Page 100 of The Paid Companion

“Yes.” Lady Wilmington walked slowly into the study.

She looked much older tonight, Elenora thought, aware of a stark pity for the once beautiful and still proud woman. Lady Wilmington’s gray hair was not in a fashionable chignon tonight. Instead, it was tucked up under a white cap. She had the haggard look of someone who has not slept well in recent days. Her hands were bare of rings, and no pearls gleamed at her ears.

But Elenora noticed that she wore the gold locket around her throat.

Lady Wilmington sat down in the chair that Arthur held for her. “You have come here to ask about my grandson, haven’t you?”

Arthur was riveted. “Yes, of course,” he said very softly.

“He is Treyford’s grandson, isn’t he?” Elenora asked gently.

“Yes.” Lady Wilmington focused her attention on the flaring candle. “Treyford and I were passionately in love. But I was married with two children by my husband. There was nothing to be done when I discovered that I was to bear my lover’s babe. I pretended that Wilmington was the father and, of course, under the law there was no question but that he was my daughter’s sire. No one suspected the truth.”

“Did Treyford know that you had borne his child?” Arthur asked.

“Yes. He was quite pleased. He talked at length of how he would supervise her education in the manner of a concerned friend of the family. He promised to draw up elaborate plans to see that she was instructed in natural philosophy and mathematics from the cradle.”

“But then Treyford was killed in that explosion in his laboratory,” Arthur said.

“I thought my heart would break that day when the news reached me that he was dead.” Lady Wilmington touched her locket with her fingertips. “I consoled myself with the knowledge that I had his child. I vowed to educate Helen as Treyford had intended. But although she was extremely intelligent, she showed no interest in science or mathematics. The only subject that drew her was music. She played and composed brilliantly, but I knew that Treyford would have been so disappointed.”

“However, when she married, your daughter bore a son who did possess both Treyford’s great mind and his passion for science.” Arthur gripped the back of a chair, watching Lady Wilmington very closely. “Is that correct, madam?”

Lady Wilmington toyed with the locket. “Parker is the very image of Treyford at that age. The likeness is astonishing. When my daughter and her husband were taken off by a fever, I vowed to raise my grandson as Treyford would have wished.”

“You told him the truth about his grandfather’s identity, didn’t you?” Elenora said quietly.

“Yes. When he was old enough to understand, I told him about Treyford. He deserved to know that the blood of true genius ran in his veins.”

“You told him that he was the direct descendant of the man who could have been England’s second Newton,” Arthur said. “And Parker set out to fulfill his grandfather’s legacy.”

“He studied all of the subjects that had so fascinated Treyford,” she whispered.

Elenora looked at her. “Including alchemy?”

“Yes.” Lady Wilmington shuddered. “You must believe me when I tell you that I tried to steer Parker away from that dark path. But as he grew older, he showed signs of taking after Treyford in ways other than his intellectual interests.”

“What do you mean?” Arthur asked.

“Parker’s temperament became increasingly unpredictable as the years passed. He would be joyous and cheerful for no obvious reason. And then, without warning, his spirits would sink to a level that made me fear that he might take his own life. Only his alchemical studies seemed to have the power to distract him when he was in such a mood. Two years ago he went to Italy to continue his investigations.”

“When did he return?” Arthur asked.

“A few months ago.” Lady Wilmington sighed in pain. “I was so happy to have him back, but I soon realized that whatever he had learned in Italy had only deepened his commitment to alchemy. He demanded to see Treyford’s journals and papers. I had stored them in a trunk.”

“You gave them to him?” Elenora asked.

“I hoped that would satisfy him. But I fear that I only made things worse. I knew he had embarked upon some secret project, but I did not know what it was that he hoped to create.”

“What did you assume that he was trying to do?” Arthur asked coldly, “discover the Philosopher’s Stone? Transmute lead into gold?”

“You mock me, sir, but I tell you in all truth, Parker is sunk so deep into his occult researches that he believes such things are possible.”

“When did you first realize that he was determined to construct the device described in theBook of Stones?” Arthur asked.

Lady Wilmington looked at him with sad resignation. “Not until you came to see me the other day and told me that both Glentworth and your great-uncle had been murdered and that their snuffboxes had been stolen. I knew then what Parker intended.”

“And you also knew that he had gone beyond being an eccentric genius,” Arthur said. “You realized that he had become a murderer.”

---