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SOMETIMES AS AN SIO, you needed to assess the overall picture and you needed to push boundaries. But that didn’t help as I knocked on the door to the flat above a baker shop, feeling like I was well over the boundary. Now, I know you’re probably right in saying that I was completely compromised but I was also still a detective somewhere inside and I needed answers. Hopefully Raquel wouldn’t stay silent or tell Sophie on me. This was going to use all the expertise I had.
The door opened and Raquel let out a chuckle as she lowered her stick. “Were you missing our weekly walk?”
“Maybe . . . and maybe I need to talk to you,” I said, holding up my hands as Raquel turned and strolled into the living space, leaving the door ajar. “I won’t be long.”
“When you’re my age, girl, you are only happy to see a friendly face.” Raquel flicked her dressing gown closed and tied it. Her silk pyjamas poked out of the bottom. Guess she wasn’t getting dressed today then. “Fire away.”
“I’m worried about you,” I said, perching on the corner of a roughed up looking chair. Wow, was the place a dive. Run down, beat up, with cheap furniture, and a fireplace that looked out of the seventies. “With people who know Sophie or have known her getting attacked, I’m not sure why you’re not at Hayefield permanently.”
Raquel tapped her nose. “If Sophie hasn’t told you, I won’t.”
“Thought you’d say that.” I leaned onto my knees. Now to state what I knew and see if that would get a reaction. “You see, her accountant got killed yesterday in town and the police came straight to Sophie . . . and I might have done something stupid.”
“Stupid?” Raquel pursed her lips. “Unlike you to be foolhardy.”
“Yes, but the police seemed set on arresting her if she wasn’t there . . . and she wasn’t . . . so I called her and warned her to get back to the estate.” I rubbed over my chin, my lips chapped and bruised. “And I found a pistol . . . so I hid it. At the time I thought someone could have planted it, you know?”
Raquel blinked, then wrinkled up her mouth, then blinked again. “Are you quite mad?”
“I don’t know.” I went to the kitchen and rummaged around for brandy. One cupboard was full of lined up bottles. Wow, Raquel did love her brandy. No wonder she was so well preserved. “I know that I’m in love with her.”
Raquel tutted and harrumphed. “You barely know her.”
“Exactly . . . and I don’t fall in love like this. I’m sensible.” I poured us both a brandy. “But it’s like she’s feeding me some illicit substance that has me hooked.”
“Dear girl, you mustn’t be upset with yourself. She is merely doing what her family has done for generations.” She swirled the brandy around the cup. “Her uncle mesmerized me to the point I did whatever he asked without complaint.” She studied the threadbare carpet. “Sophie has been clear she wasn’t intending to play with you in such a manner.”
I perched on the chair. “Play with me?”
Raquel tapped her glass to her lips then nodded. “Yes, you see, the Haye family have that legendary magnetism and they enjoy breaking a challenge down. Usually it was to win some political battle like Michael De Breton the Second who purposely seduced the daughter of the man leading a rebellion against them.”
That made me feel so much better about myself. “And Sophie’s uncle?”
“Oh, over the years it changed, the Hayes would seduce the servants either in competition with one another or a show of dominance. With George it was to have someone adore him as his wife knew him far too well to do anything as silly.” Raquel smiled around her glass, then her smile faded. “But Sophie, like Henry, took things too far. Everything between them went too far but it wasn’t just sibling rivalry with them, it was war from the second they could form opinion.”
“Because Henry was illegitimate?” I was sure Edwina had said that Henry didn’t know he was.
“No, because Sophie looked like a De Breton. I’m sure you can envision how her beauty stunned most to silence around her but she had brains, talent, strength. You must understand that Sophie is the embodiment of all it is to be a De Breton.” Her eyes filled with a fierce pride. “And Henry . . . he was like his father, gangly, was losing his hair at seventeen and he might have been his parents’ favourite but he was a ghastly boy.”
“So he was jealous.” That made sense.
