“The clerk is a woman?” Daphne said.
“One attempting to make her way in a man’s world.” Irving put his hat on the table and stole a slice of ham from the plate. “Life won’t be so … complicated for her in India.”
Daphne gave a light chuckle. “Don’t you just hate it when a plan goes awry?”
“Pay her no mind,” Augusta said. “She’s a little cuckoo from the laudanum.”
Daphne scoffed. “Fine, but expect to leave without her.”
Irving stepped closer, bringing the smell of stewed vegetables with him. “If this is a ploy to delay our departure, it won’t work. We sail with the tide, regardless.”
“Not if Mr Hawke has taken the clerk to Bow Street. He gathered men and visited the tavern late this afternoon. I can almost hear the clack of the watchmen’s rattles closing in.”
Dominic couldn’t see Irving’s face from behind the cabinet. He could only hear the hitch in his breath as he whirled to face Augusta.
“You! You and your damned meddling. If you’d left matters alone, I’d be rounding the coast of Spain by now.”
“I came to tell you my niece was missing. I wouldn’t have needed to hit him with the fire iron had you simply agreed to his terms.”
Daphne gasped. “You killed Father?”
“It was an accident. He fell back and landed on the grate. It’s your fault for dancing with Mr Hawke.”
Irving raised his hands. “If you think I’ll explain it away, think again. You hit him when he threatened to tell his daughter the truth.”
“No one knows that but us. There are no witnesses. Nothing can be proved in court. We’ll invent a story and blame the clerk. If we both keep to the same tale, there’ll be no problem.”
“And yet there are witnesses to all your misdeeds.” Daphne cleared her throat. “You may show yourselves.”
Dominic slid out from the shadows first. “I’d like to say welcome to hell, Augusta, but I’m told the journey there is the most harrowing.”
Stanton appeared in the doorway, Montfort behind him. “I was looking for something gripping for tomorrow’s front page. I presumeThe Sentinelwill have exclusive rights.”
“If I beat Irving, will you say he fell?” Dominic asked.
Stanton grinned. “The Sentinelreports facts, but I can make an exception.”
The warehouse door clanged like it had been blown open by a sudden gust. Boots drummed on the wooden treads.
“That could be Bow Street now.” Dominic knew it wasn’t. They came with lanterns and noise enough to wake the street. The men who appeared on the landing needed no such theatre.
Stanton and Montfort stepped aside to allow one man to enter. He was broad, not tall, solidly built, the kind who would walk through a brick wall without breaking stride.
Dominic assumed it was Irving’s man, but Irving looked like he was about to soil his trousers.
“Mr Moseley would like a private word, sir. He’s outsidein the carriage. He’s heard you’re sailing to Portsmouth on the morning tide.”
“What? No. He m-must be mistaken,” Irving stuttered.
“Then you’ll need to put his mind at ease, sir, what with you owing his brother a hefty debt. He’s seized your lighter at the dock gates, taken the cargo for the trouble caused.”
Irving gulped. “No. Tell him I’ll visit the office in the morning. There’s been a mistake.”
He kept talking. No one listened. At a nod from Moseley’s man, the lackeys snared Irving by the collar and hauled his scuffing boots into the dark.
Augusta clutched her throat and shrank back.
“Mr Moseley hopes his intervention was timely,” his man said. “He has a proposition, Mr Hawke. One that satisfies all parties concerned, if you’re willing to hear it.”
