Surely she could see they were meant to be together? David spent several minutes demonstrating his enthusiasm for having her in his life, but eventually they packed the rest of her bag and locked up the hall door before running the gauntlet of the landlady, who was very upset about David’s presence.
“I won’t be ’aving this kind of behaviour in this ’ouse,” she said. “This is a respectable ’ouse, this is.”
David left Prue to soothe Mrs. Moffat while he fetched a hackney cab, and when he returned she was polite, if still grumpy.
“Two months’ rent in advance went some distance to settling her indignation,” Prue explained as they settled in the cab.
She intended to keep the rooms, then?
“If that is what you wish, Prue. I want you to be happy.”
“I am. I am happy with you.” She suddenly squeezed his hand hard. “David, you said you saw Aldridge in Tidbury End. Why were you there? What happened to Selby? Is Charity safe? What did Aldridge say?”
He told her the story, how he’d heard that Selby had fled, and been afraid for her and Charity. That he’d arrived in Tidbury End to find Selby talking his way out of arrest, and what had happened afterward. How Annesley had died, and Selby and Barnstable had escaped.
“So then, Aldridge and I had a heart-to-heart talk, and I punched him,” he finished.
“He is annoying, is he not? But I was glad to see him looking over his gun at those villains, I can assure you.”
“I am grateful to him for that. He told me he had sent you a letter, by the way. He is withdrawing his offer in my favour.”
Prue snorted. “As if I would consider his offer. And,” she unfurled from her comfortable position inside his arm, glaring, “as if you and Aldridge have the disposition of me, David.”
David brushed his lips over hers. “The choice is yours, dear heart, always. But he meant well, I think. Antonia has him all off balance.”
“Do you mind? Aldridge is determined to be part of Antonia’s life. I considered packing her up and moving to America, but I couldn’t abandon Charity.”
“Are you so against him knowing her?” David asked. “We can move to America if that is what you want. Charity and the children, too.” He would need to build a whole new business, of course, with new informers and connections, but undoubtedly the colonials needed enquiry agents too.
Prue snuggled closer, lifting her mouth for his kiss. “No need, I think, but I love that you did not hesitate. I do not mind him being an uncle to Antonia, when I have you to remind him he will never be more. But David, I am afraid of Antonia becoming part of Her Grace’s collection of Haverford by-blows.”
David kissed her again. “Her Grace ‘collects’ those who have lost their mothers, Prue, or who are neglected or abused. She would never be a danger to Antonia, who has both a mother and aunt to love her. And I will be happy to make sure that Aldridge remembers his place.” The last was a growl.
They had arrived in Chelsea, and they let the conversation drop while Mrs. Allen fussed over Prudence.
Over dinner they discussed their travels, and what they had each discovered.
David had arrived back in London the day before, and had already collected reports.
Tiverton had left London with his regiment and his new wife, bound for Egypt.
“He was distressed, apparently, when the cleric he had promised to supply did not put in an appearance. Fortunately, his new father-in-law found a man willing to conduct the ceremony.”
“Poor lady,” Prue said. “I suspect she would have been better off had he reneged.”
“No chance of that. He was under suspicion of stealing veterinary supplies for his friends to sell to most of the hunts in southern England. Apparently, hunting horses go through large quantities of tar and turpentine, or so I’ve been told. Tiverton escaped court martial only because he blamed the whole on Annesley, replaced the missing stores, and married his commander’s daughter. The replacements were not, by the way, made with the cargo from the Magstows, which arrived too late. My guess is that Tiverton paid Talbot’s price to save his neck.”
“What a swine Tiverton is,” Prue said. Clearly, her sympathies were all with the new wife.
“Talbot hasn’t been seen in town at all. Aldridge’s evidence suggests he’s our man, for the maid’s murder, anyway.”
“I saw him. At an inn on the road to Oxfordshire, with Little Joy Fraser, or whatever her name is. He was bound for Bristol, he said, and was then going to join her in London.” Prue told David what she had overhead.
“Our cases converge again, Prue. I need to go to Bristol for Rede, though I have not told him yet. But he is back in town and I will report to him tomorrow. Will you come to Bristol with me?”
“We have some loose ends to tie up. An interview with Aldridge’s alibi. The rescue of your friend, Dorothea. Sutton’s and Elfingham’s whereabouts after they delivered Lady Sutton to the Belvoir ball.”
“Who killed Elise Palmer, and who—for that matter—killed Lillian Palmer?”
“I have a theory about that. I think the maid died because she did two jobs for our killer, and could not talk about them if she was dead.”
David agreed. “She introduced the poison, and she collected the blackmail letters.”
“So if Talbot killed her, then…”
“He or Little Joy killed her, almost certainly. They were there three hours, and she was dead when they left. It is beyond believing they had nothing to do with her being strangled.”
“As for Elise Palmer, all we know for certain is it wasn’t Talbot.”
“It is Talbot’s connection to Tolliver that interests me. I’ve sent a note to Milford, saying we wish to meet him in the morning to discuss the Talbot papers.”
“David, I think we need to confront Tolliver.”
David nodded. “Milford first, but I expect you are right. I can do that. You do not need to put yourself in danger.”
Prue glared. “Are we going to have this conversation every time we work together, David? Besides, you do not really think Tolliver is a traitor, do you?”
David shook his head. “I find it hard to believe. And I certainly do not think he is a traitor of Talbot’s type, selling secrets to whomever will pay the best price. But I do not trust him, Prue. This may well be a scheme that, in his view, serves the Crown, but we know the lengths he will go to when serving the Crown. If he sees us as a threat…”
Prue nodded, but said, “I hope you do not imagine I am going to sit at home embroidering samplers while you are off all over the country using your skills? You have always treated me as an equal partner. What has changed?”
Nothing had changed. He had always worried about her and yearned for the right to protect her. And his vision of their marriage had her safely at home, waiting for him to talk cases over with her, but staying out of danger. Clearly, this was something they would need to work out. He compromised with, “You will be careful, Prue, will you not? I cannot help but worry about you.”
“Any more than I can help but worry about you. But I would not have you any different than you are. You need to do this work, and that means you will sometimes be in danger. You will be careful, David, will you not?”
His reassuring kiss turned passionate, and they did not discuss work again that night.