Frederick’s shoulders inched toward his ears. He’d forgotten how long it took Lewis to tell a story. Forgotten just how frustrating a conversation with the man could be. “And?”
“And one of the gentleman I talked to wasn’t. A gentleman that is.” Lewis glanced about before leaning forward. “It was another woman in trou. A friend of the viscountess. This one’s hips didn’t fill out the trousers quite so much, so it was easier for her to pass herself off as a buck.”
Another member of the blackmail ring? It made sense that Lady Richford wouldn’t be the only woman of the group to pretend to be a man. The same reasons that made it appealing for the viscountess to go about London unattended would apply to another of the lot. So why hadn’t he considered it before?
“Do you know who it was?”
Lewis flapped his hand. “She gave me a false name. I knew as soon as she said it.” But he gave Frederick her description, and it wasn’t surprising.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
Lewis took off his navy cap and banged it against his thigh. “Well, the thing is, she asked me not to mention I’d seen her.”
“And?” He knew there was more. There always had been with Lewis.
“I didn’t ask for nothing, I swear. She offered. And, well, what she was offering was….” His blush was clear under the gas lamp. “A man don’t turn down what she was offering, but I knew it wasn’t looked on as quite proper for me as Runner, so….”
Frederick wanted to punch him. And kiss him. Because if Miss Abbott could convincingly appear as a man, then she no longer had an alibi. The doorman of the salon she’d attendedhadn’t seen a woman leave the premises at the time of the first murder, but he had seen men.
Putting his fingers to his lips, he whistled, hailing the cab down the street. “Thank you, Lewis. You may have saved an innocent life.”
It was time to bring Miss Abbott in for another conversation. And search her rooms. If he found male dress, he would have enough to convince even Sir John. Mrs. Lynton might be free by midnight.
Chapter Forty-Three
Eleanor
Lady Mary wasdevilish at tying knots. But with the threat to put a bullet in Eleanor’s face if the knots weren’t to Miss Abbott’s liking, Eleanor could hardly blame her friend.
Eleanor twisted her wrists, hoping to find a weakness in the bonds, but only managed to scrape her skin. “No one will believe I killed Lady Mary.” The muff she’d set on her lap when Miss Abbott had directed her to sit in this hard, wooden chair and put her arms behind her back for Lady Mary to tie slid to the side. Eleanor tucked both legs up to steady it.
Miss Abbott finished her own knot around Lady Mary’s wrists. They sat in the Great Room before the stage, two chairs pulled from their spots against the wall for them to sit in, the rest of the floor bare. Full night had fallen, and the only light came from the candle in the wall sconce that Miss Abbott had lit.
“I think they will.” Miss Abbott tied one of Lady Mary’s ankles to the chair leg, just as she’d had done to Eleanor, then stood. She plucked her reticule off the ground and slid her pistol inside. “Poor Miss Lynton had already suffered the loss of one beloved parent. She wasn’t going to allow her mother to be victimized by Lady Richford. Not when the viscountess had already caused her mother so much distress years ago.” She shrugged. “It’s perfectly believable.”
Lady Mary snorted. “Only to your deranged mind.”
Something warm trickled down Eleanor’s thumb. She swallowed, the back of her throat aching. Perhaps if she coveredher hands in blood she’d be able to make them slippery enough to escape her bonds. “It won’t work. I have an alibi for the night Bannister was killed. I was with someone, and he’ll know the truth.”
Even in these circumstances, Eleanor’s cheeks heated at her admission. It wasn’t from shame. No, now that she faced death, she could look at her actions with Frederick from a different perspective. Now when she knew the chances of ever seeing him again were slim, she knew that pushing him away had been foolish. He was a good man, forced to make a horrible choice between loyalty and duty. She had no regrets about the man she’d taken to her bed.
She only regretted having to bring up such an intimate matter to the woman who was going to kill her.
“Were you now, you jade?” Miss Abbott smiled slyly. “And here I thought you were ever so proper. But that does hinder my plan.” Pursing her lips, she hummed lightly. She looked for all the world as though she were debating what to have for supper, not how best to kill two more people.
Miss Abbott sighed. “I might not be able to blame you for the murders, but with you two gone, at least I’ll have time to sort my affairs before traveling to the Continent. Your mother should hang, and then, when talk of the killings has become but a memory, I can return. It isn’t optimal, but one must make the best choice from the options available.”
“You’ve never made the best choice,” Lady Mary said. “You’ve blackmailed and killed when the best choice would have been to walk away. You will be caught, because you’re too reckless to remain unnoticed for long.”
Miss Abbott bent over, placing her palms on Lady Mary’s thighs. “I’ll be gone. No one will catch me.”
“Maybe not for this crime, but there’ll be another.” Lady Mary tilted her head, a snowy strand of hair escaping its knot.“You’ve always pushed the bounds of society, and now you’ve transgressed the ultimate one. You’ve killed. And you liked it.”
Eleanor could see Lady Mary was right, that Miss Abbott would never be able to settle into a quiet life. She’d continue to hurt people, to wreak havoc, until she was eventually caught. She didn’t know if pointing that out to the woman, irritating her further, was smart in this particular moment, however.
Miss Abbott straightened. “You’ve already had one fire. One of those protesters who started it has come back to finish the job.” She lifted one shoulder. “It’s such a shame you two weren’t able to escape.”
And with one last smile, Miss Abbott strode to the wall, took the candlestick, and left the room.
