Chapter Thirty-Four
N athaniel had very little rest that night. Not because of melancholia or nightmares; he was simply too keyed up to sleep. He gave up in the early hours of the morning, turned up his lamp, and picked up a book. After an hour of reading, he put down the book, donned his robe, and walked to his bedchamber window. Outside, the sky displayed pink ribbons over the buildings surrounding his home, announcing the sunrise.
He imagined his valet might be awake but was loathe to ring for him so early. A chambermaid entered silently to light a fire and nearly fell into the hearth when she noticed him sitting quietly on a nearby chair.
“I’m ever so sorry, my lord.”
“Good morning.”
The maid hurried away, and soon after, his valet made an appearance.
“You’re up early, my lord.”
“I have a busy day.”
Once Nathaniel was dressed, his valet left the bedchamber to fetch a breakfast tray. His disguise, black livery, would be donned at Cecil’s abode. He ate breakfast as the sun rose past the horizon before ordering his town coach.
The viscount’s elderly butler, Dawkins, conducted Nathaniel to the drawing room at number four Curzon Street, where he found Cecil sipping a cup of coffee, looking as calm as the streets of Town so early in the morning.
“Your livery is just there.” Cecil nodded to a pile of clothing on a stuffed chair. He also wore black.
“I’ll go upstairs.” When Nathaniel had changed, he came back downstairs, pleasantly surprised at the excellent fit of the clothing.
“I thought you were the same size as Dawkins.” Cecil raised his cup. “Coffee? Tea?”
He shook his head. “Bones?”
“He awaits us in the mews.” Cecil put down his coffee cup and looked at his pocket watch. “We’re on schedule. Do you think the ladies will be ready to depart?”
“I do. Shall we go?”
Bones was seated on the box of the carriage. He would drive the coach until they reached the edge of the Woolwich docks.
“Bones.” He nodded to the man.
“My lord.”
When they arrived at Lord Essex’s townhouse in Hanover Square, Bones vaulted from the box and went inside. A few moments later, he could see from the window of the coach Lady Edith, and someone he supposed was Lady Louisa, following Bones from the house.
Once the ladies were settled across from him and Cecil, the coach rolled forward.
“Lady Louisa?” he squinted at the young woman.
The lady’s hair was stuffed beneath a mob cap and she wore a maid’s dress that was well-worn but clean. Her black shoes were serviceable, just.
“My lord?” The girl looked up at him, her eyes welling with tears. “My name is Mary Wilson, sibling of Seaman Thomas Wilson. His wife is with child, and I must find my brother.”
He grinned and raised a staying hand. “You’ve convinced me.” He looked at her companion. “Good morning.”
Edith smiled shyly, and he returned her smile, feeling his heart thumping in his chest. “Good morning. We have news. Our veterans are most definitely on the Ceres .”
* * * * *
E dith recounted her meeting with Mrs. Stafford the day before.
“Mrs. Stafford!” Edith had glanced at Louisa, who looked as surprised as she was.
The woman remained seated. She looked tired and a bit bedraggled. “My real name is Mrs. Bailey. Emma Bailey. My husband was indeed a veteran, but little else you know about me is the truth.”
Edith hurried forward to stand in front of the desk. “Where have you been?”
“Hiding.” Mrs. Bailey took a sip from a teacup at her elbow and grimaced. “That young man did his best to make a cup of tea. I’ve been going from place to place in London, trying to stay one step ahead of the RA.”
Louisa sat on a nearby hard-backed chair and asked, “Why did you lie about who you are and where you lived?”
“I thought the RA merely wanted to damage Lord Harbury and Lord Ashford’s reputations. James Fleet recognized me, you see. Well, not me, but my wedding ring. He was there with my husband at the port in Scotland when my husband bought the ring.” She shuddered. “Once I told my manager that Fleet recognized me, they snatched him. The other two men were decoys. My manager said he seized the veteran who was to work for Lord Sidmouth to distract Lord Wycliffe.”
She frowned. “And the tainted food?”
“My manager wanted the camphor to be given only to Lord Harbury. I told the maid to put it in the green beans but only gave her half the dose. She was killed because I didn’t give her the full amount of camphor. By sparing Lord Harbury- I didn’t think they would kill the maid. After the murder, I knew I had to disappear.”
“Lord Harbury was supposed to die?” she asked, mouth agape.
“My manager said no, but that much camphor would have killed the baron. I don’t know who my manager is, but he told me he follows orders from the RA as he sees fit.” The woman took another sip of the tea.
Edith sat on the remaining chair in the room, a rickety stool. “Why did you want to help the RA hurt Lord Harbury?”
“My husband died on the HMS St. George . So many men died. Just casualties of war, everyone tells you. My manager said the baron didn’t care about those men. He came home and lived as he had before the wars, wealthy and privileged.” She paused to release a shaky breath. “Then I saw that Lord Harbury truly cares about the veterans and wants to help them and their families. By then, I didn’t know how to get myself out of the mess I’d made.”
Edith let out a shaky breath. “You should have told Lord Harbury. He and Lord Ashford will protect you.”
Mrs. Bailey shook her head sadly. “No one can protect me, my lady. All I can do now is help you find the missing men. They’re in Woolwich, my lady. On a prison hulk.”
“The Ceres ?” Edith asked excitedly.
“Yes, that’s the ship. How did you know?”
She glanced at Louisa. “We’ve been investigating what could have happened to those men. A prison hulk was our last chance to find them.”
“And Lord Harbury and Lord Wycliffe will rescue the men?” She paused. "I was relieved Lord Ashford departed for the country, as Lady Charlotte is with child. You have to believe that I had nothing to do with the RA kidnapping a man with a babe on the way.”
