Wrede, Patricia C - Mairelon 01 (26 page)

           
"Quite
serious," Mairelon said over Jonathan's spluttered protests. "This
is--"

           
"--the
Saltash Platter, part o' a set as was stolen from the Royal College of Wizards
upwards o' five years ago, by a person or persons unknown," said William
Stuggs. He smiled seraphically over Jack Stower's shoulder at the circle of
surprised faces, and before the surprise could turn to speculation he added,
"I 'ate to disconvenience the Quality-like, but I 'ave to inform you that
you, Lord Gregory St. Clair, and you, Mr. Daniel Laverham, and this cove 'ere,
'oose name I ain't 'ad the dubious pleasure of bein' told, are all under arrest
in the name o' the Law, for the theft o' the Saltash Set, breakin' an'
enterin', 'olding a lot o' respectable folk at gunpoint, an' one or two other
things as are against the Law o' the Realm."

           
"He's
a Runner!" Kim burst out before she thought.

           
"Jasper,
you fool!" said Lady Granleigh, too angry to remember that her brother was
still comatose on the hearthstone.

           
"Good
Lord!" said Andrew. "Miss D'Auber, did you know?"

           
"It
is to me a great surprise also," Renee D'Auber assured him. "It is
entirely a good thing after all, however, since Monsieur St. Clair and that person
with the pistols are arrested, so I shall not repine in the least."

           
"Well,
well," Mairelon said. He stepped forward, holding out the Saltash Platter
to Stuggs. "I expect you'll want this as evidence?"

           
"I
fear not," St. Clair put in. Kim looked back at him and froze. He was
holding one of Dan's pistols trained on Stuggs, who stood between him and the
door, and his expression was grim. "Or rather, you may want it, but you
won't have it."

           
"Don't
shoot!" Jack Stower pleaded, twisting in Stuggs's grip in a vain effort to
get out of Lord St. Clair's line of fire. "I ain't
no
nabbing cull! Don't shoot me!"

           
"You
can't shoot all of us with only one pistol," Mairelon said gently to St.
Clair, ignoring Jack's frantic cries.

           
"Quite
true," Lord St. Clair agreed. His left arm shot out and grabbed Marianne,
who shrieked loudly as he pulled her close and pointed the pistol at her head.
"But I doubt that any of you will let the young lady be hurt just to keep
me here. I shall let her go in
Dover
,
when I board the packet for
France
--provided,
of course, that no one does anything foolish."

           
"Here,
now!" Freddy expostulated. "What d'you
think
you're doing?"

           
"Lord
St. Clair!" Lady Granleigh exclaimed in tones of shock.

           
"You
wouldn't dare," Andrew said to St. Clair.

           
"He
certainly would," Mairelon said to Andrew. "I think you had better
move away from the door, Stuggs. Your superiors will have to be content with
half a haul this time."

           
St. Clair
smiled and started forward, dragging Marianne along with him, as Stuggs reluctantly
moved aside. "Don't forget the platter, Merrill," St. Clair said,
turning his head slightly.

           
At that
precise moment, Freddy Meredith stepped in front of Gregory St. Clair and
astonished the entire company by knocking him down. His success was due only
partially to his catching St. Clair completely off guard; Kim had to admit that
the blow had been a regular wisty castor. Lord St. Clair fell backward,
discharging his pistol into the ceiling above the hearth. A shower of plaster
descended on Jonathan and the unfortunate Jasper, who coughed, choked, and sat
up at last, holding his head and moaning.

           
"Well
struck!" Robert said after a stunned moment.

           
"Dash
it all,
Freddy, that
was a stupid trick to pull!"
Jonathan complained, brushing at the plaster dust that covered his shoulders.
"I might have been shot!"

           
"Oh,
Freddy
!" said Marianne, throwing her arms around him in ecstasy.
"How
brave
!"

           
"Get
up, you villain, and I'll do it again," Freddy said. "Dashed lot of
nerve you've got, bullying ladies and frightening Marianne."

           
St. Clair
did not reply. He lay sprawled on the floor, his top hat gone and his hair
disarranged, staring at Freddy as if he could not believe what had happened.

           
"I
knew he was a regular Captain Sharp," Kim said with considerable satisfaction
to no one in particular.

           
To her
surprise, Mairelon answered her. "Yes, you did, and very right you were,
too. Just hand that other bit of cord to Andrew, will you, Kim? Then look
around for something to tie St. Clair. I'll feel considerably happier when all
three of them are, er, secure."

