The Captain turned to Race. “Lord Raceworth, I know you have the Talbot pearls, so these must be Bess of Hardwick’s pearls. I’m told the two collars were similar in length and rarity.”
Before Race could speak, Susannah’s mother clutched the pearls to her chest and said, “These are not Bess’s pearls, sir. Susannah, who are these gentlemen? Is this the sort you have been cavorting with while in London? I’m astonished and can see I have arrived not a moment too soon.”
Mrs. Princeton appeared as if from out of nowhere and stood close to Susannah’s side, watching every man around her charge as if she was a vulture and they were her dinner. “Mother, I was preparing to leave. I need you to accompany me.”
“I’ll call for your carriage,” Race said, throwing a quick glance at Susannah. “You get your wrap.”
“Excuse us, gentlemen,” Susannah said and slid her arm around her mother’s arm.
“Madame, before you go,” Captain Spyglass said, “I would very much like to call on you and talk to you about the pearls you are wearing. I collect pearls.”
“And I buy jewels for the prince,” Mr. Winston said, elbowing in front of the pirate. “I know Prinny would be interested in your exquisite necklace.”
Race stepped between Susannah’s mother and the men. “Take your mother to your carriage.”
Susannah immediately started walking toward the door with Mrs. Princeton on one side and her mother on the other. Morgan and Blake followed her.
“I have always wanted to see the Talbot pearls,” Captain Spyglass said to Race with a smoldering glow in his eyes. “I don’t suppose you would agree to let me have just a glimpse of them before I leave London, would you, my lord?”
Race looked at the man with contempt in his eyes. “Not a chance in hell, Captain.” Race cut his eyes around to Winston. “That goes for you, too. Stay away from the duchess’s house or I’ll see to it that both your bodies are found at the bottom of the Thames.”
Winston gasped.
Spyglass laughed.
Race strode out of the ballroom and into the night air, his mind whirling with possibilities. Was the reason Susannah hadn’t told him she loved him because she knew all along where his grandmother’s pearls were? She must have known her mother had them. But she looked as shocked as he was to see her mother. If Susannah didn’t steal them, who did and how did Mrs. Parker get them?
No matter what the true answer was, he was certain that right now Susannah was wondering how she was going to explain it to him. Whatever the answer, he was not going to turn his back on Susannah again. He loved her, and he intended to marry her.
It was a wet ride to Susannah’s house, but they made it inside without incident. Susannah had one of her servants stoke the fire in her sitting room to take the chill off the dampness, and then pass a glass of sherry to everyone except Henrietta and Sir Randolph who had not yet arrived. Susannah had made her mother comfortable on the settee with a blanket tucked around her legs. Her face was ashen, and Race noticed she cupped her glass with both hands to hold it steady enough to take a sip. It was obvious to him that the woman was not well.
After proper introductions were made, Susannah turned to Race with somber eyes and said, “May I explain?”
“Please do, Duchess,” Morgan answered for Race. “Because right now someone in this room is looking guilty of theft.”
“Enough, Morgan,” Race told him.
Susannah walked over and stood in front of Race. “More than a week ago, I wrote to my mother and asked her to send the fake pearls she is wearing to me.”
“Wait a minute,” Race interrupted. “Those aren’t real?”
“Fearing I must be in some kind of trouble, she decided to leave her sick bed and bring them to me.”
“Let me tell him, dearest,” her mother said in a soft voice as she lifted the strands in her hands. “Yes, my lord, these are nothing but glass beads expertly made to look like pearls.” With shaky hands, she held them up for his close inspection. “As best I understand it, the Talbot pearls were pawned by one of Lord Talbot’s daughters after his death. They ended up in the hands of a wealthy merchant. My father bought them from that merchant for my mother at a great cost. My mother had such fear they would be stolen that she had a jeweler make a copy to look as much like the real ones as possible. These.” She fingered the pearls as her mind seemed to drift back in time.
“Go on, Mrs. Parker,” Race said.
“Unfortunately, the real ones were eventually stolen from my mother anyway by a trusted servant who knew the difference between the fake and the genuine. The servant was never seen or heard from again. No doubt he sold them to whoever bought them for your grandmother or, who knows, they could have changed hands several times before Lady Elder obtained them.”
Race turned confused eyes to Susannah. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
Susannah’s stomach was jumpy. She would rather have been alone with Race to explain all this to him, but she couldn’t very well ask his cousins to leave.
Taking a deep breath, she said, “At first there was no reason to tell you. We were not on the best of terms with each other when I asked her to send them to me. And later when we, ah, well…” she said, stumbling over her words.
“When our relationship mended,” Race said.
Susannah gave him a grateful smile. “Yes. I hadn’t heard from my mother and didn’t know if she would send them. I thought it best not to tell you about the fake pearls until I could show them to you. My plan was to do exactly what my mother did tonight. I would wear them with the hope of drawing out the real thief and make him wonder if he had the real pearls or the glass beads. It never dawned on me that anyone would think they were Bess of Hardwick’s pearls.”
