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“It is well into August, we have been here for close to a month. If we cannot find a mark before the end of the month then I am going to head to Bristol. It will be easier there to find a purse and to be on the high seas to the Americas before anyone knows what has happened. We appear to be wasting our time here and I have had enough.”

It was telling that Wickham did not bluster at this.

“I wish I could refute what you are saying, but I cannot. Let us search the taverns once again, keep our ears open for anything that will ease our passage.”

They were skulking around the town on the same day that Lady Napier called upon the Countess of Matlock. There was no trace of the Colonel to frighten them off, just two one-armed guards on the back of the carriage. A serving wench at the inn gave them the briefest of details.

“A dark carriage, one-armed guards? Oh that is Lady Napier. She is not in town much, keeps to herself out at Napier Hall. She was widowed several years ago.”

The woman was in her middle teens. She should have known better than to gossip to strangers, but her eyes, like so many young women before her, had been drawn to Wickham’s face and physique. He had mindlessly flirted with her, and she had told him all that she knew.

Two men in the late twenties, fit and with all their limbs, were not concerned about two guards missing each missing an arm. They left the inn without a backward glance.

“She came in from our side of town, yes?”

Denny agreed.

“I do not think this Napier Hall is out west. There has been no sign when we have walked back and forth. We will try and check, but we do not want anyone to remember our enquiries.”

“Your plan.”

“Let us head out of town on the south road. No more than a mile, but it seems the best option.”

90 minutes later Wickham was congratulating himself. The dark carriage passed them heading south. The followed the dust cloud and another hour of walking in the hot sun brought them to the closed gates of Napier Hall. It was a barrier for a carriage but there would be plenty of ways to get onto the estate for two men on foot. They immediately turned and headed back to Bath.

“What should we do next?”

“We have found our mark. An aged widow, a couple of retainers missing limbs. We will watch the place for a week and then work out how to sneak up to the manor house. There will be jewellery that we can pawn in Bristol, plus the housekeeping and other ready cash. I would hope that we get at least £100 each, possibly a lot more.”

“The staff?”

“Tie them up where possible but we are likely to have to top the guards.”

They had already murdered two men as they journeyed from Brighton over to Bath. If they were caught they would hang, they couldn’t be hanged twice. Denny merely nodded.

--

The two men had not been spotted in Bath by any of Elizabeth’s staff. Mr. Jones did not find out until much later who had gossiped about her. But they had been spotted loitering on the south road and when they arrived outside the gates, both gamekeepers had spotted them. They were too far away to hear the conversation, but they had not been observed themselves.

“Mr. Jones?”

“There have been two men loitering around Bath that we have been keeping an eye on. There are lots of men that we are keeping an eye on, but these two have moved to the top of the list. They were seen on the outskirts of Bath on the road out of town. We have followed these men several times and know that they are staying somewhere near Saltford. Their exact hiding place has not been found yet, but it is only a matter of time.”

“You think they are going to be so foolish as to attack me, attack Napier Hall?”

“It seems exactly as you say, foolish, but they walked all the way out here, stopped at the gate, looked around and then about faced and headed back to town.”

“Should we bring them to the attention of the magistrate?”

“For what my Lady? They are innocent until proven guilty.”

He winced when he saw Elizabeth’s face.

“I am sorry my Lady. That was tactless of me.”

Jones saw her take a deep breath.

“It is not your fault Mr. Jones. It is a central tenet of English Law. At least as it is applied to men.”