           
"That's
good sense, gov'ner," Stuggs said approvingly. "An' pick up them
other pops while you're at it. They 'adn't ought to be lyin' about for the
likes o' 'im to get 'is 'ands on."

           
"There
ain't
no
rope or string or anything," Kim said,
picking up the second piece of cord and Dan's other pistol. "I already
looked."

           
"Amelia?"
Jasper's voice rose querulously from the hearth. "What's happening? Have
you got the platter?"

           
"You imbecile!"
Lady Granleigh stalked to her
brother's side, the better to berate him. "Fool! That man of yours is a
Bow Street Runner!"

           
"Stuggs?
Don't be silly, Amelia. Monkton recommended
him; he'd hardly send me a Runner, now, would he?"

           
Mairelon
glanced at the two of them, then took the cord and pistol from Kim and walked
over to Laverham, Robert, and Andrew. He handed the cord to his brother and
said, "Tie him up."

           
"Of
course," Andrew answered. "Richard--"

           
"In a minute, Andrew.
Mr., er, Stuggs, I believe you'll
find this useful, at least until we've gotten things sorted out." Mairelon
handed Stuggs the pistol, then tapped Freddy, who was still glaring
pugnaciously at Lord St. Clair, on the shoulder.

           
"I
think this would be a good moment for a discreet departure," he said when
Freddy turned. He nodded his head in the direction of Lady Granleigh and her
brother, quarreling in front of the fireplace.

           
"What?"
said
Freddy.
"Oh, I see. Good of you to mention
it. Come on, Marianne." He abandoned St. Clair to Stuggs and the pistol,
and he and Marianne slipped out the open door.

           
"That
was very kind," Renee D'Auber said to Mairelon. "But have you not
perhaps made for yourself more trouble?"

           
"I'm
sure of it," Mairelon said cheerfully. "But I believe I owe Lady
Granleigh one, for setting her unspeakable brother on me, and I can't think of
a better way of evening the score."

           
"It
seems singularly appropriate," Robert said, stepping forward. "But I
would like to point out that I still haven't had my explanation. Not in any way
that is remotely satisfactory, that is. I don't suppose you'd care to try
again?"

           
"Good
luck," Kim said under her breath. She gave the rest of the dropped pistols
to Mairelon,
then
sat on a nearby footstool to watch.
Andrew and Renee were both looking expectantly at Mairelon, Jonathan was
scowling at him, and any minute now Lady Granleigh would realize that her
wealthy ward had managed to escape again. It ought to be better than a
Drury
Lane
comedy.

           
Mairelon
set the Saltash Platter on the seat of a high-backed chair and put the pistols
Kim had given him on top of it. When he turned back to the group, he was no
longer smiling. "Yes, there do seem to be a number of loose ends," he
said. "For instance, what are you doing here, Renee?"

           
"It
is as your brother has said," Mademoiselle D'Auber replied. She thought
for a moment,
then
added scrupulously, "For the
most part."

           
"We
came because Miss D'Auber had heard there was a Runner on your trail,"
Andrew put in.

           
"And
you wished to assist him?" Mairelon said politely.

           
"No!"
Andrew looked hurt. "I--we came to warn you.
And to help
you, if we could, though I suppose you've no reason to believe that."

           
"Why
didn't you just tell Kim the Bow Street Runners were about?" Mairelon
asked Renee.
"Why the meeting?
And why weren't
you there?"

           
"Meeting?"
Andrew stared at Renee D'Auber in
surprised speculation. "You didn't tell me anything about a meeting."

           
"But
of course not," Renee said. She gave the brothers a brilliant smile.
"You have both got the heads of pigs, and if I had told you"--she
nodded at Mairelon--"that Monsieur Merrill the elder was here, you would
have said a great many things of no politeness and gone away without seeing
him, because you thought he did not believe you. And if I had told
you"--she glared at Andrew--"that we were to meet with your brother,
you would have made a great many excuses of no merit and not have come, because
you did not want to face him and admit you made the mistake five years ago.
That is why I was late," she added, turning to Mairelon. "He was being
difficult."

           
"Difficult?
I
was being difficult?" Andrew was almost beyond speech.

           
"Do
you mean to say that you dragged Andrew down here to force the two of us to
make up with each other?" Mairelon demanded with equal incredulity.

           
Renee
opened her eyes very wide. "But of course. This feud was all very well
when you were in
France
and he was here, but it would be altogether tiresome if you were both in
England
,
and me, I do not like the things tiresome. So I thought I would arrange
it."

