Page 104 of The Hollow of Fear
“An acolyte of Bancroft’s pastry chef—who once worked in this house, of course.”
“When we were talking about Lord Remington, Mrs. Watson mentioned that Lord Bancroft had in fact been the family’s black sheep.”
“I have heard that—my father mistrusted him because he spent too much money. But that was long ago.”
She pushed away the dismembered charlotte russe at last. “What kind of a man keeps a pastry chef in his employment?”
He stared at her, his eyes wide with dread that was beginning to congeal into understanding. “What do you mean?”
She took a deep breath. “I mean, how much income would you estimate he has? Lord Bancroft is a second son. He works for the Crown, which doesn’t pay extravagantly. And he doesn’t have, as far as I can tell, a wealthy godfather who has settled a magnificent fortune on him.”
He didn’t speak.
“I knew very little of men’s clothes before this autumn. But now that I do, I can see that his garments are, if not vastly, then at least noticeably superior to yours. Not that yours are inferior by any means, but his aresuperlative.
“And let’s not forget the house near Portman Square, which he bought and kitted out in anticipation that I would marry him. We joke about how he threw all taste and refinement to the side to please me, but have you ever thought of how much such a venture—a house in a desirable location, filled to the brim with exotic and extravagant furnishing—would have cost?”
He pressed his fingers against his temples.
“When Mrs. Watson mentioned his spendthrift ways, she kindly posited that no one should be judged on their adolescence. But we are not judging Lord Bancroft on old habits. We are looking at how he lives now. Where do you suppose he obtains such a sizable income?”
Now he covered his entire face.
“You may know something of how he directs the day-to-day operations of his agents. Do you have the impression that they are being shortchanged in terms of remuneration or other necessary funds?”
Behind his hands, he shook his head.
She was breathing fast. Her hands were clenched together. She flexed her stiff fingers and forced herself to exhale slowly, quietly. “Whatever possibility remains, then, no matter how terrible it is, must be the truth.”
Lord Ingram shotout of his chair.
For a man in Bancroft’s position to have so much inexplicable income—if he wasn’t stealing from his office, there was only one other possibility.
He was selling state secrets.
Lord Ingram wanted to deny it. He wanted to shout that it was beyond absurd that such an accusation could be levied at his brother.
But truth, however absurd it seems at first, always possesses undeniable weight and solidity. Yes, Bancroft had been a valuable asset to the Crown. He was extremely competent and handled everything under his purview with aplomb. But he was also a man without true loyalties, except to himself. Lord Ingram wasn’t certain, now that push came to shove, whether Bancroft could even be called an honorable man.
Dear God, all this time, all this time when Bancroft had asked his subordinates to risk their lives for Queen and country...
He didn’t know whether he wanted to weep or to smash things. All he knew was that he gripped hard onto the mantel, feeling as if he’d never be warm again.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured next to him.
“It’s not your fault,” he said by reflex. “But what am I to do?”
“You protect yourself. And you protect me. Can you imagine what would happen if he were to guess that we suspected his worst secrets?”
He shivered, chilled from head to toe.
“There is still, of course, a chance that I’ve read too much into everything. That he is a bystander in all this. If he is innocent, he will do as he usually does, remain in the shadows himself and let others take care of everything.
“But I think he has something to do with what happened in that icehouse. He visited Stern Hollow five weeks ago. What reason did he give—that he wanted to make sure that there are no other traitors in your household?”
He gave a small, grim nod.
“While he was here, he would have familiarized himself with the geography of Stern Hollow—that’s how the abductors he’d sent knew to head directly for the nursery. Had he succeeded, had he your children in hand, he would have been in a stronger position to demand Mr. Finch in exchange. But that attempt failed and he knew that you were vigilant. So he switched to his contingency plan, and made it appear that you had murdered Lady Ingram.”
