Posted on: 2011-04-15

Chapter 16

Mr and Mrs Weston's coach arrived at half past eight the next morning; Jane had scarcely risen from her light and unappetising breakfast in bed to settle her nausea. They must have been on the road before dawn!

Jane embraced Mrs Weston and offered her cheek to Mr Weston to kiss.

"Oh my dear Jane!" said Mrs Weston "We should have come earlier only Mr Knightley so kindly offered; Anna has been fractious of late."

Jane held the older woman's hands.

"Oh my very dear Mrs Weston, it is good to see you today; I know you will wish to be back to Anna, for I should hate to leave Frances. And you must take great care of yourself!" she glanced at the gentle curves of Mrs Weston's gravid figure.

"I had to come however; poor dear Frank!" said Mrs Weston. "What can you tell us? Mr Knightley was unable to say much. You look tired, my poor dear!"

Jane flushed.

"I must break to you the news that only in the last few days I have become certain that I had become with child before Frank died" she said "I have written as much to Mr Jasper Churchill. I do not know if he will come for the funeral or not; it is rather short notice, but even in this weather it is wise to get a – a waterlogged body underground rapidly."

"Dear God! Did Frank then DROWN?" demanded Mr Weston, who looked haggard; as well he might, thought Jane, over the death of, as things stood, his only son.

"Oh my dear papa-in-law! Let me have tea sent to us and I will tell you all I may" said Jane. "It is a painful story I fear; for Frank was induced by who knows what threats to engage in less than honest practice; and as Bow Street believe that I may be at risk also I have an Officer of the Law – they do not themselves like to be called Bow Street Runners – staying here to protect me."

Mr Weston looked grave.

"They may be rough fellows; many used to be professional free lance thief takers and they can be unsavoury" he said

"Oh, no, Mr Armitage is perfectly gentlemanly in his manner" Jane assured him hastily "He was invalided out of the army; he was wounded at Corunna. I have nothing whatever to complain about him and he has been very good in lending me escort and I believe he has also seen to reassuring tradesmen that when probate is sorted out all will be paid; Fowler you understand just damns tradesmen for impudence, being used to a household that ran on credit. I dislike it intensely but….. there have been problems."

"Frank outran the constable by a long measure soon after you were married; care to tell me about it dear Jane?" asked Mr Weston.

Jane flushed.

"I believe he had been gambling" she almost whispered "Though he seems to have sorted that out. Oh DEAR Mr and Mrs Weston, you must be told about Dorothy; she is a mere child under the makeup, but she grieves most sincerely…"

"Jane, dear, are you saying that Frank had a mistress and she has foisted herself on you?" asked Mrs Weston gently.

"HUSSY!" said Mr Weston.

"Oh no, it is NOT like that!" said Jane. "I do not know in what way Frank found her more congenial then I; but I went to her lodgings and brought her back here for she was under foul attack by one whom Mr Armitage believes may have been involved in killing Frank; but who unfortunately used the heavy traffic to escape. She is rough of speech and a trifle vulgar but not in any ill natured way; I should be less ashamed by far to claim friendship with Dorothy than with certain of those who might be accepted anywhere in Highbury" she added with some spirit.

"Well if such is true, my dear, we shall greet her and make up our own minds; will we not, my dear?" said Mrs Weston appealing firmly to her husband.

He grunted.

"If you say so" he said.

Jane filled the Westons in on the edited story that showed Frank in the light of being more sinned against than sinning; it did no good to unnecessarily hurt his father and stepmother. Explaining away a mistress was hard; but perhaps he had been persuaded that all smart young men needed a mistress as well as a wife. So Jane put it to the Westons.

Dorothy looked such a woebegone and frightened child over the idea of going to a funeral that Mrs Weston warmed to her; Miss Bates had taken the young Paphian under her wing and Dorothy looked nothing like the Westons' expectations. Her rapidly sewn plain black morning gown in kerseymere trimmed with a few bunches of black ribbon was just as one might expect of a young girl's gown; and it might readily be assumed that she was a relative of the family.

