Read A Bright Particular Star Online

Authors: Elizabeth Hanbury

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
.

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