The Mysterious Governess (Daughters of Sin 3)

“I know it,” Lissa remarked as Ralph reached across to put his hand on her shoulder, muttering, “And you’ll have to step over my dead body to return to that household, Miss Hazlett. Trust me, I will make arrangements for your safety.”

Lissa looked at him gratefully, turning as Sir William asked, “And who were the two men in the sketch taken by Mr. Lamont?”

“Lord Smythe, Your Excellency, and...Sir Aubrey.”

“My, my, how fortuitous for Mr. Lamont and the man he is working for to discover such a picture. Would you say it was a good likeness?”

“My future wife’s ability to create a likeness with a few rapid strokes of the pencil is remarkable,” Ralph interjected proudly.

“Oh Ralph!” Lissa cried, overjoyed at his reference to her altered status and her talent. They turned when Sir William cleared his throat.

“I’m honored to be a witness to what I gather is a rather oblique marriage proposal, but before you leave I have one final question for you, Miss Hazlett?”

Lissa steeled herself.

“Was Mr. Lamont requested to sketch any other personage? At the moment we are only interested in Lords Debenham and Smythe and Sir Aubrey.”

Lissa was saved from answering when Ralph leaned forward to rest both hands on the table. “Forgive the interruption, Your Excellency, but I have not known, before, what to do with information I have that I believe is critical to the case regarding Sir Aubrey and Lord Debenham’s involvement in the Castlereagh business.”

“You have!” Lissa and Sir William spoke at the same time, and Ralph sent an apologetic look in Lissa’s direction. “I didn’t want to tell you, Miss Hazlett, as I feared such knowledge might endanger you. It’s only been a very short while since I gained possession of it and I wanted to be sure I handed it to the right person. I now know Sir William is the man to entrust with something so important and sensitive.”

“Well, what is this evidence?” Sir William sounded a trifle impatient and Ralph nodded, as if he understood the need to get to the point.

“A letter written by Sir Aubrey’s late wife lays out the whole affair. It exonerates Sir Aubrey and incriminates Lord Debenham.”

“But Miss Partington burned the letter!” Lissa cried.

Ralph turned from Sir William’s shocked expression to Lissa’s outrage, with a smile. “She burned what she believed was the letter. I had a copy made and paid the sum required to gain possession of the real letter. It’s under my mattress.”

“Good Lord! Well, this does alter matters. Pray, enlarge upon the contents of this letter.”

After Ralph had given a concise summary of the whole affair, which did not implicate either Jem or Araminta, Sir William leaned back, laced his hands across his lean torso, and slowly shook his head. “My word, but this has been a profitable meeting. I shall be leaving the country soon but before that I will be meeting with some colleagues of mine to discuss the matter. Though I am now based in Constantinople, I will still be involved in ongoing developments with this case due to a...surprising connection.” He shifted in his chair and looked intently at Lissa. “Do you have anything further to add, Miss Hazlett? I take it you have informed me of all the sketches you were required to do? Mr. Lamont is a devious miscreant. We need to understand the full extent of his activities in case he’s involved in greater criminal activity. If he has been recruited as a spy, we need to know the names of everyone he might have spied upon.”

He sent Lissa a questioning look at her quick intake of breath and she dropped her eyes.

“Your Excellency, I should have mentioned it, earlier, but I was too...” She shook her head, unable to finish until, at Sir William’s prompting, she gathered her courage and said in a rush, “Mr. Lamont was asked by a certain Mr. Crossing to follow his wife. It was the same night I sketched Lords Smythe and Debenham. At Vauxhall Gardens. He requested that she be sketched with whomever we found her.”

Predictably, there was silence at this pronouncement. Carefully, Lissa raised her eyes to find Sir William staring at her with an expression difficult to fathom.

He turned to Ralph. “If you will excuse us for a few moments, Mr. Tunley, I would like to speak to Miss Hazlett in private.” Calmly, he led the way to the door, saying conversationally, “This is more serious than I thought. In the interests of national security, I cannot have her evidence given in the presence of a third person.”

After Ralph had bowed himself out of the room, Sir William slowly returned to his seat, steepled his fingers and sent Lissa a long, considering look. “I take it you did not sketch Mrs. Crossing after all, else her husband would have made it a matter to bring before the divorce courts.”

Lissa looked down at the great tear to her drab print skirts. Such a pity, for it was one of her most serviceable gowns.

Well, there was nothing for it. She’d have to be frank.

“I did, in fact, Your Excellency. I sketched her as I saw her. Mr. Lamont made me follow him to a supper box and she was there. With a man, Sir William, as you well know. As Mr. Lamont was looking over my shoulder, I had no choice but to sketch what I saw.”

Sir William raised one eyebrow, but beyond that gave no further indication that he understood she recognized him as that man. “Then the sketch was not given to Mr. Crossing?”

Lissa shook her head. “Mr. Lamont anticipated a great deal of money for such sensational evidence. It’s true that I sketched Mrs. Crossing with...the man she was with, however I had taken a great dislike to Mr. Crossing. He gave the appearance of being a cruel, vengeful husband. And when I saw how sweet and...vulnerable...Mrs. Crossing seemed, I was afraid he would hurt her.”

“You are perfectly correct on all counts, Miss Hazlett.” A nervous tic worked at the corner of Sir William’s mouth. He dropped his voice and his look gentled. “Go on. I presume you found a means of denying Mr. Lamont what he wanted.”

“Mr. Lamont wanted me to give the drawing to Mr. Crossing immediately but I made an excuse to keep it until two nights later, when I was fortunate enough to encounter Mrs. Crossing and warn her. I asked her if she had perchance a brother who could be substituted for her lo—”

Lissa blushed at nearly saying the word lover.