The Fat Badger Society (Drusilla Davanish Mysteries Book 2) Page 14

  Putting the butterfly outside again, I crossed the hall to join Julia, just as Luffe opened the door to two more visitors, Mr. Reevers and Mr. East. Once we were all settled in the drawing room, I enquired after Edward, and Julia told us all in some amusement, ‘He wants to go sailing with Richard and Mr. Hamerton, but of course he’s far too young yet.’

  ‘And too fond of falling in water,’ Mr. Reevers remarked. ‘From what I hear.’

  Julia laughed. ‘There’ll be no sailing until he’s grown out of that, I promise you.’

  ‘Better teach him to swim,’ advised Mr. East.

  Julia agreed that would be wise. ‘But Richard’s rather busy at present planning this trip to Windsor with Mr. Hamerton. And I’m afraid it means they will miss the Uptons’ party.’

  I sighed. ‘I wish I had such a good excuse.’

  ‘It may not be as tedious as you think,’ Julia said cheerfully. And turning to Mr. East asked, ‘Will we see you there?’

  He drawled, ‘I expect to have a prior engagement.’

  ‘Whatever do you mean?’ she responded, amused. ‘Do you have another commitment?’

  ‘No. But I’ll think of something.’

  Mr. Reevers murmured, ‘The beautiful Miss Adams will provide you with an excuse.’

  ‘Quite possibly,’ he agreed with a grin.

  Julia said, ‘Well, I shall go. After being unable to accept any invitation for weeks, even an evening at the Uptons will be a treat. And if Richard’s not here, I’ll walk down the hill.’

  ‘You will do no such thing,’ I protested. ‘We’ll pick you up. Aunt Thirza will insist on using the carriage. And that is what Richard would wish you to do too.’

  Aware that was true she accepted gracefully, and Mr. East urged, ‘While these Fat Badgers are at large ma’am, I beg you not to venture out alone. We still don’t know who these traitors are or where they are hiding.’

  ‘Well,’ I said, ‘I may learn something tomorrow afternoon when I call on Mrs. Jenkins.’ And I explained about the note I’d received.

  ‘Oh, it would be wonderful if she knew their names,’ Julia breathed, clasping her hands together tightly, almost in prayer. ‘She must know something, surely. I tell you frankly, if I could get my hands on the men who killed Septimus, I’d willingly execute them myself.’

  ‘And I would help you,’ I declared, thinking of Jeffel.

  ‘No doubt Mrs Jenkins feels the same,’ Mr. East murmured in understanding.

  We speculated on what she might know, and the hope that her evidence would lead to the arrests we longed for. When Julia had gone we discussed the difficulty of finding evidence against Mr. Hamerton. ‘According to our agents,’ Mr. Reevers told me, ‘he hasn’t met anyone outside your own circle of friends. Apart from the Blackgang smugglers of course, but that was before we’d had a chance to organise our men.’

  Mr. East mused, ‘I wonder if they did take that letter to Paris for him? And, more importantly, has he received a reply?’

  'He hasn’t, as far as I know,’ I said. ‘Luffe has orders to bring me all the letters first, no matter how they are delivered.’

  He nodded in approval and said thoughtfully, ‘It may be too soon for a reply yet. But when it comes, Lady Drusilla, we must get our hands on it. Just think ma’am, a letter from the enemy. No question of that not standing up in court. We could arrest him at once.’

  I smiled at his enthusiasm. ‘If only it was that easy. Regrettably, in my experience, it rarely is.’ And I asked, ‘That odd reason he gave for arriving late on that day in Windsor, was he being truthful, do you think?’

  Mr. East took in his breath and let it out slowly through his teeth. ‘Who knows? But no other man was waylaid and robbed by a beautiful woman in Windsor, on that day or any other. Nor were there any witnesses, and no-one else saw this woman in the town.’

  ‘But why would he make up such an elaborate lie?’ Mr. East gave a shrug and I said, ‘The other thing that puzzles me about that assassination attempt is that they appear to have planned for failure.’

  Mr. Reevers looked across at me, his eyes narrowing. ‘What do you mean exactly?’

  ‘Well, if they really wanted to murder the King, why send only two men? If they had sent half a dozen, the King would be dead, as would we all. We know from Septimus’s journal there were eight men in the society on the Island. In Windsor there may well be many more.’

