Chapter 8
Eight
I had learned the name of Sir Thomas’s friend from university days in my conversation with Lady Ellsworth.
Edward Baldwin was the son of a well-known merchant and importer of coffee. He had stepped into the family business after university.
I had sent round a message first thing to the Baldwin offices at Great Winchester Street near the exchange in the financial district. In that message, I explained that Lady Ellsworth had contacted me regarding her grandson’s attack and murder.
It was always possible that he was aware of Sir Ellsworth’s request to cease my inquiries. Yet I was hoping that with his obvious friendship with Thomas—he had seen him that last evening—he would agree to meet with me.
He had also been questioned by the police, yet was able to offer little. They had taken supper together at a local chop house where those in the financial district often dined, then parted for the night. There was no mention in the police report of any difficulty that Thomas mentioned.
I prepared myself that he might well refuse to meet with me, and admittedly was somewhat surprised when I received a telephone call at the office on the Strand saying that he would be more than happy to do so.
We agreed to meet at Simpson’s Tavern, which was very near. It was one of several establishments throughout the financial district where merchants, bankers, and others—most usually men—took dinner during the day or early supper when working late in the evening.
I departed the office. The hound was off on the hunt that obviously included food. I assured Mr. Cavendish that I would be quite safe with the tavern very near the Strand.
Simpson’s was more informal than restaurants such as Rules, where they had dined that last evening, and also very near the Times newspaper offices that I had frequented in the past when looking for information regarding an inquiry case.
I was pleasantly surprised to find another woman there.
It did seem as though we were making some progress as far as that was concerned.
I immediately recognized Edward Baldwin by the red neck scarf he said that he would be wearing.
“I much prefer Brazil when I am there on business. I am most appreciative of the warm climate,” he had explained in that conversation. “It takes some getting used to once again when one returns to London.”
I understood completely, having travelled to foreign places.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me,” I said as I took the chair across from him. “I wasn’t at all certain you would agree.”
“Sir Robert,” he commented, with something in his voice that might have been disapproval as he took his seat once more.
He was tall with light brown hair, a direct blue gaze, and pleasant features.
“I did hear that Lady Eugenia had taken herself off to the country recently,” he commented. “I do hope it is nothing serious. Two losses in a short period of time would be dreadful.”
I assured him that she was quite hearty when we met at Sussex Square, in spite of the fact that she obviously took Thomas’s death quite hard.
“She more or less raised Thomas and Anthony after the loss of Lady Catherine, with their father always off on other matters. My friend was quite fond of her.”
It was a situation I understood well from the way my sister and I were raised.
“The loss is a most difficult situation for her,” I agreed.
He nodded as a woman appeared to take our meal order.
“I usually have the chipped beef sandwich. It is quite good,” he commented.
I ordered the same.
“Lady Ellsworth asked that I make inquiries in the hope of finding the person responsible.”
“I know that she has been most disappointed that no one has been made to account for what happened.”
“You dined with her grandson that night.”
He took a drink of the pale ale the waitress had brought.
“Yes, at Rules. I have gone back over it a dozen times, thinking that if we had remained longer, or if I had accompanied him for a game of cards or cribbage. He might be alive today. Regret is a painful thing, wouldn’t you say Lady Forsythe?”
“Very much so,” I replied as our food arrived.
“Tell me about that evening,” I said as I took a first bite of the sandwich. “Was there anything out of the ordinary? Did he seem distracted by something or speak of a problem?”
Sir Thomas and Edward Baldwin had met regularly for years after university, and whenever Mr. Baldwin returned to London after seeing to the family coffee business abroad.
“We usually met at Rules, as we did that last evening. There didn’t seem to be anything unusual in our conversation that night. If I had known it would be our last...”
He took a long drink of the pale ale that a sign over the bar promoted as the finest in London. He eventually set his glass back on the table, the memory obviously painful for him.
“You must forgive me, Lady Forsythe.”
“Not necessary,” I replied. “Some losses are very difficult, particularly those that seem so senseless.”
