"You've been living quite comfortably. Surely it's not as bad as all that."

"The creditors cannot be put off indefinitely." She stepped towards me. "Why did you have to interfere?"

"I could not stand by and watch someone cause such injustice in the world."

"Your ideals are amusing, Emily. You should have heeded my warnings. I tried to stop you."

"You were following me."

"Oh, that wasn't me. It was quite simple to get Mr. Berry to take care of that. All I had to do was plant the idea in his head that you were bent on proving him a fraud. As soon as I learned you weren't interested in him romantically and that you were investigating for Mrs. Francis, I knew I had to do something. I never thought it would come to this, but you're rather stubborn. You ought to have taken my advice and gone on a trip."

"Is that why you made such a point of keeping me as a friend? To try to influence me to leave?"

"Once I knew you weren't going to do as I suggested, I had to come up with a way to distract you from your purpose. Sinking you in scandal was an obvious solution."

"You started the rumors about the Duke of Bainbridge and me," I said.

"You couldn't have made it easier for me. Your eccentric habits cry out for the gossips' attention."

"And you sent Lizzie to my house?"

"You have figured it all out, haven't you? When I first hired her, it was to make sure you weren't involved with Mr. Berry. Later, as I figured out what you were really up to, she became more important to me. She's a stupid girl but did manage to get me some useful information. I hadn't expected your mother would come to your rescue."

"A foolish error, Lady Elinor, considering the lengths to which you were willing to go to protect your own daughter."

"It didn't matter. Berry was perfectly willing to step things up once your reputation had been saved. I only wish the fools he'd hired had been more efficient. You should never have made it across Berkeley Square the night the coach nearly hit you. It would have saved me the trouble of having to take care of you tonight."

I took a step back. "How did you know that nicotine was such an effective poison?"

"I use it on my roses. It helps keep everything beautiful. I only wish I had some with me now. But I think you'll prefer this. It's more pleasant." She lunged at me, forcing against my face the damp, sweet-smelling cloth she still clutched in her hand. I pushed back with all my weight, flinging her across the room.

Inspector Manning stepped out of the shadows and picked Lady Elinor up from the floor.

"I didn't hear you come in," I said.

"I followed her inside. Waited right outside the door while you talked with her. Mr. Hargreaves was right. You are decent at this sort of thing. I've heard all I need. My men should be coming up any time now. I've already signaled for them."

They arrived shortly and escorted their prisoner from the house. I kicked at the cloth Lady Elinor had dropped. "What's on this?" I asked.

Inspector Manning reached for it and sniffed. "Chloroform."

"Hardly would have had the same effect as nicotine," I said.

"It would have if she'd been able to finish her plan. She left a large quantity of lamp oil in the hall outside the room. Looks like she planned to set the house on fire to cover up what she'd done."

"I see," I said, willing my body to stop shaking.

"You've done good work here, Lady Ashton. Mr. Hargreaves will be pleased."

"I promised him I would take no unnecessary risks."

The policeman shrugged. "I'd say you kept that promise. I would never have gone along with your scheme if I wasn't certain that I could've protected you. Mr. Hargreaves would throttle me himself if I'd let anything happen to you."

33

The inspector brought me home, where Davis, tired but clearly pleased, met me at the door.

"Madam!" he exclaimed. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," I said. "Exhausted, but fine. Any word from Mr. Brandon?"

 "Not from him, but from Mrs. Brandon herself, madam." He handed me a note that contained only one sentence: All is well. A bit more detail would have been welcome, but this would suffice for the moment. I collapsed into my bed, where, despite my weariness, I found I could not sleep. Pleased though I was to have solved the crime, I took no joy in knowing that I was sending someone I'd known for most of my life to prison, and possibly to her death. I ached at the thought of Isabelle learning the truth about her mother and worried that her own life would now be ruined, too.

