Page 29 of With Good Grace
Olivia stood up and stretched. As she did so she heard shouts of laughter coming from the garden. She looked through the window and saw two of Jake’s footmen playing cricket, of sorts, with Tom. Jane stood to one side, laughing and encouraging as Tom wielded a bat almost as tall as he was. One footman bowled a gentle ball, Tom swung the bat with both hands, and missed the ball completely. The second footman fielded it and the process was repeated. At the third attempt, Tom made connection with the ball and everyone cheered; Tom the loudest of all. Olivia laughed, wondering who was having more fun—Tom or Jake’s footmen.
The door opened behind her and Parker stood there.
‘My son seems to have disrupted the entire household,’ she said. ‘I apologise for that.’
Parker laughed. ‘A boy’s never too young for cricket, or for fighting.’
‘Oh, don’t encourage him in that regard, I beg of you.’
‘Not me, ma’am, but I expect he’ll learn soon enough how to defend himself the moment he goes off to school. It’s what boys instinctively do.’
‘I prefer not to think about that yet. He is still my baby.’ Olivia resumed her seat. ‘What did you learn at Pollock’s?’
‘The ship was not commissioned especially for Tom. It was on display in Pollock’s shop. A maid came in, asked to see it, deemed it suitable and asked for it to be delivered to your address in Chelsea that same day. She paid in cash and didn’t give a name.’
‘Was the person you spoke to able to describe the maid? I did not send anyone and Lord Torbay assures me that he did not.’ Olivia tried not to panic. Targeting her was one thing, but playing games with her by singling out her young son was entirely another. ‘Who could it have been?’
‘The description doesn’t help much, I’m afraid. A woman of middle-years, wearing a maid’s uniform and a bonnet that covered her hair. The assistant said there were several other customers in the shop at the time and he didn’t pay her much attention.’
‘Thank you, Parker. I suppose we shall never find out anything more than that, unless the person behind it all wants us to.’ She emptied a second box onto the table. ‘I suppose I had better continue with my search for clues.’
‘Ring if you need anything,’ Parker replied.
‘Oh, actually Parker, there is something.’ Olivia told him that she had found inflammatory letters addressed to her husband. ‘Jake thinks my husband was a blackmailer.’
‘He told me,’ Parker replied. ‘You’re wondering, I suppose, why Sir Hubert didn’t take those letters.’
‘Quite.’
Parker whistled through his teeth when Olivia handed him one if the letters and he scanned its contents.
‘I need someone to go round to Cheyne Walk and ask Green where he found these documents when he packed up my husband’s papers. For my own peace of mind, I’d like to know if there were secret hiding places that Green knew about. If there were not, I am convinced that Hubert would have read these letters. If he did not take them, it implies that he behaved honourably.’ Olivia curled her upper lip derisively. ‘Somehow I doubt it, but we ought to give him the benefit of that doubt until we know otherwise.’
‘I’ll go and talk to Green myself,’ Parker said, returning the letter to her. ‘Didn’t know that was possible,’ he added, grinning.
‘Thank you, Parker,’ Olivia replied, aware that her face was flaming.
‘Although,’ Parker added, his hand on the door as he turned back to face her. ‘Why wouldn’t Green have mentioned the hiding places to you, if he knew about them?’
Olivia shrugged. ‘I had just come out of prison. The last thing I wanted to know about was Marcus’s affairs, if you follow my meaning, seeing as they had almost cost me my life. Perhaps Green did try to speak to me on the matter but I preferred not to hear him. I was not myself at the time. I had a lot of adjustments to make.’
‘I understand.’
Parker nodded and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. He had not been gone above a minute when there was another tap at the door. Upon bidding the caller to enter, Olivia looked up and was surprised to see Molly standing there.
‘Yes, Molly, what is it?’
‘Excuse me, ma’am, but I wanted to know if it would inconvenience you if I changed my afternoon off this week.’
‘Which afternoon do you require instead?’ Normally Olivia would have agreed without demur, but Molly had done nothing recently to earn Olivia’s cooperation.
‘Actually,’ Molly replied, shuffling her feet awkwardly. ‘Today.’
‘Today? You have an engagement this afternoon and only thought to mention it now? I pride myself on being a tolerant mistress, Molly, but cannot help thinking you are exploiting my good nature.’
‘I…I meant to ask yesterday, but then there was the upset over Master Tom’s boat, and arrangements to make for this sudden move, and it clean went out of my head.’ She twisted her hands together. ‘It’s awful important to me, madam.’
‘What do you intend to do if I give you the afternoon off?’
