‘But Giles would,’ Perry said grimly. ‘And he’d have no qualms about it, I imagine.’
‘Who would inherit the baronetcy and estate if Sir Walter was proved illegitimate?’
‘A cousin in Lincolnshire, I think. Peter or Paul or something. I’ve never met that branch of the family,’ Laura said. ‘You know, there’s something niggling at the back of my mind and I can’t quite catch hold of it. Something I can recall my father saying – he was Aunt Lavinia’s brother and he was never terribly enthusiastic about the Swinburns. But I can’t… Oh bother it!’
‘You’ll remember when you aren’t trying to,’ Perry said. ‘I think of all kinds of things at three in the morning.’
‘But even if one of the Swinburns killed Hogget senior because he knew that Sir Walter wasn’t legitimate, how does that relate to murdering British agents for gold?’ Will objected.
‘It might have nothing to do with it,’ Jared said, stretching out his long legs as he sprawled in a deep old armchair. ‘You may have two unrelated murderers in the area – three with the last landlord of the Mermaid – and we’ve stumbled across all of them.’
‘Do you believe that?’ Flynn asked.
‘No.’ He glanced up. ‘Someone is coming.’
‘Mr Redfern, my lord.’ Terence held the door wide for the lawyer.
‘Came early because I thought I needed more briefing than your letter provided, Manners,’ Redfern said. ‘Miss Darke, gentlemen.’
Introductions were made and Redfern settled himself on the sofa beside Laura.
‘We were just about to discuss our plans,’ Perry said. ‘Generally the idea is to get everyone lulled into a sense of security and to get plenty of wine into them. They need to believe this is all about making peace and re-establishing neighbourly goodwill.’
‘And then we try shock tactics?’ Redfern asked.
‘Exactly.’
‘Excellent. Now tell me every last detail.’ The lawyer leaned forward, a black crow spying bodies on the battlefield.
Laura shivered.
‘Where is Theo?’ Laura asked. It was probably the fourth time that evening, and she was trying very hard not to drive everyone to distraction, but the guests were already gathering in the drawing room and he still had not returned.
She was in one of the guest bedchambers with Pitkin, Will, Charlotte Hogget and Lieutenant Morefleet. The men were looking decidedly uncomfortable being in a bedchamber with two females but Laura thought they might as well spend as much time away from their dark look-out point as they could. At least here they could move about and talk.
Flynn, immaculate in valet’s black, was acting as a third footman but actually serving as a messenger between the upstairs and downstairs parties and had just come in to report that everyone, except Theo, was assembled. ‘There’s still no news,’ he said. ‘But Jed Tucker would have let us know if anything serious had occurred.’
If he knows about it, Laura thought. And what would Jed do if it turned out that Theo had, for some bizarre reason, fled with Lady Penelope? She couldn’t imagine the groom writing to explain that. If it was explainable.
‘They are going in to the dining room in a few moments. I’ll tell Edward to announce dinner as soon as you are all settled.’ He held the door open for Laura and grinned. ‘One of the Dragoons has already been hit over the knuckles with a ladle by Mrs Bishop for dipping his finger in the brandy cream.’
They filed into the room overlooking the dining hall and took their places by the window. Then Laura blew out the candle, Flint closed the door and they were in darkness. Below them the space was lit with dozens of candles and the voices of Terence and Edward making the last-minute adjustments to the table settings were clear.
‘The acoustics are good,’ Charlotte murmured.
‘Works both ways, I imagine,’ Pitkin said warningly and they fell silent.
Then the doors were thrown open and Perry came in with Lady Swinburn on his arm followed by a procession of guests. Giles Redfern escorted Mrs Jenner, Charles Swinburn was partnered with the younger Jenner daughter, Jared guided Mrs Gilpin to the foot of the table, Hogget was paired with Mrs Finch and in the absence of Theo, who should have been sitting between them, Gerard Redfern had the elder Miss Jenner on his arm.
Laura tried to gauge the mood and decided that the overtures of peace had paid off. Her uncle’s vanity must have been adequately soothed and Giles had recovered his temper. There were smiles all round and the conversation was clearly flowing easily.
Perry had decided to serve champagne punch in the drawing room and now Terence and Edward were circulating with the wine: if alcohol could achieve it, then the guests were going to be very relaxed indeed.
The door opened, not on Terence with the soup but on Flynn, poker-faced and balancing a small silver salver on his outstretched fingers. He proffered it to Perry. There was a folded note on top.
Laura felt the faint rustle of surprise from her fellow watchers. This was not part of the plan.
Perry took it. ‘Excuse me, this must be urgent.’ He read it, appeared to read it again, then looked around the table. ‘Lord Northam has arrived, very belatedly, after a carriage accident.’ He paused, staring at the note. ‘Returning from Portsmouth, it seems. He is not seriously hurt and would join us if the ladies will not be offended by the sight of his bandaged head.’