Sally James (10 page)

Her adopted indifference was shattered one evening, however. They had met at a musical evening and during the interval he had found a seat beside her, chatting about their fellow guests and trying to persuade her to drive out to Richmond with him.

‘I will arrange a large party if you cannot feel safe alone with me,’ he said, laughing down at her, and despite herself she blushed.

‘Thank you, my lord, but no,’ she answered quietly. ‘Who is that just come in with Richard?’ she asked to distract his attention.

He lifted his quizzing glass and Susannah noticed it was set with emeralds, matching the ring he wore. Then she looked closer and almost lifted her hand to take it from him. On the handle was an engraving of a large animal, undoubtedly an elephant. She forced herself to be calm while she tried to recall the description of the jewels she had copied out for Julian. Yes, there was such a quizzing glass described and now she remembered. It had an African elephant on it and the handle unscrewed.

‘Archie Campbell,’ he answered turning back to her and letting the glass fall, caught by the green velvet ribbon threaded through the small ring at the end of the handle.

‘That is an unusual glass, is it not?’ Susannah asked, her fingers itching to seize it and examine it more closely.

Lord Chalford glanced down at it and carelessly twirled it in his hands. ‘I suppose so.’

‘Is that an elephant on the handle?’ Susannah persevered.

‘Yes. An odd choice for a slender handle,’ he replied.

‘I once saw one like it which came from India,’ she said.

‘I believe this one did,’ he replied. ‘My mother gave it to me and I think some friend brought it back from there.’

Richard had by now made his way across to them and Susannah had to abandon the subject. She was seething with excitement for the rest of the evening and could scarcely wait to bid her aunt goodnight before dragging Amanda into her bedroom and pouring out the astonishing discovery into her ears.

‘I did not see it clearly, but I am convinced it was an African elephant!’

‘Perhaps there are many of them,’ Amanda suggested doubtfully.

‘There may be, but if it unscrews and there is an ivory toothpick and it has the right initials on it we can be certain it is the same one,’ she replied. ‘Oh, what were those initials? Thank heaven Julian is coming up to town next week and we can see that list.’

‘But how are we to see the initials?’ Amanda asked practically. ‘You cannot simply ask to examine it, for if it is the one Julian’s father had, and he knows that, he would become suspicious.’

‘I know, but I must think of some way. I have never seen it before, - so probably he does not wear it often. It would be chancy to depend on seeing it while he is wearing it, as well as alerting him that we are suspicious. But could he have stolen them? It was more than twenty years ago when Julian’s father died, he could not have been at that party!’

‘His father might have been there,’ Amanda suggested.

‘Or - ‘ Susannah paused, unwilling to voice the suspicion that had come to her.

‘Or what? How else could he have obtained them?’

‘He might have discovered the hiding place at Horder Grange,’ she said slowly. ‘He has been there frequently of late and stayed there. It is possible that he stumbled on the jewels accidentally and did not tell Julian!’

‘I wonder if he has any of the other jewels? That would be more definite proof,’ Amanda suggested.

‘We must find out, Amanda! The only way will be to search his house.’

‘Susannah! That would be impossible!’

Susannah paid no attention.

‘They might be at Monkswood,’ she said to herself. ‘No, if he has the quizzing glass here, and he does possess any of the other jewels, they are more likely to be in town where he will need them. Somehow I must find a way to get into his house and search for them!’

Chapter Six

Susannah considered for a long time before coming to the conclusion that the best way of gaining surreptitious entry into Lord Chalford’s town house, in Grosvenor Square, was to become friendly with one of the inhabitants. The notion of once again playing the serving maid came to her and she laid her plans accordingly.

‘Aunt Sarah never comes out of her room until noon after a party,’ she explained to Amanda. ‘I shall borrow a dress from Jane and use my old cloak and see whether I can contrive a meeting with one of his own maids. Early morning should be the best time, before many people are about, and you must cover for me here, saying I have gone to do some urgent shopping, or something of that nature, if anyone should miss me.’

