Always Have Hope (Emerson Book 3) (17 page)

“And
I must remind you that I am a duke. Get on with your questions, man. I do not
have all day.”

“Why
do you wish Lady Winifred to be remanded to Newgate? It is my understanding
that you removed her from the gaol to stay at your home.”

“Yes,
but it has been very inconvenient. Especially with all her family around. She
has an eight-year-old sister who has been crying her eyes out, worried about
what is to become of Lady Win. It is quite grating.”

“What
about my six-year-old daughter?” cried Lord James from the gallery. “She is
without a mother and needs her aunt.”

Alex
didn’t know if they’d planned it ahead of time, or were simply following the
duke’s lead, but Win’s brothers and Lynwood were doing their best to play on
the court’s sympathies. Alex knew very well that while young Miss Emerson had
lost her mother, Miss Wallace seemed to be doing a fine job of caring for her.
Though he supposed Win would care for the girl like she was her own daughter.

There
was a thought. Win with a child. Win with his child. It could never happen,
of course. But if they were to marry, he could picture her cradling his child
to her bosom….

The
duke cleared his throat. “I do not have all day.”

“How
can you do this, Lynwood?” called Colin from the gallery. “She’s our sister.
A kinder soul you would never meet…”

He
was cut off by Sir Wilfred. “I wonder what Lord Layton has to say in the
matter. Perhaps he would like to state his exact interest in the case. For
the record, is he or isn’t he a relation of Mrs. Pierce?”

Now
Alex recognized one of the men with Sir Wilfred. He was Simon Chilcott,
Layton’s cousin. The papers had been speculating that he was trying to have
himself declared the true earl. If Layton confessed to being Win’s brother,
Chilcott would be one step closer to his goal.

For
his part, Layton didn’t hesitate. He stood up and was about to address the
court, when Alex interrupted.

“We
have strayed from the matter at hand,” he said. “I will thank the members of
the gallery to refrain from speaking and remember where they are. They are
guests of the Lord Chief Justice and are subject to the rules and customs of
this court.”

“I
am subject to no such things,” said Lynwood. “This entire proceeding has grown
tiresome. I am telling the court to do as I say and get the woman out of my
home.”

“You
do not give orders to the court,” said Alex. “It is the other way around.”

“I
do not recognize the court’s authority over me,” said Lynwood, as he flicked
imaginary lint from his jacket. “Especially this one. It is poorly
administered, the decisions make no sense and…”

“Enough!”
ordered Harris, pounding on the desk. “You will not say one more word against
me, I mean the court.”

Lynwood’s
only response was a shrug.

“You
are very fortunate I do not have you jailed for contempt, your grace.”

“I
want that woman removed from my home and sent back to Newgate.”

“Well,
she will not be!” declared Harris smugly. “Lady Winifred will remain at your
home until her trial. And if anyone even tries to remand her to Newgate, I
shall have that person thrown in gaol in her stead. Am I understood?”

The
courtroom was silent. Alex could tell the Emersons were hard pressed not to
cheer. For that matter, so was he.

“You
may step down, duke,” said Harris.

“I
just have one more thing to say.” Here the Duke of Lynwood turned a piercing
stare on Peyton. “You mentioned earlier that a mob might turn up at my home.
I give you notice that if any such thing were to occur, I would put a ball
through the skull of the man who allowed it to happen, as I would be within my
rights to do. No one…” Here he turned and stared at Sir Wilfred and the men
around him. “No one should dare test me on this. My home shall continue to be
a safe haven for all my dependents now and evermore. Anyone who dared violate
it would not live to see the next day.” Then he turned to Harris. “Now, I am
done.”

With
that, he stepped out of the box and calmly strolled out of the courtroom,
followed by the Emerson brothers who were continuing their charade of anger
toward their stalwart friend.

Alex
was disappointed that the brothers had left, since he’d been counting on them
to observe Pierce’s family while he finished up in court. But then he caught a
glimpse of a man in the gallery whom he’d seen at Lynwood House. Alex thought
he was a servant. He was badly scarred down the right side of his face and was
studying the men huddled around Sir Wilfred.

After
Harris dismissed the remand order, Alex signed paperwork with the clerks. As he
packed his satchel, Sir Wilfred approached him.

He
looked most unhappy.

“Why
did you interfere with remanding her to custody?”

“I
didn’t. I admonished the duke for not showing this court the respect it is
due.”

“You
could have let it slide. You don’t want to make an enemy of the Duke of
Lynwood.”

“Actually,
I don’t think anyone wants to make an enemy of the man,” said Alex pointedly.
“I believe he is in earnest about killing to protect his family. I hope
Peyton’s talk of mob violence is simply that. Just talk. If Lynwood’s not
dangerous enough, he has a brother in the Home Office and is good friends with
a former Bow Street Inspector. An honest one from what I hear.”

