“Do not be horrid, Newby,” she said, gently tapping his hand. “Gideon has been trying so hard.”
“I believe he thought I was raving mad,” said Gideon slowly.
“Sensible man. And are you now convinced, twin?”
Frowning, Gideon hesitated. “I’ll own that at first I thought Papa’s nerves were overset and he was at the brink of a breakdown. But now…” He wandered to the window again, and muttered, “Jupiter, but there’ssomething,I think.”
Newby covered his eyes and groaned.
Gideon turned back. “I was able to discover the direction of two of the men who had worked up at Merseyside. They both—both,Newby!—said they were convinced the fire was arson, and that the foreman was of the same mind.”
“Which the official investigators say is nonsensical and cannot be proved.”
“It could be proven were we to find the men who set the fire!”
“Dearest,” put in Gwendolyn. “Do you reallybelievea conspiracy?”
“Not exactly, love. Yet—I cannot but wonder why so many people I have tried to talk with are so frightened.”
“Heaven protect us all,” moaned Newby. “My dear clod, they are notfrightenedof you! Theydespiseyou! They do not wish to be seen conversing with you! Can you not understand yet? We are—untouchables! All of us!”
“I did not say they were frightened ofme.I said they were frightened. Lady Norberly, for instance.”
“Good Gad! You called on that dragon? She did not receive you, I’ll warrant!”
“I think she would not have done, save that I chanced to arrive just as she was leaving the house. She vowed she has no least notion where his lordship may be, only that he travels in Scotland. Or perhaps Wales. She was trembling. And when I tried to speak again, she became loudly abusive. Her servants all but knocked me down.”
With an exclamation of impatience Newby sprang to his feet. “Which has nothing to say to the purpose! Plague take it, where’s the use in raking over old coals now? Shall we be any less ruined an you do track down that embezzling rogue, Davies? Are we any less to blame because we had overextended ourselves on what proved fraudulent foreign investments? ’Twas my father’sresponsibility,no matter how you seek to wrap it in clean linen! Since the enquiries, I have done all in my power to quiet things down! Now,youmust come home and start stirring coals and throwing everyone into an uproar again! The last thing we need is for the whole beastly mess to flare up once more. Let be! ’Tis done and over with and nothing can undo it. Let italone,I say, else there is no telling where it may end!”
Gideon looked into that flushed and angry face and persisted, “You were here, twin, and I was not. Is therenothingyou judge to have been peculiar? Nothing that struck you as contrived or that might be worth looking into?”
Breathing hard, Newby answered, “Yes, there is something worth looking into! The conserving of what resources we have left. My father is, even now, not without some friends. We could ship our belongings quietly and be out of the country ere anyone could detain us. He and his men of the law have been able to stave off the Courts for the time, but how long can we hope to delay the inevitable? If you have any influence at all, my valiant captain, you had best exert it to convince him to emigrate. Do youyearnto see my sister living in Newgate? Well, I do not! Nor do I mean to stand idly by while you compound his blunders! Conspiracy, indeed! My God—what folly!”
He strode rapidly to the door, then turned about. “I forgot. You’ve a caller, I believe. Best see him. Such events are rare in this house.”
***
Viscount Horatio Glendenning was seated in Gideon’s small parlour, in close converse with Tummet. A very different Tummet this, his wig sleek, his person immaculate in a neat black habit that lent him a dignity somewhat at variance with his craggy face and discoloured eye.
“How good of you to come, Tio,” said Gideon, walking into the room and shaking hands with his friend. “What has this rogue been telling you?”
“Incidents from his extreme checkered career,” said the viscount with a grin. “If all else fails, Ross, you can write ’em down, put your sheets between marble covers, and make a fortune!”
“Oh, yes. I could entitle it, ‘Diary of a Skinner of Whales.’” And as his lordship stared uncertainly, Rossiter smiled and translated, “That’s ‘Spinner of Tales’ to you, old lad. What, has he not favoured you with his rhyming cant yet? Sometimes, ’tis the only way I can be sure he’s my man, and not some bishop who has chanced to wander into my rooms.”
The fledgling valet said an amused, “Garn! You staying ’ere fer a bit, Cap’n?”
“Yes. Bring cognac to the balcony if you please. One thing this house offers is a view, Tio. And ’tis a pretty day.”
“Pretty rare,” said Glendenning. “You’ll not need an umbrella do you plan to accompany me to the Dowling Soiree this evening.”
Rossiter glanced at him in surprise. “My thanks, but I’ve no least wish to do so. You cannot have thought I had been invited?”
“No, but I have, my Tulip. And you’ve been complaining that you’re unable to come up with Bracksby. I chance to know he’ll be there.”
Lowering himself into one of the wooden chairs on the small balcony, Rossiter said quizzically, “My presence would not help your standing with theton,you know. Any more than will my attendance at your ball.”
“Very true. You’re a dirty dish if ever there was one. But I shall contrive to bear it. Yea, or nay, Ross?”
