Heirs and Graces Read online

  ‘Mrs Mansell and her like will never permit that.’

  Olivia sighed. ‘Very likely not. Armitage probably has more money that a lot of impoverished gentlemen of our acquaintance but that, Mrs Mansell would tell you, does not…’

  ‘Make him a gentlemen,’ the two ladies said together, laughing.

  ‘Well, I had best get myself to Grosvenor Square and let Jake know how things went. I dare say he is wondering.’

  ‘How very tiresome for you,’ Eva replied, grinning.

  Chapter Three

  Fergus sensed Jake’s growing frustration at Mabel’s inability to string more than one or two coherent sentences together before breaking down and sobbing. His friend’s patience was about to be rewarded.

  ‘Tell his lordship when you last saw your father, Mabel,’ Fergus said.

  ‘It has been four days now, sir.’

  Jake frowned. ‘And you did nothing to raise the alarm sooner?’

  ‘I wasn’t worried when he didn’t come home the first night. His duties for Mr Armitage sometimes keep him away from home for a night or two at a time.’ Her brow furrowed. ‘He never normally goes off without telling me not to expect him home, though.’

  ‘What duties take him away, Mabel?’ Jake asked, an edge to his voice.

  ‘He never tells me, sir.’ She lowered her gaze to her folded hands. ‘I most likely wouldn’t understand even if he did. But this time I knew he had an engagement with Mr Armitage and Mr Henry at their solicitor’s office to sign the document. He went off in his best suit, full of determination. The last thing he did before he left the cottage was to tell me not to worry. We would be set up for life and my babe would want for nothing; them were his exact words. When he didn’t come back, I just thought at first that Mr Armitage had given him something else to do and that he had no way of letting me know.’

  Jake raised a brow, clearly sharing Fergus’s lack of faith in her trusting assumption. ‘Do you know which solicitor the Armitages used to draw up the agreement?’ Jake asked.

  Mabel shook her head. ‘No, sir, that’s not how it happened. Pa didn’t trust their people to do it right. He said they would only think of the Armitages so Pa went to someone else and had them draw it up. Then he gave it to Mr Armitage and Mr Armitage said they would sign it if their solicitor recommended that they should.’

  ‘Presumably they did so recommend, which would account for his engagement at their office.’

  Mabel merely shrugged and offered no opinion.

  ‘All right, Mabel.’ Jake stood, momentarily turning his back on Mabel and Fergus. The fire had died down, and Jake put a couple of stout logs onto it from the pile at the fireside and prodded the embers with an iron poker, coaxing new flames.

  Fergus watched as Jake clenched and unclenched his fingers in the rising warmth. ‘What have you done to try and find your father?’ Fergus asked.

  Reflection of the firelight sparkled on fresh tears as they ran down Mabel’s face. ‘I have asked everyone, been to the Glassworks and enquired there but no one has seen hide nor hair of him.’

  ‘Did you ask Armitage?’ Jake asked.

  ‘No, sir. He was not there both times when I asked. His clerk knew nothing of his appointment with his solicitor, or with my father. He couldn’t say if Pa was engaged on business for his employer either and told me to stop wasting his time.’ She sniffed. ‘No one else would talk to me. Not there and none of our neighbours, neither.’

  ‘Calm yourself, Mabel,’ Fergus said, ‘and tell his lordship what happened next.’

  A brief smile broke through her tears. ‘John Travis came to the cottage. I was right glad to see him because I thought…well, it doesn’t matter what I thought. It wasn’t me he came to see, though. He came because he’d heard about Pa’s disappearance. Everyone at the glassworks thought he had been sacked because of me. I knew it wasn’t true but I couldn’t tell John where he had really gone because I’d promised not to say. John was kind, but distant and I could see that he was still hurting. He’d warned me about Mr Henry, you see. He told me it wasn’t right, him and me being alone so much, but I refused to listen.’

  ‘Have you heard from John since?’ Jake asked.

