Page 76 of Atone, Adonis

“What?” Fred snapped. “You don’t think that is a viable plan?”

“It is larceny, certainly. And I’m certain we’d have an airtight case if the identity of the editor was common knowledge. But it is not.”

Fred scowled hard. And didn’t bother to stop even when there was a knock on his study door and his wife entered.

“My lady,” Inspector Hughes said as Julianna entered.

She glanced between them. “Am I interrupting?”

“I was just explaining to your husband that the identity of the editor of The Poisoned Quill is something of a well kept mystery.”

Julianna turned to him. “I thought you had your solicitor write to the man?”

“I did. I suppose he just wrote to the printing press and not to the man himself.”

Julianna turned to the Inspector. “So what happens now? Are we at some sort of standstill?”

“Well,” Hughes said. “If we find whoever has been sharing the information we can use them to find the editor. A little pressure applied at a tender point ought to do the trick.”

Julianna narrowed her eyes. “What exactly does that mean? You’re not implying some physical retribution I hope.”

“Not at all. I meant pressure in an entirely metaphorical sense. I’m certain our culprit will provide the name of the editor if they know it, to avoid a prison sentence or a lashing if it comes to that. Provided you agree to this course of action, my lord.”

“Yes, that’s fine,” Fred agreed.

“Good. Here is what we do.”

The Inspector laid out his plan and Fred drafted three notes. The first was to Gilbert:

Her ladyship wishes to wear her sapphire gown for the ball. The one made by Madame Tremaux for the occasion. Have the housemaid lay it out for her as soon as it arrives. And, I’d like to give her Lady Eva’s matching sapphire jewelry as a gift. Remove the set from the strongbox and have the pieces cleaned.

The second was to the coachman:

Her ladyship wishes to travel to visit her brother in Torquay on Thursday next. Have the carriage ready for her departure.

The third was to the chef:

Her ladyship’s brother will be returning to the household in three days’ time. Have a suitable amount of restorative broth made and stored for his arrival.

Chapter

25

A Marriage Most Curious and a Countess Who Could Not Keep a Bed Warm

The Poisoned Quill – June 5th, 1860

Printed on Cheap Paper for the Dearly Interested

My Dearest Readers,

There are marriages of convenience, marriages of ambition, and marriages of desperation. And then there is the peculiar union of the Earl and Countess of Chester, which appears to contain all three in such quantities as to render the distinction moot.

Readers will be pleased, if not surprised, to learn that the invalid brother, so lately removed to quieter environs for the so-called preservation of his fragile health, is expected to return to Dorset shortly. One wonders at the wisdom of such a journey. Has the sea air failed him so entirely? Or is there some greater urgency drawing him back into the orbit of his sister’s newly elevated circumstances?

We cannot help but note that this return follows closely upon the Countess’s recent and conspicuously public appearances, wherein she has been observed clinging to her husband’s arm with a devotion that might almost persuade the charitable observer of matrimonial harmony.

Almost. For while the Countess may promenade boldly beneath the spring sun, it seems there are shadows yet within her own household that no amount of London light can dispel.