Page 26 of Death of a Courtesan
‘By the time I got back from France, Mary was gone,’ Huxton said, looking devastated. ‘I searched high and low but no one had seen hide nor hair of her. I assumed she had gone to London and walked the streets for days on end, desperate for news of her. She knew no one there and I was well aware of the pitfalls that awaited such an innocent and beautiful child.’
‘Innocent?’ Miss Huxton’s eyes bulged in harmony with her puffed out her cheeks. ‘She was awake on every suit and had you wrapped around her little finger. She could do no wrong in your eyes, and well she knew it.’
‘In the end, when I found no trace of her, I was obliged to return home. I had neglected my duties for too long. I thought—hoped—that she would come back eventually, but she never did. I think it was that which caused my wife’s decline. She felt guilty for not having taken her complaints more seriously and never knew a moment’s peace from that point onwards. No one will convince me that she did not die from a broken heart.’
‘If she was restricted to her room, what made her flee, I wonder,’ Riley mused.
‘Oh, Fanny gave in and let her out again without receiving an apology, or indeed any retraction of the allegations she made.’ Disapproval radiated through Miss Huxton’s voice. ‘Far too soft-hearted for her own good, was that one. Anyway, there was some unpleasantness. Mary attacked my brother when she next saw him for no apparent reason.’
‘You witnessed this attack?’ Riley asked.
‘No, Fanny and I were out at the time and Mary was at home alone. But we saw the results of her vindictiveness. Poor Derek is scarred for life.’
‘Scarred?’ Riley and Salter exchanged a look.
‘She attacked him with a carving knife and slit his cheek clean open.’ Miss Huxton’s eyes misted. ‘It was a terrible scene. Blood everywhere and the knife still in Mary’s hand. She was like a wild animal. I even thought she might attack me at one point. However, she did not. She simply dropped the knife and turned away. Fanny and I, naturally, enough, concentrated upon getting help for Derek. By the time the doctor had stitched him up and I thought to call the police to have Mary arrested, she had disappeared and we never saw her again.’
‘You would have had your own niece arrested without first asking her what made her behave in the way that she did?’ Salter asked in a disbelieving tone.
‘Certainly I would.’ Miss Huxton elevated her pointed chin. ‘Good riddance to her, I say. The child was born evil, but then blood will out. That’s what I always say. I warned Peter not to marry Fanny. She came from the lower classes, you see, and I knew no good could come of it. But he was blinded by her beauty and thought he could make a lady out of her.’
‘Ruth, that’s quite enough!’
‘I shall be speaking to your brother and hear his account of events,’ Riley said calmly, thinking they had most likely found their killer. He must be the man Adelaide had been seen arguing with in the London street. A man bent on revenge because his niece had disfigured him. ‘Is he here?’
‘No, he is away on business. However, he is due back tomorrow. I shall come up to London and bring him with me. We can identify Mary together,’ Huxton replied, rousing himself from his lethargy. ‘It is the very least I can do for my girl, albeit five years too late.’
‘That will be satisfactory.’ Riley crossed his legs and dangled one hand over the arm of his chair. ‘Are your sons here? I would like to hear their recollections of their sister.’
‘They are at our warehouses in London,’ Huxton said. ‘But they were away at school when the business with Derek blew up and know only what they have subsequently been told.’
Riley nodded, thinking that was very likely the case. Even so, Mary might have told them things that she felt unable to tell her mother or father. Unlikely, but the possibility needed to be explored. ‘I shall need to speak with them at some point too, just to make sure I have got everything straight. Please have them contact me,’ he added, handing Huxton one of his cards before standing.
They made arrangements to meet the following day at King’s College Hospital, and took their leave.
‘Blimey,’ Salter said as they walked away and climbed back into the ancient trap. ‘I’m starting to feel right sorry for the chit. That place and that woman is enough to make anyone run away.’
Riley laughed. ‘There is always more than one side to every story, Jack, but I’m glad you no longer feel the need to condemn Adelaide for the choices she made. Sometimes in this life there are no choices.’