  ‘No, sir. When Pa didn’t come back after three days, I was at my wits’ end. I didn’t know where to start looking for him. I took to knocking on neighbours’ doors, asking them. Most turned me away without a kind word, like I was a stranger. They’ve known me all their lives, and know Pa to be a good and decent man, too. They should have been worried about him but then again perhaps they blamed him when they didn’t get increased pay. Things have been a bit uncomfortable between him and our neighbours since then, I suppose.’ She looked up as though a thought had just occurred to her. ‘Maybe they did something to Pa. Tempers ran that high for a while and threats were made.’

  ‘I doubt it,’ Jake said.

  Fergus did too. But Armitage was another matter. He had been backed into a corner and his reputation would suffer if he signed any agreement. Mabel’s father had caused resentment, was probably considered a turncoat, and inciting disgruntled men into exacting revenge would not be too hard for Armitage to arrange. He hoped for Mabel’s sake that he was wrong, but the longer her father remained missing, the harder it would be to overlook the possibility.

  ‘Then Sally Bairstow cornered me.’

  ‘Sally Bairstow?’ Jake asked, sighing.

  ‘We worked together sorting the broken glass,’ Mabel explained. ‘She always had a fancy for John but he only ever had eyes for me. She was that jealous and never stopped flaunting herself in front of him or making spiteful remarks about me.’ Mabel huffed. ‘Well, now she’s got her way. She took great pleasure in telling me that she and John are walking out together now and that he wanted nothing more to do with me.’

  ‘I am sure that’s merely malice, or wishful thinking on her part,’ Fergus said.

  ‘No, sir. I must accept that I have no one but myself to blame for my situation. I’ll manage. Somehow. My only worry is for my pa.’

  ‘It must have been hard for you to continue searching for him when your neighbours were being so disobliging,’ Jake said. ‘Did it not occur to you to report him missing to the police?’

  ‘I was about to, m’lord, even though I feared they might tell me they’d pulled his body from the Thames. Still it would have been better to know. Then the day before yesterday, I was walking back to my cottage after dark when I saw two strange men come out of it. At first I was delighted. I thought Pa must have returned and they were acquaintances of his. But when I got home I soon realised my mistake. Everything had been thrown on the floor, especially in Pa’s room and—’

  Jake shared a glance with Fergus. ‘Do you have any idea what they were looking for?’ he asked.

  ‘No, sir. I thought they’d been sent by Armitage to remove anything Pa might have kept about the agreement. Not that he had kept papers, as far as I know. He said he’d left everything with the solicitor and it would be safer there.’

  ‘Quite so.’ Jake smiled at her. ‘You still did not go to the police. Why is that?’

  ‘Because I heard from one of the few neighbours still willing to speak to me that the two men who raided our cottage…well, I assume it was them, were asking where I could be found.’ She shuddered. ‘I was scared witless, thinking they wanted to get rid of me so that I couldn’t embarrass Mr Henry anymore. So I hid myself away that night in one of the sheds used for storage at the glassworks. I knew no one would look for me there. Then, in the morning, I went to the church school where his lordship’s sister helps.’ She nodded towards Fergus as she spoke. ‘She is a kind lady; the only person I could think of to tell about my troubles. She took me home with her last night, gave me a bed and told me she would do what she could to help. And now…well, here I am, although I can’t think why my problems are of interest to you gentlemen.’

  When it was clear that Mabel had told them all she knew, Jake rang the bell. Parker, a t
ough, loyal individual who fulfilled many roles besides discharging his duties as Jake’s butler, answered almost immediately.

  ‘Parker, entrust Mabel to Mrs Farley’s care,’ he said, referring to his housekeeper who was accustomed to Jake having unexpected guests from all walks of life and showed no curiosity about their reasons for being at Grosvenor Square. ‘Give her some tea and keep her safely below stairs until we decide what is to be done to find her missing father.’

  ‘Oh, sir, do you think you can?’ Her eyes lit up. ‘I should be ever so grateful. I could never forgive myself if something happened to him because of me.’

  ‘We shall do our very best.’

  ‘Come along then, Mabel,’ Parker said, not unkindly. ‘Let’s leave his lordship to mull over your problems.’

  ‘Well Jake, what do you make of all that?’ Fergus asked as soon as the door had closed behind Parker and Mabel.

