Lord Ashford's Wager (12 page)

It had always been hopeless, and Joanna had thought she had resigned herself to her small place in Tony’s heart. Even watching his pursuit of Lady Fairhaven, she had almost convinced herself that it was only for the money. But today her defenses were down. He had cared about Claudia. Maybe not loved her, but cared about her, he said, as he cared about Joanna. But it was Claudia to whom he had become betrothed. Only for a few short hours, but had it not been for an intruder, Tony would have married her. Because she had enough money to save Ashford, and Joanna did not.

It seemed to Joanna that figuratively she was still tied to that damned tree, waiting and waiting for Tony to remember her. To realize that he had left someone of importance to him behind. But he was still a careless and stupid, stupid man, thought Joanna, wishing she had him in front of her right now. She wanted to rail at him, kick his shins again, and this time tell him: “Here I am, and I love you, you fool!”

But now he was a prisoner. Now he was waiting too.

Love was too hard, she thought, as her anger subsided and as the tears began. They ran down her face slowly and then more rapidly, and she watched from someplace far away as they fell on the green silk, puckering the material.

It was too hard to keep it all hidden. To maintain her cool facade. To pretend that all she felt for him was what he felt for her.

She could walk away, of course. Hope that Naylor’s investigation paid off, but when Tony was released, cut him the way most of society would. No, she could never do that. But she could go away. She had been promising a visit to her godmother in Cumbria for a long time. She would see to Tony’s release and then, once the Season was over, get away from him for the summer. And come home free of her ridiculous, childish obsession at last.

Mark Halesworth was furious. He had visited Reresby, Justin’s solicitor, the day after Claudia’s death to inquire about her will. He was hoping that she had not gotten around to making one, which would make his inheritance automatic. But Reresby would never have let her get away with such carelessness, of course. He was too efficient, damn him. “Lady Fairhaven made out a will immediately after the late earl’s death, my lord,” the solicitor had informed him.

“I see.” Mark breathed a sigh of relief. It would take longer to see the money, but Claudia could have left her money to no one but him.

“Of course, she made a few changes a few weeks before she died,” added Reresby. The old man heartily disliked the present Lord Fairhaven, and took great satisfaction in giving him the bad news.

“A few changes? What kind of changes?”

“Oh, I am afraid I am not at liberty to say, sir. There won’t be an official reading of the will until the mystery of her death is resolved.”

“Mystery? What mystery? She was murdered, you fool. They have arrested Tony Varden for the crime.”

“Only on suspicion, my lord. He has not yet been bound over for trial.”

“I am sure he will be.”

“That may be so, but in a case such as this, the will must wait.”

“Then you will not show it to me?”

“No, my lord.”

Mark turned on his heel and slammed the door behind him. Old Reresby smiled a dry little smile as he pulled open his drawer and fingered the vellum document within. Lord Fairhaven might be angry now, but he would be far angrier when he heard the changes Lady Fairhaven had made. It was anyone’s guess, of course, what Tony Varden would feel. Even if he was released, the will could be reason enough to put him right back in jail.

* * * *

“I wish to see Mr. Gideon Naylor.”

The magistrate’s clerk looked up in surprise. Within two days, Naylor had had two visitors. That’s what happened when one of the nobility was killed, he thought.

“Mr. Naylor is out on a case, Mr…?”

“Mark Halesworth, Lord Fairhaven. If I leave him a note, will you see that he gets it?”

“Of course, my lord.”

The clerk handed Mark a piece of paper and a pen with a worn-down nib which spattered while Mark wrote.

“There,” he said, frowning at his ink-stained fingers. “See that he gets this as soon as possible.”

“Yes, my lord.”

The clerk waited until Fairhaven had been gone a full five minutes before unfolding the note.

Naylor,

I suggest you visit Reresby, my cousin’s solicitors. Lady Fairhaven made some changes in her will which might have given Lord Ashford even more of a reason to kill her.

Fairhaven

Hmmm
,
thought the clerk,
Gideon is being pushed from both sides. I wonder how he will fall.

