Chapter Twenty-Nine
A lfred took the widest stance he could muster, angry and confused. He shouldn’t have left Ada alone here last night.
“You played with my money and signaled him, didn’t you?” Mrs. Dove-Lyon asked.
“Aunt Bessie—” Ada stuttered, her breathing still unsteady. Alfred held her wrist, feeling her pulse.
“Don’t Aunt-Bessie me, child! I may run a gambling hall, but we have a certain code of honor here. I saw you. And when Titan and Hermia refused to meet my eyes, I knew you were betraying me. What I didn’t expect was the double betrayal from you both.”
She turned and walked slowly to the small table in front of the fireplace. Alfred knew she walked without a cane, but her posture clearly showed that she had a deep lingering pain in her bones that only warmth and rest could appease.
“I risked my reputation for you, child. But no good deed goes unpunished, hmm?” She sat down slowly, supporting herself with a hand on either armrest. The chair was lavishly upholstered, and the padding deflated to receive her like a queen on her throne.
The elderly woman sank into the high-backed chair and visibly relaxed. Ah, lumbar pain, Alfred concluded. As soon as she took the pressure off her spine, the Black Widow regained her usual force.
“Alfred, you accused me of bias and agreed to a match in return for the down payment. Ada, you asked for my charity, and I complied out of respect for your father.” She folded her hands in her lap. “Lucy here is a good Jewish girl, and I was sure you’d be a love match with time. I am not sure how your brother figured into the mix, Dr. Stein, but you made a mess of things.” She sagged deeper into her throne, but her voice sounded as if she were seated above them all.
“I can repay you for the money Seth won last night,” Ada ventured. “And more!”
“How?”
“Mr. Silvers owed my father money. That’s why he killed him—so he wouldn’t have to pay. He stole the medicine and sold it as poison, turned the brewers on my father. They killed Father instead of him. And that’s why he seized my trust, or else his daughter wouldn’t have a dowry. He needs her to marry rich to pay his debts.”
“Can you prove it?” Mrs. Dove-Lyon asked patiently.
“She can!” Alfred produced the diaries. “Mr. Silvers tried to forge the gambling ledgers. Over three years’ worth in this one, more in the others. His losses stopped when Ada came to England.”
“You saw the forgeries?” Ada asked.
“I waited for you, and the diaries were sitting open on the desk.” Alfred dropped the books on the coffee table.
“If this is true, there is enough incriminating evidence to seize all of his assets,” Mrs. Dove-Lyon said.
“Except if it comes from a Jew. You’d have to be the one to present the evidence to the authorities. I already got him to testify,” Ada said. “Titan accompanied him to the magistrate.”
“All of his assets can be yours. And I promise not to return.” Alfred added. He glanced over his shoulder where Seth was wrapping his arms around the young woman.
Mrs. Dove-Lyon raised her chin and glanced at them with the strict expression of a grandmother.
“I might have a solution,” Alfred said.
“Boy, there is no solution to this, and I won’t let any of you out of here if my reputation takes harm. I’m the…”
“Most notorious matchmaker in town, I know. Hear me out!”
Alfred let go of Ada’s hand and took the seat by the fire at a right angle from the elderly woman. She wouldn’t want to strain her neck by looking up at them and he wanted to make this as painless as possible for her if his idea was to stand a chance.
“All right, what have you to say?”
“Not only did I challenge you to make Jewish matches, but I will spread the word with my connections—and I have many, as you know. My patients may not pay me in cash—yet—but they pay attention to me.”
Alfred felt Ada nodding behind him when her hair brushed against his cheek, and then her hand came to rest on his shoulder. Seth and his girl—Lucy—had also stepped closer, hanging on to his every word.
“Who’s to say that you didn’t plan for us to meet here? That you didn’t hire Ada as a puffer and planted her at the table where I would play every night?”
“Continue.”
“Well, I assume Miss…”
“Lucy,” Seth said.
“I assume Lucy was masked, as was Seth. Nobody knows that it wasn’t me with her.”
“I have no idea what you are getting after, so make your point fast.”
“The facts of how the matches were made are ambiguous at best and lend themselves to interpretation. I propose that you make of them what you wish, and we have a double wedding.”
“The sooner the better,” Seth smiled and the girl in his arms beamed. Ada’s other hand came to his shoulder, the sparkling diamond eclipsing the morning sun.
“Your first Jewish match would start with such a spectacular event that everyone will want to be there!” Ada said.
“A double wedding?” Mrs. Dove-Lyon said cautiously. “A Jewish double-wedding.”
Alfred waited. He heard the blood rushing through his veins. If she was agreeable, his luck might turn after all.
“One condition!” the Black Widow said in her usual stern and unyielding tone. “It’s outdoors and I invite the guests.”
“Fine,” Alfred said.
“Agreed,” Seth joined in. “Our parents will be here any day.”
Ada clasped her hands.
“Not so fast, Ada.” Mrs. Dove-Lyon picked up the cane from the side of her chair and used it to bang on the floor. The door opened and Puck appeared. She cocked her head at Alfred and the others. “You are dismissed. Ada, you stay. I need a word.”