“I believe you. If you come with us now, we will get you to safety.” She didn’t know what that would mean, but Lord Wycliffe and Lord Harbury could surely protect the woman.
Mrs. Bailey stood up from behind the desk and walked across the room to the door that led out to the alley behind the library.
“I can’t go with you, my lady. It might put you in danger. Although I don’t know the name of my manager, I know his face. His voice. If he finds me now, I don’t know what he might do.”
“Do you know what happened to Lord Harbury at St. Mary’s churchyard?” she asked the woman.
Mrs. Bailey nodded. “That’s where my manager first kept the veterans. They were tied up and gagged. When we were moving the men, Lord Harbury came along, and the manager struck him over the head. I shifted the baron to shelter before we left the churchyard.”
Crossing her arms across her chest, Louisa replied irritably, “Thank goodness for that!”
“I am so sorry for my part in all of this. The RA wanted the registry office to close. I was supposed to uncover some dastardly deeds in the books or abuse of the veterans. Or make such things up. If Fleet hadn’t recognized me, I’m not sure what else the RA may have done in their efforts to close the registry.”
“What can you tell me about your manager?” Edith asked.
“His hair is coal black, and he’s a big man. Handsome in a rough sort of way. He was trying to disguise his voice, but I think he’s from Yorkshire. And he says, ‘Nar then’ quite a lot.”
She’d never heard the phrase. “Is there anything else you can tell us?”
“That’s all I can recall, my lady. I do hope you find those men and help them. I must go before they find me. Goodbye.” Mrs. Bailey opened the door and stepped out into the alley, quickly closing the door behind her.
Edith jumped up and moved to the door. Opening it, she looked out, but the chilly, dirty alley was empty.
“We shouldn’t go after her,” Louisa said. “We might put her and ourselves in greater danger.”
When Edith finished telling her tale, the baron released a low whistle. “I know who the manager is. He gave himself away with his words, and I’m sad to say I trusted the wrong man.”
“Nathaniel?” Cecil asked quietly.
Lord Harbury replied gravely, “Mrs. Stafford’s manager is a Bow Street Runner: Black Jack Henley.”
* * * * *
N athaniel didn’t want to believe it, but the evidence pointed to Black Jack being behind the abduction of the veterans. Jack was working with the RA and against him . When they were finished in Woolwich, he would search out the man he’d thought was a friend. Right now, he had to focus on getting on the Ceres and keeping Lady Edith safe.
“I can deal with Black Jack later.” He added, “We have other matters to attend to.”
They spent the next hour discussing everyone’s roles when they reached Woolwich. Soon after, the coach came to a halt.
There was a knock at the carriage door, and he heard Bones say, “We’re at the edge of the docks.”
Cecil opened the carriage door and stepped out of the coach.
Nathaniel hesitated a moment, looking at Edith.
“We will be all right.” She smiled softly. “You’ll be with us.”
He winked in reply and exited the carriage.
“I’ve been to these berths before, my lord.” Bones pointed to a ship on his left further up the dock. “There she is, the Ceres .”
Nathaniel took up a seat on the coach box and took the leads. Cecil was seated beside him while Bones stood on the step at the rear of the coach.
He flicked the leads, and the horses moved forward. The day was cloudy, the sky darkening as if a storm was coming.
“This is close enough,” Cecil said in a low voice after they’d driven several yards. “I’ll stay with the coach as we discussed.”
Nathaniel vaulted down from the high seat as Bones opened the carriage door and assisted Lady Edith and Lady Louisa to alight.
“That gangplank to the left is for the Ceres ,” he whispered to Lady Edith. “I will be right behind you.”
The lady stepped forward, Louisa walking a step behind and to the side. They approached the gangway of the Ceres , where two burly men stood guard.
“You must be lost, my lady,” one of the men said in a steely voice. “This ship is a prison hulk, not a pleasure vessel.”
“I am well aware of that,” Edith replied, her chin in the air. “Mr. Campbell is an acquaintance of my family’s. I am here with his blessing.”
Louisa let out a sob. “My lady, they’re not going to help us! What will I do?!”
“It’s all right, Mary. These men will help us unless they wish to incur the wrath of Mr. Campbell and my father, the Earl of Essex.” She stood up straighter and looked down her beautiful nose at the two men who looked alarmed by Louisa’s outburst. “This young woman is my maid, the gentleman, my coachman.”
“What help do you need, my lady?” one of the guards asked, rubbing his hands together awkwardly.
“My maid’s brother is missing. There are rumors in London that he is on this ship.” She handed the guard a newspaper clipping. “Seaman Thomas Wilson is his name. He is not a criminal and is here against his will.”
Louisa began to weep openly. And loudly. “His wife is with child,” she wailed.
“Can you read this?” The guard handed the clipping to the other man.
“It says the man has disappeared, and he’s a veteran. There are three hundred men on this ship. How would we find him if he is aboard, my lady?”
Louisa replied brokenly, “He has a birthmark on his forehead. It is very faint and shaped like an oar.”
“I’ve seen that birthmark!” The first guard nodded several times. “The man has been ill and sleeps a lot. There was talk of his being moved to the hospital ship if he didn’t get better.”
“Oh, my heavens!” Louisa stumbled, and Nathaniel took her arm to steady her. She sniffled as she said, “Please, sirs. Please take me to my brother.”
The first man replied, “Come with me. I’ll warn you, it’s none too fresh smelling on board. You can wait in the common room while I find your brother, miss.”