There was a faint, sad smile.
“I have several acquaintances through family and business connections, yet not one that I valued as highly as my friendship with Thomas. I suppose that is the way of young men who share a common experience like university and the usual things they experience there, including some rather colorful memories.”
I listened attentively. I did understand. In my case, my sister was also my very good friend in spite of our very different personalities. We had been through a great deal together, including some colorful memories.
“The usual things one hears of?” I suggested. I did hope that he would share some of those. It would help me understand who Thomas Ellsworth was and perhaps provide some insight into my inquiries as well.
“The remarkable part is how different we were,” he began. “Thomas was from the upper class, title, and all that, while my family are merchants. Still, we got on like fellow conspirators and adventurers.”
“Adventurers?” Something I had been called in the past.
“It was the club, of course, that brought it all about. Thomas was a true scholar. It seemed only natural that he chose to pursue the law. He had that brooding, quiet nature.
“Still, it was he who came up with the scheme after there were...shall we say, the usual harassments that go on at university.”
I had chosen wine to have with my sandwich and took a sip as I listened, quite fascinated.
“A club?”
He nodded. “He always had his nose in a book. He had a copy of the Three Musketeers by Dumas. In French, no less, and had read it dozens of times. After a particularly brutal incident where another friend was injured, a classmate, Thomas suggested that we form a club based on the Three Musketeers.”
I had read the book as well.
“We took their names when we decided to set out to right a particular wrong. Of course, we didn’t brandish weapons, but we did leave a certain calling card after embarking on one of our adventures, written on a piece of stationary, or carved into a wooden table in the room of one of our adversaries. ”
It did seem that I had missed a great deal not attending university, still I had my own escapades climbing out of second-story windows, taking myself off into the streets of Paris when I was supposed to be at a private girl’s school, and then that trip to a Greek island after I escaped the tour I was traveling with...
“You took their names,” I commented, fascinated by the story.
“Of course. Thomas was Athos, our friend Jasper was Porthos...”
“And you were Aramis,” I suggested.
“That one seemed to fit my temperament.”
It was most interesting and provided a particularly clear insight into who Thomas was.
“We did have a tendency to wreak havoc on fellow students who had been particularly mean-spirited. There was the incident with the dead rat. That was undoubtedly a bit over the top. Still, it was most entertaining when it was discovered.
“There was another incident that very nearly resulted in the three of us being asked to leave. The other party in question took particular pleasure in ridiculing Jasper about his...shall we say, lack of experience of the manly sort. Even to accusing him...” he paused.
“It’s quite all right,” I assured him. “I am not easily embarrassed.”
“Let us just say that he was accused of preferring men instead of women in that regard. I have no idea if it was true or false, or if he was simply late to the celebration, as they say. He was our friend, one of the Musketeers, and we refused to let the insult continue.
"For Thomas particularly, like Athos, it was a matter of fighting back against injustice of any sort."
He did not elaborate precisely how they had fought back. It was enough that they had.
“It was quite different with a particular young woman Thomas met,” he said then, as he finished his sandwich and drained his glass.
“It was the summer after our first season. He had met Miss Anne Beaufort. They exchanged letters, including during the time that she was sent to school in Paris.” He paused.
“That last year at university, he hoped to ask for her hand.”
“Lady Eugenia didn’t mention that he was married,” I replied, certain she would have said something about it.
“They did not marry.” His manner had changed, the sadness returned in his expression.
“I was abroad with my father for a year after university, learning the coffee business, as it were. I had only the one letter from Thomas that reached me some months afterward in the Caribbean, where we had stopped over.
“It was all so very sad, and it had changed him when I saw him again upon my return. You see, Anne’s father was in investment banking, very influential. An advantageous marriage was expected.”
I was fairly certain what had happened. Edward Baldwin nodded.
“Thomas was abroad on travel for Crofts at the time as their new legal counsel. His father insisted on that over all Thomas's objections. Sir Robert insisted that it was his duty and responsibility to serve Crofts' banking interests."