“I
don’t like your tone.”

“I
don’t like the push to convict this woman without sufficient evidence. I have
no problem prosecuting the guilty. But I do not believe she committed this
crime.”

Sir
Wilfred snorted his disbelief. “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for her sweet
ways. Peyton told me you paid a visit to Lynwood House. That was most
irregular. Perhaps you have visions of rescuing the lady, then marrying her.
Finally being a part of the peerage after spending your whole life on the other
side of the blanket. It’ll never happen, you know. You may get her found not
guilty. But you’ll be disbarred. And those brothers of hers would never let
you near her. The best you could get would be a night between her legs. She’s
probably got the morals of a….”

Before
Alex could strike Sir Wilfred, a man tripped and fell into both of them.

It
was the man with the scars.

“You
stupid oaf!” said Sir Wilfred. “What the devil are you doing?” He saw the
scars, then recoiled.

“Pardon
me, my lord,” said the man. “But I was hoping to talk to you about my dear
sweet wife. She’s been accused of forgery, sir…”

Sir
Wilfred extricated himself from the man. “Tell your problems to Lewis there.
I have somewhere to be.”

Sir
Wilfred left without Alex being able to knock him on his arse. It was most
disappointing.

As
if reading his mind, the man said “If you’d struck him you would’ve been removed
from the case. I would’ve hit him myself, except I would’ve ended up in
Newgate. It would’ve been worth it in any other circumstances, but I can be of
more use to her out here. So can you, sir.”

Alex
smiled at the man, grateful he’d interceded when he had. “I saw you at Lynwood
House. I am Alexander Lewis.”

“Victor
Stemple, sir,” he said as he bowed. “I’m Lord Ridgeway’s man.”

Alex
put out his hand.

Stemple
was surprised by the gesture, but shook it. “You’ve something in your pocket,
sir. We hope you can meet us.”

Alex
put his hand in his pocket to find an envelope. Mr. Stemple must have slipped
it in when he bumped into him. “I shall do my best to be there.”

“Very
good, sir. If you don’t mind the advice, please do your best to avoid giving
that arse a reason to replace you. Lady Win needs you.” Then he joined the
crowd which was making its way out of the building.

Alex
rubbed his eyes that were weary from too little sleep. Win did need him and
he’d very nearly struck the man who could remove him. What was wrong with
him? He never would’ve made that mistake normally.

But,
then, he’d never been in love before.

Alex
held the two ledgers and contemplated what he was about to do. He’d arrived at
the address Mr. Stemple had given him, but had no idea who lived there. The
building contained six flats on three floors and looked like the type of
residence where bachelors of the
ton
resided. He assumed all of Win’s
brothers would be there. The question was whether he was going to well and
truly cross the line that would likely get him disbarred.

He
knew the answer to that.

He
entered the building, then looked for the correct flat. He knocked, only to
have the door opened by Mr. Stemple.

“Good
afternoon, sir,” said Stemple, as he took Alex’s coat.

The
small room was filled with large men. Win’s brothers were there, as well as Grayson,
the Duke of Lynwood, Olson, and two other men, the Marquess of Riverton – the
duke’s brother-in-law – and Lord Henry Kellington, known to everyone as Hal.

Lynwood
approached Alex, who bowed. Lynwood stuck out his hand, instead. “Lewis,” he
said. “Thank you for joining us.”

“Thank
you for giving me the ability to keep Lady Win out of prison, your grace. You
saved my position, as well.”

“I’m
just glad you were able to pick up on my intentions so swiftly. Peyton is a
dolt.”

“He
is at that, your grace.”

It
turned out the bachelor flat was Grayson’s. It was a smart idea to meet there,
away from Lynwood House. He had little doubt the Crown was keeping watch on
the duke’s home, hoping to catch Win trying to leave.

He
prayed she was staying put.

Grayson
passed out port to everyone – including Mr. Stemple, who seemed reluctant to
take it for some reason. But once Grayson muttered “It’s not a bribe and you
can still reserve the right to kill me,” the butler took his drink.

“We’re
here to strategize,” said Ridgeway. “And while we do realize you’re the
barrister for the Crown, Lewis, you’ve shown yourself to be an honorable man
who values justice. Is there anything you can share with us that would prevent
an innocent woman from hanging?”

Alex
could no longer even pretend to distance himself from the case anymore. Win’s
life was too important to him. “This is the evidence I’ve gathered so far,” he
said, as he lay the two ledgers on the table. “I found both of them in
Pierce’s study. The larger one is in code and was found in a secret compartment
in his desk.”

“It’s
too bad Arthur and Vanessa aren’t back, yet,” said Hal. “They have experts at
the Home Office who might be able to decipher them.”

