Her Saving Grace (23 page)

Damaris turned to her friend. “Oh?”

“Yes, as much as I love you, this wasn’t just a social call. Franklin has been asking around on my behalf and speculation is rife about the constable and the criminal’s deaths.”

Eliza never was very good at remembering names.

“They think there is some kind of conspiracy and most people seem to be pointing the finger at Wallace Sondham. They believe that his increase in fortune must be due to criminal enterprise with them.”

“Is there any actual proof?”

“Not as such. Sondham has been known to enjoy the company of loose women and fighting, both of which the criminal has been linked to. Quite how this links the recent murders to your father, no one seems quite sure, other than that his body was found on Sondham’s land, but the coincidence seems too great to ignore.”

Damaris had no concrete proof linking Smyth and O’Grady to her father’s murder either, but she too thought them connected, although she had not considered Sondham to be a suspect. Nathaniel had gone to interview him and he hadn’t been home
, but that wasn’t necessarily suspicious.

Now she wondered if there might be some truth to the speculation that Wallace Sondham’s wealth came from
criminality. It wasn’t entirely outside of the realm of possibility. Then again, whilst a conspiracy between Smyth, O’Grady and Sondham was more than possible, her father hadn’t been friends with Sondham, or any of the men, so how was he connected to it?

And this was just speculation, idle gossip of the sort she usually abhorred.

If she was going to find the man responsible for her father’s murder, she had to keep a cool head and not convict an innocent man based on rumour.

Still, she would see what she could find out about Wallace Sondham from reputable sources. Perhaps one of his businesses
was a cover for illegal activities, and hadn’t there been speculation about him being involved with smuggling at one time?

Yes, while innocent until proven guilty, Wallace Sondham definitely deserved closer scrutiny.

***

Elizabeth took her leave soon after that
, but Isabelle invited her and her husband to dinner the following week.

As soon as Eliza had left, Damaris felt a cool chill run through her, knowing that she had to go and collect
Ella now. She wasn’t frightened of the child exactly, more of the possibility that she might not be capable of loving the girl.

If she had any thoughts of backing out however
, they were soon dashed.

“The carriage will be ready in ten minutes,” Isabelle said. “Would you like to see the nursery?”

Damaris nodded and dumbly followed Isabelle and Annabelle upstairs.

The nursery was part
of a suite of rooms which housed the children, their nanny and governess, a play room and a school room. In the childrens’ room, the wardrobe and drawers had been filled with clothes that were good quality but simple.

With a family in residence
, these rooms would seem quite warm but unoccupied, they just seemed cold, like a hollow mockery of family life not to mention, an uncomfortable reminder of her own empty nursery back home,

“She can't stay here alone,” Damaris said. “All she’s
known is overcrowding; if we ask her to sleep alone up here, she’ll be frightened.”

“She won’t be alone,”
Annabelle assured her. “A kitchen maid has offered to sleep here with her. She can't look after her all day, so mother and I will do that, but she’s offered to spend the night here.”

“Is she…” She was
n’t sure what she wanted to ask; what made someone a good nanny?

“Trained?” Annabelle finished. “Well no, not exactly. She does have younger siblings though and she won’t be alone. All the servants seem thrilled by the idea of having a young one in residence again. We’ll put an advert in the newspaper obviously but it’s only a weekly publication and it will take time to
sort all the replies, but I’m sure we can manage until then.”

Damaris didn’t care much for training, she had known nothing about children but the moment she held Thomas in her arms, she knew that she would always do her best for him.

“Is she kind?”

Annabelle gave her a surprised look, then broke into a wide smile. “She is. Her name is Gladys and you’re more than welcome to meet her
, if you’d feel happier.”

“No, I trust your judgement.”

“Would you like us to go with you?” Isabelle asked.

“Probably best not to, too many new faces might frighten her. I hope you don’t mind?”

“Of course not. Well, the carriage should be ready by now, so we’ll leave you to it.”

Damaris thanked them and headed downstairs. The carriage was waiting at the front of the house and as the driver opened the door, she was surprised to see a hand reach out from within. Nate was inside, waiting for her and she smiled as he pulled her up.

“You didn’t have to come,” she told him as she took her seat opposite.

“I thought we were a team,”
he answered with an easy smile.

Damaris couldn’t help
returning his smile as the carriage pulled away. She was too nervous to chat very much on the journey, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable.

They arrived at her father’s home to find a scene of total chaos. Lilly was in the street, arguing with a man who was refusing her entrance to the house.
Mr and Mrs Higgins were arguing with a pretty blonde woman, while Emily and Lisa were trying to comfort the crying children, who all seemed to be in the street.

Damaris jumped from the carriage before anyone could help her down and
rushed towards the scene, Nate hot on her heels.

Distressed by the scene, Ella slipped away from Lisa and ran at Damaris, who unthinkingly lowered a hand to grasp Ella’s, although she
pulled the girl behind her, shielding her.

“What is the meaning of this?” Damaris demanded, loudly enough to be heard over the various arguments.
Silence reigned for a moment.

“YOU!” the unknown man turned on
Damaris. “These are your brats, I’m given to understand.”

