Another small kingdom, p.27
Another Small Kingdom, page 27
‘It wasn’t his fault, Molly. He was told just to keep an eye on things.’
‘Yes, and we both know which of his two blasted eyes he used.’
Melford shrugged. If she wanted to vent her spleen on Gregory, he didn’t care much one way or the other. The door opened and Kitty came in.
‘I saw Gregory leaving. What did he say?’
‘Bentley went into Macleod’s house, there were two pistol shots then Bentley came out again. The witless fool just let him walk in and then walk out.’
‘Two shots together or a gap between them?’ Kitty looked at Molly and Melford in turn, but neither answered. ‘Stap me, did neither of you ask?’
Molly said nothing. Melford gave a small shrug of indifference.
‘Does it matter?’
‘Two shots together would both have come from Bentley. Two shots apart could mean someone must have heard Bentley’s shot and taken a pop at him. It would be handy to know, I think, which it was.’
Molly and Melford remained silent. Both knew the question should have been asked.
‘Did you think to ask if Bentley was moving normally when he came out?’
Melford tried to regain some little ground.
‘Why do you ask that?’
‘Because unless he was carrying something with two barrels or a pepper-pot he’d only get one shot. A double barrel is a heavy piece to cart about and a pepper-pot is fine if you’re almost in touching range, but useless even from even a small distance. My guess is Bentley only got one shot off. If I’m right, ask yourselves who the second shot came from?’
Molly answered.
‘Macleod.’
‘Yes, Macleod. And if he hit Bentley it would likely show in the way he moved.’
‘But why does it matter? If the first shot was Bentley’s then Macleod was already too late.’
‘If Macleod was ready with a pistol by him then it means he was expecting something like this to happen. Bentley got his shot off, but if they were ready for him who’s to say what he was shooting at, maybe no more than a bolster stuffed under the sheets. He used a masked lantern I suppose? He couldn’t have gone in blind, he’d need to see what he was doing.’
Molly was beginning to regret her outburst against Gregory. Kitty was asking the right questions, the ones she should have asked but hadn’t, and now she had no answers.
‘I don’t know, I suppose he had a lantern.’
‘Mother of mercy, Molly, what’s got into you? Other than Bentley getting in and out and two shots being fired, do you know anything?’
The reply was surly but honest.
‘No.’
Kitty stood up.
‘Then I’ll go and get Gregory, bring him back and we’ll see what else he knows. You sent him back to find out what he could, you managed that much?’ Molly nodded. ‘Good. Now, we have two ways it can go. One, she’s dead. If that’s the way it is we have to take Macleod and hope she spilled what she knew to him. Two, she’s not dead. If she’s alive then Bentley’s little outing has finished any chance of negotiating, so we’ll have to croak Macleod. It’s the only way we’ll get her from him. While I’m out give your minds, such as they are, to working out what we do once we know the way things have gone.’
Having delivered her summary of the situation Kitty left them and went in pursuit of Gregory.
‘Well, Molly, I think we’ve both just had a good telling off by your maid.’
‘We have and we deserved it. I was a fool and you were a dummy. Well, forget that and let’s do as she says and give some thought to what we do now.’
‘Which is?’
‘We make Macleod the mark. If she’s alive we want him dead, if she’s dead, we want him alive and somewhere we can put the squeeze on him. Either way we want him, and we’ll have to look sharp and go careful. If he was ready for Bentley then I was right and he’s not the booby you took him for.’
‘No, it seems I was wrong, though God knows why he chose to play such a part. And I confess I hadn’t anticipated any such move from Bentley.’
‘No, nor I.’
‘Why did Bentley go for her though? If he wants her dead then that makes him with the French doesn’t it?’
‘Perhaps. If the French think she knows anything they’ll want her mouth stopped all right but I don’t see how he could have been sent after her. He lives here. He’s a respected citizen not somebody sent here to finish her off.’
‘True. But he’s in this, we know that.’
