Death in the Peerless Pool (35 page)

‘You are accusing me of this woman's murder?'

John hesitated. ‘I believe the final link in the chain was when the truth was learned about her association with the Marquis de Saint Ombre, whom you had met in Paris. I think then you felt you had enough proof to proceed.'

‘Are you saying I killed her?' Lord Anthony repeated.

‘No, it was probably your steward who did so, but I believe you and Toby cooperated. I think Gregg waylaid her crossing the fields to Ratcliff Row on the way home from St Luke's. Then I imagine he took her to a remote spot and beat her to a pulp, then put on the disguise he had brought with him and waited while Toby brought the wheelbarrow from the Pleasure Gardens and left the gate open for him.'

‘You're right,' said a voice from the doorway. ‘That is exactly how I did it, Just as I intended to finish them all.'

‘No,' interjected Lord Anthony, his tone commanding. ‘Don't listen to him. It was I who killed her. I was the one who threw her in. I was the one who put the death sentence on her. Just as she once put it on my grandson, Meredith.'

‘I have heard enough,' John declared decisively, “and I have also heard nothing. Gentlemen, be advised that I do not want you to tell me such a story again. A gallant young man, a young man whom destiny brought low but who achieved splendour in his final moments, confessed to the murders before he put an end to his own short life. That is good enough for me.' He cleared his throat, then said cautiously, ‘You know that Meredith is dead?'

‘My grandson died while he was the Marquis's prisoner in France. The odious creature held several children in a house in Calais. Some perished from his mistreatment. Meredith was one of them. I was shown his grave. I never spoke of it to Ambrosine for she lived in hope, and I could not bring myself to shatter that.'

John shook his head. ‘No, my Lord, you are wrong. Despite what you think, two of the boys did survive and were brought to England. It is my belief that Meredith did not die in France.'

He spoke carefully, neither saying too much nor too little.

Lord Anthony drew himself up. ‘If only that were true.'

‘My Lord, I took the liberty of bringing with me the sole survivor of those two boys whom the Marquis held captive. He thinks he once was given the French name Jacques, he can remember a garden and being brought to this country across the sea. He is a very remarkable young person and I would like you to meet him.'

‘Is he … is it …?' Lord Anthony asked hoarsely.

But before John could say another word there were sounds of confusion from the hall. Ambrosine's voice was raised loud and clear.

‘Oh, Simmons, be careful. You always try to carry too much and end up dropping the parcels.'

John heard Jack's voice. ‘Allow me to help pick them up, my Lady.'

‘Oh, good gracious, and who might you be?'

‘I am here to see Mr John Rawlings, Ma'am. I have arranged to meet him at noon.'

‘What very unusual eyes you have,' John heard Lady Dysart say, and there was a strange note in her voice. ‘Simmons, whose eyes do this young man's remind you of?'

‘Why, yours, my Lady. And Miss Alice's, of course.'

The door flew open and Ambrosine appeared, her face a picture of wonder.

‘Oh, Anthony, Anthony,' she called out. ‘Mr Rawlings gave me his word and he has kept it. He's come back to us! Oh, my darling, Meredith is here at last!'

‘So there's a thing,' said Sir Gabriel, carefully pouring four glasses of champagne despite the rocking and bumping of the hired coach taking them to the grand ball at Westerfield Place, at which Jack the former coachman was being presented to the entire county as the missing grandson of Lord Anthony and Lady Dysart.

‘A wonderful story,' said Coralie, green eyes abrim. ‘How touching. La, it would make a good play.'

Samuel gave an extremely jolly wink. ‘The Dysarts have found their grandson, Jack has found a family home. All's well that ends well, say I.'

‘Shakespeare said it before you,' Coralie answered, smiling.

Sir Gabriel, who looked stunning in a mélange of black and silver fit to dazzle the gaze of mortal man, raised his brows. ‘Bear with me. The boy who died was really their grandson, wasn't he?'

‘Yes, if the birthmark was anything to go by. But then Dr Drake was the first to assure Ambrosine that such marks are not uncommon and also can fade with the passing of the years.'

‘But the Dysarts claimed to recognise Jack by the colour of his eyes, is that correct?'

‘Absolutely.'

‘And how do you account for that?'

‘Happy coincidence, I imagine,' said John, and, draining his. glass, held it out for a refill. Sir Gabriel looked thoughtful. ‘It is certainly a truism that people see what they want to see and believe likewise.'

‘As many a wife has done when she has gone into marriage,' said Coralie, and was somewhat put out when all three men grinned at her instead of taking up the cudgels.

‘D'ye know,' said John's father, raising an elegant brow, ‘Anthony wrote me that even the ghost of Westerfield Place, poor little Alice, has departed.'

‘She wept for her missing child and now, I suppose, she feels he has returned,' Samuel answered.

‘And in a way, he has,' said Coralie.

John was silent, and in the darkness raised his glass in an unspoken toast to Orlando, who had given up his terrible young life so that others might be free to live without fear. And who, with his ultimate sacrifice, had at long last become the person he was truly destined to be.

John Rawlings, Apothecary, was born circa 1731, though his actual parentage is somewhat shrouded in mystery. However, by 1754 he had emerged from obscurity when on 22 August he applied to be made Free of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries. He became a Yeoman of the Society in March, 1755 – the reasons for the delay are interesting but not to be told here – giving his address as number two Nassau Street. Well over a hundred years later, this was the address of H.D. Rawlings Ltd, Soda Water Manufacturers, proving conclusively that John Rawlings was probably the first apothecary to manufacture carbonated waters in this country. His ebullient personality has haunted me for years and now, at last, I am bringing him out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

Chapter Three

1
Eighteenth-century spelling.