  ‘What, indeed?’ Jake frowned. ‘Shame Lloyd has disappeared. Most disobliging of him. He could have proved useful to us inside Armitage’s organisation.’

  ‘Do you imagine he’s dead?’

  ‘I think there is little that Armitage would not do in order to protect his family’s reputation,’ Jake replied pensively. ‘However, I am unsure if he would resort to murder.’

  ‘But we cannot discount the possibility.’

  ‘No we cannot, but not because of a bastard. Killing the girl’s father will not prevent the baby’s birth.’

  ‘No, but it would prevent that document being signed.’

  ‘I’m not so sure about that.’ Jake paced as he considered the matter. ‘Beneath all those tears, Mabel is a tough little thing and would probably persevere with it for the baby’s sake; especially if the document has already been drawn up. She has shown great resourcefulness in recruiting your sister’s help. Never underestimate a mother’s determination to do right by her child.’

  Fergus gave a curt nod. ‘I certainly won’t.’

  ‘I wonder if Lloyd’s disappearance is connected to young Armitage’s indiscretion or has more to do with the reasons for our interest in his father.’

  Fergus’s eyebrows disappeared beneath his hairline. ‘How so?’

  ‘I can’t see that a man in Armitage’s position would voluntarily sign an agreement like that. There was no definitive proof that his son was responsible for Mabel’s condition.’

  ‘He would not be the first heartless blaggard to deny his responsibility and leave the disgraced girl to throw herself on the mercy of the parish.’

  ‘Precisely. So why even pretend to enter into the agreement?’ Jake didn’t pause for a response. ‘Mabel said something very telling in that regard, probably without realising its significance. She mentioned that her father knew plenty to Armitage’s disadvantage.’

  ‘You think Lloyd threatened to reveal what he knew if Armitage didn’t sign? And you imagine, I suppose, that whatever Lloyd does know would help with our particular enquiry?’

  ‘Yes, to both questions. Armitage is ruthless; we already know that. I cannot see him allowing one of his employees to threaten him.’

  ‘And the men at the cottage weren’t looking for the agreement, but for whatever Lloyd held against Armitage’s other activities?’

  ‘Almost certainly. An unsigned agreement would do Armitage no lasting harm. Not many people would take Lloyd’s word against a successful middle-class merchant of Armitage’s ilk. And the rumours would soon die down anyway.’

  ‘Ah, but what if they reached Cartwright’s ears?’

  ‘They would have done anyway if that agreement had been signed, which is one of the reasons why Armitage couldn’t possibly agree to it.’ Jake rubbed his chin. ‘You asked me if I thought Lloyd is still alive. I have no way of knowing but my instincts say that he is most likely being held against his will until such time as his daughter is driven from the district by her neighbours’ hostility—’

  ‘Hostility that the likes of Sally Bairstow would be happy to fuel in her jealousy and determination to have Mabel’s young man for herself.’

  ‘Quite. And since there was already resentment when Lloyd sided with the employers in the wage negotiations, his neighbours are most likely out for revenge. Armitage would know that, and he’s in a position to paint Mabel as a morally lax female who used her feminine wiles to entice Henry Armitage away from his marriage bed. He’s got the upper hand here. A word or two in the right ear is all it would take, rumours would spread faster than the pox in a whorehouse and Mabel would be ostracised—’

  ‘Leaving her child to be born in a workhouse, and poor little Mabel, so pretty and naïve, would be easy prey for a madam with an eye for a desperate girl.’

  ‘At least we can prevent that from happening,’ Jake said. His fingers tapped a rhythm on the wooden arm of the chair for a few seconds as he stared across the room. ‘There’s a desperation about this entire business that really worries me,’ he said, turning to face Fergus. ‘Lloyd must be kept quiet at all costs, or he could ruin Armitage’s ambitions.’

  ‘Not permanently quiet, I hope.’

  ‘I don’t think Armitage would go that far. But if he really is in league with the ruthless and ambitious people we think he is and if they find out about Lloyd…’ Jake allowed his words to trail off.

  ‘Quite.’ Fergus nodded grimly.