  ‘Perhaps,’ Mr. Reevers suggested, ‘those two wanted the glory of starting the revolution and went against their orders.’

  ‘All organisations have members who think they can do things better,’ Mr. East murmured in agreement.

  I lifted my shoulders a little. ‘I suppose that must be it.’

  ‘But you don’t believe that, do you, Lady Drusilla?’ Mr. East said, smiling.

  ‘No, I don’t. Yet I cannot give you a sensible reason why not.’

  Mr. Reevers pointed out, ‘Don’t forget, they only failed because Toby shot them.’ That was true, yet some instinct warned me we had not got to the bottom of it. Why had those men tried to kill the King in May, when Septimus’s journal said Mr. Brown wanted everything ready by the end of July? If I found the answer to that, I believed the rest would fall into place.

  When the gentlemen took their leave, they promised to call the following day to see what I’d learnt from Mrs. Jenkins. And I returned to the workroom, thinking about what had been said. But when I sat down at my desk I realised it was not quite as I had left it. Instinctively I jumped up and checked the wall charts, but the shutters that covered them were still locked and did not appear to have been tampered with. I rang for Luffe at once, and when he came in, I asked when the room had been cleaned today.

  ‘Before you came down to breakfast, my lady.’

  ‘You’re quite sure?’

  ‘Yes, my lady.’ And he asked, ‘Is something wrong?’

  ‘Someone has been in here while I was with my visitors, Luffe. The standish has been moved.’ I indicated the note from Mrs Jenkins. ‘This letter too.’

  The furrow immediately disappeared from his brow. ‘I think I can explain, my lady. It seems Mr. Hamerton came back while you were in the drawing room. Mr. Tanfield was with him, and I gather they went into the library. I didn’t realise they were in the house until I crossed the hall and saw Mr. Tanfield coming out of the workroom carrying the ink standish. He said they’d run out of ink. I showed him the cupboard in the library where the spare ink is kept and put the standish back myself.’

  ‘I see,’ I said. ‘That explains it then.’ And I quickly made a joke of it. ‘For a minute I thought we’d had burglars.’

  The following afternoon I arrived in good time for my appointment with Mrs Jenkins, eager to discover what she knew about the Fat Badger society. Dismounting I gave Orlando an affectionate pat before handing him over to Mudd, who led him off to the stables. When I knocked on the door, the butler invited me into the hall before saying, ‘I regret to inform you, ma’am, that Mrs Jenkins received word this morning that her brother was seriously ill. She left for the mainland within the hour.’

  ‘Within the hour?’ I repeated, taken aback.

  ‘In order to catch the tide at Cowes.’

  ‘Oh, I see. Did she say when she might be back?’

  ‘She expects to be away all summer.’

  ‘All summer?’ I groaned. ‘But what about her children?’

  ‘She took them with her.’

  I stared at him, puzzled. ‘Into a house where there’s illness?’

  ‘Mrs Jenkins is very fond of her children, ma’am.’ To me that was an excellent reason for not taking them, but perhaps the illness was not infectious.

  ‘Did she leave a message for me?’ The note I’d left when I first called, explained I was looking for information regarding the corresponding society her husband had joined. Illness had made her rush off, yet good manners required her to leave a note, and this she had done. But it was just a hurried scrawl expressin
g her regret at not being able to keep our appointment. She made no mention of the Fat Badgers.

  When I asked the butler for her address, so that I could write to her, he informed me rather pompously, ‘I regret ma’am, that my orders are not to disclose her direction to anyone.’ I stared at him in surprise and wondered if a few coins would liberate his tongue. But he must have read my mind, for he said, quite deliberately, ‘I have been in my present position for twenty years ma’am, and there is no way in which I can assist you.’ He then bowed and opened the front door for me.

  I gave every appearance of accepting the situation and smiled. ‘Would you be good enough to tell me how Mrs Jenkins heard about her brother?’

  ‘He sent a messenger, ma’am.’

  ‘Did you see him?’

  ‘No, ma’am. Mrs. Jenkins met him when she was walking to the village.’

  ‘Oh, I see.’ I thanked him and turned as if to leave. Then, quite suddenly, I stopped and looked him straight in the eye, for he was almost my own height. ‘When she came in, was she very frightened?’ His eyebrows shot up in such alarm I knew I had hit the nail on the head. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, ‘but I had to know.’