* * * *

A day later, Gideon himself was wondering too. He had returned to Lady Fairhaven’s house and obtained all the information he could about Jim, which was, unfortunately, minimal. The previous under-footman had left suddenly and recommended James Tolin. “He was a bright lad, and very eager to please,” said Dawson. “And he quickly developed the same loyalty to the mistress as we all had,” the butler added, with a cough to distract from the slight tremor of emotion in his voice.

“Did he come from London, do you know? Did he ever mention family?”

“I know he visited family on his day off,” replied Dawson. “But he never told us where in the city they lived. He did say something once about his father also having been in service.”

“Thank you, Dawson, that gives me a little something to go on. Now, would he have had any money to get him by?”

“Whatever was left of his wages.”

“Which we found hidden away in his room,” Naylor reminded the butler.

Dawson frowned. “What if Jim saw Lord Ashford killing the mistress and Lord Ashford bribed him to disappear and stay quiet? Have you thought of that possibility, Mr. Naylor?” he asked.

“So maybe he wasn’t as loyal as you thought?”

“Well, he was new, and almost anyone can be bought.”

“It is a possibility to be considered, Mr. Dawson,” said Naylor, with a grateful smile. He always enjoyed watching people begin to enter into an investigation, each sure that he or she had thought of the solution. “In the meantime,” he said, “if you hear anything or think of anything else, be sure to be in touch with me.”

“Of course, Mr. Naylor.”

Naylor paused on the stoop. He would start inquiring after older footmen named Tolin. If he were lucky, Jim’s father would have been employed in Mayfair and not by some rich Cit. This part of the job, the tramping about and collecting information, was the most necessary and also the most tedious. But at least it kept him fit and trim, he thought.

After a day and a half of interviewing dozens of households and coming up with nothing, however, he decided to give himself a break and follow up on Lord Fairhaven’s lead.

Of course, the old solicitor would not show Gideon the will, but he confirmed the fact that Lady Fairhaven had made recent changes, which in itself was significant.

“Can you tell me if and how much Lord Ashford would benefit under this new will, Mr. Reresby?”

“I am not free to tell you
how much
Lord Ashford would benefit,” responded the solicitor.

“I will have to wait for the reading, then. Thank you, Mr. Reresby. You have been most helpful.”

“I hope so, Mr. Naylor.”

So she changed her will to benefit Ashford,
thought Gideon.
I
am afraid, Lady Joanna, things are not looking good for your old friend. If he knew about the will
…

Gideon hailed a cab and directed the driver to Newgate.

Tony, who had been trying to ignore the cries of a new prisoner who sounded as if he belonged in Bedlam, not Newgate, was struggling to get through the meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Joanna had sent over several books, and he still couldn’t figure out whether they represented her attempts at humor or whether she seriously thought he might find them valuable. At any rate, the old Roman was better than Foxe’s
Martyrs
and William Law’s
Call to a Devout and Holy Life
—but just barely. Tony supposed that
in extremis
a man should be turning to God or philosophy, but he himself thought a laugh would have done him a lot more good. His situation was serious enough, thank you. He was about ready to pitch the book and look for a game of cards, which he had sworn to avoid, when he was summoned to the visitors’ room.

His face fell when he saw that it was not Joanna but the Bow Street Runner who had brought him here.

“What do you want, Naylor?” he asked with barely veiled hostility.

“I want to ask you a few more questions, my lord,” Gideon answered in neutral tones. “Lady Joanna Barrand has employed me on your behalf.”

Tony felt more humiliated than when he had been arrested, if that were possible. Here he was, helpless, and Joanna was likely paying Naylor out of her allowance. He didn’t think he could stand to be so beholden to her, and instead of feeling grateful, he felt angry.

“I will not have it,” he declared. “Consider yourself dismissed.”

Naylor looked up at Tony with his mild blue eyes. “Please sit down, my lord. I am afraid,” he added with a quick smile, “that it is not in your power to dismiss me, since you are not the one who has hired me.”

“How could Joanna do this?” asked Tony as he seated himself on the chair.

