Midnight Masquerade (14 page)

Pronto stared away as he had been told, but all he saw was that Deirdre had turned a shade paler. When the first babble of excitement had settled down, Belami lifted his glass.

“I would ask you all to join me in drinking a toast to the recovery of the duchess’s diamond.” As he finished speaking, his darts flickered from the duchess to Deirdre, then rapidly to Bidwell. He lifted his glass and drank, still observing the effect of his announcement on his guests. He was thrown into confusion by what he saw. Firstly and most importantly, Bidwell’s lips split wide in a grin. Deirdre looked only surprised, and the duchess was in a state of agitated irritation. All these reactions were wrong, but he had very little time to consider any of them. Within seconds, his mother emitted a veritable squeal of delight, and hopped up from the table to express her rapture.

“Dickie, you’re wonderful! You’ve done it again. Now you won’t have to marr— Oh, isn’t it wonderful, Your Grace?”

The duchess glared, but only Bertie observed this killing glance. The rest of the table had their attention directed to Herr Bessler, whose glass had clattered to the table, throwing champagne in all directions. Looking toward him, Deirdre noticed his quick, worried look to Bidwell, whose smile had spread even wider.

“That is good news!” Bidwell exclaimed. “I’ll drink to that.” He took a deep quaff of his wine, and those who had recovered their wits at all did likewise.

There was a clamorous demand for Belami to produce the necklace. He explained that it had been dismantled, and produced only the chain and hook.

“But where is my diamond? I want to see my diamond,” the duchess insisted, still angry.

“It is in my vault, Your Grace. I could not risk having it stolen again,” Belami explained. “I’ll return it to you this evening or, if you prefer, keep it in my safe till you are prepared to leave.”

“I’ll see it at least, if you please,” she told him, pushing herself up from her chair, using her arms for levers, in a way that jiggled her whole side of the table. She read the reluctance on Belami’s face and thought she had deciphered his reason. He was afraid someone would follow them, and it was unwise to announce publicly the location of his safe. Very cautious of him.

“A little later perhaps, Your Grace?” he asked.

“Very well,” she agreed, and plopped back into her chair to finish her champagne.

There were many requests to hear the story of the discovery, and of course to learn the identity of the perpetrator, all of which Belami modestly declined to discuss “at this time,” as he expressed it. The inventive among them took it for civility in allowing the criminal the luxury of a private accusation, but in truth there was nothing to tell. Dick had no idea where the diamond was, and only suspicions as to who had stolen it.

He hoped his announcement would reveal the thief. There should have been a shocked, trembling, white-faced, wild-eyed man in that room, and that man should have been Bidwell. And what did he see? Bidwell grinning like a monkey. Deirdre’s eyes should have flown to Bidwell in horror. The demmed duchess should have been delighted, though he soon deduced it was a simple preference for his thirty thousand pounds over her poorly cut diamond that accounted for her chagrin. Bessler should not have dropped his glass in amazement, and Bertie should not have blurted out that now he wouldn’t have to marry Deirdre. Nothing had gone as planned, and he was left looking a complete idiot, with a deal of explaining to do to Charney.

The ladies soon left the gentlemen to their port, and Belami remained behind to see what he could learn from the men. He learned that Bidwell was in a state of high amusement, that Bessler had overcome whatever shock he had initially experienced, and that was about all he discovered. To distract attention from his imaginary recovery of the diamond, he regaled his guests with the tale of finding the outfit and pistol up the flue, and the rope trick used to descend from the floor above.

“The diamond is in good shape, is it?” Chamfreys asked. “It didn’t get marred in the dismantling?” When Belami assured him it was in perfect condition, he said, “By Jove, you are clever, Belami. As clever as people say.”

“Hear, hear,” Bidwell agreed boisterously. “In perfect condition, you say? That is good news, is it not, Herr Bessler?”

“A diamond would not easily become marred,” Bessler pointed out. “It is of an extremely hard consistency.

“As a matter of fact, a diamond is more easily destroyed than people often think,” Belami said, eager to discuss anything other than how he had solved the crime. “A good stone is often destroyed in the cutting. It can even be demolished by accident after it is cut, if something heavy should fall on it. They’re not indestructible by any means.”

Chamfreys was at his elbow, trying to get him aside for a private word. With high hopes, Belami went with him, but he was disappointed.

