Never Run From Love (Kellington Book Four) (36 page)

He started with Madame Thurmond’s. 

“I’m surprised to see you again so soon,” said
Aurelia Thurmond as she once again met with Hal in her private sitting room. 
“Have you decided what you’ll do about our mutual enemy?”

“As a matter of fact, I have,” said Hal.  “I am not
going to pay him.”

Madame Thurmond studied him for a moment, then gave
him a slight smile.  “You know, Lord Henry, if anyone can pull that off I
believe it is you.  Now what can I do for you?”

“I was wondering about the identity of the
blackmailer.”

“As I told you, I do not know.”

“But you have your suspicions.”

She nodded. 

“Do you think it could be Charles Francis?”

“The thought had occurred to me.”

“You said he had information about you.  How would
he have obtained it?”

“I’ve given that a fair amount of thought, as well. 
I am nothing if not discreet.  But some secrets will out no matter what.  And I
have no shortage of enemies.”

“I believe you may even have one in Newgate.  Would
your former employee Bleaker do you harm?”

A light came on in the madame’s eyes as she
considered it.  “I believe Bleaker would do anyone harm, my lord.  If the price
were right.”

“Would he do murder?”

“Without a doubt.”

“Thank you,” said Hal, as he rose to leave.

“And thank you for your years of patronage, Lord
Henry.”

“You don’t think you’ll see me again?”

“I do not believe the new Lady Henry would allow
it.  But should the two of you ever like to visit again, do let me know.”

*                    *                    *

Hal was finally able to track Francis down at a
private room in Dill’s.  Conrad Patton himself showed Hal to the chamber, where
the disheveled Francis was finishing a game.  He looked like he’d been up all
night.

“I think he’s been expecting you, Lord Henry,” said
Patton.   The owner hesitated a moment, before adding.  “Do you think he had
anything to do with Susan LaRue and the others who went missing?”

“Do you?”

Patton shrugged.  “I learned a long time ago not to
underestimate a person’s potential for evil.  But if he did harm Susan, well,
I’d like to take care of this myself.”

Hal studied the man, as well as the two bruisers who
were keeping their distance – for now.  “Believe me, Patton, I bear a grudge
against the man myself.  But if he is guilty, the law will take care of him.” 
He paused for a moment as he looked Patton in the eye.  “And no one else.”

Patton smirked, knowing Hal would be no match for
him and his boys.  “Say what you will, but it could be right dangerous for a
bloke to come between me and what I want done.”

“Thank you for the warning, Patton.  Now if you’ll
excuse me, I will speak to Francis.  In private.”

Hal pushed past the man and entered the room,
nodding to the men who’d been playing Francis and were now leaving.  Francis
quietly gathered his winnings, not looking at Hal. 

“Are you here to call me out, Hal?”

“Do I have reason to?”

Francis looked up at him, with bloodshot eyes and
the dissipated manner of someone who’d spent too long in his cups, with too
much hatred in his heart.  “Probably about as much reason as I have to call you
out.”

“I doubt that.  I’m not blackmailing you.  And, more
importantly, I’m not harming an innocent.”

“Sit down Hal, it hurts my neck to look up at you.”

Hal remained standing.

“I forgot.  People don’t order Kellingtons around. 
How ‘bout I phrase it like a question.  Will you do me the honor, Lord Henry,
of taking a seat at this table?”

Hal took a seat.

“Much better,” said Francis.  “Now, to the question
of harming innocents.  The point is moot, is it not, since Miss Sutton is no
longer innocent?”

Hal was out of his seat in an instant, slamming his
fist into Francis’s jaw.  Both men fell over backward onto the floor.  But
before they could fight further, Patton and his men burst in.  With a nod from
Patton, his boys separated Francis and Hal.

“There’ll be none of that,” said Patton.  “At least
not until we get answers.”  He sent his two bodyguards back out to the hall,
then closed the door after them.  “Why don’t you continue, Lord Henry?”

“This is a conversation best held in private,” he
replied.

“Then you should have met in a place that was not
owned by me.  I’m staying.”

Hal could see the man was in earnest, so he began
again.  “Francis, are you blackmailing me?”

Francis looked at him, and for a moment Hal thought
he would not answer. 

“Yes,” said Francis.  “You are one of many.”

“You bastard,” said Hal, wanting to hit him again. 

“Actually, I believe my poor mama was dutiful to my
father.  So that is one sin you may not lay at my feet.  Although there are
plenty of others that fit.”

“Why?” asked Hal.  “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I can.  And because you deserve it.”

“What have I ever done to you, besides win some
blunt off your cousin?”

For the first time, Francis’s demeanor broke and Hal
could see real anger in him.  “If there is a villain in this piece, it is you,
dear Hal.  It is almost always you.”

He continued, dabbing at a cut above his eye.  “When
you sleep with another man’s wife, when you so blithely flirt with innocent
misses who hold out hope that you will marry them, when you win small fortunes
at cards from young men who idolize you and cannot afford the losses, you are
the villain.  But all is so easily forgiven when one is a Kellington.  When
you’re done with the women, you don’t see the broken marriages.  You don’t know
about the debutantes who refuse suitors in hopes that you will come courting. 
You don’t care about fortunes lost and families devastated by sums considered
insignificant by Kellington standards.  It is all beneath your notice.”

“But you don’t care about the cuckolded husbands,
the broken-hearted debutantes.”

“You’re right, I do not.  But once my cousin
squandered his fortune, there was almost nothing left.  As the youngest son of
a youngest son, I cannot be poor, Hal.  And most of the wealthy chits have
their sights set on men like you.  You, who have never known what it’s like to
be without blunt, while I must use my wits to earn every guinea.  I resented
you long before my cousin’s folly.  It was only after spending time with you
that it turned to hatred.  And now your life will be as miserable as mine.”