Grayson
picked up the coded ledger and began studying it.

Alex
continued. “I’m fairly certain the smaller one contains payments from people
Pierce was blackmailing, though the names and offenses are never spelled out
other than with initials. I have no idea what the other might be.”

“Something
illegal, I presume,” said Grayson. “Specifically, something even more illegal
than blackmail. He didn’t care enough to encode that one. But this one must
contain information men would go to great lengths to protect.”

“Perhaps
to kill for?” asked Ridgeway.

“Precisely,”
said Grayson. “The entries seem to be dated – though I cannot even be certain
of that. And they go back a decade or more. In fact….” He stopped speaking
as he studied something. He blinked, then looked at it again.

“What
is it?” asked Ridgeway.

“Nothing,”
said Grayson. “My eyes were playing tricks on me. I’d like to borrow this, if
I may.”

Hal
laughed. “No offense, old boy, but I’ve never known you to be interested in
much more than gaming and women.”

Grayson
grinned. “As you know, I’m not that successful at gaming. Mayhap if I learn
something here, I can supplement my meager allowance through blackmail of my
own.”

The
other men laughed, but Alex could see through the Foreign Office agent’s facade.
He wondered how his lifelong friends could believe he was anything other than
the intelligent agent Alex knew him to be. But sometimes, the people who knew
the least about you were the ones who’d known you longest.

Ridgeway
turned to Alex. “Do you have any questions for us?”

“I was curious about the two men who were speaking to Sir Wilfred in the
courtroom. I believe one was Lord Layton’s cousin.”

“Yes,”
said Layton. “That was my dear cousin Simon Chilcott. I believe his purpose
was to put me on record as being a blood relative of Win’s and, therefore, not
the late earl’s issue. But I don’t care. If I can help clear Win’s name, I’ll
make any sacrifice.”

“We
know you would,” said Ridgeway. “But why let the man win? If your going on
the record is needed eventually, then that is something else. For now, let him
grow ever more frustrated.”

“Who
was the other man?” asked Alex.

“The
Earl of Clayton,” said Lord James. “He and Chilcott delight in vexing our
family for some reason. He is long overdue for a thrashing.”

“Rather,”
said Ridgeway. “Stemple, did you notice anything untoward once we left?”

“Mr.
Chilcott and Lord Clayton left shortly after you did, my lord. Sir Wilfred
spoke to Lady Winifred’s in-laws. Mr. Warren seemed especially incensed that
Lady Win wouldn’t be going back to gaol.”

Alex
wondered whether Mr. Stemple would tell the others he’d almost struck Sir
Wilfred.

Fortunately,
he did not.

Alex
addressed the men. “During my interview with the family the night Tawny was
killed, Clive Pierce said something interesting. He said he thought his
brother had married Lady Winifred to get a hold of the Emerson fortune. Mr.
Warren thought he meant the Layton fortune, but Pierce was adamant. He said
his brother believed the Emersons had a great deal of money.”

“Yes,
we are simply swimming in blunt, but choose to hide it convincingly by
flaunting our genteel poverty,” said Ridgeway. “There is no fortune and I
cannot believe Pierce thought there was. He knew going into the marriage that
he’d be paying off father’s debts.”

“Is
there someone else in your family who might have the fortune he sought?”

“No,”
said the earl.

“Now
that you mention it,” said Grayson, “I remember my father once making a
reference to an Emerson fortune. He was in his study speaking to someone. I must
have been about fifteen and was in the foyer. I remember thinking it was odd,
but I never thought to ask about it and he never said anything about it again.
I had my mind on more important matters.”

“No
doubt a girl,” said Hal.

“No
doubt,” said Lord James with a laugh. “Grayson always had a way with the
ladies. I suspect he still does.”

Grayson
laughed with the rest of the men – save Mr. Stemple, who was keeping a close
eye on the marquess. Alex reckoned Grayson would have a difficult time convincing
the Emerson brothers he was a reformed man if he chose to court Lady Rose.

Of
course, it would pale in comparison to his own uphill battle if he chose to
pursue Win.

“So
there is no Emerson fortune,” said Alex.

Lord
James shook his head. “If there ever was one, it must have been generations
ago. If there’d been any left, our parents would have spent it. No, Clive
must have misunderstood his brother.”

“Win
said Pierce told her the late earl hadn’t disclosed all of his debts and
whatever it was gave Pierce leverage over all of you,” said Alex, realizing too
late he’d referred to Win by her Christian name. He hoped the others hadn’t
noticed. “If Pierce was blackmailing your father, it would probably be in one
of those ledgers. Perhaps that was the fortune to which he referred.”

“I’ll
tell you if I come up with anything,” said Grayson, who was already engrossed
in the pages he was reading.