“I’ll tell you who could use a bit of your help, my lad, is Prinney. He’s in the devil of a bind. It happened just before we left town. I’ve only heard rumors, mind, but Devonshire told me in the strictest confidence that he’s being blackmailed. Don’t know what it’s all about, but you could do yourself some good if you’d straighten it out for him. There’d be an earlship in it for you, maybe even a jump up to a marquis. Shouldn’t think he’d go as high as a dukedom. The timing won’t suit you, with Paris in the offing, but Lennie is reasonable. She’d postpone the tryst.”

In the midst of his annoyance with Lenore for having already boasted to Chamfreys of her new conquest, Belami felt some interest in the story of Prinney’s problem. It was not the lure of a higher title that interested him, nor even the wish to help his Prince, but purely the intellectual curiosity, to get at another case.

“I’ll look into it as soon as we can get out of here,” he told Chamfreys.

Bidwell, who had been loitering nearby with his ears pricked, came forward in time to hear his last remark. “When do you think that will be, old chap? Any news on the condition of the roads?”

“Why, you make me fear I’m doing a poor job of entertaining you, Bidwell. What’s the rush?” Belami asked with a bold stare.

“I’m promised to accompany Cookson’s daughter to a skating party day after tomorrow. I wouldn’t want to disappoint the lady,” he replied.

“Especially when her papa is the king of brewers,” Belami replied, and felt ashamed of himself. It was ill-bred to cast aspersions on one’s invited guests. Just why Bertie had seen fit to invite the hedgebird was beside the point. Probably had known his mama. Bertie knew everyone’s mama.

He was so engrossed in pondering Bidwell’s smile that he didn’t take into account the real gist of Bidwell’s statement for forty seconds. If it were true he was dangling after Cookson’s well-dowered daughter, then he and Deirdre were nothing to each other. All his conversations had confirmed the lack of interest. Such a uniformity of opinion caused him to deduce he had been mistaken. It was a blow to his powers of reasoning, but one that caused him more relief than pain.

Chapter 10

When it was polite to get away from the taking of port, Belami and Pronto joined the ladies. Dick looked about for the duchess, dreading to confess his stunt, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that she had gone upstairs. Deirdre caught his eye, and beckoned him with a glance.

“My aunt has retired,” she said. “She asked me to thank you for finding her diamond. Can you tell me about it?”

“No,” he answered baldly.

“Why not? Surely you’re not planning to keep it a secret. It must be reported to Bow Street as soon as possible.”

“Not yet,” he parried.

“Will you tell me who it was at least?” she asked with curiosity—genuine curiosity—lending a sparkle to her eyes.

“Have you no idea at all?” he asked in a playful manner.

“None in the least. Of course, I saw Bessler drop his glass, but we know it wasn’t he.
Ac
-tually I was wondering if you did not suspect Bidwell, since Pronto was staring so hard at him. On your orders, I assume.”

“Assumptions are dangerous things, I can tell you. I’ve made a few erroneous ones in my time.”

“Oh, don’t be so provoking, Belami!” she said sharply. “I’m as closely involved in this business as you are.”

Her curiosity was certainly genuine. Belami was bereft of a new clue, and to enlarge his store of knowledge, he decided to bargain with her. “All right, I’ll tell you, but we shall require privacy for the telling.”

“Where?” she asked.

“Music room?” he suggested, picking an isolated spot.

“Very well, but first I must ask Herr Bessler to go up to Aunt Charney. She knows she’ll have trouble sleeping, and wants him to waft her off to dreamland.”

“That boring a conversationalist, is he?”

“Oh, no, that isn’t his trick. Mesmerism—you recall we spoke of it.”

“Does he actually put her to sleep?” he asked, interested in any novel nonsense, particularly of a scientific nature.

“Indeed he does. She makes sure she has on her nightgown before he does it. He usually mesmerizes her after she is in bed. Her woman sits with them, of course, for propriety’s sake.”

A slow smile crept across Belami’s face at the unlikely picture of the duchess indulging in the slightest impropriety.

“Of course,” he agreed, his lips unsteady.

“He began it when he was a doctor, and it didn’t seem improper,” she pointed out, misunderstanding that smile.

‘‘How very interesting.”

