Page 88 of Lady Gambit
“You were right to hire Flynn,” Aaron said dolefully. “But I’ve never been as afraid as I am right now. Someone killed to keep this secret. They’ll not rest until they’ve silenced you, Delphine.”
Dorian’s stomach churned. “We’ll find the people responsible.”
He’d not lose Delphine.
He couldn’t lose Delphine.
“They’re faceless men,” Mrs Haggert said, reminding Dorian of the many times Delphine had used those exact words. “There were four of them. Strange that three Frenchmen died in a blaze the night after we rescued Caterina. Nora is the only one who can identify the ringleader. That’s why I hid her in Bethlem instead of hanging her from Blackfriars Bridge.”
The news brought a chorus of gasps.
“Soyoublackmailed Lord Meldrum?” Dorian said.
Mrs Haggert smiled. “I had to find someone who had some clout at the hospital. I had to get Nora off the streets so she couldn’t find Caterina. All this time, I’ve let Aaron think he had to keep Caterina safe from me. It worked a treat for the best part of sixteen years.”
Aaron cursed. “You never told me her name was Caterina.”
“Now you know why.”
Dorian took a moment to consider the next step in the investigation. All evidence pointed to the current Lord Meldrum being a key player. He visited Nora in Bethlem. He freed her from the hospital and gave her the pistol. But he would have been fourteen years old at the time of the Jubilee.
“Picking the old Lord Meldrum may have been a mistake,” he said. “Lucky for you, he had no idea who was blackmailing him. But it’s possible he was the ringleader, and now his son is left trying to hide the evidence of his crimes.”
The lord’s desperation to marry Delphine stemmed from more than a need to clear his debts. What’s the betting she would drown in the lake at Farnworth Park or suffer some other accident a month after they’d wed?
Mrs Haggert shuffled to the edge of the seat. “Then you’d better arrest the bugger, Mr Flynn. Caterina ain’t safe until you do.”
“You’re not safe either.” He recalled what had been said in front of Nora last night. “Nora knows you were with Tobias in Green Park. We inadvertently named you as being complicit in the crime.” They needed to put a man outside Bow Street to monitor all visitors.
Mrs Haggert shrugged. “Death comes to us all, but I hope I’m in the crowd when they hang the beast who shot Sofia.”
What sort of heartless beast shot an unarmed woman in the back? Still, the nature of Sofia’s death left one unanswered question.
He touched Delphine’s arm. “Isn’t there something you want to ask Mrs Haggert? Something about your mother?”
She glanced at him over her shoulder, her bottom lip trembling. “Will you ask for me? I’m not sure I have the strength to say the words.”
He nodded, and she came to sit beside him on the sofa, threading her arm through his and resting her head against his shoulder.
Aaron looked but said nothing.
Mrs Haggert merely smiled.
“We learnt that Sofia Chadwick died in the Belle Sauvage Inn, Ludgate Hill.” Daventry had been quite thorough in his investigation. “A witness statement said she had a child with her when she took a room, but the child disappeared.”
Mrs Haggert sighed. “I’d rather tell you the combination to my vault than repeat the words you need to hear, Caterina.” She rubbed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath. “But there ain’t no point you leaving here without knowing how much your mother loved you.”
The comment brought an image of Dorian’s mother crashing into his mind. There were many words to describe the woman who had given birth to him. Selfish. Vain. Cold.
But all men were not born equal.
One day they would depart this world, and the confusing elements of life would read like a chapter in a book. Every page would make perfect sense.
“I let Sofia take one of my boys,” Mrs Haggert began. “She dressed him in a hooded cloak and bought tickets for the stage to St Austell.”
Delphine slid her arm around Dorian’s waist, holding him tightly. “Was she running away?”
“No, gal! She was trying to fool the devil. It was the night we took you from Green Park. She was trying to lure him across town. Except she didn’t know Nora had turned with the tide.”