‘Oh, he’s involved all right, but I don’t know how.’
‘Well, whoever he’s working for, he seems to want her dead.’
‘Right, and if he missed tonight he might try again, so we have to move before he does. If she’s not dead and Macleod put any kind of hole in Bentley we’ll have had a mighty big slice of good fortune, and the way things are that’s exactly what we need.’
Chapter Fifty-six
Macleod was furiously busy all morning making preparations for their departure.
He left his house as soon as he knew the offices of his clients would be open. His first visit was to a feed and grain merchant. He stayed ten minutes, talked of nothing in particular, then left, leaving the feed and grain merchant extremely puzzled as to why he had called at all. His next call was on a client who sold farm machinery. He stayed a similar time as on his first visit and once again left the client with no clear idea of why Macleod had chosen to call on him. The third client was an importer-exporter in a substantial way of business. Here he stayed for nearly half an hour and left the client in no doubt whatsoever of what it was he wanted from him. He then went to his own offices and spent an hour giving detailed instructions to his clerk. Then, satisfied that all he could do was done, he returned home.
‘How long you have been, Jean. All the time you were gone I was terrified that someone would come.’
‘I’m sorry, Marie, I had to be sure no one could know what we were planning to do. If I was followed, all they will know is that I went to visit three of my clients and then spent some time at my office.’
Marie made no effort to hide her disappointment and frustration.
‘Mon Dieu, you visit clients? You go to your office? This is not time for business. You said we would go to Rome yet now you …’
‘It was not business, Marie. The third client I visited is a merchant who’s building up his trade in the Mediterranean. He usually has a ship a week going out or coming in. There’s one that leaves for Livorno early tomorrow and he’s given us passage on it. I told my clerk to wait about half an hour after I left the office and then go to the docks and arrange things. Speed in this is vital. We have to get you away before …’ but he decided not to finish the sentence. ‘As I say, speed is vital.’
‘Oh Jean, that is wonderful. When will we know our passage is secured?’
‘Soon I hope, very soon. Now you must go and pack whatever you will need for the voyage.’
‘Thank you, Jean. I am sorry I doubted you.’
‘No matter. My clerk will see that supplies, bedding and all other necessaries for the journey will be delivered on board. After that he will go to the bank, withdraw money and arrange for letters of credit. Then he will come to the house with a carriage. When he does we must be ready.’
‘But if they are watching?’
‘Let them. We shall be out of the house, into the carriage and off to the docks before they can do anything. I hardly think they will have enough men watching the house to mount a kidnapping in broad daylight on a busy street.’ Macleod felt more than a little satisfied with himself. He had been quick and he had been clever. Bentley, Lord Melford and Madame de Metz may be the agents, the ones familiar with intrigue, but had they known what he had done, they would realise that he was not without resource himself. ‘Go now, Marie, and pack what you think you will need.’
Marie left and Macleod stood feeling a little deflated. He had done all that was necessary, now he could do nothing but wait.
He went to the table where his loading materials lay. He gathered them together into the weapons case from which he had laid them out and took them and the pistol to his room. He packed his clothes and other necessities into his trunk and laid the pistol and case carefully on top of his clothes. Having secured the trunk he carried it down the stairs, returned to the living room and waited.
About ten minutes later Marie returned.
‘I have packed a small box. I have put it by your trunk in the hall.’
‘You should have asked me to bring it down for you.’
‘No, I must not be a delicate thing, a doll. Now you need a woman by you. But there is something you can do for me.’
‘Name it.’
‘Would you come and pray with me by Amélie? I sat with her through the night, but now we must leave her here, without benefit of priest or proper burial. She served you faithfully for many years and last night she saved my life by giving her own. There is no way we can try to repay her now except by praying for her soul.’
‘Of course I’ll pray with you.’
‘Thank you.’