“Yes, she didn’t have him do it for ages after the College of Physicians revoked his license, because she didn’t want to have a man who was not a doctor in her bedroom. Bessler said he could probably put her into a trance that would enable her to go to bed and undress herself after he left, but she didn’t have him do it. Aunt Charney wouldn’t want to be under anyone’s control. There is Bessler now. I’ll ask him to go up to her before we leave, if you’ll excuse me.”

Wild imaginings were flitting through Belami’s ingenious mind. New rays of light were shining on the many-faceted problem that confronted him. Bessler was beyond his hearing, but he saw him nod his head as Deirdre spoke, then he turned and left the room, and Belami went with Deirdre to the music room.

He took along a branch of tapers from the hall and closed the door behind him before setting the candelabra on the piano. “Have a seat,” he offered, nodding to the piano bench. She sat down on the edge of it, and Belami leaned toward her, resting one arm on the piano. Shadows hovered close by, as the two sat bathed in a puddle of light from the candles.

“Well, tell me all about it,” she urged.

“I’ll strike a bargain with you,” he parried. “You tell me what you were doing on the roof last night, and I’ll tell you the tale of the diamond. You were there, weren’t you, Deirdre?”

“How did you know—what makes you think that?” she asked, hastily amending her question, but she knew she had not fooled him.

He reached out and stroked her hair. “Thank you for wearing it loose, as I asked. It looks lovely.”

It occurred to her to say Bidwell liked it, but with the thief about to be announced, quite possibly Bidwell, she held her tongue.

“You didn’t wear it loose for the ball,” Belami continued, “But a few hairs came off on the coat collar all the same. Your gown was also damp along the bottom when I first arrived. Why were you there?”

She was very much averse to lying, but more averse to revealing the truth. “Yes, I was there. It was hot and noisy belowstairs. I suddenly wanted to feel the fresh, cold air. I knew I couldn’t walk out the front door, so I decided to go up and have a look out on the roof. I had seen it earlier, and the window leading to it, when I went to the attic with your mama to retrieve a large tin pot she wished to use for making ices.”

“You could have opened the French doors in the library,” he mentioned.

“Well, I didn’t. I went up to the attic. I wanted to be close to the stars,” she added with a face that challenged him to deny this unlikely claim.

“There were no stars out last night.”

“I didn’t know that till I got there. I couldn’t see the sky from the ballroom,” she said, becoming irritated. “I often skip away from a ball for a few dances, to a conservatory, or . . .”

“I remember,” he said softly, smiling at her. “Why did you tread so dangerously close to the edge of the roof? Did you think to discover stars hiding below?”

“Of course not. I just went for a little stroll while I was out.”

“That doesn’t sound like sensible Deirdre Gower, but I suppose I must accept it. Now comes the more difficult question for you. Why did you bother hiding it from me this afternoon, as it is so innocent?”

She racked her brain for any excuse, however foolish, and said, “You were having so much fun playing at Bow Street that I decided to confuse you. Just dragging a red herring across the trail, to confuse the scent.”

“That’s a lamentable excuse. You were working with me, not against me. You were alone?”

“All alone, just me and the snow. Now it’s time for your catechism, milord. Where did you find the diamond, and who took it?”

“I didn’t find it, and I don’t know who took it,” he answered simply.

“You don’t know! Belami, you cheat! After I confessed going up to the roof to look for you. To see if you were coming, I mean,” she added quickly. “Naturally, while I was there I took a look down the road. Your mama was very much afraid you had had an accident, you know. She fretted about it all day long.”

“That contingency did not occur to you, I take it.”

“Certainly not. I’m not that foolish. And never mind talking about me. You mean to tell you don’t have the diamond?”

“I haven’t seen hide nor hair of it. It was all a hoax. I hoped the culprit might give himself away. He should, by rights, have been extremely worried. We’re pretty sure it isn’t hidden in the house. We’ve looked everywhere.”

“You haven’t searched your guests,” she reminded him.

“It’s too gothic. I haven’t the gall to do it. I can’t ask the likes of Cottrell to strip, and to pick out the select few suspects—well, it’s hardly the thing, is it? I believe I’d sooner pay the money than do it. If the thief had it on him, though, he would have let a hand fly to his pocket to check, and thus give away its whereabouts. Someone ought to have been a little concerned at least. No one was. Your aunt wasn’t any too pleased either,” he added frowning.