Page 62 of A Sense of Paradise
‘The men I have following Baldock finally tracked him down to a secluded house on the outskirts of Bradenstoke,’ Pawson said, entering the room.
‘Bradenstoke?’ Archie’s head shot up. ‘Why is that name familiar?’
‘You recommended Flora’s sister’s husband for the vacant living there.’
‘So I did.’ Archie tapped his fingers against his chin. ‘Do we know who lives in this house?’
‘No idea. My man was told that it’s been vacant for a while, but was leased a few months ago. Hasn’t been anyone living there until last week—and whoever’s there, they keep to themselves.’
‘It has to be Avery.’ Archie was immediately all action. ‘Send a cable to Scotland Yard, let Rochester know in case he doesn’t already, then prepare the carriage. We’ll go and take a look ourselves.’
‘Wouldn’t it be better to leave it to Rochester?’
Archie’s expression turned forbidding. ‘I might be a cripple but I don’t back away from a fight, especially when the man provoking me is attempting to blacken my fiancée’s name.’
‘Fair enough. Just wanted to be sure.’
Ten minutes later they were installed in Archie’s curricle, conveyed by a pair of matching bays, and Pawson drove them at speed in the direction of Bradenstoke.
‘If Avery’s there he will welcome a confrontation,’ Pawson warned.
‘If that’s what he wanted he wouldn’t have hidden himself away,’ Archie replied through teeth gritted against the pain that the speed of their journey caused him. ‘Avery is a coward who for some reason has involved Eloise and her brother in his affairs in order to get at me. I wish I knew why.’
‘I dare say you will ask him.’
‘You may depend upon it,’ Archie replied, firming his jaw.
‘Why has he chosen to hide in this part of the world?’
‘That I couldn’t say but I’ll wager that Latimer had some say in that decision. It wouldn’t surprise me if we find him there with his partners in debauchery.’
The rest of the journey passed in silence. Pawson concentrated on his team, Archie on thoughts that turned darker and more dangerous with every mile they travelled. He fingered the pistol in his pocket and felt comforted by the presence of his swordstick, which he carried in place of his usual walking aid.
Pawson slowed his team as they drove though Bradenstoke village and stopped completely at one point to ask a passer-by for directions to Fairacres. With that information to hand, he drove out the other end of the village and took a left-hand turn. They went on some way and Archie began to think that they had been misdirected.
‘There!’ He pointed to chimneys visible above the treeline and Pawson turned down the lane that led in that direction. ‘Another vehicle’s been down here, and recently,’ he added, pointing to fresh droppings.
‘I take it you don’t want to be subtle,’ Pawson said.
‘Lord above, no. Avery and I have overdue business to attend to.’
‘That’s what I thought you’d say.’ Pawson rolled his eyes and drove his team directly up to the front door.
Chapter Sixteen
Flora and Eloise sat side by side in Lord Avery’s carriage. It was uncomfortable and poorly sprung, lurching from side to side each time it hit a rut in the road. The conveyance had clearly seen better days, as had the team harnessed to it. They were plodding nags, little better bred than Mabel and far less well cared for. Avery’s mode of transportation confirmed the viscount’s impecunious state. Avery’s lack of funds would certainly explain why he had looked abroad for a wealthy wife, but why he felt the desire to challenge a man of Archie’s stature was a good deal less obvious.
The viscount sat across from them with a Louis beside him looking distraught. No one spoke, but Flora could sense Eloise’s confusion and growing unease. One did not require psychic powers to conclude that this situation was not of Avery’s making. He was reacting to events, which if anything made him even more unstable and dangerous. Eloise would have a dozen questions percolating through her brain but Flora gave her hand a warning squeeze. Louis leaned towards Eloise, his expression supplicating, but Eloise refused to look at him and stared through the window with tears glistening on her lashes.
‘You encouraged Maurice to come to England,’ Flora said in a conversational tone.
Louis leaned his elbows on his spread thighs and focused his gaze on the floor of the carriage.
‘Why?’ Eloise asked, glowering more in confusion than condemnation.
‘Explanations can wait, ladies,’ Avery said in a tone that was more suited to the chastisement of a recalcitrant child. A tone probably intended to rile Flora, whom Avery hadn’t stopped observing with narrow-eyed speculation during the short carriage ride. Flora wasn’t about to oblige him, and showed no reaction to his dictatorial behaviour. Instead she examined the house they had just driven up to through the carriage window. Secluded, the gardens overgrown, it wore its neglect like a badge of honour. Avery, she suspected, had taken it precisely because it was so secluded. Whatever he got up to here would not be interrupted by nosy neighbours, since there were none.
‘Here we are. Welcome to my humble abode.’