           
The
brothers exchanged a look of complete accord, and Kim suppressed a grin. That
served Mairelon a bit of his own sauce! Stuggs shook his head sadly.
"French," he explained to the room at large.

           
"And
you weren't looking for the Saltash Platter?" Mairelon asked Renee, though
Kim could tell from his tone that he did not really have doubts any longer.

           
"It
would have been a very good thing, I think, if I could have gotten it,"
Renee answered, unperturbed. "For then we should not have had all this
confusion which you have still not explained in the least."

           
"But
for yourself?"

           
"For me?"
Renee looked at Mairelon with convincing
horror. "But no! Only consider! The Saltash Platter makes persons speak
the truth, and that would have been of all things the most inconvenient."

           
Kim
laughed. Mairelon looked at her with an affronted expression, which only made
her laugh harder. Slowly Mairelon began to smile. "Yes, under the
circumstances, I can see where it would have been, er, inconvenient."

           
Lady
Granleigh chose this moment to stop abusing her brother and turn back to the
rest of the room. "Marianne, it is high time--where is Marianne?"

           
"Gone,"
Mairelon answered helpfully.

           
Jonathan
snickered, and Lady Granleigh rounded on him. "It is not humorous, young
man! Stand aside," she commanded Stuggs. "I must leave at once, to
prevent my ward from throwing herself away on that lamentably foolish young
man."

           
"I
'ave my duty," Stuggs said, not moving. "And I 'ave one or two
questions as you ought to answer, beggin' your pardon for the inconvenience."

           
"Of
course, you could always pay a call in
Bow Street
later," Mairelon put in as Lady Granleigh stared, unable to believe that
Stuggs had not immediately followed her orders. "It would cause quite a
sensation among the
ton
; you might even set a new fashion."

           
"Amelia!"
Jasper had gone pale. "We can't! The duns would be after me the minute
they got wind of it."

           
"What
is it you wish to know?" Lady Granleigh said stiffly.

           
" 'Ow
did you come to 'ave an interest in that there
platter? An' what sort o' interest did you 'ave?"

           
"I
am very much afraid that I can answer that," a new voice said from behind
Stuggs.

           
Stuggs
jumped back and whirled, so that he could cover both the doorway and the corner
where Laverham, Stower, and St. Clair stood. Then he smiled and relaxed.
"Sir!" he said, and stepped aside.

           
Four men
entered behind him. Hunch was the only one Kim recognized; the other three were
gentry toffs, middle-aged and dressed for riding, but she didn't recall seeing
any of them before. She glanced around the room, sizing up the reactions of the
rest of the group. Lady Granleigh was staring at the man who had spoken, and
she had gone rather pale. Jonathan Aberford turned red when he saw the second
toff, but Robert smiled in relief at the same man. Laverham and Stower wore
blank expressions; St. Clair's eyes narrowed and his lips thinned as he stared
at the newcomers, and Kim got the impression that he was not at all pleased.
Stuggs was watching the third man with a respectful expression. Andrew, Renee,
and Mairelon all looked startled to various degrees.

           
"What 'ave you been a-doing now, Master Richard?"
Hunch demanded, ignoring the rest of the company entirely.

           
"An
excellent question," Robert murmured. "Perhaps you'll do better at
getting an answer than we have."

           
"Well,
well," Mairelon said. He blinked, smiled, and swept a bow.
"Your servant, Granleigh, Bramingham.
I'm afraid you've
missed most of the excitement, Edward."

           
"I
am desolated," the third man replied. With a start, Kim recognized his voice:
he was the Earl of Shoreham, who had sent Mairelon off to Ranton Hill in search
of the Saltash Platter. "Richard, I hate to be overly particular, but I
seem to recall telling you not to attract atten--
Andrew
? What the devil
are you doing here?"

           
"No,
no, we've already had that bit," Mairelon said. "I want to know what
Granleigh here meant when he said he could account for Lady Granleigh's, er,
actions. And how you all happen to be here," he added as an afterthought.

           
"I
received some information last night, after Hunch left," the Earl replied.
He glanced toward Laverham and St. Clair. "I thought it sufficiently
urgent to post down, but it seems to have been an unnecessary effort."

           
"If
you're talking about the irregular relationship between Mr. Laverham and St.
Clair, yes, that's come out," Mairelon said. "But where did you pick
up these others?"

           
"Hunch
told me you'd gone to
Bramingham Place
,"
Shoreham said. "Naturally we went looking for you there. Mrs. Bramingham
had just discovered that most of her houseguests had vanished, and Bramingham
and Granleigh elected to come with me in hopes of hunting them up."

