Chapter 34 #2
‘I am sure we will be delighted to address any queries you have,’ she said, wishing he would get to the point.
‘I will need to speak to all parties present over the days between when the Duke of Hartford,’ he cleared his throat again. ‘Between when the duke was taken ill, and when he died.’ Thea saw Martha’s eyebrows raise.
‘You would, of course, be quite welcome constable,’ she said. ‘Although it will take you some time and a little travel. Our staff here in the country numbers above eighty and the dinner party guests from the night of the incident have now returned to their own homes.’
‘Of course,’ he said. ‘For now, I wonder if we could start with the people here with whom the duke had direct contact with post- the injury, or who had access to him on the night he was injured.’
Thea was starting to get a little suspicious.
‘That would be our pleasure I am sure,’ she said as sweetly as she could manage.
‘Sanders will collect Miss Bellegarde, and then I think this is all of us. Apart from the children, I assume you do not wish to speak to them?’ The constable indicated that he did not so she nodded to Sanders, who bowed and left.
There was a silence as the constable shuffled his feet.
‘Perhaps if you told us what you were here for, constable,’ said Martha, keeping her hands clasped at her front, ‘we would be able to help you more swiftly and allow you to be on your way?’
‘Ah, yes,’ said the constable. He fished a handkerchief from his pocket and mopped his brow, then glanced sideways at Doctor Herbert.
‘To put it plainly, Your Grace, Lady Foxmore, and the rest of the gathering,’ said Doctor Herbert with none of the respect his words would be expected to convey.
‘There has been an accusation of foul play in the case of the death of the duke, and the constable is here to investigate whether charges need to be pressed.’
Thea’s eyes widened, and she saw similar reactions throughout the room.
‘Foul play?’ she asked, her eyes on Herbert.
‘Foul play,’ confirmed Herbert, but he did not elaborate.
‘You mean?’ she addressed the constable this time but didn’t dare finish the sentence.
‘In the happenings to do directly with the expiration of the duke,’ said the constable, stretching his neck slightly as if his collar were too tight.
‘Murder,’ said Doctor Herbert. ‘To put it plainly. There is reason to believe that the duke’s death may have been hastened by someone in the property.’
‘How can you suggest such a thing?’ asked Mrs Phibbs, clearly furious. ‘The man was about to murder the duchess himself. He had to be stopped.’
‘And yet he did not die by natural causes, did he?’ asked Doctor Herbert, smugly.
Thea was about to react, when Mrs Jenkins stepped forward and held out her hands. ‘Well, I think this must be very clear. It was me what done it. Clap me in irons or whatever it is you do these days. I hit him with a shovel, and I would do it again tomorrow.’
‘No,’ said Thea, stepping in front of Mrs Jenkins and her outstretched arms. ‘Constable, we have been assured that it was not the blow of the shovel that ultimately killed the duke.’
‘The medical records seem to agree,’ said the constable, glancing again at Doctor Herbert.
‘Indeed,’ said the doctor. ‘From the information I have been able to glean from Doctor Cope, the manner of death seems to be far more consistent with poisoning.’
‘Poisoning?’ Thea started. ‘Who would have poisoned him? And who would have had the chance?’
‘Well, that is the question, is it not,’ said Doctor Herbert in his infuriating monotone.
‘Perhaps we should consider whom stood to lose the most if the duke survived, and whom stood to gain the most if he did not?’ He looked around himself pointedly, at the mouldings and gilt work of the parlour, and then back at Thea.
In addition to being accused of murder, she couldn’t help thinking that she hated it when people used the word whom to make themselves sound clever – especially when it was grammatically incorrect.
‘You think I poisoned my husband?’ she asked, incredulous, almost disappointed that it hadn’t occurred to her when she had considered hastening his demise. ‘With what?’
‘The poison seems to be opiate in nature,’ said Doctor Herbert, presumably aiming to unbalance her. ‘Although there are a few irregularities.’
‘Laudanum?’ said Thea, unperturbed. ‘He was taking it for his pains, and I never administered it.’
‘I am afraid we will have to ascertain that through questioning, Your Grace,’ said the constable uncomfortably. ‘There is some evidence.’
‘What evidence?’ asked Thea, wondering if the thought had, in fact, occurred to anyone else in the room.
‘Doctor Cope’s testimony suggests that the poison was subtly administered. It may have gone unnoticed if not for the tip off from an inside member of the household.’
Thea was blindsided. That couldn’t be true, could it? Who within her staff would suspect foul play and try to pin a crime on innocent members of the household?
