Page 32 of Secrets of the Heart

“What!”

He nodded. “She had a digestive complaint, you see, for several weeks. No one thought anything about it. I wasn’t even there. I had gone to visit my aunt. When I came back, she was still ill. The doctor was obviously growing worried. He wasn’t sure what was the matter with her. She got worse, and then, after a few weeks, she died. None of us thought it was anything other than illness. But now—” Anthony clasped and unclasped his hands in an agitated fashion. “Now I think that she may have been murdered.”

“But that’s awful!” Rachel exclaimed, horrified.

“I know. I’m at my wit’s end.” He stood up as if he could no longer sit still and began to pace across the room.

Rachel watched him for a moment, then said tentatively, “I don’t quite understand. Why—well, why did you come to me with this? I am very sorry, truly, but wouldn’t it be best to take this matter to the Bow Street Runners?”

“It’s the scandal, you see. She would have hated it, and, well, I do not wish it, either. If it could just be kept quiet…”

Rachel frowned, still at sea.

“I wanted to ask you to ask Lord Westhampton to help me.”

“Michael!” Rachel stared. “But wh—”

“I know I have no right to ask him,” Anthony went on hastily. “It would be exactly what I deserve if he told me to sink or swim on my own. But I thought, if you asked him, he might agree. It’s been several years now. Lord Arbuthnot—it was he who told me about Michael’s investigations—holds him in the highest regard. And I dare swear a man of less even temperament would have dealt with my grievous—”

“Hush a moment!” Rachel snapped, moving away from Anthony. “Let me think.”

Michael’s investigations! She had no idea what Anthony was talking about, but she had the sudden, sure feeling that it tied in with what the highwayman had been getting at. She could find out more from Anthony, but she would have to approach it carefully. If he realized she knew nothing, he would probably fall silent, moving automatically into that male conspiracy of keeping women ignorant.

“I am surprised at Lord Arbuthnot,” Rachel said, turning to face him. “What Michael does is not supposed to be common knowledge. What did he tell you?”

“Oh. I—I did not realize it was secret. Well, yes, of course, I can see how it would be helpful if few people knew. Let me think…it was about a year ago. I was in London and happened to run into Arbuthnot. I was friends with his son Henry in school. We talked a bit and, I don’t remember exactly how, but we got to talking about Lady Godfrey’s jewels being stolen. Anyway, he said that he had heard that Lord Westhampton had helped the Bow Street Runner, that he had apparently done it for years. I—it was unusual, so I remembered it. I am sure Arbuthnot meant no harm.”

“No. Of course not.” Rachel felt dazed. The idea made sense—in an absurd sort of way. If Michael was somehow involved in a Bow Street Runner’s investigations, then the highwayman’s warning was not so strange. Michael had probably met him in an investigation. Hadn’t the man said something about his helping Michael from time to time? Whatever Michael was working on, that must be what would put him in danger. On the other hand, it seemed quite mad to think that Michael would be involved with the Bow Street Runners at all. Why would he have started helping them, and what did he do? Most of all, why had he never told her anything about all this?

But she knew the answer to that. It was because she did not really know Michael at all. They were man and wife, but Anthony clearly knew more about Michael’s life than she did. She had thought that even though they did not live as most married couples did, Michael at least liked her, trusted her. She had thought she knew what he did at Westhampton; clearly she did not. Just as clearly, Michael did not trust her enough to share this knowledge with her.

“Then will you ask him to help me?” Anthony said after a few moments of silence. “I know it is a great deal to ask of him, but I don’t know where else to turn.”

“Yes. I will tell him what you have told me and see if he will help you. But he is at Westhampton now. I will have to write to him, and it will be some time before I know.” She paused, then added with some bitterness, “And I do not know that my asking will have any effect on him. We are not very close, I’m afraid.”

“I am sorry. I am to blame for that.”

“No. I am. I was foolish.” Rachel came closer to him, her eyes intent on his. “But I have one thing I would ask from you in return for my doing you this favor.”

“Yes, of course. Anything.”

“I want the address of Mrs. Lilith Neeley.”

“Who?” His face went rapidly from puzzlement to understanding to shock. “The woman who runs the gaming establishment?”

“Yes. I want the address of her gambling den. Someone told me that she lives there.”

Anthony continued to stare at her. “But why? What could you possibly want with her?”

“It is for a friend,” Rachel lied quickly. “Her brother is a notorious gamester, and he is in danger of losing their fortune. She thinks that if she talks to her, she could get her to refuse him admittance.”

Anthony shrugged. “Perhaps. But she cannot go there. No lady could go to a place like that.”

“She is determined, and I promised that I would help her.”

“You are not suggesting that you go there with her!”

“No, of course not. She will take a footman with her, I imagine. And she will go disguised. Please, Anthony, you said you would help me in return.”