The Angel Court Affair (Thomas Pitt 30)
Read The Angel Court Affair (Thomas Pitt 30) Online
Authors: Anne Perry
Copyright © 2014 Anne Perry
The right of Anne Perry to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
First published as an Ebook by Headline Publishing Group in 2014
All characters in this publication – apart from the obvious historical figures – are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library
eISBN: 978 1 4722 1946 6
Jacket photograph by William Henry Fox Talbot, courtesy of National Media Museum/Science & Society Picture Library (man © London Stereoscopic Company/Getty Images) Jacket design by Craig Fraser
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Contents
Praise for Anne Perry’s novels
Author Photograph © Diane Hinds
Anne Perry is a
New York Times
bestselling author noted for her memorable characters, historical accuracy and exploration of social and ethical issues. Her two series, one featuring Thomas Pitt and one featuring William Monk, have been published in multiple languages. Anne Perry has also published a successful series based around World War One and the Reavley family, and the standalone novel
The Sheen on the Silk.
Anne Perry was selected by
The Times
as one of the twentieth century’s ‘100 Masters of Crime’.
The Inspector Pitt series
Bedford Square
Half Moon Street
The Whitechapel Conspiracy
Southampton Row
Seven Dials
Long Spoon Lane
Buckingham Palace Gardens
Betrayal at Lisson Grove
Dorchester Terrace
Midnight at Marble Arch
Death on Blackheath
The Angel Court Mystery
The William Monk series
The Face of a Stranger
A Dangerous Mourning
Defend and Betray
A Sudden, Fearful Death
The Sins of the Wolf
Cain His Brother
Weighed in the Balance
The Silent Cry
Whited Sepulchres
The Twisted Root
Slaves and Obsession
A Funeral in Blue
Death of a Stranger
The Shifting Tide
Dark Assassin
Execution Dock
Acceptable Loss
A Sunless Sea
Blind Justice
Death on Blackheath
Blood on the Water
World War I series
No Graves as Yet
Shoulder the Sky
Angels in the Gloom
At Some Disputed Barricade
We Shall Not Sleep
Christmas Novellas
A Christmas Journey
A Christmas Visitor
A Christmas Guest
A Christmas Secret
A Christmas Beginning
A Christmas Grace
A Christmas Promise
A Christmas Odyssey
A Christmas Homecoming
A Christmas Garland
A Christmas Hope
Tathea
Come Armageddon
The One Thing More
The Sheen on the Silk
When Commander Thomas Pitt is ordered to protect a young woman visiting London from Spain, he cannot see why this is a job for Special Branch. When she disappears in the dead of night from Angel Court, however, he is faced with a dangerous mystery. Sofia preached new, and some say blasphemous, religious ideals, and her life had been threatened. But Pitt senses there is some deeper and more dangerous reason for her kidnap – if that is what it is.
Three men are caught up in the hunt for Sofia – her cousin, a banker for the Church of England, a popular and charismatic politician, and a journalist who seems determined to goad Pitt to the truth. Each seem to be hiding something, and as the search for answers stretches from London to Spain, Pitt knows that time is running out, and the nation’s security could be at stake . . .
The
Angel Court Affair
is the thirtieth superb mystery featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt from the master of Victorian crime.
‘Give her a good murder and a shameful social evil, and Anne Perry can write a Victorian mystery that would make Dickens' eyes pop out’
New York Times Book Review
‘Redolent with Victorian atmosphere, from the hypocritical snobbishness to the rigid social conventions of the time’
Tangled Web
There is a freshness about [Perry's] writing which makes it truly exceptional and I was gripped until the final page.
Death on Blackheath
was one of the best books I've read this year and I cannot recommend it highly enough’
Eurocrime
‘Rich in plot development, believable characters and period detail, this entry will only add to the already sizable ranks of Perry’s admirers’
Publishers Weekly
‘That rare breed of novel that’s a page-turning thriller yet literary’ Jeffery Deaver
‘[An] engrossing page-turner . . . There’s no one better at using words to paint a scene and then fill it with sounds and smells than Anne Perry’
Boston Globe
‘Elegantly constructed and nail-bitingly tense’
Good Book Guide
‘Stirs your conscience as well as your soul’
Northern Echo
To Michael Ducker
PITT STARED at the Home Office minister with disbelief. He was standing in the quiet, sunlit room in Whitehall, the traffic outside inaudible.
