Page 71 of The Heir
“What’s the matter, Miss Conroy?” asked Lehzen.
“Nothing.” Jane swallowed and faced forward again. “Nothing.”
Lehzen kindly let Jane have her silence until Mr. Saddler drove them back into the livery yard. The princess had arrived before them, and it was immediately evident she was most satisfied with her visit to Dr. Gerald Maton.
“I sent Susan home,” she said as Jane climbed down so Lehzen could help them swap coats, gloves, and bonnets and return them to their proper selves. Dash was delirious to see his mistress. He barked, wagged his stumpy tail, and bounced up and down until the princess cradled him in her arms again. “Thank you for bringing her to us, Jane. She was perfect, and I’m certain we will have more use for her.”
Jane wondered what Susan had thought of all this. She also remembered Ned escaping from the other man in the street. She wondered if Susan might know who the stranger was, if Ned had told her anything when they were . . .
Not now, she told herself.That’s for later.
“But what—” began Jane.
The princess, however, put a finger to her lips. Jane fell silent, glancing left and right. She squashed her impatience. She wanted to know if all this trouble had been worth it. The light in the princess’s eyes said she thought so, but Jane felt impatient and irritable.
She knew this feeling had more to do with seeing Ned than with anything the princess had done or not done. Normally, she would not care what her brother was up to. But if word of Ned’s latest antics made it to Father, Father would take his displeasure out on the rest of the family. He might become more suspicious about the time she spent with the princess, and she could not afford that.
We cannot afford that.
Hornsby was left to settle things with the liveryman while Saddler drove them out through the yard and onto the street, then turned the horses toward the palace.
It was only then that Victoria spoke.
“You were right,” she said to Jane and Lehzen. “The late Dr. William Maton was being paid by someone. Dr. Gerald Maton told me that his father was heavily in debt. He said that after he died, a gentleman came and promised his mother and older brother that there would be a pension, but only if they agreed to say that William Maton died quietly at home.”
“Did he say who this gentleman was?” asked Lehzen.
The princess shook her head. “But we can guess, I think.”
Lehzen pursed her lips. “I would rather not guess in this matter. It is too serious. It would be better to know.”
“It would, and I did ask,” said the princess. “But Dr. Gerald, as I will call him, was not there when the gentleman came. He got the story from a footman, who also said that his eldest brother, Julius, and Mrs. Maton had threatened to sack any servant who gossiped about their master’s death.”
“What do we do now?” Jane was painfully aware how petulant she sounded.
The princess, however, had a ready answer. “I have been thinking about the money. I wonder what Mr. Rea might be able to tell us.”
“Mr. Rea?” said Lehzen. “Do you mean William Rea, the clerk of the accounts? What has he to do with this?”
“He is a friend of my father’s,” said Jane. “They were in the army together.”
“Yes, I had heard,” replied Lehzen, in such a way that made Jane think she had heard it a great many times. “But how is he involved with the business of the late Dr. Maton?”
“Mr. William Rea and Dr. William Maton both come—both came—to dinner when the members of the Kensington board are, were, are invited,” said Jane.
“Do you know Mr. Rea, Lehzen?” asked the princess.
“He is the one who keeps track of the incomes and outflow of the money for Your Highness’s household. I have tried to get to know him, but . . .” Lehzen paused, searching for the correct words. “It seems he has taken careful note of Sir John’s dislike of me.”
Victoria’s face creased with disappointment. “I had hoped to ask you to speak with him, but now I see we will need to find another way, and it must be soon.”
“Why?” asked Lehzen. “If Sir John is paying bribes, he would hardly consult with a household clerk about it.”
“But he might tell a friend,” said Jane. “Father talks. He likes to let people know how oppressed he is or how clever.”Whichever might be useful.
The princess nodded. “We don’t even have to begin with the possibility that Sir John has done any wrong. Dr. Gerald said his father might have been embezzling from the household. Who better to inquire into that possibility than the head of accounts?” She spoke more quickly now, warming to her own ideas. “Add to that that he and William Maton sat down to dinner together. They talked. Mr. Rea may know something of the late doctor’s character that he kept from others, and he might be more willing to talk about it than the Maton family.Andhe also might have access to the appropriate account books to track the embezzlement.”
“Unless—” Jane dropped her gaze and closed her mouth.
