Chapter
1 the man who knew things
It should not be supposed that my lovely lady
gave up solving mysteries to help those in distress just because she was now
able to live with her husband, her heart’s desire, and had severed all official
connections with Scotland Yard.
No indeed! Not only was Lady Molly too kind and
compassionate a soul to resist aiding any in distress, her lively and clever
mind could not resist a puzzle. And I,
who remained her secretary in her married household, know too how often she was
asked unofficially to help Scotland Yard to unravel some puzzle for them that
the minds of mere men were unable to comprehend!
There had already been the hurried wedding, of
course, some five years previously, before Captain Hubert de Mazareen had been
arrested for that dastardly crime so carefully set up to implicate him; but my
dear lady and her husband had a service of Blessing as soon as he had recovered
from the privations of gaol to see fit to take on the duties of a husband.
It was a less private affair than the wedding,
where only I and Lady Molly’s father had been in attendance; He alas! Now dead
three years; but still the company was select, for my lady would not invite
those of her former friends who had been ready to point the finger at her
beloved husband. However, her new
friends from Scotland Yard were all there – the Chief, Inspector Danvers,
Elliott and Pegram and all the women of the Female Department – and a few
select friends who had always stood by Lady Molly even in her darkest of hours
when she appeared to have given her own true love up into custody.
Oh! What a handsome couple they made, my lady’s
beauty and the Captain’s noble mien gilded with the true beauty of happiness
and love! And how our friends cheered as they left the little church! And now
there was a wedding breakfast and a dance such as any woman might hope for at
her wedding for the celebrations of her friends!
We retired initially to the little house at
Kirk near to where so much drama had taken place; with little Emily our maid to
care for the house, and a man named Peters, an erstwhile soldier in His
Majesty’s Household guards who had written to the Captain on his release to beg
to serve him, having narrowly escaped dishonourable discharge five years
previously for fighting anyone who believed the Captain’s guilt. Peters was built on almost as noble
proportions as his master and had reached the rank of Sergeant from which he
had been broken for his partisan defence of the Captain’s reputation.
And it was here that Lady Molly first discovered
that her reputation had gone before her and she was called upon for aid.
oOoOo
We had a visitor to our little nest in the
person of Miss Lily Kirk; who was by way of being a cousin of sorts to Lady
Molly. You recall, of course, when Lady
Molly’s father died he was succeeded as Earl of Flintshire by a cousin, having
only one female issue, which cousin resided therefore at Kirk Hall. The lineage was impeccable though little
enough was known of the previous whereabouts of the current Earl. Enough years have passed and the Earl has
seen fit to cry shame on his detractors and tell the truth to shame the devil;
but at the time nothing was known.
It came about therefore that the title
passed to Edward Kirk, who moved into
the Hall with his Italian wife, Suzanna, and their two children, Lily, then
eighteen and John, still a schoolboy.
Everyone who reads society magazines will know
that Lily Kirk had become engaged to Captain Lionel Deburgh, scion of an old and proud
family, whose own exploits defending the
Hull trawler fleet from foolish Russians who mistook them for the Japanese is
well known; and how he and his ship ‘Indomitable’ escorted the Russian fleet
firmly all the way to Japan as one of His Majesty’s observers. Captain Deburgh had recently taken an
inactive post which was, as Lady Molly had said at the time, actually very
active indeed since he was an adviser on improvements to the screw turbine;
about which arcane technologies I had neither knowledge nor interest, and
marvelled once again at the depth and breadth of my lady’s understanding!
This promising young man, shy by several years
of his thirtieth birthday, was the intended of Lady Molly’s cousin Lily, who at
just twenty-one should have been the happiest person in the world.
I was amazed therefore after Lady Molly had
asked her to sit, and herself poured tea for our pretty visitor, that tears
should well up in those lovely eyes.
Of course one has to remember that something of
the volatile personality of the Italian could be attributed to such an excess
of emotion in front of those Miss Flint had never met before; for she resembled
her mother closely with dark chestnut hair, deep chocolate eyes fringed with
long sooty lashes, and that creamy skin which so often occurs in those of mixed
blood, neither English nor Italian but exotically beautiful.
“Cousin Molly” she said “Is it true that you
are accounted an expert at solving dilemmas and helping people with troubles?”
“I have that reputation” said my Lady.
“And you are no longer connected to the police?
Oh I could not bear it if you were still connected to the police, for they
would be bound to make everything public!”
“You wrong them” said my lady sharply “I am no
longer connected; but there have been efforts made to protect the innocent by
not revealing certain facts; to my personal knowledge. What is your problem, my dear?” and she gave
her sweet smile to her cousin, that smile so reassuring that no troubled soul
can fail to be moved to confide in her!