“Beyond jealous and he expected her to submit, you see.” Raquel let out a hoarse laugh. “But he forgot that true Hayes never submit.”
“And they played with the staff too much?” I sipped at my brandy and winced. It was disgusting. How did people sip spirits?
“Yes. It became a battle of its own. The staff were drawn into this battle and whomever seduced them determined how well they were treated.” She sighed and finished her glass. “Those who were Sophie’s tended to find themselves in the cold but it was proof that even with disfavour, she still won most battles.”
“But all the staff loved Henry?” I needed to provide more brandy to witnesses.
“They loved being in favour.” Raquel wagged her glass. “Sophie’s grandfather doted on her. He would be furious if anyone violated her chastity.” She held up her glass again and I poured her another. “The man had no idea that Sophie was as much a cad as he’d been at that age.” She gulped back the brandy. “But he held every woman up against Sophie’s grandmother who was perfect in his eyes.” She shook her head. “I would go as far as to agree that she came close. Wonderful woman. But in those days, men felt that they could get up to all sorts and women should be angelic.”
“He was angry at Sophie?” I leaned in further, holding my hand out for the empty glass.
“Never. He just blamed the staff. He never much liked Henry either.” She thrust out her glass. “When Sophie’s grandmother passed on, he became more introverted and suspicious. Which is where the whole debacle with my dear late husband and his first wife’s bastards came in.”
I poured her another brandy.
“Sophie’s grandfather was hard on all five of his sons. Lost the two oldest during the war, and the middle boy when his plane went down shortly after. So George, my husband, and Andrew, Sophie’s father, were charged with living up to their brothers’ heroics.” She raised both eyebrows and laughed. “Neither came close. George hated the military and went into business, Andrew was in the forces for a while but then turned to city finances.”
“How does that fit with your stepchildren?” I was ignoring her term for them so handed her my brandy to cover it.
“Henry and Sophie took it too far, again. My eldest step-brat wanted to marry Henry.” She nodded to me as if making sure I understood she wanted to marry her own cousin. “Andrew had married his second cousin, you see.”
“Which is why they had problems having children?” I couldn’t imagine marrying any of my family. It was stressful enough being related to them.
Raquel leaned back into her ripped up sofa. “Exactly, and so Sophie reminded her grandfather of that, then lured my eldest step-brat into a compromising situation with a butler in Oakfield and made sure her grandfather . . . and Henry caught them.”
I winced.
“Yes, caused an untold ructions, I tell you and by this point, I had George where I wanted him and used the distraction to lure him into marriage.” She wagged her finger with a smile. “Which is what Sophie was up to because she decided that I would be a great ally . . . and she was right.”
“Sounds very calculated for a what . . . how old was she?” I asked, trying to imagine being as astute but I hadn’t even realised Trin had been cheating on me.
“Fourteen.” Raquel howled with laughter. “I think it was then her grandfather decided that she was a true Haye and began to show her the ropes. My step-brat blamed me because she thought by marrying Henry, she would have two estates when her father died. Instead she was married off to some banker overseas.”
“And Henry was angry?” I could only imagine the violent reaction if Fiona’s testimony was anything to go by.
“Always. He was nineteen and forced into military service because he spouted off at Sophie’s grandfather.” Raquel smiled like she loved the fact he’d been made to serve his country. “Most peaceful Hayefield and Oakfield got.”
“Do you think your step-daughter would be involved in trying to frame Sophie?” I took the brandy glasses to the sink and washed them up. Why did Sophie let Raquel stay in the flat?
“Without doubt. She detests Sophie . . .” Raquel studied me. “And you are loyal even with all I’ve just said?”
I nodded.
She laughed, hard and hearty. “Then, my dear girl, here is my advice. Play her at her own game. You know she is a rogue and you have great experience with them, yes?” She winked and laughed harder. “Keep one step ahead and you’ll be astonished how delighted she is.”
One step ahead, right. Easier said than done though, wasn’t it?