Page 120 of A Much Maligned Miss

Her mother nodded. “On her mother’s side,” she said, shrugging a shoulder. “Her aunt was dismissed from service and fell in with a bad lot.” Sidney sent her mother a resentful look, and suddenly she remembered overhearing Goring whispering in the shrubbery with a man.

It had been him, she realized, remembering his gruff tones. He had been there on the morning of her flight from Benham Hall. He must have lingered after killing Sophy. She shivered. If she had not left in the early hours, would he have turned his murderous attention in her direction once again? “What did you do with…with Sophy?” Caroline forced herself to ask.

“Sidney disposed of her,” her mother said with a wave of her hand. “And I dearly wish that had been the end of it, but you would not believe the fuss that has been made. The impertinence of that man Penrose!”

“Penrose?” Caroline echoed. “You mean Penrose the fishmonger?”

“The very one. Leaving impudent messages for me and then going to the squire when I made no reply! The squire, if you please! As if I had time for such considerations!” Caroline stared at her in bewilderment and her mother looked impatient.

“It appears he and Sophy were meeting on the sly,” she explained contemptuously. “I told the squire Sophy must have played the wretch false and run away but he won’t listen to reason. And now Goring says he has written to the girl’s family to stir up trouble, and they are writing letters too! None of them have any consideration for my poor nerves!”

Caroline felt sick listening to her mother’s self-absorbed ramblings, but she had to bide her time before the opportunity arose for escape. She cleared her throat. “And how in all London did you find me?” she asked with only the smallest tremor in her voice.

Her mother smiled. “Now there we were quite clever, were we not, Sidney?” Her acquaintance grunted. “We have been watching Lord Faris’s house in Belgravia for the past two days waiting for their arrival. Sidney tailed Edgar last night to that infamous place you have been holed up in. We simply waited for you to emerge this morning, then pounced.”

“And where have you been staying if not with Edgar and the Farises?”

“Oh, an evil slum called The Rookery,” her mother replied nonchalantly. “Sidney has acquaintances there. It’s cheap and no one sticks their nose in your business, that is the best that can be said of the place.” Caroline thought she had heard one of the new barmaids speak of former lodgings in The Rookery. Even Cherry had complained about the squalidness. She struggled to imagine Mama staying in such a place.

“That’s the trouble with country neighbors,” her mother continued darkly. “They all want to poke and pry. I have been quite out of temper with them all since your disappearance. Miss Delia Pebmarsh had the impudence to ask what has been done to recover you. As though your disappearance was some failing on our part! I am convinced that is why Edgar has been conspiring with the Farises. Really, it is not to be borne!”

Mama gave herself a little shake. “Still, it is of no matter,” she said briskly. “Soon, all will be put to rights again. You are going to drink a little concoction I have made for you, and Sidney knows of a quiet spot where you can enter the Thames under cover of night.”

“Another concoction, you mean,” Caroline said with an edge to her voice. “You dosed me with something that day of the dinner party, did you not?”

“Of course!” her mother replied. “I am not so cruel that I would send my daughter to be slaughtered without a calming dose.”

“Poor Sophy had none.”

Her mother shrugged irritably. “She was not supposed to be there!” she said pettishly. “I daresay she did not suffer overmuch.”

Sidney shifted in his seat. “Caught her unawares, I did,” he rumbled. “She never knew what struck her.”

“No doubt she was daydreaming of fishmongers as she drew her last breath,” her mother said carelessly. “And when you are dragged out of the river, everyone will assume you are a suicide. Just another unfortunate brought low by sin. No doubt everyone will conclude that Edgar confronting you in that den of iniquity is what drove you to it.” She looked so proud of her plan that Caroline felt rather sick.

“You would do that to Edgar?” she asked in a low voice.

“Edgar betrayed me!” her mother burst out before collecting herself once again. “But no matter. Once you are dealt with, I can deal with that little schemer, Diana, and he will soon forget her. If he does not…” She shrugged.

“If he does not?” Caroline prompted.

“Then I will get rid of him too,” her mother said breezily. “Like I did his father, and yours before him.”

Caroline’s breath caught in her throat. It was horrible. Horrible. Mama was a murderess. She felt frozen before her like a mouse confronted by a coiled snake. “It won’t do you any good, you know,” she heard herself say in a voice that sounded far calmer than she felt. “You will never get your hands on my money now.”

“What do you mean?” Her mother’s tone was sharp.

“Did you not see the name of the offices from which I emerged? As soon as I found out that I am the true heir of Benham, I made a will. It is signed and dated, and I left none of it to you or to Edgar.”

Her mother stared at her, draining of color. “You lie!”

“It is quite true, I assure you.”

“Lies!” her mother insisted shrilly. “I won’t believe a word of it!”

The carriage came to an abrupt stop at this point, and even as Caroline lunged for the door, it was wrenched open wide.

“Miss Caroline!” a red-faced Reg puffed. She launched herself at him and he just about managed to catch hold of her and break her fall before she hit the ground. “Get in that hackney!” he said, thrusting her behind him.