Mrs. Grimshaw had staggered back. “I… I swear I had no idea.”
He rose. “I hope you understand that I must take this to the king.”
“Yes…of course,” she swallowed. “Lord Brookwood entrusted me with the package, Lord Montsimon. I would most certainly have given it to Lady Brookwood had I known. Surely she must be told of it?”
“I’ll go to her now.” Flynn searched Mrs. Grimshaw’s startled eyes. Wouldn’t curiosity have driven her to discover what lay inside the package?
He wrapped up the diamond and slipped it into his pocket. Not liking Mrs. Grimshaw’s pallor, he took her by the elbow and assisted her into a chair. “Have you brandy?”
She shook her head. “There’s madeira,” she said faintly, gesturing to a cupboard. Flynn located a bottle and poured her a goodly amount. He sat with her while she drank.
“Brookwood must have been a good friend to leave this in your care,” he said, discovering he pitied her.
“I’m sure you wonder at our relationship, my lord. Lady Brookwood is quite lovely, and I am certainly no beauty. But Brookwood liked to talk to me. Said I reminded him of his mother.”
Flynn nodded. She was right. He didn’t understand, but that hardly mattered.
“I should not have encouraged him, but I was lonely after my husband died, and as he said, Lady Brookwood was cold….” She looked wistful. “Before he died, we talked of leaving England and settling in another land.”
He tightened his lips in a rush of anger. Althea cold? He thought of that morning in Slough before the maid came in and disturbed them. No, Althea was not cold, but something had happened to make her fearful of intimacy. He intended to find out.
Flynn left the house, conscious of the weighty diamond in his pocket. The luster, size, and deep blue color of the jewel pointed to one thing, thele bleu de France. Hence, the thieves’ code-name,tricoleur.The jewel was once part of the French crown jewels. Rumor had it that it had been stolen by the revolutionary leader, Georges Danton, during the Revolution, to be used to bribe Queen Caroline’s father, Karl Wilhelm of Brunswick. When Karl Wilhelm had fled to England to escape Napoleon in 1806, he was believed to have brought the jewel to London. At last, Flynn could begin to fit the pieces together and understand the king’s intense interest. He looked forward to learning more from King George when he returned from Brighton. In the meantime, Althea, more than anyone else, deserved to see this magnificent diamond, for it was the reason her life had been turned upside down.
He entered the street where his carriage waited. Althea was in for quite a surprise, he mused, as he climbed inside.
“Flynn!” Althea, delectable in a gown of soft lilac hues, hurried to greet him in the drawing room. “I’ve been on tenterhooks! Did you find Mrs. Grimshaw?”
“You’d best sit down,” Flynn advised. He took the jewel case from his pocket and handed it to her. “This is what Brookwood had in his possession. Not surprising that Crowthorne was so intent on finding it.”
With a questioning glance, Althea settled on the sofa. She opened the box. When she raised her head, her shocked eyes looked as brilliant a blue as the diamond. “This is what it was all about. It’s magnificent! Where on earth did Brookwood get it?”
Flynn sat beside her. “The jewel was stolen, from whom I have yet to discover. Maybe we’ll never learn the truth of it. Crowthorne was busy building a crime network. His footpads did the dirty work, but they were merely his puppets. Crowthorne was the brains behind the gang. When the other gang members, gentlemen in bad straights financially, I’ll wager, relieved thetonof their jewels, they discovered this diamond. Strange that we haven’t heard even a murmur of its theft. Unless the person they stole the jewel from had gained it through similar dishonorable means. Brookwood took possession and was to hand it over to Crowthorne, but for whatever reason, he left the jewel with Mrs. Grimshaw, planning to collect it after the duel.”
He cast a careful glance at her. “It appears as Crowthorne suspected, Brookwood had no intention of giving the diamond to him. Mrs. Grimshaw mentioned their dream of leaving England, presumably to start a new life financed by the sale of the diamond.”
The horror of such a prospect raced across her face, darkening her eyes. If Brookwood had deserted Althea, she would have been left penniless, her standing in society in ruins. “And she kept it all this time,” she said bitterly.
“Mrs. Grimshaw insists she believed it to be incriminating papers, implicating Brookwood in some scheme. She considered it judicious to keep them hidden.”
“A likely story,” Althea said, a spark of anger in her eyes.
“She claimed she never looked inside the package. I found myself believing her.”
Althea huffed. “Some women are skillful at hoodwinking a man. Even one as astute as you, Flynn.” Althea held the diamond up to the light. Indigo fire flashed in its depths. “It is beautiful.”
“Beautiful and deadly,” Flynn said. “For it drives men to lie, cheat, and commit murder.”
She returned it to him and rubbed her arms. “Indeed.”
“The French crown jewels were stolen during the revolution, and this jewel was brought to London. I expect the king will tell me more of its history.”
Her eyes warmed. “His Majesty will be pleased, Flynn. He should reward you richly.”
“A foreign posting, perhaps.” Flynn hoped it would not be in a far-flung land or a useless title. He required capital for the plan he had in mind.
Althea’s brows knitted. “Oh? Well, it would be grossly unfair if he didn’t.”
Pleased, Flynn caught the look of dismay clouding her eyes. “One cannot speak of fairness and the king in the same breath. And besides, I suspect the king knows more about this affair than he revealed.”
