“Sounds like George wanted to make sure he didn’t burn any bridges where Camilla was concerned, just in case,” Owen said, earning a bob of her head from Adelaide.
“Too right he didn’t, but thank goodness Camilla came to her senses and hasn’t been pining for the man all these years, especially since we’ve uncovered evidence that suggests George was slipping his wife, or rather ex-wife now, dangerous mushrooms.”
Owen’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
“You heard correctly,” Gideon said. “From what we’ve been able to conclude, Lord Shrewsbury had grown weary of his wife being unable to provide him with an heir, and furthermore, had exhausted the considerable dowry Mr. Deerhurst, Eleanor’s father, had settled on her. George must have been facing desperate financial straits, which is why we believe he began drugging poor Eleanor, then carted her off to an asylum when she became out of her mind, that state a direct result of consuming mushrooms that are known to cause hallucinations.”
“Gideon and I took the liberty of getting Eleanor released from the asylum,” Adelaide added. “We’ve since reunited her with her family, and interestingly enough, she hasn’t shown any signs of being out of her mind for weeks—exactly around the time George stopped paying her visits. We’ve also learned from Mr. Deerhurst that George, before he committed Eleanor to an asylum, had been demanding money from him. Mr. Deerhurst, evidently having realized George was a fortune hunter, refused to send any, which he now sorely regrets because he knows if he’d capitulated, his daughter wouldn’t have spent over a year in an asylum.”
“It does sound as if George had the proper motivation to be behind Camilla’s disappearance,” Owen said.
“Unfortunately, though, he’s also disappeared,” Gideon said.
“He’s disappeared?” Owen repeated.
“He hasn’t,” a voice said from the doorway before a womanstrode into the room, her features covered by the hood of her cloak, a hood she shoved back, revealing herself to be none other than Bernadette.
Owen frowned. “You told me you were going to stay behind in Wheeling to look after Gladys and El Cid.”
“I lied, but I have a perfectly good reason for doing so, as well as a good reason for sneaking off to the train station and hopping on a train departing for New York before your train left, allowing me to arrive in the city a few hours before you—hours I’ve put to good use.”
Before Owen could do more than narrow his eyes on a woman who’d clearly been holding some secrets from Camilla, and for some time if he wasn’t mistaken, Lottie came striding into the room, stopping a mere foot away from Bernadette, bristling with animosity.
“I knew you had something to do with this, Bernadette, especially when I went looking for you to give you some last-minute instructions about Gladys and El Cid and couldn’t find you anywhere.”
“I’m afraid I’m guilty as charged,” Bernadette admitted, taking a step back when Lottie took a step toward her. “And while I understand your urge to do me bodily harm, this is not the time for that, nor is it the time to discuss my horrendous behavior or the decision I made that will haunt me for the rest of my days. I’m here now to make amends for what I’ve done, but you, Lottie, out of anyone, should know that it’s next to impossible to refuse a demand made by a criminal underworld boss.”
“What criminal boss?” Owen demanded.
Bernadette shoved a strand of hair out of her face, not bothering to address the single tear running down her cheek. “Victor Malvado.”
Gideon’s gaze sharpened on Bernadette. “How long have you been working for Victor?”
“About three years,” Bernadette admitted. “I had a break fromhim for a few months when he left for Chicago after Frank Fitzsimmons drew too much attention to the criminal set when he tried to extort that opera singer. Unfortunately, Victor returned to New York a few months ago. I heard through talk at the theater that he was back in the city and knew it was only a matter of time until he contacted me to do a job for him.”
“What kind of jobs would you do for Victor?” Adelaide asked, stepping up beside Gideon.
“Just odd jobs here and there, such as ferreting out information from actresses who keep company with certain men of fortune.”
“Why did he set his sights on Camilla?” Owen pressed.
Bernadette jerked her head toward Lottie. “Because of her. Victor wanted to acquire Lottie after Fitzsimmons was arrested, but Camilla got to Lottie first. Victor evidently got curious about a society lady who would take on a girl with a criminal past, and that curiosity led him to discover that Camilla’s an heiress. I assume he began making plans to abduct her not long after that, needing me to help him fine-tune those plans when Camilla returned from Paris and took up residence at their Hudson manor.”
“He asked you to get a job in the Pierpont household?” Adelaide asked.
“Victor doesn’t ask, he demands,” Bernadette countered. “He needed to learn Camilla’s daily schedule, and who better to glean that type of information than a woman who aspires to become an actress and is perfectly capable of assuming the role of a maid? In my defense, though, I had no idea at the time why he wanted that information. All I knew is that Victor isn’t a man you ever say no to.”
Lottie released a snort. “It sounds to me as if you didn’t even try.”
“Of course I didn’t,” Bernadette shot back. “It would have been pointless, and besides that, Victor dangled a carrot in front of me—one he knew I wouldn’t be able to resist.”
“Let me guess,” Lottie began. “He promised to arrange an actingjob for you if you were successful, and you didn’t hesitate to sell out Camilla because becoming an actress, as you’ve mentioned time and again, is your greatest goal in life.”
“Usedto be my greatest goal,” Bernadette corrected. “And while I know I was disloyal to Camilla, know that I truly had no idea Victor wanted to learn her schedule because he intended to kidnap her.”
Lottie’s eyes flashed. “That might have initially been true. However, you would have been privy to what his plans were after Camilla and I were set upon by those men on the Hudson. Even realizing that, though, you had to have been the one who told Victor we’d gone to Wheeling.”
“I won’t deny I sent a telegram to Victor when we made a stop in one of those small towns on our way to West Virginia. But in my defense, he was expecting me to contact him on a daily basis. If I hadn’t sent him word that we’d left town, I would have never been able to return to New York, and at that time, Wheeling sounded to me as if it might be the pit-of-the-earth type of place, not a town I’d ever care to remain in for good.” Bernadette dashed a tear from her face. “I’ve regretted my actions for weeks, especially after I got to know Camilla and discovered she’s nothing like I originally thought. I’ve always been jealous of those who have more than most of us, and I thought she was simply a rich, spoiled heiress who was going to want me to wait on her hand and foot after I became her lady’s maid.”
