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HOWEVER, BY THE FOLLOWING morning, I had thought of several somethings I could do towards solving the enigmas churning through my head. Firstly, I wondered if the true Mrs. Dandridge had once possessed a great deal of fine jewelry, and perhaps David was simply taking it upon himself to parcel out pieces of it here and there to ladies for whom he cared, such as his wife, and also Ellie. To solve that puzzle, I decided to try and contrive a manner in which to peek into the jewel boxes I had earlier spotted sitting on the dressing table in Mrs. Dandridge’s bedchamber. Because that woman spent such a generous portion of each day asleep, to quietly enter her sitting room, tiptoe past the chaise where she lay and have a look about her bedchamber should not prove impossible, nor even difficult.
Secondly, once there, I could also take another peek beneath the bed in order to determine if a great many banknotes were still secreted within the remaining hatboxes. Of course, since I did not know whether or not either of them had been overflowing with banknotes a fortnight ago, I would have no way of knowing now whether or not a great many had gone missing. But, to use today’s count as a starting point would provide me with a hint as to the contents of the boxes should I decide at a later date to nose around once more.
Soon after breakfast, Hannah and Ellie prevailed upon Tilda to help them wash their hair in preparation for tonight’s outing to Almack’s. Tilda, of course, agreed, and when the three set out to accomplish the task, one that I assumed would take a good while, I set out to dispatch my task.
Because breakfast was already over and done with, I assumed it was likely that Norris had also already administered Mrs. Dandridge’s medication designed to alleviate her pain for the day, and also that the older woman’s breakfast tray had now been removed. Listening for any sort of noise that might drift downward towards me on the stairs, I slowly proceeded upward. Hearing no sounds at all as I reached the uppermost level of the house, I moved quietly towards Mrs. Dandridge’s suite of rooms. Carefully easing open the door, I peeked inside, and upon spotting the older woman seemingly asleep upon the chaise, I tiptoed on into the chamber and past the makeshift bed upon which she lay.
At that instant, I heard the clatter of footfalls coming from the corridor. Someone was approaching! The noise must have also roused Mrs. Dandridge for a bit of a sputter escaped her. Because my fingers were already curled around the latch to her bedchamber door, I used the noise coming from her to cover whatever disturbance I might make pulling open the door and hurrying into the adjacent room. And, was thankful to successfully complete the action with nary a moment to spare.
From the other side of the door, I heard the telltale clamor of footfalls moving across the outer chamber, then the old woman’s voice addressing whomever had entered her room a scant second after I departed.
“I refuse to . . . swallow another drop of that . . . that horrid stuff!”
“Now, now, Mrs. Dandridge, you know you must. The doctor said . . .” Recognizing Norris’s voice, I cast about for a spot in this room where behind or under, should the need arise, I could take shelter.
“I don’t care a fig what the doctor says, I ain’t swallowin’ another drop of that foul-tasting stuff! Get away from me, you spiteful ol’ witch!”
Upon hearing a clatter when something hit the floor, I assumed Mrs. Dandridge had swatted away the spoon in Norris’s hand.
“Now, look what you’ve done!”
“I said I’d not swallow another drop! It’s killin’ me! I ain’t felt like meself in weeks. I can scarcely move and I cain’t think straight!”
Hoping that Norris did not enter this room in search of a cloth to clean up the mess, I scampered toward the three-fold privacy screen standing beyond the bed and ducked behind it. Then, from the sitting room, I heard the muffled sounds of a scuffle.
“Open your mouth, old woman!”
“No!”
“Open your mouth or I’ll smear it all over your face and you’ll have no choice but to lick it off!”
“Get away from me, I say!”
“Either you swallow it or I shall send for David to come hold you down whilst I pour it into your mouth. You do not want that, do ye’?”
Hearing no further protests, I assumed Norris’s threat had found its mark and the patient had obediently swallowed the medicine.
“Now, go to sleep, ye’ old bat. I’ve a mind to ask the doctor for somethin’ stronger,” Norris grumbled.
My breath in my throat, I waited until I heard the sound of the sitting room door open and close, which I assumed meant that Norris had left the room. Instead, I heard the deep timbre of a man’s voice!
“Did she take it?”
David had entered the room!
“Finally. But I very nearly had to strike her in order to force it down her throat. I threatened to send for you to come hold her down whilst I gave it to her.”
“Poor Aunt Dandridge, she is unaccustomed to being bedridden.”
“You forget, darling, she is no longer your aunt, she is now your grandmother.”
“I dislike all the play-acting you’ve concocted, Norris.”
“For now, we’ve no choice but to play-act. But . . .” the housekeeper’s tone turned sinister, “say the word, love, and together we can . . . hurry things along.”
“No! I will not allow you to . . .”
“But, I am so very well suited for it, my sweet,” Norris cooed.
I heard David chuckle, then when their voices subsided the awful thought struck that he had drawn her into his arms!
“I can think of things you are far better suited for, my lovely wife.”
From where I stood hidden behind the privacy screen in the adjoining room, I shook my head in an attempt to dislodge the distasteful thought of the pair of them kissing. Then, suddenly, another thought struck! What if they decided to nip in here and . . . no! I could not remain hidden behind this screen if the pair of them decided to . . . no, no! Not before me on the bed! Dear Lord, no-o!
