Chapter Twenty
Richard handed overhis purse, but Duncan handed it back. Instead, he took out four calling cards and signed each. On the back, he marked a fair amount for each man. “If you will bring these cards around to Duncan Place either this evening or tomorrow, my butler, Mr. Fields, will see you are paid the amounts I have listed on the back of each, and he will present you a small meal. It is likely best to call at the back, for Mr. Fields will receive you more graciously there. My man is quite a stickler for proprieties.”
“We understand, sir,” the older man said. “You are most generous. If there be nothing else, my lord, we should return to our coaches.”
“Absolutely!” Duncan said and shook each man’s hand, as did both Graham and Richard; though Orson’s frustration still rested close to exploding, he knew shaking a man’s hand in appreciation of service was one of the first lessons Duncan had taught each of them.
With the exit of the porter and the carriage drivers, Richard collapsed into the nearest chair and buried his head in his hands. “Lady Emma must be frightened senseless. I swore I would protect her and...”
“And now you are going to get up off your arse and save the woman you love,” Duncan ordered. “No son of mine permits a... well, I do not use those words before my daughter, but you know what I mean. We have no time for your doldrums. What towns are north of Hornsey?”
“Tottenham Manor,” Graham suggested. “Fitzroy Square is a speculative development intended to provide London residence for aristocratic families. They were built by Robert Adam and two of the man’s brothers. Because of the war production has slowed.”
Richard snorted. “Naturally you would know about such projects, but what names might we associate with the Tottenham Manor project?”
“Fitzroy. Adam,” Graham began. “George, John, Frederick, Sackville, Grafton, Charles, Portland. Perhaps, Dorset.”
“Why Dorset?” Mrs. Ottoway asked.
It was Graham’s turn to shrug his embarrassment. “They used Portland stone brought by sea from Dorset.”
“What else is north of Hornsey?” Richard repeated.
“Cherson House.” Duncan suggested. “Bounds Green House. Wood Green Cottage. Grange. Chitts Hill.”
“No ‘Babbington,’” Richard repeated the obvious.
“What of Palmer’s Passage?” Theodora asked. “It is a street. The lower part of Gardner’s Lane. Named after James Palmer’s almshouses.”
They all turned to look at Theodora as if she had grown an extra head. “Lady Emma’s butler could be Miss Babbington’s father?”
Graham asked. “Could it be so obvious?”
“If so, that would mean Lady Donoghue had an affair with her family’s butler before she installed the man at Donoghue House,” Richard stated the obvious.
“Explains why the man spoke harshly to the house’s current mistress, the girl who displaced his own child,” Miss Ottoway surmised.
“And why Mr. Palmer did not burn the threatening messages,” Graham surmised.
Duncan said, “We must find Lady Emma. We can discuss what we should have recognized previously. Theodora...”
“I am not being sent home just because I am a female,” the girl said. “Lady Emma shall require my care.”
“I was going to suggest that you ride with Graham,” her father corrected. “Mrs. Ottoway, if you would be so kind as to straighten the room so Lady Emma does not return to this reminder, you would have our gratitude.”
“Absolutely, my lord. Please express my honest concern to the sweet dear.”
They still hadno real reason to believe Palmer’s Passage was an accurate destination, but it was the only sensible choice based on what Mr. Sawyer had shared. “Could it be so easy that Palmer and Miss Babbington were Lady Emma’s attackers?” Richard asked Duncan.
“When people attempt to cover up their wrongdoing, it is rarely so easy to resolve. I can envision father and daughter attacking Lady Emma, but I still believe they did not leave her in Covent Garden, though we shan’t know with confidence until we locate Lady Emma and Miss Babbington.”
Duncan remained quiet for several minutes. “While we are busy elsewhere, Graham and Theodora will secure Donoghue House. I sent a message to both Marksman and Beaufort to assist Graham. They are to question each of the staff and detain Palmer. I asked Graham to search for the sapphires. Obviously,or perhaps not so obviously, either Miss Babbington, Palmer, or Lady Emma ripped the lilies from the ground. The gold sapphires are the key.”
“Lady Emma kept saying. ‘Cannot find the three...’,” Richard explained. “I am guessing either the father or daughter threatened her, and when Lady Emma could not produce the sapphires, they beat her. I do not believe I have ever seen a gold sapphire. Have you? How rare are they?”
“I imagine most people believe they are topaz,” Duncan said. “I purchased a pair of yellow sapphire earrings for Elsbeth for our tenth wedding anniversary. I thought of presenting them to Theodora when she marries. I want Elsbeth there beside her.”
They sat in silence for several minutes, each lost in his own thoughts. Richard’s were of Lady Elsbeth presenting him with his first telescope. She always seemed to know what each of her boys desired more than anything. He did not mind so much when he was sent to his room “to think upon what he had executed against one of his brothers.” It did not matter if he had lost his privileges, for he could look out upon the night sky, and hear Lady Elsbeth whispering, “It is an amazing world we live in, Richard,” as her arm would come about his shoulders. “Just remember that the sun is strong enough to hold the planets in their places, but soft enough to coax flowers to open and seeds to grow. You must learn to be equally as strong, and for those you cherish, show them your gentleness, for you have an amazing heart, my boy, and that heart is the most precious gift one could ever receive.”