“Oh Cousin Molly!” cried Miss Kirk “You know,
of course, that my grandfather, your father’s uncle, disowned poor father when
he was young for some trouble at Oxford?”
“I knew he had been cast off by the family; I
have never known any details, nor have I asked” said Lady Molly.
“It was because he was caught playing cards
where he should not have been or something; I did not perfectly understand”
said Miss Kirk “But he went to Italy
and vowed that if the family name was ruined by him gambling moderately and
just amongst friends then he would make gambling his career. It was perhaps a foolish vow, but you must
recall he was very young; and he became a croupier in a casino in Naples, and when he
worked there he met the owner’s daughter.
That is my mama. And in time
father owned the casino when Grandpapa retired; and – and when he was short
staffed I have helped him.”
She broke down in sobs.
“Very commendable that a daughter should aid
her father” said Lady Molly soothingly “And for being cast off in so wicked a
way it is understandable that your father might take such an attitude; and
though running a casino might be frowned upon in England, why, I presume there
is no question of that?”
“Father has kept a half share in it in case any
of the family need it; and has too used the profits to make many improvements
at Flint Hall” said Miss Kirk with quiet dignity. “It is run by a cousin of mama’s, to whom
father has made over the other half for his acting as manager. But we are not likely to go there again;
which is a shame. I liked living in Naples. However, I have a new life – and I love
Lionel, Captain Deburgh that is, very much.”
“Wherein then lies the problem?” asked my lady
with much patience.
“Because of Mr Wilfrid Fanshawe!” sobbed Miss
Kirk.
“Wilfrid Fanshaw? A darkly florid man who seems to have no
means of support who is known to have
been cautioned for frequenting illegal gambling clubs?” asked my lady intently.
“Well I know he is a gambler, and he is dark
haired and florid of complexion” said Miss Kirk “For he had been to Italy not
long before father was notified that he was the new Earl; and he recognised
me. And he says….” she faltered “He says
that if I will not break my engagement to Lionel and marry him, he will see
that Lionel’s family will see it broken and I will be ruined and thought to be
no better than I ought to be; and my family will be embarrassed also!”
“What a monster!” I interposed indignantly.
“A monster indeed” said Lady Molly thoughtfully
“And if he is indeed a blackmailer then that could provide his invisible support. Tell me, what does Captain Deburgh know of
your past?”
“Everything” said Miss Kirk, simply “I have no
secrets from Lionel. And he has no
quarrel with what I have done; nor does he believe the terrible construction
that Mr Fanshawe swears he will put upon it.
But his family might indeed have reservations if they knew; and he would
prefer not to become estranged from them.
Even though he said he would do so for me” she added.
“Come now, in your favour in this business you
have an estimable young man in your fiancé” said Lady Molly “And one who does
not shirk knowledge of the truth. I am
inclined to advise you to place all into the hands of the police, my dear, who
know how to deal with a blackmailer.”
Miss Kirk gave a little cry and paled, swaying. My lady gently held her elbow until she was
herself again.
“Oh I could not! I could not!” cried Miss Kirk.
Lady Molly sighed.
If only more people had a little more moral
fibre they would not find themselves in such straits; as Lord Flintshire
himself later proved by making a funny
story of his exploits – but you have all read it in the society magazines – so
that no censure was ever spoken of him or the Countess or their offspring
again. That day was yet to come, however;
and Miss Kirk could not bear to let the world know her family secret.
“Tell me, does this fellow hold any proofs that
you have worked in your father’s casino, even that it exists?” asked Lady
Molly.
“Proofs?
He has recognised me; it is proof enough” said Miss Kirk bitterly “Even
if it were not true, as the slur he casts upon my chastity is not true, he is
plausible enough; and Lionel’s awful aunt would believe him. Besides, I could not brazen it out; I cannot
tell lies readily for I blush!”
“Any woman might blush, accused of being what
he seems to feel needs to be added to the tale of your aid of your father” said
Lady Molly “Perhaps he does not feel that acting as croupier is enough to have
you shunned. Unless it is merely a cruel refinement made only in suggestion to
you that he would not dare promulgate to others in the hopes of frightening you
to comply. If you will not place it into
the hands of the police then I shall have to think hard about what to do. It is not as straightforward as finding some
lever to get him to hand over proofs; and there is moreover the moral dilemma
of his likely blackmail of others. Do
not worry, my dear Cousin Lily; I shall find a way to remove this impediment
from your happiness.”
Miss Kirk cried again and eventually we were
rid of her; I never met such a woman for tears!
oOoOo
“Tell me, Mary” said my lady, once Miss Kirk
had withdrawn “In the case of a misery merchant like a blackmailer, do you feel
that almost any methods might be condoned?”