  I made my way slowly back to the stables, certain that a message from her brother, however serious, would not terrify her. But one from the Fat Badgers was a very different matter. They were experts in fear, and I did not doubt they were behind this. They were afraid of what she might know, and wanted her off the Island before I could speak to her. She had responded to their threats by leaving instantly. I wished she hadn’t gone, but in my heart I could not blame her.

  Riding back down the lane with Mudd, I explained what had happened, and he told me he’d learnt from one of the grooms that the brother was a Mr Jones who had moved to Hampshire from London about a month ago. ‘He wasn’t sure where in Hampshire, my lady. He thought Winchester, or Warsash, or something like that. I’m afraid it doesn’t help much.’

  ‘No,’ I sighed. For how could I expect to find a gentleman with such a common name, residing somewhere in Hampshire, probably in a place beginning with a W.

  Mrs Jenkins might have helped me find the Fat Badgers, and now that wouldn’t happen. And I rode home in despair. The instant I got back I spoke to Bridge, but he didn’t know where the brother lived either. Going into the library, I wrote a note to Julia explaining Mrs. Jenkins had been called away suddenly due to illness in her family, and sent Mudd to deliver it. There was no point worrying her unnecessarily.

  Somehow Mr. Brown had learned of my appointment and put a stop to it, fearing what Mrs Jenkins might reveal. But how did he know of our meeting? The answer that came to me was so terrifying my hands began to shake.

  Before I could compose myself, Luffe opened the library door to announce Mr. Reevers and Mr. East. Mr. Reevers took one look at me and sat by my side. ‘My dear girl, what’s wrong? You’re as white as a sheet. Tell me this instant. Did you see Mrs. Jenkins?’

  Shaking my head I explained what had happened. ‘She was frightened off by Mr. Brown.’

  ‘Frightened off?’ Mr. East repeated in alarm. ‘That means he was aware of your meeting, ma’am. But how? Who else knew of it?’

  I glanced up at him, unable to hide the despair threatening to overwhelm me. ‘Mudd, of course. Julia----’ And I hesitated.

  He urged, ‘No-one else?’

  ‘I can’t be sure. The note Mrs. Jenkins wrote making the arrangement – well, I foolishly left it on my desk in the workroom. Luffe said Mr. Hamerton returned to the house while we were all talking this morning. Richard was with him, and they went into the library where, a little later, they ran out of ink. There’s spare ink in the library cupboard, but Mr. Hamerton didn’t know that --- and---’

  ‘He looked for some in your workroom?’ Mr. Reevers supplied.

  N-no. Not Mr. Hamerton. R-Richard ....’My bottom lip began to tremble.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Mr. Reevers took my hands in his, murmuring softly. ‘It may not be as bad as you fear.’

  ‘But if it is ---- if he’s involved ----- Julia would never recover.’ I could not bear to think of it. It would be preferable if Richard was killed in battle. Better a dead hero than a traitor. And I withdrew my hands from his.

  ‘He must have told Hamerton about the note,’ Mr. East surmised.

  ‘But that doesn’t mean Richard is mixed up with the Fat Badgers,’ Mr. Reevers reasoned in his calm way. ‘Perhaps Richard mentioned the note when they were talking about George Jenkins, or Septimus’s journal, or----’

  I broke in, ‘Richard doesn’t know Septimus left a journal.’

  Mr. Reevers looked at me in surprise. ‘Didn’t Julia tell him?’

  ‘She swears she hasn’t told anyone, not even Richard, and I believe her. And the note from Mrs. Jenkins reads like any ordinary arrangement between acquaintances.’

  Neither of the gentlemen spoke for a few moments, then Mr. East commented, ‘Hamerton spends most of his time with Richard Tanfield.’

  I forced myself to say, ‘Richard is seriously troubled about something, and Mr. Hamerton knows what it is. But why would he confide in someone he only met a few weeks ago?’ Mr. East shook his head, unable to answer. ‘And tomorrow they sail to Windsor on the noon tide.’

  The two gentlemen exchanged significant looks, and as if answering his friend’s unspoken thoughts, Mr. East said, ‘You’re right, we’re running out of time. Are they really going to Windsor do you think, Radleigh?’’

  ‘Well, there’s only one way to find out.’ And taking a coin from his pocket, he commented in jocular fashion, ‘I’ll toss you for it, Toby. Sailing should be most pleasant at this time of the year. But one of us must stay here.’ He threw the coin upwards, caught it, Mr. East guessed correctly and chose to remain on the Island. ‘Miss Adams will be pleased,’ Mr. Reevers informed his grinning friend.

