Chapter Twenty-nine

The Caverns, Deirdre’s Chamber

Deirdre, expressionless, watched Tasha and Ian with her camera obscura. Sebastian, in his naval commander’s uniform, frowned down at Tasha’s image. “Why don’t you simply kill her?” he asked evenly. He expected a sharp retort, but to his surprise, Deirdre chuckled quietly, though she did not look away from the image on her viewing stone.

“Sebastian! You’re jealous. How touching. Understand. If you kill someone they’re dead. But to shatter the will, erode the spirit, destroy someone utterly … that really does take a woman’s touch. So understand that I …”

She stopped as her concentration locked on the image of Ian leading Tasha into the cottage.

Sebastian walked over to the four-poster bed and parted the curtains. There I was, huddled in the corner of the bed. Something in the food they gave me had knocked me out. The effect of the drug on my seven-year-old body must have been severe.

I had been lured away from Nanny Roberts by a small puppy, reputedly sent as a gift from my Mother through Inspector Ramsgate, in the same park where the Admiralty officer had been murdered. My abduction was neatly done. The arrangements that brought us to the park seemed authentic. The note was on Ramsgate’s official stationary and said, “Look for a surprise.” A Scottish Terrier puppy toddled up with a bright scarlet ribbon around its neck and a card attached. Nanny Roberts read the note, which said, “Follow me.”

She set the adorable little creature on the ground, and it scuttled around the curve of the hedge. I was in hot pursuit, clutching my Teddy Bear tightly. Nanny Roberts kept to her bench and stayed with her reading, watching me as I ran. Nothing seemed amiss.

I followed the puppy, darting through the crack in the hedge. Someone’s arms reached around me from behind. I have no idea if it was chloroform or some other substance, but I was out in seconds. My limp form was placed in a hidden compartment in a large double perambulator, and I was wheeled away, I suspect right past Nanny Roberts. Not enough time had passed to alarm her. I don’t even know if it was Deirdre who kidnapped me or some other confederate.

After a full two minutes had passed, Nanny Roberts, now concerned, followed my path. She entered the hedge, but by then there was no one there—only my Teddy Bear, propped against the hedge with its black little eyes and sewn-on smile directed at Nanny. Then the puppy scampered up to her. There was another note tied to the scarlet ribbon, this one addressed to Lady Natasha Dorrington. Nanny Roberts scooped up the puppy and note, and ran to find the nearest constable.

Although I assume there were periods when I was awake, all I can recall with clarity was nodding off in that plush room behind the opium den in Limehouse … a dreamlike image of a private train compartment … and waking up on a fishing-smack in the Firth of Clyde. The hold of the small boat was dark, cold, and damp. The smell of the sea told me I was far from home and safety. I was terrified, and as events were to prove, with very good reason.