I blinked.
“I would not advocate anything as extreme as
murder” said I, cautiously.
Lady Molly’s merry peal of laughter rang out.
“Why Mary, can you picture me killing my
cousin’s tormentor? That is quite as
melodramatic as anything an Italian might have made up!” she said.
I flushed.
“You did ask if almost any means might be
condoned” I said, a little defensively.
“Why so I did!” said Lady Molly “I apologise,
Mary; I should have said any REASONABLE means; reasonable that is from the
point of view of common sense and NOT necessarily the sort of thing the chief
might like.”
“You are planning on blackmailing him into
stopping this?” I asked, knowing my Lady’s methods are not always orthodox.
“It crossed my mind” said Lady Molly “But I
think we need a means in which he is entirely taken out of circulation so that
he cannot blackmail anyone. Go and make
another pot of tea, my dear; and take one to poor Hubert who is languishing in
his study. You may tell him about this;
I have no secrets from my husband, but no young woman is going to pour out her
troubles in front of a man. That was why
I banished him to the study.”
“But how did you know that she would have
troubles?” I cried. “It might merely have been a cousinly call!”
Lady Molly laughed.
“When she had written to ask if she might BEG a meeting with me as
she had something PARTICULAR to discuss?” she said “Come, Mary – you read the
letter from her; such wording is, when from a lady, almost always an indication
that she wishes to consult another woman about a problem that she has, and it
is almost always of a delicate nature.
Couched in slightly more vulgar terms and from a lower class woman a
similar note would be one hinting at blackmail” she added “Where the particular
matter was a subject the writer might think the recipient would not like to be
known.”
I shook my head in chagrin; I still had much to
learn.
oOoOo
Captain de Mazareen was glad of a cup of tea
and buttered tea-cakes – I brought him a damp flannel in a little bowl too to
remove the evidence from his fingers so he would not smear books or papers –
and to find out what was troubling Miss Kirk.
“I did not think it would be long before Molly
would be back in harness, even if only unofficially” he said tolerantly “She
has had a taste of solving troubles; and she will not lightly put down that thrill,
while the rest of us must trot to her command, eh, Mary? Well you had best go to her and find out what
her orders are; if she needs me to play a part she will doubtless let me know.”
I have often reflected what a gracious man the
Captain is; owing his freedom to his wife’s efforts it would be easy for a
lesser man to be jealous of her successes which, allied with a resentment that
the little woman had been the one to secure his freedom not he, might have led
to him trammelling her. Not the Captain,
however, who is a great man in his own way! And who has the confidence in
himself, and in the love that lies between him and my lady, to give her every
freedom and not to resent her involvement in the affairs of others who need her
aid; and who will jokingly speak of taking her orders himself because he has no
fear of any loss of face or that any should think him unmanned to follow her
lead!
oOoOo
My Lady was sitting with her chin in her hands
staring at nothing; but she had that brightness to her eyes that presaged ideas
burgeoning within her fertile brain. I
sat quietly with a book; for these reveries of hers should not be disturbed
before she is ready herself to disturb them.
At last she stirred with a satisfied little
smile and turned to me.
“We shall need to go up to town, Mary” she
said. “I need to take an apartment
somewhere fashionable; Mayfair perhaps. And it must have a guest room; I believe that
I shall invite Lady Artemisia Deburgh to stay with me. She was a friend of my Godmother’s you know;
so as her nephew is also to marry my cousin I think that it would not be
unreasonable. Ask Peters to come in; I
have a number of commissions for him to complete.”
“Am I to know what the scheme is?” I asked.
Her merry laugh pealed out again.
“Why Mary, you are to be central to it!” she
said “I must trust your quick wits and deft fingers; for you are NOT known to
Wilfrid Fanshawe, whereas I most certainly will be – though I doubt I have
exchanged a dozen words with him, he will have seen all the publicity surrounding
Hubert’s release, and the part I played in it.
He will mistrust ME; for he will be aware of the relationship no
doubt. But nothing was published about
Miss Mary Granard, who is to be the daughter of an industrialist, entering
society. Fetch me Peters now; I will
tell you more later.”
With that, for the time being, I had to be
content.
oOoOo
I was not to share a flat with Lady Molly in
town; though I had one in the same building.
Lady Deburgh, who had married her own cousin and so had a double dose of
the family arrogance, was a formidable old woman and Lady Molly was in my
opinion little short of a saint in the way she spoke so sweetly to her without
– so clever as my lady has always been! – once permitting herself to be
bullied. Captain de Mazareen stayed
largely out of the grande dame’s way; and who can blame him! It is one thing to
face the Boer; it is another to be confronted by the artillery of an English
Great Lady whose horse and foot contain innumerable ancestors stretching back
to the Conquest and all of them hostile.