 Added to this angst was Colin's absence. His actions during the past months had surprised me at every turn. He had not tried to keep me from pursuing my investigations and had offered assistance without taking charge on his own. And now, in the aftermath of it all, I wanted nothing more than to sit with him, in quiet triumph, discussing what had transpired.

I loved to flirt with him, to tease him, to discuss Greek with him. But I had not expected to find that, as a partner, he could offer more than that. He challenged me, stimulated my thinking, and offered both comfort and support when I succumbed to frustration. Was it possible that, as his wife, I might grow more than if I remained alone? The idea was an appealing one, and I could not recall him having done anything that suggested he would keep me from pursuing my interests and ideals. I wondered when he would propose again. If he would propose again. Surely he would? I let my mind wander, remembering the last time he'd kissed me, the feeling of his arms around me, and then, at last, I was able to fall asleep.

The next morning, Ivy stormed into my breakfast room at an indecent hour, embraced me, and began apologizing.

"I was very foolish, Emily. I wanted to help you. I thought the plan you'd mentioned was a good one, and that my own reputation was such that I would never be suspected of being an accomplice in this sort of thing. So I went to Lady Elinor bent on telling her this long, convoluted story about how I'd been barraged with rumors of people's infidelities and that I was shocked to see how low the moral fiber of the empire was sinking."

"You told her about Mr. Francis's child?"

"I meant to, Emily, truly I did, but I found that I could not bring myself to do it."

"So what happened? Why were you at her house for so long?"

"While we were taking tea, a letter came for her. It was urgent, so she read it at once. She said that there was a matter of business to which she needed to attend and excused herself, promising that she would return shortly, and she did. When she came back, we drank more tea, and I was overcome with the most dreadful fatigue."

"She must have drugged your tea," I said.

"I believe so. She called for a servant and had me put into a bedroom, where I fell asleep immediately. The next thing I knew, Robert had come for me."

"Did he encounter any difficulties in reaching you?"

"No, none at all. He was quite upset, though, worried that I had put myself in harm's way. Carried me out of the house, Emily, can you imagine? It was magnificent."

The glow on her face made it perfectly clear that it would no longer be necessary for Lord Fortescue to have that conversation with his protégé. Robert would not make the mistake of being an overly considerate husband any time in the immediate future.

"And you, Emily? What happened with you?" I told her the entire story, and she was duly horrified. "You could have been killed."

"No, I was perfectly safe. Inspector Manning was never far away."

"It's all so dreadful. Poor Isabelle. To know that her own mother is capable of such terrible things."

"And all in the name of protecting her daughter," I said. "It's ghastly."

"I do wish there was something we could do for her."

"I've sent her a note this morning, but I don't expect she'll reply." Poor Isabelle was in a precarious situation, but I understood completely that she would not want my help. All the papers would be full of the story of her mother's downfall, and there could be little doubt what the outcome of her trial would be. I only hoped that, as she was a woman, Lady Elinor would be spared from execution. "I wonder if anyone's sent for her brother?"

Inspector Manning called soon after Ivy left, and found me still at breakfast. He knew better this time than to resist my offers of food. He filled a plate and sat across from me.

"She's made a full confession," he said. "She believed your letter was indeed from Mrs. White. Gave Mrs. Brandon laudanum in an attempt to distract you, because she'd started to worry that you were onto the scheme. I don't think there was ever any intention of harming her."

"So Stilleman's death was an accident?" I asked.

"Yes. Lady Elinor only intended to kill Mr. Francis. Stilleman was allowed to take what he wanted from the toiletries in the dressing room, and made the bad choice of selecting the shaving lotion. Jane Stilleman was released from prison this morning. Would you like to go to Richmond and bring Mrs. Francis the news?"

"I would," I said, and for a second time, left the inspector breakfasting at my table.

Beatrice wept when I told her the story. "I had no idea. No idea at all who he was."

"I wish I could offer you some comfort."

"Why didn't he tell me?"

"I don't know. To protect you, I suppose."

"Foolish man!" Her handkerchief already soaked, I gave her mine, which she used to wipe the tears from her face.