‘A Spanish saint?’ he said, struggling to keep his voice more or less level.
‘She’s not Spanish, she’s English,’ Sir Walter replied patiently. ‘She merely lives in Spain. Toledo, I’m told. She is here to visit her family.’
‘Then what is that to do with Special Branch, sir?’ Pitt asked. Special Branch had been created initially to deal with the Irish Problem, and now in the spring of 1898, its remit had broadened greatly to address anything that was considered to be a threat to the security of the nation.
All Europe was in turmoil as the century drew towards its close. The unrest was escalating and becoming more open. Anarchist bombings occurred in one place or another every few weeks. In France the Dreyfus affair was raging on towards a climax no one could predict. There were even rumours that the Government would fall.
Addressing the threat of assassination to a dignitary visiting England was among the duties of Special Branch, but not the convenience of a touring nun, or whatever she was, as Pitt was about to point out.
‘There have been letters containing threats against her life,’ Sir Walter cut him off, his face completely expressionless. ‘Her opinions have caused some concern, and . . . anger. Unfortunately she has been rather too free in expressing them.’
‘I thought she hadn’t arrived yet,’ Pitt argued.
‘She hasn’t,’ Sir Walter agreed. ‘She is due in Southampton this evening and in London tomorrow. We need to be prepared.’
‘It’s a police problem,’ Pitt said tersely. ‘I doubt anyone here will care enough to argue with her, let alone cause a nuisance. But if they do, then the local police can take care of it.’
Sir Walter sighed, as if this were a tedious argument he had had before. ‘Pitt, this is not a suggestion. You may think that many people are apathetic as to the exact details of religious doctrine, and only deeply committed Christians will argue with her, and we trust that they at least know how to behave within the law.’ He raised white eyebrows. ‘Probably that they will even act with Christian charity. If so, you are a fool! Some men will argue more passionately about religion than anything else on earth. It represents order, sanity, the inevitable victory of good over evil. More important and judgemental than that, it confirms to them their place in creation.’ He smiled bleakly. ‘Somewhere near the top. The appearance of modesty forbids the very top. Something has to be held back for God.’ His smile faded and his eyes were grim. ‘Threaten that, and you threaten everything.’
He shook his head. ‘For God’s sake, man, look at how religion has torn us apart throughout history! Start with the Crusades, and the Inquisition in Spain, the persecution of the Cathars and Waldenses in the rest of Europe, the massacres of the Huguenots in France. We’ve burned both Catholics and Protestants ourselves. You think it couldn’t happen again? If Dreyfus were not a Jew, do you think this whole monstrous affair would ever have started, never mind reached this proportion?’
Pitt drew breath to argue, and found the words frozen on his tongue.
It was barely the end of April. Earlier in the month President McKinley had asked the United States Congress for a declaration of war against Spain. Cuba had been seeking independence from Spain for many years. The United States had begun to intervene in the dispute, seeing an opportunity to gain power and position, and when the battleship USS
Maine
had been mysteriously blown up in Havana harbour, the powerful US press openly blamed Spain. On 21 April Congress had ordered a naval blockade of all Cuban harbours, demanding that Spain surrender control of Cuba. On 25 April, four days ago, America had declared war. It was the first time they had done such a thing in their brief, idealistic existence when they had settled the land, built, explored and developed industry. But this new desire for expansion could grow to involve other naval powers, even Britain, if America chose to make it so.
Now suddenly it was expanding its armies and its navy and looking for possessions overseas, as far away as Hawaii, and the Philippines. If anything went wrong with this Spanish woman’s visit, it could persuade the Spanish that Britain was on the American side in this new war, and declare war on Britain themselves. A chilling thought.