The funeral was to take place in that society church, St George's Hanover Square, being the parish church of the neighbourhood; and the funerary procession would then go to St George's Fields for the interment. The funeral having been arranged by Mr Chorleigh, Jane expected no hitch; the purpose of hiring solicitors to organise things was to ensure that there would BE no hitch.

Certainly the coaches with their magnificent black horses decked out with black plumes arrived in plenty of time for the mourning party. All the servants were to go to the funeral; returning to the house during the interment to make sure that all was ready for the mourners in the big ground floor reception room that was rarely used since Jane had set out a smaller room on the first floor as a dining room.

The procession trotted sedately to the big Palladian church where so many society weddings took place; it seemed large and intimidating as they alighted by the six soaring Corinthian columns of the frontage.

The interior was very plain; and more beautiful for permitting the architecture to be seen, the barrel vaulted roof a pure and simple soaring arch. The altarpiece was a painting of The Last Supper by William Kent; though it was hard to see from the high box pews. Jane was glad to be hidden away in a pew, with Miss Bates on one side of her, Dorothy on Miss Bates' other side, and Mr and Mrs Weston on Jane's other side. Caleb had gone with the servants; but was loitering outside a pew. He wanted to see who else might turn up; on the offchance that Jane or Dorothy should be under observation by the murderers.

The service was not to be conducted by the rector, Robert Hodgson MA, who was also Dean of Chester; a man of great importance. As there was some impropriety concerning the manner of Frank Churchill's death the great man had asked another man of the cloth,, one Martin Ferry, to be his vicar for the occasion. Jane could not blame him; and it was some relief not to have to listen to the usual eulogies from a great man like a Dean.

The main obsequies passed over Jane's head almost as if it were happening to somebody else; she made the correct responses at the right time and stood or kneeled when she was supposed to stand or kneel but had she been asked to describe the service she would have been hard pressed to do so. Dorothy was sobbing quietly into a handkerchief; Mr and Mrs Weston and Miss Bates all made resort to their own kerchiefs from time to time; but Jane felt nothing. All she could think was that she hoped it was the correct coffin and that they were not praying over a stranger. Or – a fantastic and whimsical thought! – that Frank had somehow been used one last time and his coffin be used to store and hide stolen jewellery!

I am become too fanciful, Jane told herself severely. It is akin to hysteria and unladylike.

She composed herself firmly; and was ready to go with the others, now joined by the clerks and solicitors of Chorleigh, Wright and Jekyll, to go to the graveside.

And Caleb was there to give her a reassuring smile and to shake his head; he managed to whisper, as he handed her up into the carriage,

"Nobody more suspicious than those Friday-faced word mongers" nodding at the solicitors.

Jane bit back a hysterical giggle. Trust Mr Armitage to be able to make her smile with an irreverent description!

The day was cold and wet with sleet in the rain; and Jane was glad that she had a dark pelisse to wear and that she had an older one too for Dorothy. Miss Bates was bundled well up in shawls as they stood at the graveside for the final obsequies.
The coffin was lowered on ropes by the four hefty pall bearers; the time honoured words were at last all spoken; the first handful of earth thrown in as the appropriate words were said by the parson; and then the mourners might leave and let the sexton do his job of filling the grave in.

Again Caleb's strong arm was there for support, not just for Jane but for Dorothy and particularly for Miss Bates.

"We want to get Miss Bates in swiftly" said Caleb. "Here, Dorothy my girl, you're a good gal; you sneak Miss Bates up to the parlour in front of the fire and get her some rugs and a hot toddy; Molly will help you in the kitchen. She don't need to do the polite to them fellows from the office."

"'Course I will, Mr Armitage" said Dorothy.

Jane reflected again how thoughtful and how clever he was; Aunt Hetty was fagged to death and frozen and needed taking care of – that the widow might not do for needing to be on display. And that kept Aunt Hetty looked after and too placed Dorothy out of the way where nobody might upset or embarrass her by asking too much about her. She smiled at Caleb.

