Page 101 of The Paid Companion

Lady Wilmington bowed her head and clasped the locket very tightly in her fingers. She did not speak.

“Where is Parker?” Arthur asked.

Lady Wilmington raised her head. A quiet resolve seemed to have settled upon her. “There is no longer any need for you to concern yourself with my grandson, sir. I have taken care of the situation.”

Arthur’s jaw tightened. “Surely you understand that he must be stopped, madam.”

“Yes. And I have done just that.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“There will be no more murders.” Lady Wilmington’s hand dropped away from the locket. “You have my word. Parker is in a place where he can do no one, including himself, any more harm.”

Elenora searched her face. “What have you done, madam?”

“My grandson is insane.” Tears glittered in Lady Wilmington’s eyes. “I can no longer pretend otherwise. But please understand that I could not bear the thought of him being chained in Bedlam.”

Elenora shuddered. “No one would wish such a fate on a beloved relative. But—”

“After you left me the other day, I summoned my personal doctor. I have known him for years, and I trust him completely. He made arrangements for Parker to be taken to a private asylum in the country.”

“You have had him committed to an asylum?” Arthur repeated sharply.

“Yes. Dr. Mitchell and two attendants went to Parker’s lodgings this afternoon. They surprised him as he was dressing to go out to his club, and they subdued him.”

Arthur frowned. “Are you certain of that?”

“I went with them and watched those men overcome Parker and strap him into that dreadful strait-waistcoat. My grandson pleaded with me as they forced him into a barred wagon. And then they silenced him with a strip of cloth across his mouth. I could not stop crying for hours.”

“Dear God,” Elenora whispered.

Lady Wilmington stared dully at the candle. “I assure you, tonight has been the most terrible night of my entire life. It was even worse than the day I learned that Treyford had been lost to me forever.”

Elenora felt tears swim in her own eyes. She rose quickly and went to Lady Wilmington’s chair. Sinking to her knees, she covered the woman’s hands with her own.

“I am so sorry that you were forced to endure such a great tragedy,” she told her.

Lady Wilmington did not seem to hear her. She continued to gaze at the candle.

“There is something I would like clarified, if you don’t mind, Lady Wilmington,” Arthur said quietly. “If Parker was taken away to a private asylum earlier today, who arranged for Roland Burnley to receive a note telling him to go to an address near the Green Lyon tonight? And who made certain that I would follow him and discover the snuffboxes?”

Lady Wilmington heaved a sigh. “Parker is extremely exacting when it comes to making plans. It is yet another trait that he inherited from Treyford. His scheme involving you and young Mr. Burnley this evening must have been in place before the attendants took him away this afternoon. I’m sorry, I knew nothing about it. If I had realized what was afoot, I would have sent a warning to you, sir. At least no one else has died since you came to me with your tale.”

“True.” Arthur flexed one hand into a fist and then released it. “Although the situation was somewhat uncertain there for a while tonight when I found Burnley with those damned snuffboxes.”

Lady Wilmington used a handkerchief to wipe her tears. “I am so very sorry, sir. I do not know what else to say.”

“Speaking of the snuffboxes,” Arthur continued, “I wonder why Parker arranged for me to discover them? You say he was obsessed with constructing Jove’s Thunderbolt. If that was true, he needed the red stones. Why let two of them fall into my hands?”

Elenora got to her feet. “Perhaps we had better take a closer look at those snuffboxes. I can think of only one reason why Parker would let you find them.”

Arthur caught her meaning at once. He opened the velvet sack and removed one of the snuffboxes. Then he lit the lamp on the small writing desk.

Elenora watched as he held the lid of the box in the light of the lamp and studied it closely.

“Yes, of course,” he said, slowly lowering the snuffbox.

“What is it?” Lady Wilmington asked.

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