placed them in his desk. Barker knew to collect them. William could just as easily do so, but it gave him a feeling of power to have others run around, doing these small tasks in his stead. William hadn’t thought to tell Stoneleigh. He ought to have known, even if he didn’t usually accompany William to mundane business meetings. Sighing, he rapped on the roof with his cane. “Back to the house,” he instructed his coachman.

William was starting to wonder what had possessed him to put so much trust in Stoneleigh. The man was an idler and a moron. Once this business with the diamond was over with he would pay him off and be done with it. He was handy enough when it came to a fight, but asking him to use his common sense was like expecting a woman to understand mathematics.

Two carriages had collided in Knightsbridge, causing a traffic jam that did nothing to improve William’s temper. It took the best part of fifteen minutes to get past them. William had an agent waiting at the warehouse to sign the contracts Stoneleigh had failed to bring with them. Vast quantities of silk and tobacco, worth a small fortune, were involved. If William kept him waiting he could easily go elsewhere, which was unthinkable. William wasn’t prepared to pass up such lucrative trade because his underlings were inefficient. He glowered at Stoneleigh, who pretended not to know it was his fault.

Finally…finally, the carriage arrived back at Sloane Street.

“Go and get the damned papers,” William said curtly, handing him the key to his office. “They are in the bottom left hand drawer of my desk.”

Presumably Stoneleigh could be trusted to carry out that simple task. He tapped his cane impatiently on the carriage floor as he waited, wondering where Eva was at that moment and how she was occupying her time. No, better not to think about what she might be doing, the whore! William’s face heated with rage and he forced himself to think about safer subjects, such as all the things he needed to do that day before having a final meeting with the Sikhs when darkness fell. Since the murder, William had insisted they remain hidden during the day and the only interaction William had with them was behind firmly closed doors or under the cover of darkness.

Only two more days before the reception at Buckingham Palace, William reminded himself. The tricky part was overpowering the official Sikh guard and replacing them with William’s men at the vital moment. Too soon and people would notice—too late and they would miss the opportunity. They had the right clothing, spoke the language and would look the part, right down to the elaborately decorated turbans the men were required to wear.

It was all a matter of timing and stealth, but William was confident they had hit upon a fool proof way to carry off the switch when the proper guard took time out for prayers. It was the only occasion when they were left alone. Fortunately they were due to leave for the palace immediately afterwards and wouldn’t be accompanied for the brief interval between leaving prayers and making their way to the waiting carriage.

William knew a moment’s satisfaction as he ran through the plan in his head. The rest of his life might be in tatters, but nothing could go wrong with the theft. The Sikhs were fired by patriotic fervour and would gladly sacrifice their lives in exchange for recovering the diamond they believed had been stolen from their country. The fools actually thought they would be taking it back to India in a blaze of glory. William rolled his eyes. Sometimes people were too wrapped up in their own little worlds, too trusting, to see the bigger picture.

The front door to his house flew open and one of his servants ran up to the carriage, out of breath and clearly panicking.

“Come quickly, sir. You’re needed.”

“What the devil?”

William climbed from the carriage, a bad feeling burning through his stomach like acid as he ran up the front steps. There was a great commotion coming from his study. William dashed through the door and found Stoneleigh holding a badly beaten Franklin by his collar. There was blood spurting from his nose, which had obviously just been broken by Stoneleigh’s fist. One of his eyes was badly swollen and had already half-closed.

“What the hell is going on?” William asked, although it was obvious.

“Found him skulking about in here,” Stoneleigh said, shaking Franklin by his collar.

William looked at Franklin, his mind whirling with unpalatable explanations. Could he be the person in contact with Eva? He certainly wasn’t whom he claimed to be, that much was now obvious. William desperately needed to know. He thought of the agent and the lucrative contracts that would slip through his fingers if he kept him waiting for much longer. Damn it, he couldn’t deal with this now.

“Tie his hands and bring him to the warehouse,” he said abruptly. “We’ll interrogate him there.”

William ushered everyone from his study. Alone, he anxiously checked his secret place. He breathed a little more freely when he found it exactly as he had left it. Franklin couldn’t have found it because nothing had been disturbed.

Now all that remained was to discover who Franklin was really working for, and why.

***

The card game did little to distract Eva. She looked toward the door every two minutes, willing someone to walk through it with news to impart. Lord Torbay re-joined them, now impeccably attired, but had nothing to tell them.