Caleb reflected ruefully that when a man who has been asked not to speak of his feelings receives so dazzling a smile from the woman who has rapidly become the centre of his world it is both heaven on earth and sheer torture not to shout for joy and kneel to offer his heart and hand to her forthwith.

Dorothy duly saw Miss Bates to the comfort of the fire; and on finding that she preferred tea to a hot toddy went down to make a pot and, as she described it to the little lady, 'prigged some eats for them too which would do them more good than napping their bibs'.

It may be said that Miss Bates had very little idea of the meaning of much of this idiom beyond being vaguely aware that napping the bib was a vulgar euphemism for crying; but smiled kindly on Dorothy and delighted her with another long tale of Mrs Jane's cleverness when she was a little girl.

Chapter 17

"I should be obliged for a word with you and Mr Armitage, Mrs Churchill" said Fowler quietly. "A matter arising from watching them interlopin' footmen as you might say."

"Will it wait until I have bid Mr and Mrs Weston 'Godspeed' when they leave?" asked Jane. Fowler considered.

"Yes ma'am; Mrs Ketch and I have it well in hand. But if you don't mind I shall seek out Mr Armitage; he said he was going to check over all the house just in case."

"Send Molly to look for him" said Jane. "She can leave her duties running errands for the footmen."

Fowler gave a little bow and withdrew.

"Is there a problem Jane? Should we stay?" asked Mrs Weston anxiously, coming over to Jane.

"Oh nothing serious my dear Ma'am; just a little matter arising from the tensions between my servants and those we hired in for the day; Fowler felt I should be apprised of a potential upset. He is dealing with it" said Jane.

"He sounds an invaluable man" said Mrs Weston.

"He is; he should be promoted to butler by rights" said Jane "Well we shall see how the finances go when all has been sorted out. I should like to give him due recognition for his support and aid; he has risen to the occasion very well."

She saw Mr and Mrs Weston out to their carriage; the mews had not yet been hired out so their coachman had been able to stable the horses during the funeral. It might be nice to have a coach; but on the other hand it would also be nice to have the rent on the mews over the Season which, thought Jane, was going to bring in more than the cost of the odd hackney carriage. One had to be hard headed over these things. If she had only thought of it they could have hired out some of the unused space last season; but doubtless Frank would not have heard of it.

Well he was buried; and if the worst came to the worst she might sell this fine house, or again, let it for the season, and perhaps rather than being a governess she might sew. The wages were lower but the abuses less. And with the experience she had gained copying modish gowns she might get a position with a modiste not merely take in sewing. If she let the house complete with Mrs Ketch, Fowler and Molly they would keep their positions; and though it would break her heart to send her away, Frances might go with Annie to stay with the Westons. Yes, there was a way around every potential problem.

And the problem would be in the way that Mr Churchill took his nephew's death, troubles, and hasty funeral. She had written to him straight away on Monday; it must travel two hundred miles. That would take some twenty five hours; the full day round. He would have got the letter Tuesday evening. Of course he would want to post down; he had his own chaise, he would probably however hire post horses at each inn for a speedier rate of travel but he would not travel day and night as the mail did. Indeed he would almost certainly not set forth until the Wednesday; being elderly he would not travel more than six hours a day for he was not fond of the motion; and he would not travel on the morrow, being Sunday; so in all probability he would arrive on Monday. It would be embarrassing if he DID push on hard enough to have arrived just in time to miss the funeral today; but if he did, that was just too bad. Jane was quite out of charity with Uncle Jasper, who should have apprised her that his nephew was in financial difficulties.

She might now see what difficulties Fowler had encountered whilst the footmen – one less than there should be she noted – cleared away.

She left the solicitors and clerks enjoying their meal at the expense of another and slipped away.

Caleb grinned at Jane; he and Fowler had a grimy and well trussed footman between them.

"Ah, Mrs Churchill" said Caleb "Thanks to the vigilance of Mr Fowler here, we have a would-be thief; whom Fowler caught creeping out of the coal cellar."

"What did he think to steal in there, Mr Armitage?" asked Jane.

Caleb chuckled.