“Thank
you,” said Alex. “Olson, have you found anything of interest you can share
with me? I hope you trust me by now.”

“Implicitly,
my friend. And, I have learned a great deal of interest. I did not waste time
looking into Lady Win – I told you from the first she was completely innocent
of these charges.”

“Yes,”
said Alex. “And you were right.”

Olson
continued. “But I have been looking into the finances of other concerned parties.
Mr. Clive Pierce is in a great deal of debt. His gaming losses have been
significant and he spends too much time at brothels and opium dens.”

“Those
are expensive activities,” said Hal. “If my memories of the distant past are
true.”

“You
mean from about a year ago,” said Liam. “But go on, Olson.”

“Mrs.
Warren has expansive taste in gowns and bonnets, which has put a strain on Mr.
Warren’s finances.”

“Where
does he get his money?” asked Alex.

“Some
sort of family inheritance, though no one seemed to know what it was or how
much. So far, nothing too extraordinary or unexpected. But I received two
surprising dispatches this morning. One is about Sir Wilfred. He has little
family money to speak of, yet has very expensive taste in French antiquities.
I wonder where he gets his blunt.”

“I’d
like to find out,” said Alex.

“The
other bit of news was quite surprising. It seems the late Mr. Pierce lost all
of his money. The estate is worthless. I am afraid Lady Winifred is
penniless.”

“A
true Emerson,” said Ridgeway.

“We
need to tell Win,” said Lord James.

“I’d
rather discuss this with the lady herself rather than only speak of her,” said
Olson. “I suggest we return to Lynwood House, with his grace’s permission.

“Of
course,” said the duke.

“Thank
you,” said Olson. “Lewis, perhaps you should come with me, via the mews. It
wouldn’t do you or her ladyship any good to be seen entering the house.”

“I
agree. Then we shall see all of you back at the house later.”

*

Nate
was finding it difficult to keep up his charade when all he wanted to do was examine
the coded ledger he’d been given. As part of his work with the Foreign Office,
he’d learned about ciphers and the most common codes. He didn’t know what he
would find, exactly, but he had his suspicions. He just hoped he was wrong.

Lewis
had left a few moments earlier, but the other men remained in his quarters.

Colin
put down his drink. “Did anyone else hear Lewis call Win by her Christian
name?”

“I
was hoping you’d bring that up,” said James.

“I
wanted to ask, but refrained,” said Layton.

“It
was unusual,” said Lynwood. “But he’s a good man. I was impressed with his
work at the Old Bailey. And I believe he’s dedicated to finding justice.”

“I
believe he’s in love with your sister,” said Hal. “I just met the man, but why
else would he throw away his career? For I can see no way around that. I like
him.”

“I
like him, too,” said Colin. “But it’s Win we’re talking about.”

“He
defended her,” said Stemple. “That arse Sir Wilfred was saying disparaging
things about Lady Win and Mr. Lewis was on the verge of striking him. I
tripped and fell into them to prevent it. I didn’t want him sacked before he
could help her.”

“See?”
said Hal. “He’s besotted with her.”

“What
was Sir Wilfred saying?” asked Nick.

“He
suspected Mr. Lewis was being swayed by Lady Win’s beauty. He told him not to
get his hopes up to marry her as a means of moving into the peerage because the
family wouldn’t like it. The best he could hope for would be…I do not care to
finish the sentence.”

“Do
you really think Lewis is only helping her so he can move up in the world
through marriage to Win?” asked Colin. “I wouldn’t think he’s the type, but we
can’t let anyone use Win like that. Not again.”

“We
can’t let Win be hurt again,” said James. “We need to discourage him if he’s
simply interested in her position. It’s going to be difficult since we need
his help, but we can’t allow Win to enter into another terrible relationship.”

“He’s
not interested in her for her position,” said Nate. He didn’t want to say much
more, but he needed to stand up for Lewis. He deserved it. “I think he’s in
love with her. And, I believe Win is quite fond of him.”

“Win
barely even knows him,” said Colin.

“That
isn’t exactly true.” Now everyone in the room was staring at him, Stemple most
of all.

“What
do you know, Nate?” asked Nick.

“I
promised I wouldn’t tell.”

“Now,
you must say,” said Colin. “What do you know that we don’t?”

Nate
hated breaking the confidence. But, at the same time, he also didn’t want the
ladies placing themselves in peril again. Perhaps Rose’s brothers would put a
stop to any future excursions. “Win and Rose snuck out of the house the other
night to return to Win’s old home. They were looking for clues to the real
murderer. Lewis and I were doing the same thing and we ran into each other.
We found a secret passageway and we’re the ones who originally found the maid’s
body. Lewis called Fisk in to do the official interview. The sergeant knows
we were there, but won’t say anything.” There was a moment of stunned silence
in the room. “I probably should have told you sooner…”