Larcenous Lady (19 page)

Odd that a duplicate of that rare pearl had turned up so quickly and so conveniently in Padua. A jolt of excitement shot through him. Deirdre, sitting beside him, could feel his body jerk. She looked and recognized the smile of success on Belami’s face. His eyes sparkled in a certain way. “Shall we go out for a glass of wine?” he asked.

“It isn’t intermission,” she whispered back.

“The whole performance is an intermission.”

He rose and led Deirdre out of the box. “What is it? What have you deduced?” she asked eagerly.

He got two glasses of wine and they went to a quiet corner to talk. “I think I’ve just been struck with inspiration,” he said. “Listen carefully, and stop me if I go astray. We have the Suttons buying for one thousand English pounds a valuable pearl that is reportedly unique. We have Elvira making an inexplicable dash to Claude Jalbert, who that same day visits Styger. Next, Styger takes a short trip. And suddenly another pearl is found, the asking price shot up to three thousand pounds. What do you figure that jeweler in Padua paid for this second pearl?”

“About twenty-five hundred, I should think. He’d want to make some profit.”

“Of course. And if the owner paid one thousand, he makes fifteen hundred profit. Have you seen Elvira wear the pearl since they bought it?”

“No, she’s waiting till Lucy gets hers.”

“The hell she is. There’s only one pearl. They bought it for a thousand in Venice, had Cerboni send out an urgent message looking for another. Meanwhile Elvira took the pearl to Claude. Styger ripped off the gold cap and sold the original for twenty-five hundred to a jeweler in Padua, who was convinced he could sell it to Cerboni at a profit. The Suttons make a cool fifteen hundred without even breaking the law.”

“But when they pay three thousand for it, they lose their profit,” Deirdre pointed out.

“They don’t intend to buy it. They’ll discover some flaw, or Lucy will decide she wants something else, and Cerboni will be stuck with it.”

“Good gracious! Surely it would be illegal.”

“I think not.
Caveat emptor
applies to the jewelers here. If the Suttons don’t like the pearl, they don’t have to buy it. They only asked Cerboni to try to find them one. They didn’t sign a contract to buy it.”

“I never heard of anything so wicked in my life.”

“And you the duchess of Charney’s niece!” Belami laughed. “Of course I have no proof of any of this, but it explains the seemingly inexplicable behavior of several of our suspects. I told you it would be all quite simple once we had doped it out.”

“It enlarges our circle of suspects. Mrs. Sutton must be in on it.”

“She’s fallen under suspicion before now. I never could credit that a nabob was traveling like a pauper. Furthermore, the whole nabob story was a hoax. She must know one of her daughters is married to Claude. She’s going along with the whole game—in it up to her prissy lips and gray hair. In fact—” Belami put down his wine and began pacing the hall, with Deirdre beside him.

“What?” she asked excitedly.

“I wish that demmed tenor would stop squawling. I can’t think. Deirdre, let’s leave.”

“I can’t. My aunt—”

“We’ll go outside at least.” He took her hand and they went out into the cool night, where they continued pacing up and down in front of the opera hall.

“We know the Jalbert gang consists of an older man and woman, Mr. and Mrs. Jalbert. Maybe Mrs. Sutton
is
Mrs. Jalbert. She had the newspaper I gave him when he was calling himself Styger. I thought Elvira had got it from Claude.”

“But their passports—”

“Thieves clever enough to counterfeit coins could forge passports or buy forgeries, or steal them for that matter. Then one of the girls could be Claude’s wife.”

“But that leaves us with an extra girl, and lacking Claude,” Deirdre pointed out.

“I’m trying to account for that discrepancy. The group obviously broke up to make their escape easier. Police in various countries were looking for an old couple and a young couple. I imagine that’s why Mrs. Sutton was so agreeable to sharing a carriage with your aunt for the trip. The customs people wouldn’t expect a duchess to be traveling with common criminals. And it’s why I didn’t get my note in Paris. Elvira didn’t want me sleuthing after them. You see how it’s all falling into place?”

“I still don’t see where Claude is hiding himself.”

“He and Styger separated in case one of them is caught. That leaves the other free to look after the ladies. Claude’s wife must have a sister. That accounts for the extra girl.”

“I’m sure the girls really are sisters. They’re very close,” Deirdre told him. “Elvira’s kind to Lucy, though she used to become impatient with her from time to time. Occasionally during our trip Elvira wanted to be alone with me to discuss men and things, and Lucy would take a pet. Just the way sisters do, you know.”

