Chapter 12 #2
“Any, and not just one. More than the polite number, fewer than the number that will raise Floyd’s shackles.”
“Too late. They’re already raised.”
I searched for my cousin and found him still talking to Mr. Mathers. They seemed in deep conversation, although Floyd’s stern gaze kept flicking to me. I suspected he couldn’t get away or he would have marched over and urged me to stop talking to Harry alone.
“Before Floyd boils over in silent rage,” I said to Harry, “we should discuss a few things.”
“First things first.” He took the little pencil tied to my dance card with a ribbon and wrote his name against three dances, one after the other, halfway down the list. “Now, you were saying?”
I briefly told him about the journalist and police presence at the hotel, the canceled dinner, and my encounters with both Mr. Arkwright and Mr. Watson.
The letter from Bradbury to Watson, telling him to rob the house in which we stood if he wanted to learn about Blackheart’s treasure, was of particular interest.
“I’ll ask Archie if he knows,” he said with a nod at Mr. Mathers.
“I can do it when I dance with him.”
He indicated my card. “You haven’t got any dances with him. What if he doesn’t ask you?”
“He will.”
Harry’s gaze narrowed, so I changed the subject before he asked me how many dances would be required for me to get answers from Mr. Mathers.
“What does Blackheart’s book say is in the treasure?” I asked. “What exactly is it comprised of?”
“Arkwright uses several clichés to describe it—untold riches, wealth beyond imagining—but he doesn’t list the items, if that’s what you mean.”
“What do you think it is?”
“Blackheart claims he accumulated it over many years. Considering the Spanish colonies were busy trading hubs at the time, it’s likely he acquired gold and silver coins, and gold artifacts. That’s what they were famous for, rather than jewels. Why do you ask?”
“Have you concluded whether it’s real or not?”
“I’m leaning toward not, but I want to finish the book before deciding.” He suddenly lowered his voice. “Archie and Floyd are coming. I’ll say a few words then go in search of Archie’s bedchamber to measure his shoes.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Harry. It’s too risky.”
“Don’t worry. I have a plan.” He smiled at the newcomers and greeted Floyd. “I hope you don’t mind me securing your cousin for a dance later, Bainbridge.”
Floyd slapped his hands together at his back and rocked on his heels. “And if I did mind?”
“It wouldn’t matter,” I told him. “I may dance with whomever I wish. There are so few partners to be had tonight, I think. Most of the gentlemen don’t look particularly interested in dancing or conversing with young women.”
Indeed, the older gentlemen had already gathered into smaller clusters to discuss whatever it was they considered important matters.
The young women in need of dance partners stood in their own groups.
Some looked bored already, while others held a glimmer of hope that one of the three eligible bachelors standing with me would ask them to dance.
Mr. Mathers took my hint and wrote his name beside a Viennese waltz on my card. “Three dances, Harry. And all French waltzes, I see.”
Floyd’s lips flattened. I worried he would say something to Harry after Mr. Mathers departed, but Harry slipped away before Floyd got the chance.
I watched as Mr. Mathers asked Flossy to dance with him. She looked pleased to have been singled out ahead of her friends and smiled as he led her onto the dance floor.
“Three dances, Cleo?” Floyd growled.
“And all waltzes,” I added. “Slow French ones, no less.” It was churlish of me, but Floyd was going to spoil my evening if he continued with his overbearing attitude. “You told me not to flirt with my suspect. You said nothing about Harry.”
“I didn’t know he would be here! I didn’t expect him to be invited to a ball at Stoneleigh House.”
“Careful,” I said tartly. “Your snobbery is showing again.”
“It’s not snobbery. I didn’t expect to see him here because I didn’t know he was a friend of Mathers, who is your suspect, might I point out. What does that say about Armitage, hmm?”
“That he’s still better at choosing his friends than you are.”
He humphed.
I took his arm and turned him to face the group of girls Flossy had been chatting to. “Now, are you going to flirt with those ladies or are you going to join the older men and discuss gout and hair tonics? Or you could stay with me and discuss books and museums.”
He followed my gaze to the women, then looked toward Flossy and Mathers, smiling as they danced a lively polka. “Make sure she doesn’t fall in love with him.”
“In one evening?”
“This is Flossy we’re talking about, Cleo.”
“Good point. All right. I’ll make sure she doesn’t fall in love with my suspect if you go and enjoy yourself.” I gave him a little shove toward the women.
He stood his ground. “You be careful, too, Cleo. He may be Armitage’s friend, and he may come from an excellent family, but there’s something not quite right about Mathers. Something that doesn’t fit, if you understand me.”
I didn’t reply, but I tended to agree with him.
Archie Mathers baffled me, too. He was good company, yet rather intense, wealthy yet poor, polite yet rude to Mrs. Jeffry when she told him Mr. Bradbury wasn’t at home last Sunday.
Was he merely a multifaceted man who wore his heart on his sleeve?
Or did a sinister nature lurk beneath the cultured facade?
Once the dance came to an end, Mr. Mathers led Flossy back to her friends then he sought me out. “Have you seen Harry?” he asked, peering around the ballroom.
“He was over there with some other fellows a few moments ago.” I waved in the general direction of a group of gentlemen.
“I didn’t see him. Where has he gone?”
“Never mind Harry,” I said brightly. “I believe this is our dance.”
“The music hasn’t started up again.”
With perfect timing, the ensemble played a few notes to signal the next dance was about to begin. “Shall we?”
He led me onto the floor, all the while searching for Harry.
I’d have to employ all my flirting skills to distract him.
Unfortunately, he showed little interest in the novels I’d read recently, the latest plays I’d seen, or the new winter exhibition at the Royal Academy.
