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Kitty startled as she let herself in and heard the voice from her drawing room, for it was not like Dorcas to sit in semi-darkness and wait for her. She entered the room and saw that the Argand lamp was low and placed on a table beneath the window illuminating two figures. Only when she strained her eyes did she see that they sat close together. For a moment, she thought they’d been holding hands, except that it wouldn’t have been like Dorcas, for her companion was a young man and Dorcas had sworn off men since her terrible experience at Mrs. Montgomery’s.
“Miss Kitty, this is Mr. Prism,” Dorcas said as she stood up this time. The young man beside her was already standing, and in the gloom, Kitty could see he was tall and reed-thin, with an earnest look enhanced by wire-framed spectacles. Anything else was impossible to make out.
“ My apologies for calling so late, Miss Bijou,” the young man said. “I came by earlier on account of something important to tell Miss Dorcas, only she insisted I stay until you returned.”
“I certainly don’t mind Dorcas having a visitor, if that’s what you’re concerned about,” Kitty assured them, while her mind roamed over Dorcas’s various past associations. She was certain Mr. Prism was the only young man Dorcas had ever spoken of with any fondness, having finally escaped from her indenture at Mrs. Montgomery’s house of ill repute.
“Dorcas, why don’t you turn the lamp up and organize a drink for everyone?” she suggested as she went to her favorite chair in the corner. Yes, she remembered now. Mr. Prism was the young man whose father had sent him to Mrs. Montgomery’s for his twenty-first birthday initiation. He and Dorcas had spent the night talking. Mostly about his father’s disreputable activities, she recalled, though perhaps about Dorcas too, though Dorcas was likely too bashful to have mentioned that part.
Kitty slid another look toward them as she lowered herself into the lovely comfortable leather chair that would be hers no longer after tomorrow. Her interest in Dorcas and Mr. Prism was swept away momentarily by a pang for everything else she was about to lose. For two months, she’d never known such pure pleasure and delight.
“Miss Bijou, I came here to tell Miss Dorcas something that I thought would be of interest and, possibly, importance to both herself and to you. First, might I preface this information with a few words on the enormous esteem in which I hold you, both as London’s most beautiful and accomplished actress, and as a most honorably intentioned employer who has helped Miss Dorcas so immeasurably in extricating herself from the appalling situation in which she found herself. And finally, on that note—but of no less importance—is the fact that I would like to say in front of you and Miss Dorcas that in no way am I prejudiced by Miss Dorcas’s past life which forced her into actions against her moral inclination. I, too, have spent most of my life forced into actions against my moral inclination, but I know that what is important is what one believes is right and true, and what is in one’s heart, for we are all too often indentured to masters who care nothing for right and wrong, and only for how to line their pockets with gold. And that is why I am here.”
After the long pause that followed this incredible speech, Kitty finally said, feeling rather taken aback by such candor, “I am enormously gratified that you should make such an effort to reassure Dorcas of your esteem. I am flattered by your kind words, too.”
“Miss Bijou, I came here neither to flatter nor to impress, but to impart important information.” He glanced at Dorcas, and the look they shared was so telling, Kitty’s previous gentle amusement was swept away by the realization that there was something more at play.
Dorcas swayed closer, brushing against his arm and taking his hand in hers to give it a quick squeeze before she released it, saying in a hurried whisper, “Tell Miss Kitty ‘bout Lord Debenham…‘n Lord Silverton.”
Shocked, Kitty sat back in her chair, indicating for the others to do the same.
Lord Debenham? The last time she’d heard his name was in the company of Lissa, Araminta, and Mr. Tunley as Araminta had poured out her fears that Lord Debenham was searching for material to use for blackmail purposes. Material that might somehow implicate Araminta.
But the idea that Silverton was somehow linked to Lord Debenham made no sense. Silverton deplored the man’s morals and behavior. He’d been doing his best to uncover information that would add to evidence of wrongdoing on Debenham’s part; evidence that would implicate him in the plot to assassinate Castlereagh.