           
"And
in hopes of getting away from the excellent Mrs. Bramingham's frenzy,"
Mairelon murmured.
"Quite understandable.
Now,
what was that you were saying about Lady Granleigh?" he asked, turning to
the tall, distinguished man who had been first through the door.

           
The first
man sighed and glanced toward the Earl of Shoreham. "My wife has a
tendency to meddle," he explained. Lady Granleigh stiffened and recovered
her usual color, but her husband gave her a look that caused her to subside
without saying anything. Kim was impressed; there must be more to this
stuffy-looking cull than at first appeared.

           
"A
tendency to meddle," Lord Granleigh repeated. "And considerably more
ambition than I had realized. I believe she was trying to arrange for me to be
the next Minister of Wizardry." He gave the Earl of Shore-ham another
sidelong look as he spoke, as though checking his reaction.

           
"Nonsense,
Stephen," Lady Granleigh said unconvincingly. "You are perfectly
capable of managing such matters yourself."

           
"True,"
Lord Granleigh replied. "A fact which you would be well advised to
remember in the future, Amelia. Your interference this time could very easily
have had unpleasant consequences."

           
"I
don't know what you are talking about," Lady Granleigh said even more
unconvincingly than before. "I am only here to keep Marianne from ruining
herself with Freddy Meredith."

           
"I
don't believe it," the last of the three toffs put in. "Freddy's a
good lad. He wouldn't do anything, er, dishonorable."

           
"Freddy
said something about a special license before he left, Mr. Bramingham,"
Robert said, ignoring Lady Granleigh's glare.

           
"Yes,
I believe he has one with him," Mairelon said.
"Amazingly
sensible of him, too.
Any number of things might have gone wrong between
here and
Gretna Green
, if he'd chosen that route."

           
"Sensible?"
Jonathan goggled at Mairelon.
"Freddy?"

           
"There,
you see?" Mr. Bramingham said to the room at large. His eye fell on St.
Clair, and he frowned. "Shoreham, what's Baron St. Clair doing in the
corner with this fellow pointing a pistol at him?"

           
" 'E's
under arrest, in the name o' the Law,"
Stuggs informed him.
"Along with these other two.
I 'aven't got straight yet which o' 'em did what, but they 'as all done
somethin', and I 'ave my duty."

           
"You
ought to be arresting
that
man as well," Jonathan Aberford
grumbled, pointing at Mairelon.
"Whoever he is.
Didn't someone say he was wanted?"

           
Andrew's
face set in grim lines. Mairelon only smiled and looked at the Earl of
Shoreham. Shoreham returned the smile,
then
said to
Jonathan, "He is certainly wanted by the French, but though our relations
with them have improved a good deal, I don't think our cooperation would stretch
so far as to turn one of our people over to them.
Particularly
a man with such a distinguished record."

           
"You're
too kind," Mairelon said.

           
"Probably,"
Shoreham agreed blandly.

           
Andrew's
mouth had dropped open, as had Lady Granleigh's St. Clair had gone white; Renee
D'Auber and Hunch looked smug. "What are you talking about?" Jonathan
demanded.

           
The Earl
of Shoreham sighed. "For the past five years, Richard Merrill has been one
of the best agents the War Office has had the good fortune to employ. Is that
clear enough for you?"

           
"But--but
I thought he stole the Saltash Set," Jonathan said, frowning.

           
"Merrill?"
the Earl of Shoreham said. "It's your turn to explain."

           
"In a minute.
I don't think we were quite through with
Lord Granleigh yet," Mairelon answered. "I still don't understand
what Lady Granleigh's ambitions for her husband have to do with the Saltash
Set, or how she found out about it in the first place."

           
"She
listened
at doors, that's
how," Jasper Marston
said waspishly, lifting his head for the first time since the Earl and his
companions had arrived.

           
Lady
Granleigh gasped. "Jasper, how dare you--"

           
"Oh,
stop it, Amelia," Jasper said. "There's no use pretending to injured
innocence. They already know most of it. They know
you
," he added
spitefully.

           
"You
are not thinking about what you are saying," Lady Granleigh said in a tone
that could have frozen the
Thames
at mid summer.

           
"I
know exactly what I'm saying! This whole mess is your fault, Amelia, and I'm
not going to take the blame for it."

           
"My fault?
You are the one who brought along that Bow
Street Runner! I suppose you are going to claim you knew nothing about
it."

           
"As
it 'appens, 'e didn't," Stuggs put in. "I know my business, and it
ain't lettin'
no
buffle'eaded toff in on the nick,
beggin' your pardon, sir."