  ‘It ought not to surprise me that Mabel has been treated so shabbily. It is a common enough tale and really nothing to do with the assignment we have been entrusted with, but that doesn’t mean I will not try to redress the balance.’ Jake flashed a brief smile. ‘I have always had a weakness when it comes to fighting for the underdog, and Armitage will discover that for himself if I have my way.’

  ‘Then what are we to do next?’

  ‘We have only been working the case for a day and your little Mabel has unwittingly given us a few new avenues to traverse.’

  Fergus permitted his surprise to show. ‘She has?’

  There was a discreet knock. ‘Mrs Grantley’s here,’ Parker said from the doorway.

  ‘Show her in, Parker.’

  ‘Will do,’ Parker said with his customary lack of subservience.

  A smile sprang to Jake’s lips as Olivia swept into the room, looking delectable in a smart afternoon gown of blue twill. An elaborately decorated bonnet sat at a jaunty angle on top of her dark curls and a light, floral fragrance trailed in her wake.

  ‘Olivia. What a pleasant surprise.’ Jake lifted her gloved hand to his lips and was slow to release it again. Fergus wondered what his friend’s intentions were towards the beautiful widow. Enough society ladies had attempted to attract the highly eligible earl over the years. None had come close to engaging his interest—apart from Olivia. Whenever they were together the atmosphere vibrated with an awareness that made Fergus feel as though he was intruding. ‘You did not need to inconvenience yourself by coming here. I fully intended to call upon you.’

  ‘Good afternoon, Jake.’ She turned and smiled at Fergus, who had risen to greet her. ‘How are you, Fergus?’

  ‘Very well, Olivia. I trust you are also?’

  ‘Oh, never better, although I have exhausted myself by spending the afternoon working on Jake’s latest mysterious mission.’

  Jake’s lips quirked. ‘For a lady on the point of exhaustion you look remarkably robust.’

  ‘Your compliments are hardly…well, complimentary.’ Olivia sent him a chastising look. ‘Being described as robust makes me sound like a national monument. Just what a lady most wishes to hear.’

  ‘A national treasure would be a better description.’ Jake escorted her to the settee that Mabel had recently vacated, waited until she had settled her skirts to her satisfaction—no easy task given the ridiculous width of the crinolines that were so fashionable nowadays—and then resumed his own chair. Fergus re-seated himself also. ‘So, I assume you made Miss Armitage’s acquaintance.’

  ‘Naturally. It was hardly a difficult assignment and she, Eva
and I are now firm friends.’

  ‘Fast work, even by your standards,’ Jake replied, looking amused.

  ‘She is lonely and I felt sorry for her. Eva and I have decided to take her up, regardless of whether or not she can help with your investigation, the details of which you have yet to share with me, I might add. Anyway, Amelia is joining us on a visit to the bazaar in the morning.’

  ‘Besides enjoying shopping, which I could have predicted,’ Jake replied with an indolent smile, ‘what more can you tell me about her?’

  Fergus and Jake listened without interruption as Olivia succinctly related the salient facts of her meeting with Miss Armitage.

  ‘So,’ Jake said when she ran out of words. ‘Armitage wants his daughter to marry this Mason character. I don’t believe his name has come up in relation to our interest in Armitage’s so far. What do we know about him, Parker?’

  Parker shook his head. ‘Not a thing. I’ll make enquiries.’

  ‘Do that and also, have someone set to watch Lloyd’s cottage. If those oafs return looking for Mabel then I want them followed.’

  ‘I’ll make the necessary arrangements,’ Parker replied.

  ‘Who is Mabel?’ Olivia asked.

  Jake answered her question with one of his own. ‘You were left with the impression that your new friend is a dutiful daughter but does not much like her father or brother.’ He fixed Olivia with his entire attention; more attention that Fergus thought the question warranted. ‘Am I right?’

  ‘Yes. She especially does not care for her brother’s wife.’

  ‘And we do not care for her brother,’ Fergus said.

  He went on to tell Olivia the particulars of Mabel Lloyd’s predicament.

  ‘How very apt. The meeting you forced me to attend this afternoon, Jake, was called with the intention of saving the souls of fallen women of the lower classes and making them repent their lustful ways.’

  ‘Ha!’ Jake barked out a laugh. ‘They would prefer help of a more practical nature, I expect.’