"Ah, not so much to steal nowise" he said "But dahn in the dark he found a certain trapdoor, with certain bolts on it which he thought to loosen and draw back; so later his villyunous friends might come in to prig anythink wot took their fancy, ain't that so, Jimmy boy? James Ripon is what this 'ere dubber of jiggers, that's an opener of doors, is called; account o' how Mr Fowler has all their names to sign off that they came and did their work satisfactory-like. Which nowise this cully seems to have done; looks like he's definitely on the ken-slumming lay."

"I don't understand all that cant" said James Ripon sullenly "If you arsts me lidy, him wot speak the cant is the villain, tryin' to put it onto me."

"Hoh well you prize rogue, let me put you right about!" said Fowler "It being me what had followed you about sneakin' into rooms you had no business to poke into; and then into the coal cellar. And Mr Armitage here tumbled to what you was doin' in there, me bein' innocent enough to think you had been light fingered and were hidin' stuff in there. Well, I nearly locked him in; and I'm right glad I didn't, Madam, for he'd of slipped right through the hatch!"

"What did you do?" asked Jane "And really I am filled with admiration for your resourcefulness, Fowler".

Fowlers immobile face actually cracked into a grin.

"I 'it the b- er - basket on the 'ead wiv a skillet" he said, losing all pretensions to his well cultivated accent as he strove not to swear in front of the mistress of the house.

"Oh very well done" said Jane. "Have you managed to find out if he is working alone or a part of some thieving gang?"

"He SAYS he's working alone" said Caleb "But I ain't sure I believe him; he ain't got the tread of a man as can crack a crib and nab trinkets, moveables and such withaht that the 'ole 'ouse wakes up. A caw-handed lolpoop he is; or he was when he was handing round eats earlier, clumsy and lazy you'd say."

"He's also the fellow who was ogling up Juliet and spoilin' her reputation so he is Madam" said Mrs Ketch.

"Ah, apparently a new way of er slumming the ken" said Jane gravely.

Caleb grinned.

"And about all he's good for; HE ain't no bowman-prig. That's a top flight thief" he said.

"Mr Armitage, I don't think you should be teaching Mrs Churchill cant" said Fowler disapprovingly.

"No, likely I should not" said Caleb.

"I find it quite fascinating actually" said Jane "When you get into the swing of the argot, Mr Armitage you might as well not even be speaking English."

"That's the general idea, Ma'am" said Caleb "So that swell–coves and swell-morts don't understand and then they can't whiddle the scrap."

"Tell anyone?" guessed Jane.

"Precisely" said Caleb.

"What do we do, hand him over to the watch?" asked Jane.

"I think so" said Caleb "But since there's such a lot to do he might as well be locked away for now and we'll see to it in the morning…. If we can be bothered on the Sabbath. Locked into one of the storerooms you don't use much ma'am, he won't be able to cause any harm; Fowler and me will search him as well in case he has any bessies, that's lockpicks. Unless he feels like being a milch-kine to give up his chums? No? Ah well" as Ripon shook his head. Then the prisoner spat an epithet at him and Caleb cuffed him, roaring in anger, "You slubberdegullion; Mrs Ketch, I pray you some soap for his filthy mouth" whereupon he proceeded to well soap Ripon's mouth until no epithet could arise from it.

"Effective" said Jane.

"ARMY tactic" said Caleb "Not that we was a mealy-mouthed bunch nowise; but them as swore in front of orficer's wives, well that were different; and thought themselves lucky if the swell mort didn't know what they was saying, account of that'd mean a flogging. C'mon you; Fowler and me will see you abram and check your duds and anywhere else fer that matter like the northwest passage" he added ominously to Ripon, pulling the false footman to his feet and propelling him firmly out of the door. Fowler took off his jacket meaningfully and started rolling up his sleeves as he followed Caleb.

"Dear me" said Jane to Mrs Ketch "I believe I shall be glad to remain in ignorance of what they intend."

"Well Madam, that's what I feel too, but I can't say I feel much sympathy for that nasty piece of work" said Mrs Ketch.

