Chapter 20

 

 

 

As soon as they arrived at Cleveland Street, Althea and Sybil greeted them at the door, and the ladies chattered all the way to the parlor. Christian smiled at their enthusiasm as they took their seats.

Sybil cast him a dubious look. “No offense, Your Grace, but Eleanora, should he be here?”

“Christian is part of the investigation, Sybil. I’ll bring you up to date later on how he has assisted us. He has a natural talent for this work,” Eleanora replied.

Christian swelled under the praise. “Thank you, and please, Miss Norton, call me Allenby, or Christian, whatever you prefer. Let us forgo the ‘your graces.’”

“Allenby will do for me, and you may call me Sybil.”

“How was your trip, Althea?” Eleanora asked.

“Well, Huxley is indeed at the sanitorium in Hertfordshire. I observed him on a few occasions walking about the grounds or sitting outside. He looked troubled and in need of care.”

Christian couldn’t believe this. “Wait, you traveled to Hertfordshire to check on Warren?”

“It wasn’t that far,” Althea replied. “And we had to rule him out.”

“And I have,” Eleanora said. She filled in her sister and cousin on what they had discovered. She no sooner finished when the housekeeper entered.

“Miss Eleanora, that street urchin is at the door again.”

Eleanora clapped her hands together. “Brilliant! I’ve been waiting for his report. Bring him a plate of food, Mrs. Bartle. And his name is Archie.”

“Aye,” she said. “And I’ll have Archie wash before he makes his appearance.”

Once Mrs. Bartle departed, she turned to Christian. “I’ve had Archie following the footman, Phillips.”

This was a surprise. “I don’t care for the man, but I cannot imagine why you would suspect him.”

“He’s disrespectful, arrogant,” Eleanora counted on her fingers. “And I’ve seen the way he glares at you all when you’re not looking. Disgust, disdain, a true dislike. He could have lied about the boy delivering the package. What if he brought it? If Ford is our main suspect, how has he discovered certain information on you all unless he had someone on the inside? Whitney couldn’t have found out everything from Emily McCarthy. Like where you are living, your comings and goings. The rake club itself at St. Regent’s Park.”

Again, Eleanora’s deduction and reasoning skills were to be admired. “Allow me to interject here, I know it is a cliché that men—particularly young men—in the peerage are profligate and useless, and at various times in our lives, that may have been the case. Deep down, I believe a lot of the bluster arises from boredom and loneliness.”

Christian looked about the room. He had the ladies’ attention. “Not even Damon is as licentious as before. Many of his trips to the East End are to take in a show. But we allow him to brag of his conquests, knowing that some of them are fictitious.”

“What of Huxley?” Althea asked.

“Well, there is an example of going off the cliff. Warren has cloistered himself away to get help. Asher confided in me last month that although he occasionally indulges, it’s not near as often as before. So have the others. Even Watford has slowed his activities somewhat.”

Eleanora gave him an indulgent smile. “They are your friends. Of course, you would stand up for them; I admire that. It is likely that anything done by the group that may have offended others—was in the past, not recently. Why would Phillips allow himself to be recruited? Money is an enticing incentive, but what if something in your club’s past caused resentment, not only to Phillips but others? What if Ford has gathered together a club of his own?”

Devilled hell. A conspiracy?

He was about to comment when a towhead lad entered the room. He wore frayed clothes; his eyes focused on the plate of food Mrs. Bramble carried to a small table near where they sat. Christian had never seen hunger like that, and it reminded him how lucky he was.

“Sit, Archie. You know how we do this, report first, then food,” Eleanora motioned for the youth to sit at the table. “Mrs. Bartle, if you could bring lemonade and glasses for us, it would be appreciated.”

The housekeeper nodded and departed.

“What’s the toff doin’ here? Takin’ him to the coppers, yeah?” Archie questioned. “I knew he were guilty; he has those shifty eyes, he does.”

Sybil snorted. “Not quite, Archie. The duke has been assisting us.”

Archie gave him an incredulous look, then turned to face Eleanora. “The footman, Aloysius Phillips, workin’ at the place of the Blond bugger—”

Christian bit back a grin, for he’d often thought of Damon the same way.

“Didn’t go out much,” Archie continued. “But he received a few messages at the back entrance. I saw him open and read them, then tuck them away in his coat. Unless he ain’t delivering messages to his nibs. He went out twice while we watched, we couldn’t watch all the time, so he might of gone out when we weren’t there.”

“Where did he go?” Eleanora asked.

“The East End, The Ten Bells pub. He met two men there. Never seen them afore. Then three days later, he met them again. Same place.”

It sounded exactly as Eleanora described. Ford had formed a club of his own.

“Can you describe the men?” Christian asked.

“Who’s he think he is?” Archie scoffed, while pointing his thumb at him.

“You like this work, Archie?” Christian asked. “I know the Galway sisters have mentioned you acquiring some schooling and training, then going to work for them. Is it what you want? Because if it is, I’ll sponsor you. Get off the streets, boy, and make something of yourself. Here’s the golden opportunity. Take it.”

“Cor, blimey, he’s off his nut, he is,” Archie snorted.

“No, I’m speaking the truth. Answer me here and now. Do you want this?” Christian demanded.

Archie blinked, then nodded. “Aye.”

“Good lad,” Christian nodded. “We’ll work out the particulars after you eat. But first, the description of the men.”

“The men all looked to one who acted like a toff. He had a long scar, runnin’ here.” With the tip of his finger, Archie traced from his temple down to his jaw. “It’s a bad one, like someone had torn his face open. The toff has dark brown hair, a long nose, thin lips, shorter than his nibs there, but not by much. He was skinny like.”

Sybil was furiously taking notes.

“It’s Ford. I’ll lay coin on it,” Christian said. “Though last I saw him, he wasn’t exactly thin.” Chills curled about his spine at the revelation.

Archie gave a description of the other man, and Sybil took further notes as he spoke.

“Well done, go ahead and eat,” Eleanora said.

She motioned for Christian to join her across the room. “You don’t have to do that, sponsor Archie,” she murmured.

“You have faith in him, and that’s good enough for me. It is about time I did some good with my title. I assume we will be doing surveillance on The Ten Bells? And on Phillips again?”

“We?” Eleanora chuckled. Then she sobered. “As you heard Archie say, doing a ‘twenty-four-hour observation’ is difficult and expensive. We should also watch Sir Howard’s place as well.”

“Difficult and expensive? Not for us, not for me.” Christian turned and walked toward the table. “Archie, is there people you trust that would be willing to work around the clock? I have plenty of coin to pay.”

Archie looked up from his plate, gravy dibbling down his chin. “Aye, I do. I’ve about eight of them I trust.”

“Finish up, lad. You’re coming with me.”

A wary shadow crossed Archie’s face. “Where?”

“You’re staying with me.”

“What? Cor. Bollocks to that,” Archie sneered.

“If you want this opportunity, then you will do what I say. Learn to take orders; then, you can give them.”

“Phsaw. I do that now.”

Everyone laughed.

“I believe we are on the right track,” Althea said.

“I believe it’s time to let the others know about Ford and to tell them to be even more vigilant,” Christian said.

“I agree. Bring your friends up to date,” Eleanora replied.

Christian felt a wave of excitement move through him. Boredom, idleness, and loneliness had ruled his life for years, despite his title and friends.

But here, now, he had a purpose, a goal. A sense of achievement. Though what possessed him to take in a street lad, he may soon regret.

Being with Eleanora and becoming part of her life had him feeling more alive than he had in years.

Christian wanted that to continue—for the rest of his life.

How to convince Eleanora that deep down she felt the same way was indeed a conundrum.