‘What if anyone recognizes you, hanging about outside his house?’ Amanda demanded. ‘It would look decidedly peculiar, especially since you appear to reject all his advances! Would it not be better for us to call on him on some pretext and gain entry into the house that way?’

Susannah shook her head.

‘No, for then there would be footmen and butlers about, and how could I make an excuse to go up to his bedroom? No one notices a maidservant, if she is quiet and unobtrusive. I dare say even if Lord Chalford himself caught sight of me at a distance in his own house he would not look twice, or recognize me.’

Amanda had her doubts on that score, but she could see Susannah was determined, and as she had no better alternative to offer she shrugged and reluctantly promised to do what she could to aid her cousin. Susannah therefore set off on the following morning, garbed in a severe black gown and shabby, but once elegant, grey cloak, to hover near Lord Chalford’s house and observe the habits of his servants.

Within three days she realized that one maid, a little older than she, seemed always to go off with a large basket towards Piccadilly and return with meat and other provisions. Susannah cautiously followed to find the girl busy haggling with butchers in Newport Market. On the following day she herself took a basket and bought some meat, then managed it so that she collided with Lord Chalford’s maid as they were both turning back towards Grosvenor Square.

Smiling, apologizing, anxiously making sure nothing had been spilled from either basket, Susannah began to walk with the other and expressed surprise when she discovered their way lay together. She was soon encouraging Polly, homesick for her large family in Shropshire, to tell her all about her work and her hopes that Benjamin, the second footman, would soon offer a more tangible proof of his admiration than the approving smiles he had so far bestowed upon her.

‘He’s so handsome!’ Polly enthused and Susannah sourly wondered if all females were swayed by good looks.

‘Does he favour any of the others?’ she asked idly.

‘Well, he do smile at Betsy,’ Polly confessed. ‘Trouble is, Betsy spends all her wages on herself and always has new ribbons and can make her dresses look different with just a new frill, if you know what I mean. I have to send most of my money home.’

Susannah nodded, quick with sympathy. However much she might privately deplore that fine clothes should make no difference to a person’s chances, she had to accept that in most cases they played a very important role. She had already explained her own comparatively well dressed appearance, even though she was wearing one of Jane’s gowns, by saying she was a lady’s maid and had many cast-off garments given to her. The exchange had given her an idea, however, and she cultivated Polly’s friendship, making sure she met her every morning and often volunteering to carry some of Polly’s purchases in her own much lighter basket. So she penetrated to the kitchen, using the excuse of unloading her basket, and made friends there with the cook, a friendly woman who began to offer her a mug of ale when she appeared with Polly, who was supposed to eat her own breakfast after doing the marketing.

Within a week she was familiar with the routine of the house and that Polly normally spent the afternoons in the linen room, folding and putting away the dry linen and mending anything that was torn, for she was neat with her needle.

The next step was to discover when Lord Chalford would be safely away from the house. Julian, back in town, innocently supplied her with this information when he announced he was going with Everard on the following afternoon to attend a prize fight near Barnet. Susannah had already borrowed the list of jewels from him and studied it carefully so that she would be able to recognize any more of the pieces she might discover in Lord Chalford’s house.

It was more difficult to leave the house during the afternoon, but Susannah ostensibly went shopping with Jane, Amanda obligingly saying she wished to lie down in her room to recover from a headache. Evading Aunt Sarah, who would, had she seen Susannah, have demanded to know what her niece was thinking of by dressing so shabbily, the two girls went swiftly towards Grosvenor Square. Jane went on to make the trifling purchases which were the excuse for the shopping and Susannah, clutching a small parcel, nervously approached the kitchen of Lord Chalford’s house.

‘Why, Susi, my dear, it’s an odd time to see you!’ the cook greeted her and Susannah smiled and held up the parcel.

‘I’ve a holiday,’ she explained. ‘My mistress gave me this gown and it’s not really a colour that becomes me, so I thought Polly might like it. I know she feels dowdy beside Betsy,’ she added carelessly and Cook, with whom Betsy was no favourite, snorted.

‘If that girl paid as much attention to her dusting as she does to her clothes, she’d be worth her money!’ she exclaimed.