"Nor I" said Jane, reflecting that Ripon was either the result of a very long coincidence or was associated with those who had tortured and killed her husband. And whatever her feelings about Frank it was a matter of principle.

Mr Chorleigh was looking around for Jane when she returned to the reception room.

"Ah, Mrs Churchill; I wondered where you might be" he said. Though it was a statement it was almost worded as a question. Jane bridled.

"Mr Chorleigh, when a lady who is, as I wrote in my last communication to you, in a delicate condition and who has been burying her husband, leaves the room for a short while I consider it ill-bred of anyone to make comment or draw attention to the fact" she said coldly. "As it happens I had also to deal with a small domestic crisis; one of the hired footmen was caught stealing. My man Fowler and Mr Armitage are seeing to the matter but correctly Fowler felt I should be apprised of the occurrence. Which is, frankly, nothing that needs discussing with you either as the Churchill solicitor nor as Frank's employer. You are of course wishful to take your leave; thank you for coming to attend the funeral, your support has been appreciated. One of the footmen here will get your cloak" she made a sign to one of the men in attendance upon the guests who ran off.

Mr Chorleigh had intended to lecture Mrs Churchill on a number of matters – not least leaving her guests – but dubbed ill-bred and effectively nosy he could only gasp and take the firmly proffered little hand to kiss, by which time he was being enveloped in his cloak and his beaver and cane handed to him by a footman and Jane had carefully drifted away.

Mr Chorleigh made her itch to do something unladylike.

StClair Despard grinned at her.

"Nice handling of the old man, Ma'am" he said.

"Why Mr Despard I fail to grasp your meaning" said Jane demurely.

He gave a crack of laughter which he hastily turned into a cough; laughing at a funeral and at the widow at that was not at all the thing!

"Why Mrs Churchill, I would say that you are a complete hand; had you any ideas about the writing your husband was doing?"

"Mr Despard, that is a matter for the officer of Bow Street; and not to be generally discussed" said Jane "I appreciate your curiosity; but unless Mr Armitage is prepared to share information with you, you must, I fear, learn to curb it."

"I shall be dished in that desire then" said Mr Despard gloomily. "He's close-mouthed; for I already asked him."

"Then to try to gain information from me was highly improper" said Jane.

"Of course it was, ma'am; I'm in training to be a solicitor" said Mr Despard "No trick too low; fiat justiciam ruat caelorum or as we mistranslate it, so justice be done however low the worms under the sky may crawl."

"You are a witty man Mr Despard" said Jane "But if you will take advice, do not permit wit to outweigh judgement."

He looked at her thoughtfully.

"That is a most profound statement ma'am; one I shall endeavour to always remember" he said. "I shall be relieving you of my presence now; your servant" and he carried her hand to his lips for a briefly punctilious salute.

"That young would-be black-box kept you amused" said Caleb to Jane as the other clerks filed out in rapid succession. "Did you tell him anything?"

"Only to apply to you as the proper person to know what to tell him" said Jane with a modest, downcast look. "He is an amusing rattle; when he grows up enough to learn discretion and tact he will perhaps make a good solicitor."

"Oh" said Caleb. "I was going to warn you that he was a little immature; but I see you realise that."

"Why Mr Armitage, did you think I was FLIRTING?" said Jane. "And on the day of my late husband's funeral?"

Caleb flushed.

"I – I do apologise" he said.

Jane laid a hand on his arm.

"I should not tease you my dear friend" she said "But I feel I do need a touch of levity to deal with this awful day; and I should apologise to you for doing so. For in other circumstances one might have read your behaviour as showing jealousy."

"I'm damnably jealous, Jane-girl" said Mr Armitage "And all I want is to protect you from unctuous chaw-bacons like Chorleigh. And please forget I spoke, on this day of all days."

"Mr Armitage…." said Jane, feeling a little light headed "I think we should discuss other, safer topics."

"Yes ma'am" said Caleb.

But she had not given him a set-down for using her name.