  ‘You mean to follow them?’ I asked in surprise. ‘Won’t that be rather difficult?’

  ‘It will,’ Mr. Reevers agreed. ‘But it will be worth it if we find out what Hamerton is up to.’ He didn’t add that, if Mr. Hamerton was up to something, then Richard must know what it was. I wished too that it was Mr. East who would be away for a week, instead of Mr. Reevers.

  A wish I did not expect to be granted, yet incredibly it was, as I learnt when Mr. East called again just after breakfast. ‘Radleigh fell off his horse last night and hurt his neck. Which means I shall be going sailing after all.’

  He looked so dejected I couldn’t help teasing, ‘Poor Miss Adams.’

  ‘We were to attend a ball in Newport tomorrow too,’ he sighed.

  ‘I feel sure Miss Adams will find someone to take your place.’

  ‘That, Lady Drusilla, is what I’m afraid of.’

  ‘She may miss you as much as you will miss her,’ I pointed out kindly.

  ‘I hope you are right.’ And he got to his feet. ‘I must go if I’m to leave at noon.’

  My aunt and uncle were two of the few people who knew Mr. Reevers was a government agent, and when they came down to breakfast, I told them about his accident. 'I think we ought to call on him this morning, especially as Mr. East will be away for a few----'

  My aunt interrupted, ‘I can’t today. I promised to visit Mrs Woodford.’ Turning to my uncle, she directed, 'Charles, you can go with Drusilla.’

  'Why, thank you, my dear.’ His tone of voice made Aunt Thirza glance at him a trifle suspiciously, but he merely said that he had been wondering what to do this morning, which almost made me choke. He looked at me, his eyes twinkling merrily. 'Your aunt has spoken, Drusilla. And you’re right, we must make sure Mr Reevers is looking after himself.’

  Before we left I spent some time deciding what I should do next, for I was making little progress with the task Mr. Pitt had given me. Yet, I could do nothing about Mr. Hamerton, or Richard, while they were away, and I tried, not very successfully, to put them out of my mind. I was, however, happier knowing Mr. East would b
e watching what they did.

  I’d so hoped Mrs Jenkins would be able to name at least one Fat Badger, but her hasty departure had dashed that chance. Yet there had to be a way of finding them. There simply had to be. If only, I thought, I could discover where they were meeting now. Yet, I could not make inquiries at every inn on the Island with a private room for hire, without creating a great stir. Mr. Reevers and Mr. East could do so, but being gentlemen, might not learn the truth either. Whereas no-one would take any notice if Mudd made a casual inquiry.

  Many inns did not have such a room, but it would not be an easy search for the Island was about twenty-three miles across at its widest point, and some thirteen from Cowes in the north to St Catherine’s point in the south. Newport was the largest of the towns, only there were any number of villages, some with few inhabitants, others with several hundred, and most had an inn. Even Westfleet, tiny though it was, boasted one inn, the “Five Bells,” and had done for some two hundred years.

  Mudd was very willing, and there being no point in hanging about, he left later that same morning. Shortly afterwards a servant brought a message from Mrs Woodford, my aunt’s gossipy friend, cancelling this morning’s arrangement as she had sprained her ankle. But my aunt insisted on going to her friend at once, and being genuinely fond of Mrs Woodford, spent much of her time during the ensuing days at that lady’s pleasant home in Dittistone.

  My uncle said that, with my aunt being so busy, a visit to Norton House would enable him to take advantage of Mr. Reevers’ kind offer to use the library there. ‘He has a wonderful selection of books, and I can browse without anyone interrupting me.’

  ‘Mr Reevers might offer to keep you company.’

  ‘Not when you are with me, he won’t.’ Detecting a decided twinkle in his eye, I laughed. Charles Frère did not miss much. The truth was I wanted to go, and he knew it.

  When we arrived at Norton House Mr Reevers was sitting on the terrace, and rose slowly to his feet to greet us, trying not to move his head more than was necessary. Once he had assured us he was being well looked after and merely needed to rest, my uncle inquired if he might browse through the library, as Mr. Reevers had kindly offered. Quickly assured that he was very welcome to do so, Mr. Reevers saw him comfortably settled in the library before returning to the terrace.