He did show a spark of curiosity when I mentioned taking my first ride on the Central London Railway line that had opened a few months ago.
“Ah, yes, the Twopenny Tube,” he said, calling the line by its nickname. “A good, cheap service where it’s needed. It’s about time this government did something for the people instead of just lining their own pockets.”
Politics…ugh. Not my cup of tea at all.
I changed the subject once again to a topic we both had in common. “I’m so glad you and Harry have reconnected, although it’s a shame it’s not under happier circumstances.”
“I’m glad, too,” he said. “He’s a good man. I know he’s not what the Bainbridges would want for you, Miss Fox, but don’t let them stand in your way.”
I followed his gaze to Floyd, writing his name on the dance card of one young lady as another three hovered nearby. “Harry and I are not a couple.”
“Ah. I see how it is, and I understand perfectly. Navigating family expectations is fraught with danger. I shan’t say a word to your cousins.”
Thanking him for his discretion would be an admission that Harry and I were together, so I simply smiled and steered the conversation in another direction again. “He told me all about your evenings out,” I lied. “It sounds like you two got up to quite a bit of mischief.”
He flashed a grin. “Are you fishing for gossip, Miss Fox?”
“Not at all.” If I got answers, then so be it. I didn’t expect them. I’d mentioned it to distract him from searching for Harry. It seemed to have worked. He was now entirely focused on me. “But if you could give me a hint, perhaps…?”
“Let me see,” he said in mock seriousness. “What’s something I could tell the sweetheart of my friend that won’t shock her or get him into trouble?”
“If it helps, there’s very little that would fit into both categories. For example, I once met a widow he knew well from when she stayed at the Mayfair.”
From the widening of his eyes, it was clear he understood my vague reference to one of Harry’s former lovers whom we’d encountered during an investigation.
“I see. In that case, you’re right. You do know some interesting things about him already.
I’m not sure I can add much. Oh, wait, I’ve just thought of something.
Did you know he likes to sing when he’s had too much to drink? ”
“I didn’t. Is he a good singer?”
“No. At least, not when he’s had too much to drink, stands on a table, and shouts the lyrics to ‘The Coster’s Serenade’ in a Cockney accent complete with suggestive winks at the appropriate moments.”
I burst into unladylike laughter that earned me a few stares from the dancers nearest us. “Where did he perform that?”
“A few pubs here and there. None too close to the Mayfair Hotel or frequented by its guests. The crowd was rather more working class.” From his wistful smile, it seemed he’d enjoyed frequenting such places with Harry.
“I should have answered his letter when I received it. I should never have let this estrangement happen. It’s entirely my fault. ”
I squeezed his hand but offered no words of comfort. If he wasn’t a suspect, a response would have come easier to me. I didn’t want to say something that sounded false, so I said nothing at all.
Mr. Mathers twirled me around as the music came to an end. I was about to ask him to dance with me again to give Harry more time to enact his plan, but he suddenly emerged through the crowd. Mr. Mathers blew out a deep breath when he saw him, then escorted me off the dance floor.
“What have you been up to?” Mr. Mathers asked, all innocence.
“I was talking to some chaps back there,” Harry said with a vague nod toward a group of gentlemen. “I think the countess wants to speak to you, Archie.”
Mr. Mathers bowed to me. “I trust you’ll keep the little secret I imparted to you, Miss Fox?”
I smiled. “It’s safe with me. I’ll keep it and cherish it.”
He returned my smile then left to join the countess, who seemed keen to introduce him to the young woman with her.
“What secret?” Harry asked me.
“I can’t tell you.”
“Does it have anything to do with the murder?”
“Not the murder of Mr. Bradbury, just the murder of a bawdy music hall song.”
One corner of Harry’s mouth lifted with his smirk. “Anything else?”
“Such as…?”
He shrugged. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Before I could dig a little deeper, he said, “I know which room is his.”
“That was fast. Did you measure his shoes?”
“I haven’t been inside yet. I bribed one of the footmen to tell me which room belonged to Archie. I assured him I just wanted to play a prank on an old friend. He gave me directions but I returned here.”
“To collect me?”
“To make an appearance before disappearing again. You’re not coming with me, Cleo.”
“Of course, I am.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “If we’re caught in a bedchamber together, it’ll mean social disgrace for you and embarrassment for your family.”
“There won’t be any danger for me. I’ll remain in the corridor and keep watch while you measure his shoes. If I’m caught, I’ll say I got lost looking for the necessary. Let’s go now while he’s busy.”
I set off before Harry could protest. Once out of the ballroom, he led the way up the stairs, then down a long corridor in the east wing. He counted doors until he reached the one he wanted. Finding it unlocked, he opened it.
“Knock lightly if anyone comes,” he said, glancing back along the corridor. “I don’t like this.”
“It’ll be all right, Harry. You won’t be but a moment, and I’ll divert the attention of any passing staff. Not that I think any will come here. They’re all too busy downstairs.”
I was right on both counts. Harry was no more than two minutes, and no staff came near us.
Mr. Mathers, however, did. “Miss Fox?” he called from the end of the corridor. “It is you.”
Unfortunately, Harry emerged from the bedchamber at that very moment. He swore under his breath when he saw Mr. Mathers approaching at a trot.
“Harry? You’re here, too?”
“I didn’t get a chance to knock,” I whispered to Harry.
“Don’t worry. I have a plan. He won’t suspect anything.
” I gave Mr. Mathers an awkward little wave and bit my lower lip.
I wished I could make my cheeks turn pink on cue, but alas that was beyond my acting abilities.
“We just wanted to be alone, Mr. Mathers. Please don’t tell my family. ”
Behind me, Harry groaned.