“How do you stand it?” she asked.

He sent her a polite smile. “What do you mean?”

“All the waiting about. The tension. It would drive me distracted.”

“That’s because you are personally involved. I, on the other hand, can remain detached and focused.” He picked up a newspaper and shook it out, as though demonstrating his point. “Working oneself into a frenzy for no reason is no help.”

“I’m with you, Eva. The waiting always gets to me, especially when I am not permitted to play a part in the operation.” Olivia treated Lord Torbay to an accusatory glare but since he was still hiding behind the newspaper, presumably the gesture went unnoticed and unappreciated. “I do so hate to be idle.”

“Have you always lived in Chelsea?” Eva asked, just for something to say.

“No, when I was married we lived not far from here. I gave that house up when…well, when things became awkward. I prefer to live quietly, away from the hubbub.”

“You are not that far away,” Lord Torbay said from behind his paper.

“Not in terms of distance perhaps.” Olivia shrugged. “But just like me, Chelsea isn’t particularly fashionable.”

A snort sounded from behind the newspaper. “No doubt you plan to make it so.”

Eva smiled at Lord Torbay’s miserable attempt at disinterest. “Do you have a country house?” she asked Olivia.

“No, although I am thinking about purchasing a small estate somewhere close to town. The country air is more beneficial for children. Tom has a weak chest, you see. And besides, the railways make coming up to London very convenient.”

“Yes, I would enjoy living in the country again.” Eva tapped an impatient tattoo on the rug with her toe, then stood up and paced the length of the room, her skirts swishing almost as rapidly as her racing heart. “Oh, for goodness sake, I shall go out of my mind if I don’t soon discover what is happening.”

As though summoned by the strength of her feelings, the door flew open and Isaac stood there, looking uncharacteristically flustered, a chilling cast to his expression. Lord Torbay put his newspaper aside and stood up.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Franklin’s been taken,” Isaac replied.

Lady Eva gasped. “This is all my fault,” she said breathlessly, looking close to tears.

Isaac sent her a strained smile. “You had absolutely nothing to do with it.”

“What happened?” Jake asked.

“I was at the warehouse, just as you asked me to be. Woodstock had an appointment with an agent, but was late. The man we had watching Woodstock’s house sent a message to say he left with Stoneleigh and then came back again a short time later, presumably because he had forgotten something.”

“Of all the damnable luck.” Jake scowled as he considered the situation. “Was Franklin in a bad way?”

“He had been beaten, certainly,” Isaac replied.

“We were a little too clever. If we hadn’t set Woodstock against Stoneleigh, presumably he would have left for his appointment on time
and
had everything he needed with him.” Jake shook his head. “Still, what’s done is done.”

“We have to rescue Franklin,” Lady Eva said, an urgent edge to her voice.

“I am well aware of that.” Jake threw back his head and sighed. “Just give me a moment to think.”

Lady Eva tossed her curls. “If you raid the warehouse you might well recover Franklin and be in a position to arrest the Sikhs, but my husband and those using him will escape scot free. Still, Franklin’s welfare comes before my personal concerns.”

“She is right, Jake,” Olivia said softly. “You need to recover Franklin before they…well, you know what they will do to him.”

Isaac nodded. “If they keep him for long, he will talk eventually.”

Jake ground his jaw. “They won’t touch him until this evening.”

“You can’t know that,” Lady Eva said in an accusatory tone.

“People are coming and going all the time from that warehouse, in daylight hours at least,” Jake replied. “Matters are at a delicate stage with the theft and he won’t risk doing anything to draw attention to himself.”

“Whereas the area’s much quieter at night,” Isaac added, grimacing.

“We need to find whatever my husband has in his desk to condemn his partners in crime.” Lady Eva fixed Jake with a mulish glare. “The only way to achieve that ambition is for me to return to Sloane Street.”

“No!” Isaac said.

“Possibly,” Jake said at the same time.

Isaac glowered so ferociously that deep lines etched his forehead. “No, I won’t permit it, and I can’t believe you are even considering something so risky, Jake. There has to be another way.”

“There
is
no other way,” Lady Eva replied calmly. “And I’ll thank you to allow me to make the decision for myself, Lord Isaac. I have had quite enough of controlling gentlemen telling me how to behave, thank you very much.”