One Penny Surprise (Saved By Desire 1)

“Staged?” Jeb repeated. “Or torn apart by Clarence in his search for the cash? He would be angry she had deceived him. Maybe he was desperate?”

“He is desperate,” Luke retorted. “I think we can now safely say that Clarence is living somewhere else in London right now. I doubt he is in a tavern somewhere.”

“I hate to say this but I really don’t like the way my suspicions are going on this one,” Jeb replied. “I mean, a young woman in London is very vulnerable, even from those she considers the closest members of her family.”

Luke looked at his colleague and nodded. The very thought that Poppy might have been led to London to be just that filled him with disgust. She was warm, loving and gentle of nature. It was horrifying to think of what might have happened if he hadn’t stumbled across her in the park.

Once they were far enough from the safe house to be sure they weren’t followed, Jeb took his leave and hurried off to work. Luke made his way to see Peter.

An hour later, Luke sat in the plush library in a huge mansion deep in the heart of Mayfair, and watched Poppy’s cousin take a seat opposite. He waved away the brandy the butler offered him and waited until Peter was settled before he leaned forward in his seat and braced his elbows on his knees. To begin with he explained that he was connected with the Star Elite and watched a flash of recognition and respect in Peter’s eyes. Assured the man was happy to talk to him, Luke explained what had happened to Poppy.

Peter frowned and studied the man seated opposite suspiciously for a moment. “What does an organisation like the War Office want with Poppy?”

Luke gave Peter a brief version of events, but made it perfectly clear that Poppy was under the Star Elite’s protection, not their suspicion.

“She needs protecting with that sire of hers about,” Peter declared flatly.

“What is the problem with Clarence? Poppy tells me there is ill feeling between you.”

“Ill feeling?” Peter snorted. “I’ll say. Everybody of repute has ‘ill feeling’ toward Clarence. He is a scoundrel. He always has been and always will be. He is not only a compulsive liar, but a gambler and a cheat. He treated my aunt abysmally.”

“Would you tell me?” Luke asked. He sensed from the antagonism evident on Peter’s face that he would get the full and truthful version of events and allowed the man to speak without interruption.

“Is he involved in your investigations for the Star Elite?” Peter asked with a frown.

“Should we involve him in our investigations?”

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Peter sighed and thought about that for a moment. “I don’t know, but I don’t doubt that man is up to some shady shenanigans. He was a squire’s son. Not worthy of Matilda, my father’s sister. Everybody told her she could do better, but she refused to listen. The family suspected and were later proven correct. Clarence, bounder that he is, wasn’t really interested in her. He wanted Matilda’s connections and fortune to better himself, however didn’t count on the family’s vociferous objections to their union.” Peter coughed and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “In the end, Clarence had to marry Matilda, Poppy’s mother.” He threw Luke a telling look which Luke acknowledged with a nod. “Her father was angry and refused to acknowledge the union. When Matilda entered married life both of them were effectively shunned. The family wanted nothing more to do with them. They were never invited to social occasions and so Poppy was never raised in society in which she should belong. Clarence tried to curry favour again once the worst of the furore died down, but had more than his fair share of mistresses to his name, and publically turned his marriage into a farce so got nowhere. Publically, he humiliated Matilda, and made a mockery of their marriage. Once Poppy was born he spent more and more time out of the house at gambling houses frittering away Matilda’s fortune. Unfortunately, Matilda suffered from ill health after the birth and never really recovered her full strength. I tried on numerous occasions to persuade her to move to a more beneficial environment and take Poppy with her but she refused. I think to leave him meant she had to acknowledge that she had made a glaring error in trusting Clarence, and she didn’t want to lose face. She died when Poppy was ten years old. It was only when she passed that it was revealed Clarence had steadily worked his way through the money Matilda took into the marriage. Clarence came to me demanding more money to raise Poppy, to which I refused. He threatened to throw her out, hand her over to an orphanage, all sorts of things to get money off me. It got quite nasty, I can tell you.”

“So you didn’t give him any money?” Luke asked with a frown.

Peter shook his head. “I had hoped that once Poppy had come of age she would turn to the family for assistance, but we didn’t know what Clarence had told her. I have tried to speak with Poppy over the last several years but Clarence always blocked me. In the end I have had little choice but to sit and wait for Poppy to come to me.”

“She told me that you gave her five hundred pounds.”

“That’s right. Some of it is hers, inherited from the grandfather she never knew.”

“So she is wealthy?” Luke’s brows lifted in astonishment.

Peter read his mind. “She has been provided for; let me put it that way. It isn’t enough to purchase a house like this, but for someone who has lived in the relatively run-down house Clarence has plundered over time, she is well off. Unfortunately, because rumours were circulating that Clarence wanted money again, Poppy hasn’t been told about the inheritance. I think Clarence would just help himself to it anyway, and that is something I am working to prevent.”

“So when Poppy came here and asked for help, you gave it to her.”

Peter nodded and smiled. “I meant it when I said I would give her all the help she needs. I think the house frightened her a little with its opulence. Unfortunately, she made it clear that she was still with Clarence, although I sensed trouble, so I didn’t tell her about the remainder of the fortune that awaits her. Tell me, what is Clarence up to now?”

Luke wasted no time telling him.

Peter nodded. “He has always been a law unto himself, and has frittered away money left, right and centre rather than curb his rather avaricious appetites. I have no doubt he would help himself to the money and leave Poppy empty-handed. It is Clarence, I am afraid. This time though, I am not going to allow him to plunder Poppy’s fortune as he did his wife’s.”

“Tell me, do you know if he has a mistress, or any connections to people in London?”

“I have kept a close eye on Clarence over the years. He has a mistress, or had a mistress back in Cumbria. Her name was Helena. She was a merry widow and had a son.”

“Clarence’s?” Luke knew he was pushing the boundaries of what was right and proper, but if he had any hope of finding out how desperate Clarence was he needed to know the facts.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the son was his but I have no proof,” Peter replied matter-of-factly. “So, what do you intend to do now? Please tell me he hasn’t gotten his hands on the money? I did tell Poppy to use it for herself.”