“I can buy that. They must be sisters, but if Lucy’s the married one, she wouldn’t have to be excluded from your risqué conversations, would she? Fancy you talking broad. I can’t picture it. But I can picture Elvira,” he added, his voice thinning.

“That’s true. Elvira
did
seem the more experienced one. I hope she is married. Then she can’t plan to actually marry Pronto. She’s just using him.”

“She’s taken control of his passport. It would come in handy if they plan to shear off.”

“I almost hope they do,” Deirdre said.

“In one more day, we’ll know. God, Pronto will be brokenhearted. We’ll have to be kind to him.”

“Do you think they really plan to buy that diamond necklace for Elvira?”

“Of course they do, about ten minutes before they run away. The second pearl, I noticed, was to have some work done on it before the purchase. They don’t have to buy it yet. They duck out and leave it behind, along with their counterfeit money, while they run off with a genuine diamond necklace and about fifteen hundred profit from the pearl stunt.”

Deirdre sorted all this underhanded business out in her head and sighed. “It’s hard to conceive of so much deceit. Only you could figure it out, Belami.”

“Thank you—I think.”

“What are you going to do to stop them?”

“They haven’t done anything illegal in Venice yet. They’ve just set the wheels in motion. Till they actually spend the counterfeit money, all I could do would be report them to Hoppner and let the English officials take over. You know my opinion of officialdom. I’d rather handle it myself.”

“You’ll warn Cerboni at least?”

“He thinks I’m a lunatic since their first batch of money proved genuine. That’s why Elvira wanted me there, of course. They won’t buy the diamonds till they’re ready to leave. Cerboni will eventually discover the coin is counterfeit, but by then they’ll be several cities away. Maybe even out of the country. That’s why she stole my counterfeit guinea, by God! So Cerboni wouldn’t have it to compare with the false coins they plan to dump on him. I wonder if they have the counterfeit money in hand yet. Elvira might have brought it back with her. No one saw her enter. On the other hand, ten thousand or so in gold would be too heavy for a woman to handle. I imagine Styger-Jalbert or Claude will bring it to Venice. Réal will be on his tail.”

“So we can do nothing but wait,” Deirdre said.

“Waiting’s the hardest part. I mean to see Pronto tomorrow and try to prepare him for the disappointment.”

“Don’t say too much. He tells Elvira everything—you know Pronto. Discretion was never his long suit.”

Belami turned and gave her a flashing smile. “Nor mine. I’d best return you to your aunt. I wouldn’t want to increase her disgust of me just when I’m trying to reingratiate myself. She accidentally smiled at me during dinner.”

“She complained of gas while we were dressing. And furthermore, I haven’t said yes.”

“So there,” he said, and laughed. “One thing at a time.”

It certainly wasn’t a smile that Charney turned on Belami when they entered the box. Her face looked like the death mask of some ancient martyr. “What, you didn’t bring any wine back for the rest of us? I made sure that’s why you were leaving or I wouldn’t have let Deirdre go. Bring us some wine, Belami.”

In his eagerness to please, Belami hopped up. The duchess turned her charms on the conte. “It will not be nearly so good as your excellent stuff, Conte. I think if I have it taken to a ship and sent directly home by water, it will make the trip without harm. It is not worthwhile shipping two hogsheads. Let us make it four—and be sure to send me a bill,” she added.

Carlotta stared coolly across the box. “Why not pay before you leave us, Duchessa?”

Charney bared her teeth. “Of course! What was I thinking of?”

“I can’t imagine,” Carlotta replied.

Belami got a glimmering of what might please the old lady and winked at Deirdre, who pokered up and ignored him.

Chapter Fourteen

Belami was at the Léon Bianco at ten the next morning, fully expecting to find his friend in bed. He was surprised to see Pronto not only up and dressed but pacing the lobby. Pronto’s haggard appearance suggested that he had either drunk too much the night before or not slept enough. He was no insomniac; he’d been known to fall asleep on his way to bed.

“I take it you were celebrating last night?” he said.

“If you can call it a celebration with Mrs. Sutton and Lucy dogging our every step,” Pronto grumbled. “Mean to say, engaged after all. Not as though I was a demmed seven-day beau. Getting a bit peeved with them all, Dick. As bad as Charney.”

“Let’s eat. You’ll feel better,” Belami suggested.

