Page 12 of A Proposition for the Comte
‘When the statue turned up with the warning they thought that blackmail might come next.’
‘And because you were half-English and had been to school here you were chosen as the one to come and sort it all out?’
‘Not quite. After your wife’s accusations against me in Paris I have been watched, thoughdistrustedmight even be a better word for it. When I was shot in the boarding house on Brompton Place I even wondered if the man was not French.’
‘God. A double-cross? Le Ministère de la Guerre?’
‘The struggle for power is never easy. People do not wish to relinquish their assets without a fight.’
‘And one of those assets is you?’
Lian began to laugh and felt better. It had been a long time since he had been able to speak so openly like this.
‘I got out the money I had in France a good while ago after selling my personal properties.’
‘Which was another black mark to your name?’
‘I suppose so. Being the first to recognise the truth of Napoleon’s doomed campaigns and act upon it leaves others...vengeful. The noble families are not what they once were in France, for although aristocracy is tolerated it is no longer encouraged. Papa sent my sister and his old aunts here to England when he sensed the danger in it all, but nothing could induce him to leave.’
‘So he stayed?’
‘My mother’s grave is at Vernon. That was part of it, too. His heart lies in that soil.’
‘The soft underside of true politics? The place where the soul collides with reason?’
‘Perhaps.’
‘So your first questions will be to Lady Addington.’
He nodded, hating to have her name so carelessly tossed into the ring. ‘She is scared somehow and isolated. When she speaks there are shadows in her words.’
‘How long were you in her house?’
‘Four hours and I slept for three of them.’
Shay finished his brandy and got up to pour himself another. ‘She made quite an impression on you, then, for such a brief acquaintance.’
‘There were many books in French in the downstairs library, though the whole place looked shabby and in need of redecoration.’
‘The twin persuasions of loyalty and greed.’
‘But that’s not enough, is it? I need a reason. She is a lady and a gentlewoman. She is delicate and thin. Her hands are soft. Her heart is kind.’
‘The husband, then? Lord Addington? How did he die?’
‘In an accident in the Addington stables. One of his prize stallions booted him.’
‘Were there witnesses?’
‘None.’
‘Easy to apply such a death, then, if you had the motivation. Enough gold might give you that.’
‘There’s something else, too.’ He waited until Shay returned again before beginning.
‘Violet Addington’s father, Wilfred Bartholomew, was a northern businessman made rich by his acquisition of jewellery shops.’
‘A man who knew his way around gold, then, and how to stretch its worth.’
‘And his sister left England years ago to marry a Frenchman and settle in Lyon. A family connection?’
Shay stood against the warmth of flame. ‘I miss it sometimes, Lian, all the energy of intelligence. I miss it until I kiss my wife and son and understand the impossibility of ever inviting danger to arrive again at my hearth.’
Lian knew exactly what it was he spoke about. ‘When I get out I will be like you and never look back. It will be a relief.’
‘Then do it soon, for you appear as if you have not slept well for a year.’
‘That’s probably because I haven’t.’
‘Here’s to Lady Addington, then, a woman who fills you with light and sleep.’