I however, as Miss Juliet Vanallen, was to have
a positive whirl of gaiety, entering upon the town with a few carefully sown
rumours that I was an heiress, with a father in some unspecified but profitable
trade.
Naturally though wealth may make a girl more
acceptable to society, one still has to be accepted; and to be acceptable. And Mr Fanshawe was soon in my circle,
carefully digging for anything in my background that would mean that my
supposed fortune might gently bleed into his pocket if one might put it
slightly vulgarly.
Equally naturally, there were enough pointers
for him to find; not least the uncomfortable but actually quite fetching
permanent wave Lady Molly had insisted that I have; it is the invention of a
German gentleman called Nessler, invented just a few years ago and demonstrated
in Oxford Street and though I call it uncomfortable, it is preferable by far to
sleeping nightly in curling rags and
much more profound in its nature! It is however a trifle nervous to be wired up
to an electric light fitting for some five hours with the stink of sodium
hydroxide, and the fear that the weights and pulleys that hold the rods around
which one’s crowning glory is twisted might fail and cause horrible burns. However, for my lady and her poor cousin I
would endure more quite willingly – especially to rid the polite world of a
dastardly blackmailer!
My tight curls were to serve the purpose of a
discovery by Fanshawe that my supposed family included a negress within it; and
whilst one might carry that off in society with other connections, an
industrialist’s daughter seeking to MAKE connections might well be chary of
anyone discovering her antecedents. And
my hair was to be yet another ‘proof’ that he might threaten me with. I pointed out to Lady Molly that certain
families of Dutch extraction also exhibit tight curls; but she told me to hush
since I was not only better informed but far cleverer than Fanshawe, a
compliment albeit delivered in slightly tart tones by my lady.
Consequently, when Fanshawe had been permitted
to find the final ‘proofs’ he wanted he duly approached me to discuss the
matter at a party we were both attending.
Naturally I cried, and begged, and pleaded; and
finally called him a monster of unfeeling and suggested that he come back to my
apartment where I might find him the money he required to keep his tongue still
on the matter.
We mounted the stairs and I turned the key in
the door and went to put on the light.
I had not, at this juncture, taken my gloves
off at all.
“The fuse has blown” I said crossly “Or perhaps
I forgot to put money in the meter.”
“The latter is more likely you fluffy little
fool” he said.
Somehow I preferred his honest contempt for the
character I was playing to his spurious compliments.
“Go on into the lounge” I said pushing him
through the door “Here, hold this” I put a box into his hand; and dropped a
couple of items into his pocket. One of
them was the necklace I had been wearing; a second was a lockpick; the other
was a fuse. “I will go and feed the
meter.”
I did no such thing.
I left him in the dark and ran downstairs to
blow a police whistle hard.
Upstairs the beams of those excellent
inventions, the American Ever Ready flashlight sprang out; and there were cries
of horror. My part was done and I slipped quietly back to MY apartment.
Yes, gentle reader! I had lead Fanshawe not to
MY apartment but to Lady Molly’s; where he was now being tackled by the
redoubtable Peters and Captain de Mazareen; and where the police officer who
pounded up the stairs found him with Lady Molly’s necklace in his pocket, for
such I had been wearing, and Lady Deburg’s priceless emeralds in a box in his
hand, where Lady Molly had taken them from the safe for me to find and hand to him;
the safe wide open and too a missing fuse and incriminating lockpick within his
pocket.
He might explain until he was black in the face
that he had escorted a Miss Vanallen home; for there was no such resident in
the building. And with my permanent temporarily
held down with pomade, under a decorative scarf, and my face known to most of
the officers in London no likelihood of ever finding a Miss Vanallen either nor
– since the officer had no reason to suspect that I might be such a person –
would he be asked to identify me, the only other young woman in the apartment
building.
They would search his home of course and find
some of his blackmail material; and would doubtless decide that he had taken to
jewel robbery as a sideline. And now
that Lady Deburgh had seen him as a housebreaker and thief she would never
believe any tales against her nephew’s bride from him.
Oh how the chief would have disapproved!
But Lady Molly withdrew all charges of
housebreaking and theft – claiming that she had been through enough lately – so
he was only prosecuted on the blackmailing charges that arose; and by Lady
Deburgh. Which was, when all was said
and done, quite poetic.
And when news of his arraignment was published
in the paper Miss Kirk came to see my dear lady and proceeded to show that her
Italian temperament was as equal to tears of joy as to tears of sorrow.
