Mr. Crampton sat back down. “Oh, come now, Byron. You know that whatever passed between you and I, it was orchestrated by him. You remember how that all went. He was there. He moved us about, made us do whatever it was he wished. He ran all of it like it was a personal show for him. You know what he is like.”
Byron furrowed his brow. “Wait a moment. You’re going to claim that your valet forced you—”
“That is exactly what happened,” said Mr. Crampton.
Byron got up from his chair. “No.”
“Yes, when I was at Cambridge,” said Crampton. “When I was barely sixteen. He and I were away from home for the first time. He was nearly the same age. He was stronger than me. He said that if I told anyone, it would destroy me along with him, and so I went along with it. And then, he was never satisfied. I had to bring in others, like you, like Beaumont—”
“And you didn’t want to doanyof that?” said Byron.
“Well, no,” said Crampton. “What are you saying? None of us did.”
Byron coughed and sat down on the couch. “Erm, where is Mr. Lovell?”
Jane was not at all sure how to handle this last revelation, though she supposed it all made sense. If men could ravish women, they could ravish other men. She had not thought it all through before, but she could see that it was possible.
“Do you wish me to ring for him?” said Mr. Crampton, a bit sarcastic.
“In a moment,” said Byron, whose tone had gone quite somber. “Let us get this all clear first of all. You said that Mr. Hardy blackmailed Mr. Lovell.”
“Yes, I think he saw clearly who was the person in charge,” muttered Mr. Crampton, sitting down. “But it was my resources he wished to get his hands on. This was when I became associated with Anne, in fact. She said that Mr. Hardy did these things for her and that she didn’t like them, but she could not help but benefit from them. She said that Mr. Hardy was in love with her and she was not in love back. And she said that she seemed to be cursed to fall in love with men who only loved other men.”
“Yes, does seem that way,” said Jane.
“No,” said Crampton. “Well, that is, I would have loved her, if I was free to do so, but I had to keep it secret from Mr. Lovell, or he would retaliate. He has it in his head that he and I are some epic love story or something. He is very jealous.”
“You’re being puppeted by your valet,” said Byron. “For years now, since boyhood?”
Crampton glared at him. “I’m not a puppet.”
“No, no, it’s only… that’s monstrous,” said Byron. “I’m ever so sorry.”
Crampton’s face fell. He had not been expecting the kind words, and they seemed to affect him badly. His face twisted for a moment, and then he got control of himself. He looked at them both. “I cannot be rid of him.”
“Well, if he was a murderer, he’d be hung, would he not?” said Byron, looking cheerful. “So, then, how did he react to the blackmail?”
“Oh, what did he care?” said Crampton. “He didn’t have to pay. It was I who was the one paying the price.”
“Oh,” said Byron, making a face. “Well, that means he didn’t have much of a reason to do it then, doesn’t it?”
“You are positing,” said Crampton, “that Mr. Lovell attempted to poison Mr. Hardy?”
“Yes,” said Byron.
“He didn’t. He couldn’t have. He was not there,” said Mr. Crampton. “I was there that night, and he was not, and this was all by design. There was a reason I went to that tavern, and it was because he didn’t like it and would not follow me there. I had to be shut of him sometimes.”
“Oh,” said Byron, quite deflated.
“Are you certain?” said Jane. “You’re positive he couldn’t have been there without your knowing about it?”
“Fairly positive,” said Mr. Crampton. “If Mr. Lovell had known where I was, he would have had something to say about it. As it was, he seemed to believe my lies that I was elsewhere whenever I was at that tavern.”
“Well, then,” said Lord Byron.
“Well, then,” said Jane.
It was quiet for some time.