Patton cleared his throat.  “That is all well and
good, but what I care about is the girls.  Are you involved with the white
slavers?”

“I wish that I were,” said Francis.  “I’ve heard
they make loads of blunt.”

Patton rose to every menacing inch of his height. 
“You’ll answer my question Francis or you’ll know pain you never even dreamed
of.  Are you involved with taking them women?”

Francis did his best to contain his expression, then
shook his head.  “No.”

“Why should we believe you?” asked Hal.

“You shouldn’t, probably,” said Francis.  “Except
for the fact I owe Patton here ten thousand quid and he’s likely as not going
to have one of his bruisers break an arm before I leave here tonight,
although…”  Here he pushed his winnings across the table to Patton.  “There’s
almost eight thousand there.  I hope it will convince you to give me some
time.  I must be a pretty bad white slaver if I can’t pay my debts.  It’s one
of the reasons I turned to blackmail.  Well, that and revenge.”

“Is this true?” Hal asked Patton. 

Patton nodded, as he counted up the winnings.  “Yes,
which does seem to indicate he’s not involved.  Though I would still like to
turn my boys loose on him, just the same.”

“I would really rather you wouldn’t,” said Francis. 
“Especially since I have some information for you.”

“What is it?” asked Hal.

“Not until you pay off my debt to Patton and give me
another five thousand.”

“I’ll pay Patton,” said Hal.  “But you’ll not get
another shilling from me.  Now tell us your news before we turn those bruisers
on you.”

“My boy, you’ve become rather ruthless.  I believe
I’ve had an influence on you.”

“The information,” ground out Hal, ready to beat the
man himself.

“Ah, of course.  I’ve been having a series of
conversations with Bleaker over at Newgate.  He told me you were there that day
the witness was killed.  And before you ask, I had nothing to do with it, but
am honored you think I had it in me.  I don’t know what happened, although I
wouldn’t be surprised to find Bleaker had a hand in it.  He’s a particularly
weasly shite.  Bleaker has been my source of information about quite a few
people – you included – since he still has his sources at Madame Thurmond’s. 
But he’d also heard of this white slavery ring.  He told me they’re getting
ready to set sail for the Barbary coast the morning after the full moon.”

“That’s tomorrow,” said Patton.

“It is.  He wouldn’t tell me who was behind the
operation – and believe me, I tried.  I can only imagine how much blunt I could
get for blackmailing the leader.  He only said they specialized in hiding in
plain sight.”

“You have no names?”

“As I said.”

“And you did nothing to alert the authorities?”

“What would be the point in that?  I had no real
information and it would look rather suspicious of me, wouldn’t it?  Now, are
we done?”

Hal shot his fist across the table and knocked
Francis out cold.  “Now, we’re done.”

He turned to Patton.  “I will honor his debt, but I
want your word you will not kill him or harm him too significantly.”

“Under one condition.  You must keep me posted about
the slavers.  I’ll send my own men to the docks, if there’s a chance Miss LaRue
is still there.  I must know what happened to her.”

Hal promised he would keep him apprised, then left
Dill’s.  He’d solved the matter of blackmail.  But who the devil was taking
those women? 

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Aunt Evelyn and Cousin Mary had decided the best
course of action was to carry on as if nothing had happened.  They left to attend
an at-home to see if there was any gossip, but only after Mel assured them she
would welcome the chance to be alone with her thoughts.

But once her aunt and cousin were gone, Mel realized
how very little she wanted to remain at home doing nothing.  She needed to be
busy to keep thoughts of Hal out of her mind.  She’d been thinking about the missing
women and realized no one had ever followed up on the lead Rodgers had given
them – the shipping manifest of April the second. 

She gathered her things and went in search of
Flora.  The maid, quite predictably, refused to accompany her.

“I ain’t goin’ to the docks.  And you got no reason
to go there neither, you bein’ a lady and all.”

But there was just a slight hesitation as Flora said
“lady” that made Mel think the entire household had heard about Mrs. Seton’s
visit.  Well, there was nothing for it but to continue.

“I’ll pay you,” said Mel.  “I can’t leave the house
without you.  You don’t need to go with me to the docks.  You can go see your
sweetheart at the stables.”

It was clear Flora was tempted by the money.  But
she shook her head.  “I ain’t seein’ him no more.  I’m walkin’ out with the
second underbutler at the house next door.  I’m movin’ up in the world,” she
sniffed.

No amount of bribery would persuade the girl, so Mel
eventually snuck out the back way, then ran through the mews to the next street
where she hailed a hackney and set out on her own.

When she arrived at the docks, she was surprised to
see that it was even busier than usual.  Apparently several ships were to set
sail on the morning tide, so they were being loaded with provisions.  As Mel
carefully picked her way through the crowded docks, she saw longshoremen
loading salted beef, as well as live chickens and goats.  Loaves of bread in
baskets were passed up to sailors onboard.  It would mold quickly in the humid
air, but for a few days at least, the crews would eat almost as well as they
had on land.  Some of them would no doubt eat even better.  Many of the sailors
had joined their crews to escape the desperate poverty of the city.  That also
meant there were some so desperate for money that they would break the law to
enrich their own pockets.

And somewhere on this vast expanse of docks was a
ship that was engaged in a heinous act.  She didn’t know that for sure, of
course, but she felt it in her very bones. 

Her mood was depressed for another reason, as well. 
None of the women she’d contacted over the past several weeks had decided to
make the journey to America.  Not a single one.  If she’d spent less time with
Hal, she might have been more successful in her venture.  But now, since Mrs.
Seton had kicked her out of the reform group, Mel couldn’t use that as an
excuse to venture forth into the areas where she might encounter these women.