They ordered beefsteak and ale, but Pronto just sat staring at his plate. “My last breakfast as a bachelor,” he said wistfully. “Tomorrow I’ll be Mr. Pilgrim.”

“Are things not going well with you and Elvira?”

“How can they? We’re never alone for two minutes. And even when we are—not that I mean to say Elvira’s a cold woman,” he added hastily.

This surprised Belami. He had suspected Elvira of many things, but never of prudishness or a lack of ardor. If anything, he feared she had more experience than a gentleman could want in his wife. “A little shy, is she?” he asked.

“Not shy exactly,” Pronto said, chasing a piece of beef around the plate with his fork. “Not shy of speaking her mind or of meeting strangers. It’s only when we’re alone. Tell me, Dick, does Deirdre let you—you know ...”

Belami looked at his friend’s worried face and frowned. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at. Deirdre isn’t fast, and I wouldn’t want her to be. I hope you haven’t been—”

“No, no! Nothing like that. I only meant a bit of a cuddle. Well, I know Deirdre does, for I saw you at Fernvale last winter. Close as inkle-weavers. Elvira don’t let me do it. Kiss her, except once on the fingers and once on the elbow. Accident. I was aiming for her jaw. She lifted her arm so fast I was knocked galley west. Did get a lick at her elbow though,” he added, with some trace of satisfaction.

Belami was relieved to hear this tale. At least Elvira wasn’t using her wiles to con Pronto into a hasty marriage. “Perhaps she’s just shy of intimacy. Deirdre used to be at first. You’ll have to be gentle, persuasive. Don’t go leaping at her the minute you’re alone.”

Pronto squinted suspiciously. “Who told you?”

“Nobody.”

“Not my fault there was a moon,” Pronto said. “I only ever have a minute. Have to leap if I want to get at her at all. I’m a bit of a passionate fellow, Dick. Might not think it to look at me, but when I’m with Elvira...” He speared the piece of beef and gazed at it with fond desire. Belami wasn’t sure whether it was the beef or an image of Elvira that brought that mooning look to Pronto’s face.

“That’s probably the trouble. You have to do a deal of talking first with carefully raised ladies, Pronto.”

“I’m not much of a hand at oiling around the ladies. I hear the native lads saying
‘Che bella!’
Seems to go down pretty well. I never knew I could speak Italian till I tried. What else should I say?”

“I suggest you work your speech into a well-rounded paragraph. You remember from your grammar lessons—you need a topic sentence.
‘Che bella’ is
fine for an introduction. A foreign language lends a touch of romance. Then you proceed coherently, starting with her hair and working your way down, compliment by compliment. You could stroke her hair gently as you tell her it’s like a raven’s wing, or black velvet, or whatever. Jewels make an acceptable simile for the eyes.”

Pronto listened earnestly. “Blue eyes,” he urged. “Have to be sapphires.”

“Flowers are good, too. Cornflower or delphinium.”

“Think I ought to jot this down,” Pronto decided, and pulled out a patent pen to write on the back of the menu. “Topic—
che bella.
Hair: raven’s wing; eyes: sapphire. What’s next? Lips.”

“Rosebuds are the usual comparison. Or cherries.”

Pronto scribbled away. “Or apples,” he added. “By jingo, we’ve left off her nose, Dick. There’s a hard one. Elvira has a generous nose, but shapely. Can’t use a cucumber or carrot.”

“In my experience, noses defy comparison. A nose is a nose,” Belami decided. “But the ears provide excellent flirtation. You might just lean forward and breathe heavily into her ear as you compare it to a rosebud.”

Pronto examined his list. “We’ve got rosebuds for the lips. How about a snail for the ears? The way it sort of curves in on itself...”

Belami’s lips moved unsteadily. “Let’s make it a sea-shell,” he suggested. “And don’t forget the breathing. Now for the skin.”

“I know that one. Alabaster. Elvira’s skin is hard as a rock. I mean the flesh under it is. She exercises. Been missing her mount here in Venice. I have been myself.”

“The compliments should be accompanied by some tentative caressing as you go along,” Belami pointed out. “I mentioned stroking the hair. From there you let your hand glide slowly to the throat, then along the shoulders. From there it’s an easy slide to her waist. But don’t leap. You want a smooth, flowing performance, like a zephyr rippling a pond, and culminating in a kiss.”

“Right, I’ve got it.
Che bella.
Hair, eyes, ears—blow in ‘em—lips, zephyr, pounce—but smoothly.”