Posted on: 2011-04-21

Chapter 18

Jane was extremely glad to get to bed; it had been a tiring day, and made more so by Frances, who had sensed, in the way small children do, the tension in the atmosphere. In the end Jane had asked Annie to fetch Mr Armitage to the nursery to bounce Frances about until she was giggling wildly; and then the baby was happy enough to take her bath without screaming and going stiff and went to bed readily. Jane had apologised.

"She knows I feel tense and blue-devilled; I expect it makes her fear I will drop her in the water" she said "Annie does most things for her; but she is my daughter and I wanted some time with her; I have not seen her all day with this miserable funeral."

"Why Mrs Churchill, consider the impropriety of a MERRY funeral" quipped Caleb with a perfectly straight face.

She had laughed a little and sighed.

"In truth, though I am glad it is all over, I fear a little what Mr Churchill might say about my not waiting for him" she said.

"Tell him to go to the devil; if he'd been a decent father-figure to his nephew he'd have posted down to find out why the cub was in such debt in the first place and put him right-about" said Caleb forcefully.

"You are quite right, Caleb….Armitage" said Jane. "Oh HOW I loathe confrontations; still if he cuts Frances and me off without a penny, we might raise enough to rent a small house and enough to live on just by letting this house; and I can always sew."

"You will not sew, Mrs Churchill" said Caleb forcefully "I will not see you be a slavey to those damned supercilious old crows!"

"Mr Armitage; it is not right that we should discuss yet the alternative that you are on the verge of suggesting" said Jane.
"And I am far better able to keep my self respect by sewing than as a governess. I thank you for the aid with Frances; and I bid you good night for I too shall retire early."

He bowed and left her; and thus Jane was lying in bed, extremely glad of the soft goose feather mattress and the sweet fresh aroma of the lavender-scented linen sheets caressing her tired body.

But she did not sleep.

The big, ungainly figure of Caleb Armitage would insist on intruding before her eyes when she closed them; and the errant and shocking thought that his strong arms would be extremely comforting.

Jane dozed fitfully; but was awake in an instant when she heard a noise downstairs. Her bedroom was at the front; Frank liked to be on the street and she had given in, though she would have preferred the quiet of a room overlooking the garden that would remind her of Highbury. And she had had far better things to do than to worry about changing her sleeping chamber. She pulled on a robe and thrust her feet into her dainty slippers and hastily sparked the flint and tinder to light her candle.

Caleb Armitage was coming down the stairs as she emerged from her chamber. He held a finger to his lips and indicated that she should return to her own room. Jane stood back to let him pass, but she shook her head.

"I need to see" she whispered.

"Then stay well back you brave little idiot" said Caleb.

Somehow the adjective brave outweighed being called an idiot; and somehow Jane knew that he was paying her fortitude a compliment in not insisting – and he could force her – that she return to her room.

Caleb ran silently down ahead of Jane on silent, stockinged feet, not missing a stair though the darkness was profound in the stairwell. There were sounds of a tussle; words that Jane hoped she had not understood correctly; and then a sudden detonation, which echoed!

"GAWDSTREWTH Fowler you nodcock, you've been and shot ME" said Caleb's voice.

"Not me, Mr Armitage, I saw the candleight on that other feller's barking-iron; It's him I done shot and he have put a ball in you!" cried Fowler "Don't you go and stick your spoon in the wall now, or Missus'll have me guts fer garters fer lettin' of 'im shoot yer!"

"Stubble it and help me with this fellow then!" said Caleb. "It's a flesh wound. I ain't about to turn up me toes."

Jane, horrified and working on not screaming, terrified for Caleb's life came down the rest of the way. One ominously still figure was lying in the doorway to the kitchen; Caleb was sitting on the other. His assailant was wriggling hard. Fowler was shaking like a blancmanger, the pistol still in his hand. The scene was like something from a melodramatic book like 'The Castle of Wolfenbach' in the flickering of the two candles, one in Fowler's other hand and one in Jane's. There was a solid pewter candlestick on a table by the doorway however so Jane set down her own chamber candle, picked up the heavy candlestick and hit the man under Caleb over the head.

"Oh VERY well done Mrs Churchill" said Caleb, a trifle faintly.

