Chapter 6 #6
Gently, Penelope said, “I fear we must ask—the notation beside your name indicates that an indiscretion was the basis for the blackmail. But I confess, I can’t quite see why, with your standing within the ton being so well-established, that the mere rumor of an affair would be so damaging that you felt compelled to pay to keep the matter concealed. ”
Lady Wincombe grimaced, then said, “It’s because of Harriet.
” She sighed. “I had a silly little fling several years ago, and just after that, Harriet’s parents—my dear sister and her husband—were killed in a dreadful carriage accident.
I’d always promised my sister that if anything happened to them, I would look after Harriet and ensure she made a good match.
So Harriet came to live with us, and I took it as my solemnly sworn duty to steer dear Harriet—and she really is a dear, dear girl—through the shoals of society and ensure she makes an excellent match. ”
Still puzzled, Penelope frowned. “And the threat of some illicit affair being made public would impact your ability to do that?”
Lady Wincombe sighed even more deeply. “The gentleman involved is much younger than I am, and at the time, he was recently wed himself, and on top of that, he’s viewed as …
well, rather risqué. At least according to his reputation.
Suffice it to say that the news wouldn’t have sat well with those into whose circles I needed to promote Harriet.
” She paused, then added, “And the sums demanded were never so great I would balk at paying them. All in all, to me, paying was the easier option by far.”
Frowning, she went on, “My bigger concern was how the blackmailer learned of the incident. And it was just one incident. I could never understand it, and as you might imagine, that preyed on my mind.”
“Allow me to guess,” Penelope said. “Your fling occurred at Wyndham Castle.”
Lady Wincombe stared at her. “Yes. How did you…? Oh!” Her face signaled she’d seen the connection. “Monty. He was there, too.” A second later, her frown returned. “But I still don’t see how he learned of it. It’s not as if we weren’t careful. Indeed, both of us were very discreet.”
“It seems quite a few of his secrets were learned there,” Barnaby said. “Exactly how he managed it, we don’t yet know, but there has to be some explanation.”
Stokes stirred and, when Lady Wincombe glanced his way, asked, “You said you left your payment in the cupboard by the croquet green?”
“Yes.” Lady Wincombe went on, “There’s a box inside that holds the balls. I was to leave the envelope under the box.”
Penelope caught Stokes’s gaze. “Even if people have played a game since then, there’s no reason they would have lifted the box.” She glanced at Lady Wincombe. “Your payment should still be there.”
Her ladyship all but bounced to her feet. “Let’s go and see.”
Penelope agreed, and Barnaby and Stokes were very ready to join them.
With Stokes bringing up the rear, as Barnaby walked with Penelope and Lady Wincombe to the door, he observed, “Your payment being where you say it is will also prove where you were when Monty Underhill was killed.”
The comment only added to Lady Wincombe’s eagerness, and she led the way out of the house, onto the terrace, down onto the lawn, and across to the croquet green, tucked behind a thick row of tall shrubs and effectively screened from the house.
Lady Wincombe led them directly to a green-painted wooden cupboard perched on short legs at one end of the green. She opened the door, looked inside, then stood back and pointed at the cupboard’s base. “That’s the box. The envelope should be beneath it.”
The investigators crowded around, and after they’d taken note of the simple wooden box in which the wooden balls were piled, Barnaby reached inside and lifted the box a few inches, and Penelope slipped her fingers underneath and drew out a simple envelope.
“There!” Lady Wincombe beamed.
“It’s still full.” Penelope handed the packet to Lady Wincombe. “Just to be sure, if you would check that the money’s all there?”
Her ladyship opened the envelope and peered inside, then flicked through the contents with her fingertips. “Yes. It’s all here.” She looked at Stokes and Barnaby. “Thirty pounds.”
“Good.” Stokes looked around, and Penelope and Barnaby did as well. Stokes said, “You mentioned seeing Kilpatrick. Where was he?”
Lady Wincombe walked along beside the green on the route she would have taken on her way back to the house. She stopped halfway along the green and pointed. “There. That section of the field visible through the gap in the trees. That’s where he was, walking toward the Grange.”
Along with Barnaby and Stokes, Penelope took note of the position.
It was still a good distance from the Grange; it would have taken even Kilpatrick, with his long strides, several minutes to reach the front of the house.
And judging by the timing of everything else, Monty had to have been dead by the time Lady Wincombe left her money in the designated spot.
“Thank you,” Stokes said. “We have no further questions for you.”
Penelope nodded at the envelope in Lady Wincombe’s hand. “It’s over now. You can forget your indiscretion. It will no longer be any threat to you in helping your niece make the match you and her mother would want for her.”
Lady Wincombe met Penelope’s gaze and smiled. “Thank you.” She nodded to Stokes and Barnaby. “And thank you, as well.” As they all turned toward the house, her ladyship sighed. “You have no idea how good it feels to finally be free of that weight.”