Mrs. Jennings nodded and rushed away.
“Marianne, my love, you and Lord Riversmead must call the authorities. The constabulary need to begin questioning and investigating this abduction. Someone must have seen something.”
He turned to Marcus and Colin. “I suggest you get your weapons in case we need them, and the three of us go to Sir Jonathan’s house.
“What about Lady Cressida?” asked Jocelyn. “Could Olivia be there?”
“I suspect not,” continued Lord Leighton. “She is most probably the brains behind this scheme, but she would be careful to distance herself from an abduction. Lady Cressida is far too clever to risk being caught by the authorities.”
“I’d like to see her thrown into Bridewell Prison, with the keys thrown into the River Thames. She has purposefully maligned Olivia and worked to ruin her reputation. She is like an evilpuppeteer, pulling the strings in secret, confident that no one will ever prove her involvement,” said Jocelyn.
“You’re right, my dear,” said Lord Riversmead. “But for now we need to concentrate on finding Olivia. I agree that it is most likely she is held by Sir Jonathan at Lancaster Crescent.” He stood and asked Mrs. Jennings to send his valet downstairs with his outdoor hat, coat and pistol.
“I believe I am the one most likely to gain entry to the house in Lancaster Crescent. I’ve known Jonathan since he was a lad,” said Lord Riversmead. “Never liked him, as he wasn’t kind to his dogs, but the fact remains that I can gain entry with the excuse of that letter.” He pointed at the letter where Olivia purportedly claimed she loved Sir Jonathan. “That letter gives me the perfect excuse to call and ask if he has my niece staying with him.”
He paused. “He won’t want to let me in. However, under the circumstances I believe he has little choice. If he refuses me entry, then it looks as though he has something to hide.”
He looked towards Lord Leighton. “I’d be glad of your company my boy. I could go alone, but I’d like someone with me.”
Lord Leighton nodded in agreement.
“While we talk with Sir Jonathan, my suggestion is that you enter the house via the kitchen back door, Marcus,” he continued. “Take two men with you. In fact, if you take Cookwith you, I suspect you may even be invited in for lard cake and tea,” he added with a smile.
“I believe it might work, by jove,” said Marcus. “Come Colin, we have much to do and no time to lose.”
***
Everything proceeded like clockwork. At the end of a long day, they gathered together at Swanbourne House, and compared their stories.
Lord Riversmead started with his account. “When we knocked on the door a somewhat surprised Sir Jonathan greeted us. We shared the contents of the letter from Olivia, telling how she had ended her engagement to the Earl of Hatfield as she loved Sir Jonathan.
“He responded by saying he was surprised and had not seen Olivia. He then added with, I might say, suave confidence, that he had offered her marriage recently, but she had turned him down.
“I told him I was perplexed. It is as though she has disappeared from the face of the earth.”
Lord Leighton then joined in. “I told him we’d alerted the constabulary as I sensed that Jonathan was starting to showsigns of being in a state of panic. I said we were now working on identifying a carriage seen close by the park.”
Lord Riversmead continued the story. “We kept him talking and it became clear he had already been drinking heavily. Then we heard voices in the hall and contained him in his study while you searched the house, Marcus.”
Marcus looked at the earl with admiration. “You look quite fearsome with a pistol sir. You had him pinned in that chair, with sweat pouring from his body.”
“It was a pleasure to hand him over to the law,” said Lord Riversmead. “I never expected to be wielding that pistol again.”
“Again?” queried Jocelyn.
“That’s a story for another day. For now, let’s hear Lord Hatfield’s story,” he replied with a grin.
“You were quite right in assuming the Cook, Mrs. Bolton would let us in. It seems she is a distant relative of Mrs. Maltby, your cook. We were all invited in, though I think there was some surprise at two Lords and two footmen joining her in her kitchen,” said Marcus.
“Our job was made easier because Mrs. Bolton told Mrs. Maltby all about the house being at sixes and sevens, with the younglady being kept locked in the guest bedroom on the first floor,” added Colin. “And by the way I do believe one of us should offer Mrs. Bolton a position, as her apple pie is the best I’ve ever eaten.”
“Colin, you’ve wandered off the point, but you are quite right about the pie,” said Marcus. He continued with the story.
“We soon discovered that Mrs. Bolton did not like her employer and was preparing to leave, hoping in fact, that there might be employment at the newly re-opened Silverton Hall.”
“She thought something was amiss with the young lady, who had arrived unexpectedly that morning and was locked in a bedchamber. Mrs. Bolton had already sent one of the scullery maids to fetch a constable. Who arrived soon after we had located Olivia.”
“And took Sir Jonathan away for questioning. He protested his innocence as they loaded him into the prison wagon,” said Lord Riversmead with a smile.
