‘Such a strange affair,’ Redfern observed. ‘If it were not for the gold one might simply dismiss it as accident – and yet, how can the gold be connected?’ He swayed slightly to one side to allow Terence to deposit a tray of brandy creams on the table in front of him.
‘Gold?’ Sir Walter said. ‘What gold?’
‘Was I not supposed to mention it?’ Redfern said apologetically to Theo. ‘It cannot matter in this company, surely?’
‘What da– confounded gold?’ Sir Walter repeated as Theo glanced around all the faces he could see. There had been a reaction, a silent one, he was sure. A stiffening, a sharp movement on the edge of his vision. They had struck a sore nerve somewhere.
‘French gold,’ Perry said, with seeming reluctance. ‘Near the er… Near the late Rector.’
Theo suppressed a shudder at the thought of that ghastly sight and made himself focus. Mrs Finch was diagonally across the table from him, sitting beside Perry and now her habitually calm expression was marred by two little lines between her brows.
‘It is not surprising, surely, if smugglers were using the crypt at the time,’ Mrs Gilpin observed.
‘True,’ Theo agreed. ‘If it were not for the fact that we are dealing with gold Napoléons minted very recently.’
‘Then the gang is still using the crypt,’ Giles said with a hint of impatience. ‘Surely that’s obvious?’
‘Is it?’ Jared cut a slice of lemon tart and passed the plate to Mrs Jenner. ‘British smugglers buy French goods, we don’t smuggle anything to them. Why should the gold be here?’
There was no response. Theo decided it was time to push the boulder down the hill. ‘And these coins most definitely should not have been there – they were minted at the Tower of London for British agents to use in France. Agents who passed through Blakeney and vanished.’
There was a clatter as a spoon hit a plate, then fell to the floor. Edward stepped forward and removed it from the carpet between Mrs Finch and Squire Jenner.
‘Are you saying that someone has been stealing that gold?’ Giles Swinburn demanded. ‘And what? Killing the agents?’
His brother gave his inane laugh. ‘Well don’t look at us, Northam! We’ve got no piles of gold, more’s the pity. Wouldn’t have to marry my blasted cousin if we had.’
‘Be silent, Charles,’ Lady Swinburn said, her voice shaking.
‘No good trying to pin this on any of us,’ Jenner said with a snort. ‘No-one around here’s rolling in it.’
‘No, they aren’t, are they?’ Theo said, thinking out loud. ‘But it isn’t about the money, I think. It’s about a cause. The gold is going to France all right, just not to the Royalists or helping British agents. Someone is a traitor out of conviction, not for pay.’
‘How can you possibly know that is what the coins you found were?’ The Rector found his voice at last. ‘One gold coin is the same as another except for the date.’
‘Those that were minted in London are marked. It is tiny but quite clear if you know what to look for. But the secret has been well kept,’ Jared said. He reached inside the breast of his coat and produced a gold coin that he held up, glinting in the candlelight. All eyes fixed on it. ‘The French don’t know, the agents themselves don’t know. You did not know until now, did you, Mrs Finch?’
‘Annemarie?’ The Rector was on his feet, his chair crashing back. He turned on Jared. ‘You are mad, my lord. Mad or wicked! I will have the law on you for this slander.’
Jared nodded towards the opposite end of the table. ‘You might first enquire of your wife why she has brought a pocket pistol to dinner.’
Mrs Finch was on her feet, the deadly little gun steady in her hand as she held it a few inches from Perry’s head. ‘I will not hesitate to use this.’
‘Any more than you hesitated to kill my father,’ Hogget said quietly from the other side of the table. ‘He was gloating over his knowledge that your mother was still alive when your father, Sir Anthony Swinburn, married for the second time. How did he find out, I wonder?’
‘He helped her run away,’ Mrs Finch said. ‘He thought she would elope with him, the fool. My father tried to stop her interest in the political situation in France. Her parents had supported reform and she did too. Papa became intolerable with his attempts to censor her reading and her correspondence, so she left him, went back to her family in France, joined the struggle for the people.’
Theo could not see Sir Walter from where he was sitting, but he could see Giles and watch the shock giving way to fury as he realised what this meant to his father, to him and his brother. ‘When did she die?’ he snarled at his aunt.
‘June 1793 during the Terror.’ Her smile was chilling as she said, ‘Six years after your birth, Giles dear.’
‘And yet you still side with the French?’ Redfern asked. From the corner of his eye Theo could see that he, like all of them, was fixed on Perry’s still form, his white face, the stubby steel barrel pressed against his temple.
‘Maman wrote to me, sent me books, taught me well. Under Napoléon the nation is great again, people of all classes have opportunities, the spirit of the Revolution flowers.’
‘Who helps you?’ Redfern asked. ‘There must be someone amongst the fishermen and the alehouse keepers of Blakeney. And how did you find out about the agents in the first place?’
‘You think I would tell you who my allies are? As to the route through the port, a double agent gave it away several years ago. But I cannot stay here satisfying your curiosity. Come here, Miranda.’