Page 9 of The Detective and the Baroness

If he had hidden it at all.

Chapter Three

Mitchell arrived at Gloucester Square thirty minutes later. As he exited the carriage, he stopped short, for there was a flurry of activity. Workers were carrying furniture out of the bottom flat and taking it to the floors above, while others brought some from upstairs. Were he and Hornsby being evicted? It wouldn’t surprise him, given the constant turmoil in his life as of late.

Drew came to greet him. “Good day, Mitchell. I was hoping the laborers would complete this move by the time you arrived. We are taking the bottom flat. It’s larger anyway.”

Mitchell cocked an eyebrow in question. “And the landlord is fine with this?”

Drew pushed his spectacles up his nose with the tip of his finger. “Actually, I am the landlord. This building is mine, lock, stock, and barrel, as the saying goes.”

Mitchell shook his head. “I had assumed your family rented the flat for you. So they gave you the building?” Drew’s father was a viscount, and his uncle was the Duke of Gransford, so Mitchell figured the family had money. He had only lived with Drew for ten days, but already, he liked him. Drew had no airs about him, no guile at all. His first impression was that Drew was intelligent and honorable. A good man to have for a friend.

Drew nodded. “For my twenty-first birthday. I had it renovated three years ago. A doctor working at a free medical clinic with only intermittent paying patients makes little income, so I turned it into flats and became a landlord. There is also a four-room rental upstairs at the rear. I hope you don’t mind, but I plan to let both the upper flat and the upstairs rooms very soon. So I am rearranging some furniture and moving our belongings down here.”

“As you wish. It’s your house.” Mitchell paid next to nothing in rent, so he had no reason to object. Not that he did. Navigating those stairs was more difficult than he cared to admit. “What happened to the older gentleman renting the flat below?”

“The elderly baronet departed this morning. He is going to live with his daughter and her family in the country. I hired men to clean this flat and switch out some furniture. The baronet also gave me his housekeeper. He paid her in full until this coming May. Mrs. Evans comes daily for a few hours to clean and prepare a meal—food we can easily reheat ourselves.”

So far, he and Drew had mostly eaten in pubs, cooked fried eggs and bacon, or fried a chop. It was all either of them knew how to prepare. A housekeeper/cook was a welcome development.

Drew showed him into a large, elaborate entrance and hallway, complete with crystal chandeliers, then pointed to the front stairs. “That leads to the bedrooms. There are four, along with a water closet and a separate bathing room.” They climbed the stairs to the second level. The stairs were boarded up, cutting off access to the upper levels. “As you can see, we cannot take the stairs any farther, but if someday I wish to convert this back into a single residence, I can see it done easily enough. I had the workers put a WC on each floor in case I want to make this into four flats instead of two.”

“Very wise,” Mitchell murmured. The entrance to the upper flat was on the right side of the residence, so Mitchell had never seen the downstairs hallway.

Drew opened the first door on the left, indicating that Mitchell should step inside. “This will be your room. Do you see the door? It leads into a smaller room you can use as a sitting room, a study, or an office area. I think it was originally a drawing room or boudoir. Who knows? A fireplace makes it much cozier than the upstairs flat. The rooms are larger, too. I am across the hall, with two rooms of much the same size. At the end, there is a full bathing room with a water closet next to it. Below this flat in the basement is the large kitchen, a wine cellar, pantries, and the like. The old servants’ hall is used for storage now. And the former morning room is now the dining room, which leads into a garden area. Come, I will show you.”

They descended the stairs and entered the room. It was cozier. Mitchell immediately liked it. He followed Drew into the garden.

“Not much to look at now,” Drew said, looking around. “But the baronet liked to putter about, so come spring, it will be a lovely area to sit and indulge in quiet contemplation. Are you much of a gardener?”

“Me?” Mitchell scoffed. “Not at all.”

“I know a little, since I’m a doctor, but my greenery skills run more to herbs than flowers. We will figure something out. See that building in the back? I am toying with the idea of converting that into another couple of rooms to rent. It hasn’t been used as a carriage house in several years.”

“A wise decision.”

“We will also share the library, the sitting room, and the small formal parlor. I need the study for my medical research.”

“That’s fine by me. I will set up a small desk in the room off of mine for my work.”

“I will see that the room is prepared for you. Now, I thought we would have supper at The Victoria. It is not far from here. I shall pay, as the baronet told me to keep January’s rent as a thank you. So technically, I suppose dinner will be supplied by the baronet.”

Drew gave final instructions to the workers, then the two men left, strolling through Gloucester Square Park until they reached Strathearn Place and the pub. There was a slight chill in the air, and Mitchell pulled his wool scarf tighter across his neck. They arrived at the corner pub, a posh place situated in a Georgian-style building. Mitchell looked forward to ordering a sirloin of beef with all the fixings.

Once settled in a corner booth, they ordered their food, pints of bitter, and a bottle of red wine.

“How did you become injured, if you don’t mind me asking?” Drew asked.

“Annoyance.”

“What?”

“As I mentioned before, The Rakes of St. Regent’s Park asked me to join their group. I hesitated, as its members are either peerage, wealthy, or both. Why were they interested in me? Obviously, it was my connection to Damon Cranston, who heads the group. And I made friends with another member, Viscount of Tensbridge. I admit I was flattered, until I discovered they wanted to use me as a connection within the police department. At least, that is how it seemed to me. I categorically refused to assist them in their schemes.”

Drew gave him a quirky smile. “Come now. I am sure that was not the only reason they asked. I know the club started out as a group of indolent young rakes drinking and bragging about their conquests with women, but in the past year and a half, they have changed their focus to charity ventures.”

Mitchell took a long swallow of the bitter. “The charity initiatives were why I briefly considered joining. But assisting them with legal difficulties wasn’t the only reason they asked me to join. It was friendship as well. I came to realize that soon enough. So I joined the scheme and was shot for my trouble.”