“I wondered the same thing after Lady Emma told us of her half-sister.” Richard raised his hands in supplication, indicating he had also been taken by surprise. “Emma said her mother had been married briefly before marrying Lord Donoghue. Only ayear or so to an older man who had fallen on the stairs of their home and had passed from his injuries. I still do not understand how Emma and Miss Babbington kept it from the others. They protested together often.”
“And the man’s name was ‘Babbington’?” Duncan asked, ignoring the other parts of Richard’s tale.
“That was the name we were given,” Graham confirmed.
“Most assuredly, I cannot know all of the gentry and the aristocracy,” Duncan said, deep in thought, “but we should examine this turn of events more closely.”
Graham asked, “Should we ask Hartley to investigate?”
“At a minimum, we should search Debrett’s for the Babbington family,” Duncan declared.
“Pardon for the delay, my lords,” the porter said. “Two of the men decided it was best if they watched over all four carriages. I hope this is acceptable.”
“Are you Andrew Sawyer?” Richard asked the man he did not recognize as being a part of the group earlier.
“Yes, me lord. Me friends said you wished to speak to me,” the coachman said, his eyes down in respect.
“Might you describe the passenger you accepted from this hotel?” Richard asked vaguely, so as to learn whether the man was legitimate or not.
“A young miss dressed in light blue,” the man responded.
“I told your friends that much,” Richard accused. “What else might you have noted?”
“Blue gown,” the man said again. “Cut modestly. Silver slippers. Very little jewelry. A single blue bauble on a plain gold chain.”
Richard nodded his acceptance of the man’s response. “And the lady’s coachmate?”
“Also a female. Be a few inches taller than the lady in blue. Dark of head—maybe auburn or brown, as far as I could tell, butnot black. Dressed in a dark, somewhat masculine-cut jacket. A white undergarment which had a look of a gentleman’s cravat rather than the lace a woman might wear, and a dark skirt. I thought she might be the other young lady’s companion.”
“And where might you have set them down?” Richard asked with more calm than he actually felt, for the driver had described someone he already knew.
“North, sir, towards Hornsey, but I didn’t set them down at their destination. The older-looking one opened the trap and ordered me to pull over at the next cross street we were to pass. We were perhaps a quarter hour from Hornsey at that time. I thought it foolish, especially at this time of night, but there were a few houses nearby, so I did as the woman said.”
“Damn!” Richard growled and threw his hands in the air.
Duncan stepped in between Richard and the coachman. “Pardon my son. He is not criticizing you. He is simply worried over the two ladies. Is there a chance you learned anything about their destination after you set them down?” He looked to Richard. “How much was each man to receive when reporting to you, my boy?”
Richard remained staring at the wall and praying for a miracle. “Ten pounds, sir,” he said with a sigh.
The coachman looked about curiously. “I’d not heard their destination by name, my lord.” When Duncan frowned, the man rushed to say, “But the plain-faced one asked the other if the girl could guess where they would claim their rest. Then, she told the one in blue it was a place with her father’s name. That’s all I know, my lord.”
