‘Oh well, miss,’ he said carelessly, ‘we don’t take much account of that!’
Eustacie caught a glimpse of Ludovic at the top of the stairs, and said quickly: ‘Bow Street Runners! It must be very exciting to be a Bow Street Runner, I think!’ She glanced up as she spoke, and saw that Ludovic had vanished. Feeling almost sick with relief, she pressed her handkerchief to her lips, and said mechanically: ‘Who is this criminal, I wonder? A thief, perhaps?’
‘Not a thief, miss,’ said Mr Stubbs. ‘A murderer!’
The effect of this announcement was all he had hoped for. Eustacie gave a shriek and faltered: ‘Here? A m-murderer? Arrest him at once, if you please! But at once!’
‘Ah!’ said Mr Stubbs, ‘if I could do that everything would be easy, wouldn’t it? But this here murdering cove has been evading of the law for two years and more.’
‘But how could he evade you, who must, I know, be a clever man, for two years?’
Mr Stubbs began to think rather well of Eustacie, French though she might be. ‘That’s it,’ he said. ‘You’ve put your finger on it, missy, as the saying is. If they’d had me on to him at the start p’raps he wouldn’t have done no evading.’
‘No, I think not, indeed. You look very cold, which is not at all a thing to wonder at when one considers that there is a great courant d’air here. I will take you into the parlour, where it is altogether cosy, and procure for you a glass of cognac.’
Mr Stubbs’s eye glistened a little, but he shook his head. ‘It’s very kind of you, miss, but I’ve a fancy to stay right where I am, d’ye see? You don’t happen to be staying in this here inn, do you?’
‘But certainly I am staying here!’ responded Eustacie. ‘I am staying with Sir Hugh Thane, who is a Justice of the Peace, and with Miss Thane.’
‘You are?’ said Mr Stubbs. ‘Well now, that’s a very fortunate circumstance, that is. You don’t happen to have seen anything of a young cove – a mighty flash young cove – Lurking?’
Eustacie looked rather bewildered, and said: ‘Plaît-il? Lurking?’
‘Or sulking?’ suggested Mr Stubbs. He drew forth from his pocket a well-worn notebook, and, licking his thumb, began to turn over its pages.
‘What is that?’ asked Eustacie, eyeing the book with misgiving.
‘This is my Occurrence Book, missy. There are plenty of coves would like to get their dabblers on it, I can tell you. There’s things in this book as’ll send a good few to the Nubbing Cheat one day,’ said Mr Stubbs darkly.
‘Oh,’ said Eustacie, wishing that Nye would come, and wondering how to lure Mr Stubbs away from the stairs. If only Ludovic had not injured his shoulder he might have climbed out of a window, she thought, but with one arm in a sling that was out of the question.
Mr Stubbs, finding his place in his Occurrence Book, said: ‘Here we are, now. Has there been a young cove here, missy, with blue eyes, light hair, features aquiline, height about five feet ten inches –’
Eustacie interrupted this recital. ‘But yes, you describe to me Sir Hugh Thane, only he is taller, I think, and me, I should say that he has grey eyes.’
‘The cove this here description fits is a cove by the name of Loodervic Lavenham,’ said Mr Stubbs.
Eustacie at once executed a start. ‘But you are mad? Ludovic Lavenham is my cousin, enfin !’
Mr Stubbs stared at her fixedly. ‘You say this Loodervic Lavenham’s your cousin, miss?’ he said, his voice pregnant with suspicion.
?
?Of course he is!’ replied Eustacie. ‘He is a very wicked creature who has brought disgrace to us, and we do not speak of him even. Why have you come to look for him? He went away from England two years ago!’
Mr Stubbs caressed his chin, still keeping his eyes on Eustacie’s face. ‘Oh!’ he said slowly. ‘He wouldn’t happen to be staying in this inn right now, I suppose?’
‘Staying here?’ gasped Eustacie. ‘In the same place with me ? No! I tell you, he is in disgrace – quite cast-off !’
‘Ah!’ said Mr. Stubbs. ‘What would you say if I was to tell you that this very Loodervic Lavenham is lurking somewhere in these parts?’
‘I do not think so,’ said Eustacie, with a shake of her head. ‘And I hope very much that it is not true, because there has been enough disgrace for us, and we do not desire that there should be any more.’ An idea occurred to her. She added, ‘I see now that you are a very brave man, and I will tell you that if my cousin is truly in Sussex you must be excessively careful.’
Mr Stubbs looked at her rather more fixedly than before. ‘Oh, I must, must I?’ he said.
‘You have not been warned then?’ cried Eustacie, shocked.
‘No,’ said Mr Stubbs. ‘I ain’t been warned particular.’