Anjali shrugged again. “That is what I told Effie, but she did not care. She is very, very angry—with all of them, even Lady Hathaway. No one in that house understands or cares about her feelings, so why should she care about theirs?”
“I deplore her actions, but I also comprehend them,” I told her. “It is diabolical to set out to create an atmosphere of disharmony, of actual malice, within a household. But that is more Mary Hathaway’s doing than Effie’s. Charles has permitted it, and Lady Hathaway is too old and infirm to make an objection, even if she wished.”
“I am not surprised you understand,” Anjali said. She met my gaze with her own, level and without judgment.
“Effie Hathaway has a far twistier mind than I suspected,” Harry said in a tone of grudging admiration.
“Effie knew suspicion would fall, but she must have known it would always fall hardest upon Anjali, Jonathan—that is, you, Harry—and herself. Lady Hathaway would have no cause to steal her own jewel, and Charles and Mary would never suspect one another. And by causing a search to take place, it would clear the rest of the staff, ensuring they were not touched by her revenge upon her family.”
“And I might have swung for it with no consideration from her,” Harry said, turning slightly green.
“Hanging, I am informed, is no longer the penalty in this country for theft,” the maharani said by way of consolation. “Have another seed cake,” she urged. He shoved it into his mouth, still looking darkly at Anjali. I was rather impressed by the ruthlessness of the plot, butnot surprised. There are few people on earth more capable of hatred than the female sex when caged.
“So, she plotted a course for restitution,” Stoker summed up.
I looked from the maharani to her grandchildren and shook my head. “It was indeed restitution for the theft committed so long ago, but this was about much more than that. I know you have the diamond and to you a wrong has been righted, but Effie was not driven by a desire to expiate the crimes of her family against yours. She has struck out against them as a tigress will turn on its tamer.” I addressed the maharani. “She does not seek to benefit you, Your Excellency. She seeks to woundthem.”
The maharani nodded. “Of course, this is true. But I also do not care.”
“You were content to take advantage of a young woman’s misery?” I asked sharply.
“Yes,” she said without apology. “I have what I wanted, what justice required. No blood was shed, so I consider that a victory, Miss Speedwell.” She turned to Anjali. “Finish the story, child.”
Anjali went on. “Effie took the diamond and wrapped it into a piece of oilcloth. She passed that to me and I went out to the summerhouse, where I was supposed to meet Bhairav to hand the jewel to him. It was essential this happen as quickly as possible because we did not know when Lady Hathaway would realize it had been stolen and the diamond must be out of the house before the cry was raised.”
“But before you could hand it over, I appeared,” I put in.
She smiled thinly. “I was not pleased to see you, Miss Speedwell.”
“Nor was I,” Lord Bhairav said in a fervent voice. “I tripped twice over those abominable robes trying to get away from you.”
Anjali picked up the thread of her narrative. “There was no time to think, so I shoved the jewel into the watering pot in the summerhouse and pretended to faint.”
“Why the watering pot?” Harry asked.
“Because if the Hall were searched and it were found there, it would implicate no one in particular,” Stoker guessed.
Anjali nodded. “It was an imperfect solution, but it was the best I could do under the circumstances. I had to stop Miss Speedwell from discovering Bhairav. Feigning unconsciousness would delay her pursuit of him and allow him time to get away, but there was no place to conceal the diamond on my person. If she found it, all would be lost.”
“The best of a bad situation,” Stoker agreed.
“How did the orb vanish?” I asked.
He grinned. “I shoved it into my robes to conceal the light until I was on the far side of a boulder. Then I hurried away, back to the safety of Nanny Burnham’s cottage. I dressed in my own clothes and was waiting for some message from Anjali. Nanny Burnham’s cat came in with a shrew, a messy thing,” he added with a moue of distaste. “I took it outside to throw it in the midden when I saw a figure in the moonlight, crossing the moor. It was the man calling himself Jonathan Hathaway,” he said with a gesture towards Harry. “I thought it curious he would be out so late, and I followed him. He went to the station and caught the first train to London. I did also, although I cannot say I was driven by anything other than instinct. He acted furtive, suspicious. And I wondered if he had something to do with the reason Anjali had not been able to hand over the jewel. I was prepared to follow him and see where he went, but no sooner had he alighted in London than he was taken, abducted really, by a tall man with very blond hair and a woman in a veil.”
“We are familiar,” Stoker said dryly.
“You saw them snatch me and did nothing to help?” Harry demanded. “I was kidnapped, you know. A rescue would not have gone amiss, my good fellow.”
Lord Bhairav gave him a lofty look. “It is not my purpose to involvemyself in the domestic matters of Englishmen. Besides, they were suspicious and very watchful. I had to keep well back so they did not see me, and in my efforts to remain discreet, I lost them. I returned here and sent a telegram to Nanny Burnham for Anjali to collect. We used a sort of code, and through that Anjali was able to respond.”
His sister picked up the story. “It was Effie who hit upon the idea of how to get the diamond out of the house by secreting it in the orrery. I found your address on the letter in Charles Hathaway’s desk and cabled it here to Bhairav with instructions to retrieve it as soon as you had returned to London. Which he almost did,” she added, a touch of asperity spicing her words.
Her brother flared. “I would have managed it if it were not for the dogs,” he protested. “So many dogs.”
“There are rather a lot,” I consoled him.
“When he failed to retrieve it,” Anjali went on, “I decided to come myself. I thought I could pay a call upon you and perhaps manage to take it. I would have thought of something.”