“Yes.”

“Well get them out of my house! And take that decrepit old couple with you!”

Damaris’ hands went to her hips and she actually seem to grow in height; were Nate in the stranger’s position, he would not court her wrath with such ease.

“That ‘decrepit old couple’ have been looking after ‘your house’ for the past six years and without them, who knows what sort of state it would be in by now.”

“Well it’s my house now, and I want them and your waifs and your servants gone.”

“What are you even doing here?”

“Why do you think? I’ve come to settle father
’s estate.”

So he was her brother, Nate surmised. Probably the elder one who lived in France, since she seemed to have
a generally cordial relationship with the brother in Edinburgh.

“First of all, the hou
se isn’t yours until the estate is settled, which it isn’t yet and now that you mention it, the house isn’t yours at all; Father divided his estate equally among all of us.”

“How do you know? He’s only just been found dead.”

“Because he told me his intentions. If you had tried being civil to the man, he might have told you too.”

“Stupid old man,
he always did favour you. First he finds you a filthy rich husband and now he gives you part of my inheritance! Bloody typical!”

Nate had heard bad language from gentlemen many times before, but never in such a public setting.

“Well perhaps if you had afforded him an iota of the respect he deserved, he might have found you a filthy rich wife!”

The blonde woman bristled, confi
rming that, rich or not, she was his wife.

“I’m the oldest son, God damn it!”

“Really? Because right now you are acting like a spoiled child.”

Nate had been too mesmerised by the argument to step
in before, but as the stranger raised his hand to strike her, he stepped between them.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you
.” He said, his voice cold and hard.

The
man hesitated; like most bullies, he didn’t like the idea of a fair fight.

“What are you going to do about it?” he sneered.

“Me? Nothing.” Nate shrugged. “But the woman you were about to strike is Constable of this parish, and I understand it’s quite a grave offence to strike an officer of the law.”

“It is,” Damaris agreed.

“And even if it wasn’t, you are guilty of breach of the peace. Since neither crime is a capital offence, the case would be heard at the Sessions of the Peace, and wouldn’t you know it, I am the Justice of the Peace in these parts. Having witnessed the crime myself, I would have no choice but to find you guilty, then consult with my Constable on a suitable sentence.”

“A few days in the
pillory should do it,” Damaris suggested.

“Let’s say four
days, just to be sure he learns his lesson.”

Her brother had balled his hands into fists
at his sides and was barely holding his temper in check. “I am a gentleman! You will not speak to me in that way!”

“You are a commoner, Sir; not only do you pos
sess no title, no gentleman would ever address a lady as you just did. Both Lady Wellesley and I are landed gentry, and we will thank you to learn your place.”

While riling this man
was pleasurable, he knew that he couldn’t push him much farther. Spittle was forming at the side of his mouth and his face was turning purple.

Damaris clearly felt the same a
nd she touched his shoulder to get his attention, her expression clearly asking him to stop.

“Come on, every
one, back in side,” she said to the staff and children. The crowd that had formed to watch the altercation didn’t seem to be going anywhere however.

The blonde woman approached
the brother and putting a hand on his arm, spoke softly to him. Nate knew better than to turn his back on such a man, so he backed away a few paces, before turning and following Damaris inside.

Mrs Higgins
stood in the hallway, ordering everyone down to the kitchen for warm milk or tea, and cake. Nate briefly wondered if these children even knew what cake was, but from the way her declaration stopped their tears, they knew it was something special.  

Damaris picked Ella up and settled the girl on her hip as she dried her tears and spoke soothingly to her. When
she had calmed down somewhat, she placed her back on the floor and told her to go with Lilly to get her warm milk, although it took an assurance that Damaris wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye, before Ella would go.

Finally
Damaris turned to Nate.

“So that’s your brother?”

She nodded and sighed. “Christopher is my oldest brother, and that was his wife, Hortense.”

“You handled that very well,” he told her and she smiled, although it was hollow. Now that the confrontation was over, she seemed smaller and ev
en fragile, which was not a word he would usually use to describe Damaris.

“Thank you
. Oh, I hope he hasn’t brought Mother; seeing him is as much as I can bear right now.”

“You can handle anything,” he assured her.

“What shall I do with the children? They can't stay here any longer, I just wasn’t expecting Christopher to come so quickly. He must have left before father’s body was identified, as I did.”

“Where does he live?”

“Paris, I think.”

“You think?”

“He married after I did, I haven’t even seen his wife before today.”

“How is that possible?”

“I wasn’t told of the wedding until after the fact, then Mother wrote and told me. The next thing I knew, he and Mother left to live with her family in France. I haven’t heard from them since.”

“They didn’t contact you after your husband passed?”

“He died before they left.”

He was having a little trouble keeping track of her family’s events
and envied her her encyclopaedic memory.

“What am I going to do about the children?” she wondered. “And Mr and Mrs Higgins? I have properties on my estate in Bellchester where they could retire, but they pr
obably won’t want to leave Lanford. I suppose I could find a cottage locally but they’ve lived here for decades, they won’t want to move overnight.”