“I rather think she did this to help you,” said Naylor ironically. “Is there something you don’t wish me to be investigating, my lord?” he added mildly, which caused Tony to look at him more closely.

“You are a deceptively mild man, aren’t you, Naylor?”

“It has been remarked upon before,” admitted Gideon. “Now, my lord, if you are innocent, it can only benefit you if I investigate further.”

“I just can’t bear being beholden to Joanna,” groaned Tony.

“Taking money from Lady Fairhaven didn’t seem to bother you.”

“Damn you, Naylor. She
loved
me. I knew that I had something to give her in return. My friendship and affection were hers.”

“And you have no affection for Lady Joanna? I thought you have been friends since childhood.”

“Of course I care about her, but it is an entirely different situation. She is an unmarried young lady whose reputation would be ruined should this get out. And she doesn’t love me in the same way Claudia did.”

Gideon wanted to shake Ashford. What a fool the man was. Within minutes of sitting with the lady, it had been obvious to Gideon that she was in love with the young idiot. And after years of friendship, the man was still oblivious!

“Look, Naylor,” Tony continued. “I know I don’t sound very admirable. I sound like an arrogant fortune hunter, in fact. But it wasn’t like that. Lady Fairhaven and I were good friends. There was love on her side and affection on mine, which we both hoped would develop into something stronger after we married. She knew I needed her money to save Ashford, but she also knew that I cared about her. She could have done far worse, after all.”

“Like Lord Fairhaven?”

“He was not her choice. Her parents sold her when she was only seventeen, although it turned out to be a very happy marriage, from what she told me.”

“No, I meant the present Lord Fairhaven.”

“Mark Halesworth!”

“You don’t like him?”

“That is putting it as mild as you appear, Naylor,” said Tony with a grin. “I knew him in school. He is a cold fish and interested only in money.”

“Now tell me again what happened that night,” Gideon asked, dropping the topic of Lord Fairhaven for the moment.

“I’ve already told you all.”

“Tell me again.”

Tony sighed. It was painful to go over it again. “I had borrowed money from Claudia earlier that week. And promised to pay off my debts. I didn’t. I went back to the tables and lost it all and then won back a part of it. I had to face her with that, which wasn’t easy.” Tony hesitated.

“Go on.”

“I was just thinking that if I hadn’t broken my promise, she might still be alive. But then, how could an outside intruder have known about the money?”

“Indeed.”

“I don’t know why we are going over this again, since you clearly believe I am guilty, Naylor. Joanna is wasting her money.”

“Continue, my lord,” said Gideon, softly but firmly.

“I called on Claudia the next night to ask her for more money. We went into the library. Dawson came in with brandy right in the middle of an argument. He would have heard her refuse me the money. That is certainly true. But then she sent him off to bed. We talked for a while and I convinced her that
this
time I really did mean to give up gaming. That I would pay off my immediate debts and stay out of the hells. And we became betrothed.” Tony stopped.

“And…”

“I can’t really believe it, you know,” he said with tears in his eyes. “That she is dead. There is a part of me that thinks this is a very long and particularly bad nightmare and that when I wake up, Claudia will be there.”

“What happened then?” Naylor was insistent.

Tony passed a hand over his eyes. “I said good night, and I left. Jim let me out.”

“The new footman?”

“Yes.”

“Did you give him any money, my lord?”

“I slipped him a guinea, I was so happy about the betrothal.”

“And then you left?”

“And then I left.”

“Supposing that this were true…”

“It is, damn it, it is!”

“Then who do you think killed her?”

“I don’t know. There have been a number of housebreakings in the neighborhood recently. Couldn’t it have been a thief, not expecting anyone to be awake?”

“And what of Jim? He has completely disappeared.”

Tony frowned. “I would not have thought him the sort to be capable of murder. He seemed to care about Claudia, as did all of her servants.”

“And Lord Fairhaven?” asked Gideon, keeping his voice even and uninflected.

“I would like to say, of course, it was Mark. I
don’t
like him. But what would be his motive?”