He pulled a chair very close to hers, again so eavesdroppers might not overhear. Their knees almost touched. She found it very difficult to deny the power of this man’s presence with him so close that he wrapped her in it. There was something compelling about him, as if he intruded on her spirit somehow. How inappropriate, outrageous even, to react to him that way, when he would play such a horrible role in her life.
“Your father had become involved in something that may be far bigger than he knows,” he said. “I have cause to believe that the government has taken an interest in him, and in that bad money they found in his rooms on Wigmore Street, and in his associates. If so, someone thinks this is not a simple crime, but part of a conspiracy.”
The wordconspiracysent a chill down her spine. The word got bandied about a lot these days, since the end of the war caused disruptions in the economy that had sent workers into the streets, and given leave to radicals to restart their campaigns for major changes in society and politics. Ever fearful of the upheavals such unrest can cause, the government had passed laws to make conspiracy harder to concoct.
“He is not political,” she said.
“He does not have to be if his associates are.”
“Who are these associates? Is that known?”
“They expect to learn that from him. However, right now, there is curiosity about one associate who has recently come to light. You.”
Another chill.
“You showed up after almost a month. You visit him daily. You bring him books and paper. What does he in turn give to you? What do you say to him? Such are the questions being asked. The gaoler even questioned if you are really his daughter.”
“Who else would I be?”
“An accomplice.”
“That is insulting.”
“See it with their eyes. You must stop going to Newgate. You have done your duty as his daughter. His lawyer will do the rest.”
“I cannot do that.”
“You must.” His demeanor showed he expected obedience.
She owed him none, but she did not want him to think her foolhardy either. She would explain herself once, but no more than that, so perhaps he would understand she did not reject his advice due to mere stubbornness.
“You said there were claims on you. Well, there are some on me too. I also have duties, and one is to make sure my father is not left to his own poor devices. I promised my mother I would. She did not mean I should make sure his shirts were clean or his cravat properly tied, I realize now. She meant watching over him if something like this happened. Papa’s head remains in his numbers and abstractions. He will prove hapless on his own in such a complication of suspicions and conspiracies.”
He appeared to understand, but he did not like it. He gazed at her much as a strict tutor might look at a student who offered a good reason the lessons had not been done. Acknowledging the excuse was valid did not solve the problem of lessons not learned.
“Promise me at least that you will not return to Newgate,” he said. “If you send food to the gaoler’s office, it will be brought to your father. I will make the arrangements.”
She wished he would stop helping her. Did he not see a contradiction in doing things like this when he fully intended to lower the wrath of justice on the same man?
“I cannot promise. However, I will not return unless I believe it to be necessary that I do.” She lost little ground in agreeing to this. Her father did not want her there, and refused to speak to her. Perhaps Mr. Notley would have more success.
Ives smiled. He appeared pleased. She could not understand why. He glanced around the chamber, and it was as if his gaze penetrated the walls and saw the rest of the building too. “Do you teach here?”
“I do.”
“Which subjects?”
“Mathematics and natural science, although I can cover most everything else taught here too.”
“Mrs. Ludlow is lucky to have you.”
Padua had to laugh. “I do not think she would always agree. I am, however, useful and inexpensive. If I left she would have to replace me, which for mathematics most likely means having to pay a man much more.”
“Did your father school you in mathematics?”
“Everyone assumes that, but he did not. My mother did.”
She enjoyed people’s surprise when she said that. Ives was no different. Curiosity entered his eyes.