‘May I take this up to Polly? She’ll be in the linen room, I expect,’ Susannah ventured and held her breath anxiously until this hurdle was passed.

To her relief Cook nodded casually and beyond telling her it was on the left at the top of the third flight of stairs, took no more notice of her. Susannah thankfully slipped through the door and up the back stairs.

She had discovered which was Lord Chalford’s room from questions to Polly and was able to make her way there immediately, unobserved. Quietly she closed the door and looked about her. It was a luxuriously appointed room, dominated by a vast mahogany bed with elegant pale grey draperies. A large dressing table was placed near one of the windows, which were curtained with the same grey silk as the bed, and Susannah stole across to it. She tried several of the drawers and soon found what she was looking for. A collection of fobs, pins, snuff boxes, quizzing glasses and even rings lay in cluttered profusion in one of the shallow drawers. The quizzing glass she sought was soon found and she picked it up, suddenly reluctant to test her suspicions.

Shaking herself, she examined it carefully. It was undoubtedly an African elephant, with larger ears than those found in India. Slowly she twisted the handle and it came to pieces in her hands, revealing the ivory toothpick described in Julian’s list. It scarcely needed a look to confirm that the initials JK were there, as she expected, on the base.

Thoughtfully she screwed the handle together again and replaced the quizzing glass in the drawer. Then she began turning over the other items contained in it, looking for anything which resembled the ones in Julian’s lost inheritance and finding, with rather mixed feelings, that she recognized nothing. She wanted, for Julian’s sake, to discover the jewels and the quizzing glass was the only clue they had. Yet while she told herself fiercely she believed anything bad of Lord Chalford, a small voice was protesting that even if he were found in possession of the jewels he need not have stolen them and he could not have been old enough to have done so at the fatal party. He might be genuinely ignorant of where they had been obtained, even if his own father had committed the crime. Amidst this confusion she found herself angry with Lord Chalford for the careless way he left quite valuable jewels, and the ring she was examining must have been worth a small fortune, in an unlocked drawer.

‘That is not the betrothal ring of the Chalfords,’ a quiet voice informed her and Susannah spun round, appalled, to see Lord Chalford step softly into the room and close the door behind him. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?’ he asked, moving towards her slowly, a curious look on his face.

Susannah took a deep breath, turned and quietly laid the ring back in the drawer, noticing that, strangely, her hand did not tremble. A wild impulse to confess the whole to him and demand his assistance came to her, to be immediately dismissed. Who would ever believe so fantastic a reason for her presence? Yet what other excuse could she give?

‘Betrothal ring?’ she asked breathlessly, desperately trying to think.

He smiled and, as a rabbit watches a stoat, she stood still as he walked to within half a yard of her.

‘Those are trumpery baubles,’ he said, flicking the drawer shut. ‘My valuable jewels are locked up, including the ring we use on the betrothal of the head of the family. Would you care to see it?’

She shook her head.

‘It does not interest me, my lord. I must beg your pardon for intruding. It - it is unpardonable of me, perhaps, yet when I found myself here, I fear I succumbed to feminine curiosity about - about your house!’ she explained, hating herself for painting so despicable a portrait of her actions.

‘Ah, yes, how did you happen to find yourself here, where I have so often longed for you to be, and in such a deplorable gown?’ he asked softly and Susannah realized, blushing fiercely at his words, that if she were to protect his servants from charges of carelessness, or even dismissal, she had to tell some of the truth.

‘My masquerade as Julian’s servant intrigued me,’ she said with attempted frivolity. ‘I have amused myself by doing some of my aunt’s marketing and talking with the maidservants I encountered. I met one of yours, although,’ she explained mendaciously, ‘I did not realize until today that she worked for you. I became sorry for her, since she sends all her wages home and never has pretty dresses, and so I brought her this,’ she pointed to the parcel which she had laid on a chair. ‘It is one of my old gowns, although I pretended, for you gave me the notion, that I was a lady’s maid and it belonged to my mistress. I was going up to the linen room when, as I said, I thought I might peep into some of the rooms. I was attracted by this table, with the drawers that open on springs, and so, that is all, my lord!’