They went up to Marie’s room and both knelt down by the bed. They both crossed themselves and Marie began the words of a prayer which Macleod’s mother had often used with him as a child when she took him to mass on Sundays. It was a prayer for the dead. He joined in and when he did Marie stopped and looked at him.
‘You know this prayer?’ Macleod nodded. ‘Are you Catholic?’
‘Yes, though a bad Catholic these days, one who hasn’t seen the inside of a church for many a year.’
‘Ever since your wife and child were killed when you were away in the army?’
‘Yes. How did you know?’
‘Amélie told me about how they died from British cannon fire. You had put them where you thought they would be safe but it was not so. They died. She told me of your grief and how it turned to hate for the British. We talked so much about you. She liked to talk about your childhood, your wife, your child. She cared for you very much, Jean.’
Macleod was silent for a moment.
‘I didn’t realise.’
Marie was silent for a moment, then turned.
‘Must we leave her here like this? Could we not do something?’
‘No, to make any arrangements would be too dangerous.’
‘I see.’
Marie hung her head and Macleod forced himself to think.
‘But when we are safely on board our ship and ready to leave, I could send a note to my clerk telling him that Amélie is here and asking him to make whatever arrangements he can. To use his own judgement.’
‘A mass, a requiem?’
‘Amélie was shot, murdered. I cannot ask him to go beyond the law, but if he trusts me, if he is prepared to believe that I could never have …’
‘Of course he trusts you, Jean, as I trust you. He will take care of Amélie for your sake. Now we must pray for her soul. Until you can send your note it is all we can do.’
They began the prayer again and when it was finished they knelt in silence until their thoughts and prayers were interrupted by a ringing at the front door.
Macleod rose quickly.
‘Come, Marie, that will be my clerk with the carriage.’
The dry clerk stood smiling at the door, beyond him was a covered wagon.
‘You told me discretion was all in this matter, sir, so I used my judgement. Had I been followed then a carriage might have given a warning of what was afoot. But a wagon, sir, is no more than a wagon. Who would notice one more in the street?’
Macleod turned to Marie.
He was concerned that such a form of transport might create a repeat in her of his New Orleans experience. But Marie seemed quite unconcerned. She looked past him at the clerk.
‘Tell him to be quick, Jean, to load our luggage so we may be gone.’
But the clerk needed no interpretation.
‘Hi, driver, luggage here.’
And the carter climbed from his seat and began to manhandle the trunk and box into the wagon.
The clerk continued as the carter worked.
‘You and the lady can go straight to the docks and board at once. I’ve arranged that bedding and supplies be brought on board for you. I’m afraid it will not be a comfortable journey for the lady, but I did the best I could.’
Macleod turned to Marie.
‘Get your cloak and bonnet, we leave at once.’ He turned to the clerk. ‘You have everything I asked for?’
The clerk handed him the small leather satchel he had been holding.
‘Yes, sir, all in here and just as you asked, money in gold and silver and letters of credit good at any bank in Europe.’
‘Well done. I’ll get my cloak and hat and we’ll be on our way.’
The driver, having loaded the luggage, resumed his seat as Marie came to the door wearing a cloak and bonnet. She allowed the clerk to assist her into the back of the wagon while Macleod pulled the front door of the house shut, locked it, then handed the key to the clerk.
‘Goodbye, sir, and good luck to you both. I’ll be sure and look after things here.’
Macleod climbed up beside the carter and looked down at the clerk.
‘Thank you, you’ll not find me ungrateful when I return, I promise you.’
‘Tush, tush, sir, no need for that. Now, off you go,’ and he called across to the driver, ‘drive on. To the docks and make all the haste you can.’
Chapter Fifty-seven
The driver twitched the reins and touched the horse with his whip and the wagon began to move off. The clerk watched them for a minute then moved off himself in the opposite direction.
A small way up the street a figure emerged from an alleyway and watched the carriage leave. It was a stocky figure in a tall hat with large fists clenched at his side. He watched the clerk walk away from the house and then set off at a brisk pace in the direction the carriage had taken.