“This isn’t your brother’s house yet, or yours for that matter, so they don’t have to go anywhere.”

“Christopher won’t like that, he’ll make things difficult.”

“So you’re just going to let him have his way?”

“It’s easier that way and even if I was inclined to keep fighting with him, it’s the Higgins who would pay the price.”

He couldn’t really argue with that logic.
“Well, I suppose the children can come to Copley Hall with us. We can turn the school room into a dormitory, Emily and Lisa can care for them with Lilly’s help, they won’t be too much in the way up there.”

“But what about beds?”

“We can take mattresses from the guest bedrooms; it’s not ideal but it’s better than nothing.”

“And it puts an awful lot of people out.”

“They won’t mind, I’m sure.”

“And it doesn’t solve the problem of Mr and Mrs Higgins.”

“True, but there must be a cottage on the estate they could retire to. I’m sure we can work something out with your brother that would allow the Higgins to take their time moving.”

Damaris didn’t look certain but Nate thought he understood what the brother wanted. Money. There didn’t seem to have been any love lost between
Christopher and his father, he hadn’t rushed back to find his father’s killer, or to ensure his father had a decent burial; no, he had returned for the money.

Before they could discuss anything else, the front door opened and
Christopher returned. Through the open door, Nathaniel could see that most of the crowd had dispersed and only two people remained, a man and a woman who were probably Christopher’s servants. His wife accompanied him inside.

“My apologies for my behaviour earlier,”
Christopher said as he approached. “It has been a long and tiring journey and what with the loss of my father, finding his house filled with strangers made me a little overwrought. Please forgive me.”

Nathaniel nodded his acceptance of the apology, although he didn’t believe a word of it.
Christopher stepped closer and introduced himself.

“I am
Christopher Howard and this is my wife, Hortense Howard. Darling, this is my sister, Lady Damaris Wellesley, widow of William Wellesley and the Dowager Countess of Bellchester.”

“And I’m
Nathaniel Copley, Marquess of Lanford and Justice of the Peace.”

They bowed to each other.

“Very pleased to make your acquaintance and once again, please accept my apologies.” He turned to his sister. “I know that a lot of bad blood has passed between us, Sister, but I hope we can put our feuding aside, at least temporarily, for Fathers sake; it’s what he would have wanted.”

Nathaniel could see that
Christopher had found the right argument and Damaris agreed to the truce.

“Yes, he would. In that spirit, we will remove the children and their guardians but in return
, I ask that you not place any burden on Mr and Mrs Higgins.

“But they are housekeeper and butler, are they not?”

“They were, until Father disappeared and you moved away. Now they are simply caretakers. They are too old to care for the house as well as its occupants but with the children gone, there is plenty of room in the servants’ quarters for your staff”

“We didn’t bring any staff, only my valet and Mrs Howard’s lady’s maid.”

“Not even a coach driver?”

“We travelled by
stagecoach, it just seemed easier.”

“Why not
bring staff if you intended to stay here.”

“Because I thought there was a houseke
eper and butler in residence!” His anger was building again. His lies were no match for Damaris’ intellect and Nate was proud that she didn’t miss a thing.

“Paid for by me and therefore in my employ. You would have
left the house empty and who knows what damage might have been done.”

Hortense gently tugged on her husband’s arm and he took a deep breath.

“Quite right. We will stay at the Heath Inn instead.”

“I’m certain that Lord Copley could recommend some staff for you.”

“No.” Howard shook his head. “It’s easier to remain at the Inn. We won’t be staying long, hopefully.”

Damaris didn’t disagree.

“Well, I suppose we’ll be off, get settled.” Christopher looked from one to the other.

Nate neither liked nor trusted this man but something told him that it would be best to give into his hint and invite them to stay with him. He wasn’t certain that he could stand their presence for long but the house was big, so hopefully they could avoid one another for the most part.

“You are welcome to stay at Copley Hall.”

Damaris gave him an incredulous look but
Christopher beamed at him.

“That’s very kind
of you, thank you.”

“Load your belongings onto my carriage and wait for us. We won’t be long.”

“Of course, of course. And thank you again, Lord Copley.

Christopher
and his wife headed outside, while Nate and Damaris headed down to the kitchen.

“Why did you invite them to stay?”

“Have you heard the phrase, keep your friends close but your enemies closer?”

“Yes,
it’s quite often attributed to Sun Tzu‎ but was actually Machiavelli, who wrote something similar in one of his letters.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if your brother tried something underhand, like getting you cut out of the will. I think we need to keep an eye on him and that will be easier if he is under the same roof.”

“I cannot argue with logic like that,” she smiled.

When they got to the kitchen, they found the children sitting at the long table, all sipping from mugs. Ella left hers and scrambled out of her seat to
go and meet Damaris, who stroked her hair as the girl hugged her skirts.

“Could I speak with you in private?” Damaris asked the caretakers, and the four of them headed through to the housekeeper
’s sitting room. Ella followed as well but Damaris made no move to send the girl away.

“I’m sorry for the upset,” Damaris said. “We have reached a truce with Mr Howard and he will be staying with Lord Copley and I at Copley Hall, meaning that you and the children are free to remain here.