‘Who?’ she asked. Nobody moved.
‘If you are going to come here with such serious accusations,’ said Martha in a particularly measured tone, ‘I should think that you would find it necessary to make your intelligence plain. Accusations to a duchess and those close to her can be particularly serious, if they turn out to be unfounded.’
Doctor Herbert looked sideways. At the butler.
‘Indeed,’ said Mr Fletcher. ‘I have made the suggestion to the constable.’
‘Fletcher?!’ said Thea, astonished. ‘Why?’
‘Someone must be mistaken,’ said Martha, by now clearly unable to hold her tongue.
‘There is no mistake, My Lady,’ said Fletcher, and the whole room turned to him. ‘I am quite clear in my assertion and that assertion is similarly founded by Doctor Cope.’ Fletcher was almost always emotionless unless he was around the children, but now there seemed to be no warmth at all.
‘Why would you suggest that,’ asked Thea, her eyes boring into him. She was shocked to her core but did not let it show.
‘The situation in this house was becoming untenable,’ he said, ‘for everyone concerned. The duke’s legacy needed to be defended.’
‘I think we must ask you to be clearer than that, Mr Fletcher,’ said Martha quietly. The constable shuffled his feet and Doctor Herbert’s face remained expressionless.
‘I believe that there are people within this house who stood to gain a great deal on the death of the duke,’ said Fletcher, staring straight ahead. ‘Certainly financially, however, I do not believe that that was the primary motive.’
‘And what would that be?’ asked Thea, calmly.
Fletcher hesitated only for a second. ‘The freedom to pursue an entirely unnatural relationship.’ Now he looked between Thea and Martha. ‘I believe you are aware of what I speak,’ he said.
Thea took a breath to steady herself. ‘Fletcher, I do hope you do not mean–’
‘I do mean it,’ he said quickly. ‘I have had to witness the whole, sordid thing for so many years. I am aware that this kind of activity is not uncommon between unmarried women, but it will not do once a man is involved. It is not right to cuckold a man in his own house. There are those who say it is not possible for women to do so between themselves but clearly whatever relations you have were damaging to the duke.’
Thea pushed aside the shame she felt in her business being aired in front of the whole room. ‘But it is acceptable for him to take a mistress under the same roof?’ Fletcher looked away.
‘Men have different needs,’ said Doctor Herbert. ‘It is important that they are met. Women are not the same.’ Only the constable was sweating profusely.
There was a knock at the door and Sanders stepped through it. ‘Miss Bellegarde, Your Grace.’
‘Thank you, Sanders,’ she said.
Miss Bellegarde entered and stood inside the door with her hands on her hips. ’Well, isn’t it tense in here,’ she said, the lightness of her tone jarring with what had gone before.
‘Miss Bellegarde, there has been a potentially serious…’ started Fletcher, but she cut him off.
‘Sanders caught me up on the way here,’ she said, moving through the room to take her place in the awkward circle.
‘I’m surprised with you in attendance, Doctor Herbert,’ she said, addressing him directly.
‘You was always so buoyant in London.’ Her eyes gave the briefest of flickers to Thea, who understood.
‘Your accusations have no possible foundation,’ said Thea, certain the men could have no proof. This seemed to give Fletcher pause, but Doctor Herbert went on.
‘I became aware of the tendencies of the gardener shortly before she left my employ,’ added Doctor Herbert.
‘It was untenable to have such perverse individuals within my staff and yet you singularly sought her out and took her on, Your Grace. They do say that they flock together. When Mr Fletcher came to me, the whole thing clicked into place.’
‘You weren’t aware,’ said Frankie, piping up from where she stood near the corner of the room. ‘You had a letter saying that I kissed a man, and you sacked me for it.’
‘I had a letter saying that you were dressed as a man and kissed another woman, dressed as a man,’ said Doctor Herbert, almost spitting at her. ‘I can barely think of such abhorrent behaviour.’
Thea’s mind worked to catch up. That wasn’t what Frankie had told her, but then she wouldn’t have been able to read the letter herself.
So how would anyone know that the person Frankie kissed was a woman?
Who else had been there that night? She looked to Martha.
She had been there and had been furious.
Surely she couldn’t have...? But Martha shook her head, her thoughts clearly taking the same path. What could have happened?
‘You were having the duchess followed, weren’t you?’ Thea looked to Mrs Phibbs who had stepped forward as she spoke. Then she walked right up to Mr Fletcher, who did not back away. ‘That boy who came to the house – you were having her followed when she was out… learning.’