Her shock must have shown, for quickly Dorcas reassured her, “Mr. Prism don’t mean Lord Silverton’s bin linked ter anyfink bad. Yer remember them letters Mrs. Montgomery wanted me ter plant in ‘is study?” The girl blushed for, of course, it had been part of the terms of her release but had come to nothing after Dorcas had confessed virtually the moment she’d done the deed. “Lord Debenham were part o’ that only now ‘e’s tryin’ sumfink else.”
“Oh,” Kitty said faintly. It was all she could manage right now as she took in the horrifying ramifications. If the ruthless viscount was continuing a vendetta against her darling Silverton, where might it end? Swallowing, she added, “I have no liking for Lord Debenham, but surely if Silverton has nothing to hide he has nothing to fear?” It was a foolish hope, she knew. It also bolstered her determination following her recent discussion in Ralph Tunley’s lodgings to do all she could to assist in bringing the villainous viscount to justice.
That, she now knew, was what Lissa and Mr. Tunley were intent on doing, but if Kitty could help achieve an aim which in turn helped Lissa and Mr. Tunley to finally wed, so much the better.
Grief lodged in Kitty’s throat. Lord Silverton could never be hers, she knew, but if Kitty couldn’t be happy with the man she loved, nothing would give her greater pleasure than seeing Lissa finally able to marry Mr. Tunley. Finding a way to apprehend Lord Debenham would go a long way toward achieving that.
“Brandy, Mr. Prism? Thank you, Dorcas.” She settled back with the drink Dorcas handed her, taking a sip of the fiery liquid which she decided she’d need. “Now, please tell me what this is all about.”
With a long, earnest look at Dorcas, Mr. Prism seated himself once more on the sofa beside her and proceeded to speak.
“Miss Bijou, I am a clerk. My father’s desire has been to see us rise in the world, and I am the beneficiary of his noble aims. But his aims are all that are noble. I am the respectable front of his nefarious operations. He will go to any lengths to further add to the family coffers, and I have always—”
“Yes, yes, thank you, Mr. Prism, but what exactly can you tell me about Lord Silverton?” Kitty’s heart thundered in her chest, and she barely dared hear the answer.
Dorcas cleared her throat. “Miss Kitty, I fink I’d better begin by tellin’ yer ‘ow it come ‘bout that yer fine gennelmun were mentioned. Yer see, I were in the market buyin’ fish when I ‘eard me name bein’ called from a carriage wot ‘ad stopped nearby. When I went over, it were Mrs. Montgomery who said she ‘ad sumfink ter tell me ‘n would I come ter ’er establishment.”
Kitty sent her a look of horror.
“You surely didn’t, did you, Dorcas?’ Kitty asked, and Dorcas shook her head vehemently.
“I said she could tell me wot it were there, ‘n so Mrs. Mongtomery told me that she could give me a lot o’ money if I told ‘er a few things that would be ‘elpful fer doin’ good.”
“Mrs. Montgomery…doing good? I hope you didn’t believe her, Dorcas.”
“’Course not. But then she said that as I ‘adn’t carried out properly ‘er instructions ‘bout them letters wot were s’posed to show up Lord Silverton fer the villain ‘e is, then she were goin’ ter ‘ave to get ‘er lawyer on ter me if I didn’t come back willing-like ‘n work fer ’er.” Dorcas looked thoroughly frightened at this and rubbed an eye with one fist. Mr. Prism slid his eyes across to her and patted her hand while a furious blush spread across his cheeks.
Kitty was about to speak up in defense of Lord Silverton’s good character when Mr. Prism cleared his throat, and bringing back his straying hands to clasp them demurely in his lap said, “It so happened that in the greatest of coincidences, I was passing by, and I happened to see Miss Dorcas talking to Mrs. Montgomery. As I drew nearer, I heard Mrs. Montgomery telling Dorcas that Lord Silverton had come into possession of a necklace through illegal means which he’d given to his—”
“Mistress? No, I’m not upset by the term, but by the falseness of the charge. Lord Silverton paid twice over for that necklace. It had belonged to Lady Debenham, but she’d given it to Mrs. Montgomery to pawn for her, I believe.” She clenched her fists and added fiercely, “Certainly, it was never stolen! Neither by me nor by Lord Silverton.”
“We assuredly know that you and Lord Silverton are in no way blameworthy in this, being such pillars of respectability—”