I waited until a scant second after I heard the outer door in the other room open and was about to inhale a relieved breath before emerging from my hiding place, when I heard David say, “I shall be down in a moment, my dear. I just need to put this away . . .”
Put what away? Once again, my heart leapt to my throat.
“Oh, David, why can we not simply keep it in our cottage? It would be so much more convenient . . .”
“No one will think to look for it here. I shall be down in a thrice.”
Another pang of alarm stabbed me the instant the door to this room swung open and through the hinged seam where two of the three privacy screens met, I caught a glimpse of David advancing towards me!
Mere feet from reaching the screen behind which I stood, atremble, he fell to his knees beside Mrs. Dandridge’s bed. Attempting to see around his rump in the air, I ascertained that he was dragging one of the remaining hatboxes from beneath the bed. Although I could not clearly determine what he put into the box, or if, he had, instead, withdrawn something from it. All I was certain of was that my heart was thundering so loudly in my ears, I wondered that he could not hear it and would then spring to his feet and hasten this way in order to investigate the disturbance!
But, he didn’t. Upon completing his errand, he rose, brushed his hands down the front of his trousers and hurried into the outer room. Saying nothing to his aunt cum grandmother, apparently now lying sound asleep upon the chaise, he withdrew from that room, as well. I stood rooted in place until I was certain I heard the latch to the sitting room door click shut and no further sounds coming from there before I stole from behind the screen where I’d been hiding. Upon finally finding myself alone in Mrs. Dandridge’s bedchamber, the door to the sitting room tightly shut, I realized that with the draperies also drawn, meant that even though I was now safely ensconced here alone, I could scarcely see a thing.
I quietly moved to the windows and gathering up the end of one of the long curtains, draped it over a chair, thereby allowing in a shaft of daylight. Then, because my curiosity as to what David had deposited into the hatbox drove me to it, I also dropped to my knees and dragged the nearest container toward me. Upon opening it, I saw at once what he had placed inside the box. A stack of fresh, crisp, new banknotes, the bundle neatly tied with string.
Once again my heart set up a deafening roar in my ears. Clearly I was wrong about David. He had, indeed, taken part in the burglaries alongside his brother Conner. Here was indisputable proof of his guilt. The two had sold the jewelry they had stolen and this wad of banknotes constituted the profits from their string of midnight crimes. That his wife was now wearing one of the stolen gems, a ruby ring surrounded by diamonds, constituted additional proof of his guilt.
I had not yet had an opportunity to apprise Mr. Sheridan of the housekeeper’s new ring, but the very next moment I saw him, I surely would. I assume that both Norris and David believed that this far from Town, no one would notice, or remark, upon the fact that a mere housekeeper was now wearing an exquisite new bauble on her finger.
Returning the hatbox to its position beneath the bed, I slowly got to my feet. Having located what I believed to be undeniable proof of David’s participation in the robberies, I had little to no further interest in snooping through Mrs. Dandridge’s bedchamber for additional jewelry that she had once worn. That I had overheard both David and Norris admit that here was the best place to stash the funds, which apparently they gleaned from the sale of stolen property, seemed all the proof necessary to convict the pair of their clandestine crimes. Although, I still believed that Conner was every bit as guilty as his brother, I had no clue where that particular lawbreaker was hiding. Somewhere upon the estate, I assumed. What I wished to do now was return to the safe haven of my bedchamber as quickly as possible.
I was about to open the door to the sitting room when I realized I had not put the drapery back in place, so hurried that way, then thought that since I was here, and did not ever want to return again, I may as well take a peek into the jewelry boxes upon the dresser. If I were wrong about David, and he had merely been presenting his wife with jewels that previously belonged to his aunt cum grandmother, then there was still a chance that I might see a pendant or a locket or a pin upon the bodice of Norris’s gown that I had first spotted here. I did so wish to learn that David was innocent of any crime.
I left the window covering draped over the chair and made my way to the dressing table and began to hastily open boxes. Nestled in one, I spotted what had possibly been the old woman’s babyhood ring, a tiny gold loop that would fit only the finger of a very young child. In the same box was a tiny locket with a filigree design carved upon the face of it. Opening the lid of another velvet box, I found yet another locket, this one heart-shaped with a tiny sapphire in the middle of the heart. Several more boxes revealed more of the same; old jewelry that held memories only for the owner, but perhaps, for anyone else, of little to no value.
In one small black velvet box, I noticed that the silk lining had been torn asunder. Reaching to lift it, I stood for several seconds staring at what could only be described as a twisted article composed of fine wires of no discernable shape. I turned the item over and over attempting to make head or tail of it; but nothing identifiable sprang to mind. Deciding it was of no consequence I replaced the twisted object back where I’d found it, and patted the lining of the box back down into place. Even if David had merely been selling off his late aunt’s jewelry, piece by piece, there now appeared little here of any worth.
Feeling vastly relieved that I had managed to conduct my search whilst avoiding detection I attempted to thrust the troublesome matter from mind and hurry back down to my own bedchamber. Once there, however, my busy brain insisted upon returning again and again to the confusing conundrum.