An hour later the same stocky figure was once again making a report to Molly, Kitty and Lord Melford.
‘Sails early tomorrow, bound for Leghorn, Italy. Captain got his orders from the owner this morning sudden like. Seems he’s a business client of Macleod’s. Clerk did the arrangements so it looks like I watched the wrong man. They’re clean away I’d say.’
‘Dammit, Gregory, couldn’t you have done something?’
‘Like what, sir?’
‘Stopped them in some way.’
‘What would you suggest, sir? Hauling them out of the wagon and overpowering them on the street?’
‘Don’t be so damned impertinent with me …’
‘Leave it, Melford, it’s no good blaming Gregory. Macleod’s been too sharp for us once again. I’m damned if I can make him out. One minute he behaves like a fool and the next he’s as sharp as a razor. What do you think, Kitty?’
‘Well, they’re running and I think Gregory’s right, they’re clean away. I’d say it’s finished here for us and I don’t see that we can get anywhere by trying to follow them. It could be days or weeks before we could get passage on another ship, and if we got one then what would we do when we got to Italy? We’ve no idea why they’re going or what they’ll do. No, they’re clean away, all right.’ Kitty paused a moment. ‘That being the case, unless you can come up with something, Molly, I’ll take what money you think is fair and be on my way.’
Molly took Kitty’s words very calmly.
‘Is that how you want it? I can’t say this country has been kind to us. You sure staying here is better than going back?’
‘I think it will be, Molly. I don’t see any future for me back in London. Trent isn’t the forgiving kind and I don’t fancy turning up empty-handed. His idea of fair payment may have more to do with my neck than my purse. I like what I’ve seen here in Boston and nothing is known against me. You never know, some kind man might take a fancy to me and make an honest woman of me.’
Molly laughed.
‘Don’t ask for miracles, girl, they only happen in the Bible.’
Disbelief struggled with anger in Melford’s voice.
‘What are you two women talking about? She can’t just walk out. Of course we must go after them. Dammit we are in the service of His Majesty’s Government.’
Kitty gave him a pitying look.
‘Service of the Government, my arse. I’m here because it was a choice between this and the rope. Molly’s here for the money and why you’re here, God alone knows, but whatever we were here for as far as I’m concerned it’s over.’ She turned again to Molly. ‘Quick partings are best so I’ll get my things and be on my way.’
‘As you like.’ Molly walked across to a drawer out of which she took a leather bag. She opened it and counted out some coins. Then she put the bag away, came back to Kitty and held out her hand. ‘That’s fair I think?’
Kitty took the coins and counted them.
‘It’ll get me started. Why not stay over here yourself? Like I say, Trent isn’t the forgiving kind and you’ll be going back empty-handed.’
‘You’re forgetting my kid.’
Kitty gave a shrug, gave Melford one last brief look and left the room. Melford watched her go then turned to Molly.
‘Is that it? Does she just walk away?’
‘What did you want her to do, sing a song and do a dance? She’s right, we’re finished over here. They’re away and it would be useless to follow.’
‘You mean give up?’
‘I mean go back to London. We won’t be the only ones looking for what Trent wants. Maybe somebody else fared better than we did. Go to the docks and find out when we can sail for England.’
‘I must protest. There must be something we can do.’
‘Like what?’
Melford bent his mind to the problem but without result. As a last effort he resorted to bluster.
‘Our plain duty is to …’
‘My plain duty will be to give your backside a good kick if you don’t do as I tell you. We’re for England now and the sooner the better. Oh, and when we get there, I’ll give you the honour of reporting our progress over here to Mister Trent. Like Kitty said, he’s not a man who takes bad news well and he might decide to vent his spleen on the messenger. Still, you’re a big strong man, Melford, and a Lord too, so Trent doesn’t worry you, does he? Now shove off and get us on the first ship out of here bound for England.’
