Page 42 of The Lady Confesses
It had been hours now since Annie had last been seen. Hours in which anything might have happened to the girl. The feeling of responsibility and the awful amalgamation of blame and shame that roiled within her was dizzying for Hettie. On the one hand, she desperately wanted news, and on the other she was so fearful of what that news might be that it defied all reason.
The sound of footsteps in the corridor had her tensing. And when the door opened to reveal a footman holding a simple silver tray with a single missive on it, Hettie instantly knew that it was what she’d been waiting for and what she had been dreading. That sealed note contained Simon’s demands... and the conditions by which Annie might be spared whatever fate he had dreamed up for her. There was little doubt in her mind that Simon would be unspeakably cruel if necessary, simply to bring her to heel. While greed was his primary motivating factor, there was the same streak of cruelty in him that had existed in Arthur. Perhaps even to a greater degree.
“What is it, Hettie?” Honoria asked.
Hettie scanned the contents and sighed wearily. “He’s demanding that I surrender myself to him in exchange for Annie Foster. Obviously, I cannot do that—not because I am unwillingto aid her but because he cannot be trusted. If I give myself over to him, he will simply kill us both.”
Honoria nodded. “Indeed, he would. You need not surrender to him... you need only allow him to think you are. But neither Mr. Ettinger nor Vincent will approve.”
Hettie folded the note and placed it in her pocket. “I do not require their approval—but Joss is not yet my husband. If you fear how Vincent will respond, I understand. I would never ask you to jeopardize your happiness with him.”
Honoria laughed softly. “Nothing will jeopardize my happiness. It may well jeopardize the peace in our home, but only temporarily. We, my dear sister, are not shy, retiring violets. It is not in our nature to allow men to handle matters for us.”
“Primarily because we’ve never known men who could do so with any degree of aptitude.” It was a pithy rejoinder, but it rang with sincerity. They had both seen the worst of men. Perhaps it had jaded them to some degree.
“Indeed. And while these particular men are cut from a very different cloth, sitting idly by while that poor girl suffers torment in heaven only knows what manner is not something either of us could live with. But we cannot do this alone. We will require a small amount of aid... and I know just who to ask.”
“Stavers?” Hettie asked. The former pugilist turned butler was a remarkably capable individual. And that capability seemed to carry into every possible sort of situation.
“Not necessarily. He would only attempt to stop us. We will inform him, but not immediately,” Honoria replied cagily. “We may not have a battalion of soldiers at our disposal, Hettie, but we are not without allies. There is a veritable army of women out there who feel no small degree of gratitude for us. I am certain that if we were to ask for their aid, most would give it. But thereis one in particular who has the necessary skill that we will need for this plan to work.”
“You have a plan already? Have you become some sort of mastermind by association now?
“Half-formed plan,” Hettie corrected. “And no, I am no mastermind by association or otherwise. But I do know of a way for you to meet him that would not necessitate you go alone. For now, we must secure the assistance we require, and we will work out the particulars on our way. First, we need to go to Vincent’s study.”
“Whatever for?”
“Weapons,” Honoria replied. “He keeps several braces of pistols there and a few blades. We will, both of us, be well armed when we meet with Simon.”
Hettie considered that for a moment. Then she gave a jerky nod. “You’re quite right. We cannot wait. Foster likely does not have time to waste.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Jack Collinsworth eyedthe case of brandy with some disappointment. “That’s all you could get?”
“No, sir. That’s all I could sneak this way for now. I’ll be sending the rest of it one crate at a time. Seven in total,” the captain said. “There were things going on at the docks what made me nervous.”
Jack started to lift his head, remembered they were in the cellar beneath his club, and quickly corrected before braining himself on a beam. “What sort of things?”
“Lots of blokes about. Some looked official, and some looked—well, they looked like me, sir. Criminal,” the captain explained.
Thinking of the note he’d received earlier from Joss Ettinger, Jack took a shot in the dark. “You didn’t happen to see one escorting a pretty-ish young woman... a proper one? Works as a lady’s maid and has been taken as a hostage of sorts. Incentive might be a better description, I suppose.”
“Did see something that was a bit odd,” the man said, scratching his beard thoughtfully. “He were dressed rough, clothes soiled and ragged. But he moved like a gent, if you ken?”
Intrigued, Jack put down the bottle he’d been inspecting. “I doken.Go on.”
The captain nodded. “Had a girl with him. Didn’t pay much mind to how she was dressed, except to note she looked out of place. Not exactly the sort a man looks at twice. Pretty-ish, asyou said, but not available, if you get my meaning. Weren’t no doxy, for certain.”
“Your meaning is quite clear, and your information most welcome. You’ll be getting a hefty bonus on your seven crates of contraband,” Jack said, feeling that very familiar tingle. Perhaps it was instinct, perhaps it was something more than that. He could not say. But he could predict the turn of a card or the roll of the dice. He could, at a glance, know whether or not he ought to walk down a certain alley. It was more than street sense, though he had that in abundance. And in that moment, he knew, without question or hesitation, that the smuggler had seen Dagliesh and the maid. “Where did you see them?”
“They was near Fincham’s, the textile mill and warehouse.”
“If you see either of them again, send me word immediately. As for the remainder of the brandy, just hold onto it for the night. We’ll settle up tomorrow. This takes precedence... and if I’m not here, get word to the Hound.”
The captain nodded vigorously. “Oh, aye. It’s big doin’s for the both of you to be in the thick of it!”
“That it is, Captain. That it is.” Jack climbed the steps out of the cellar and went directly to his office. There, he dashed off a note to Joss Ettinger directing him to Fincham’s but with the need for discretion. After all, they didn’t want to spook the man and send him running once more. It was very likely that he’d find the man before the note did, but as he couldn’t be in two places at once, it was the best option. Giving a boy a coin to deliver it to the Hound’s club, he made his way toward the docks and Fincham’s.