"Fowler" said Jane "Light more candles; then truss up this – person. And check if the other is indeed shot dead and if there is any chance he is not, truss him up too. Mr Armitage you are all over blood; pray go and sit in Mrs Ketch's chair by the fire and I shall attend to your wound as soon as we are certain these two present us with no further problems" she spoke in a far crisper tone than her sick horror at so much blood would have permitted her to do had she not been sensible to the fact that Caleb Armitage needed her to be strong and deal with his wound.

"Yes ma'am" said Caleb "The mistress of the house is in charge and in fine fettle."

"There's a time and a place for facetiae, Mr Armitage and I'll reserve judgement on whether now is it when I have seen to you" said Jane crisply.

"Mrs Churchill! You cannot order a man around like that and then not marry him!" Caleb's voice was weak but he could not resist teasing.

"I can and I shall do as I see fit in my own house" said Jane ambiguously.

She screamed suddenly as a smaller figure landed on her back knocking her over and putting out her candle very effectively by snuffing it beneath the weight of her body; this figure had hurtled down from the dresser where presumably it had taken refuge when it became clear that Fowler and Caleb were attacking the two larger men; and escape was its main priority.

Fowler yelled; and Caleb swore. There were sounds of a chase and the gritty, teeth-setting sound of coal on coal; and then a bang.

"Cove got out through the coal hatch" said Caleb "Strewth, I must be losin' me touch…"

"I don't know about losing your touch, Mr Armitage, but you are most certainly losing blood" said Jane a little breathlessly. "Fowler, light a candle and go bolt that door before we go any further. I will have yours to see to Mr Armitage's wound; mine is I believe quite broken."

"Be aware" said Caleb "Coal dust can explode…. Besides, the door won't bolt. They've sawed the bolt because Ripon was not there to let them in…. That's what I heard. It must have woken you too, Ma'am."

"What I'll do Madam is to lock the door from the coal cellar to the kitchen" said Fowler "Aye, and pull the table across it too. And to think I told my brother the army was too exciting for me!"

"You're loving it Fowler" said Caleb.

"Mr Armitage, I will not say that the exhilaration is not an interesting change but I should not go so far as all that" said Fowler. "If, however, you was finding yourself a part of the household and needing a man, I should not say that valeting might not be an interesting way forward."

"You are moving too fast on too many fronts Fowler" said Jane "And any more would be impudence."

"Yes Mrs Churchill ma'am" said Fowler.

The ball had fortunately not lodged in Caleb's arm; it was as he had said, a flesh wound, as Jane found when she cut away the stitching of the seam of his shirt; but he had lost a lot of blood and the sleeve of his shirt was soaked in it and it had dripped down onto his buckskins too. Jane sighed.

"Mrs Kemp is going to have to do more to them than go over with a lot of buffball" she said "They'll need salt to take the blood out, and then the stiffness from washing them will take some working with warmed beeswax and vegetable oil. Ah well, you'll be confined to your bed for a day or two so you shall not need them."

"Mrs Churchill, I will not" said Caleb. "I need to be up and about to be ready for any reinforcements that fellow has gone after."

"If you don't sit still, Mr Armitage" said Jane tartly "The level of reinforcements you will need yourself for causing yourself more harm will be General Blücher and all his Brunswickers. Now instead of marching to the sound if the guns I pray you will sit to the sound of my bandaging."

"Yes Colonel Ma'am" said Caleb in a deceptively meek voice.

Jane washed the wound – a neat hole right through the flesh of the upper arm – and packed it with basilicum powder and put on a linen bandage from the strips Mrs Kedge kept against emergency. The linen was good; the sheet from which it had come had been as new as any in her bottom drawer but Frank had ripped it across because he declared that he could still scent the stench of her giving birth on it.

It had been a totally different sheet to the one she had birthed on, that had still been being laundered; but Frank had been like that. Had he only torn it lengthways it might still have been serviceable sides-to-middled; but he would rip it from side to side, and with the centre seam necessary to make a full sized sheet, a seam the other way was impractical. Jane had made two pillow slips from the torn sheet and given the rest to Mrs Ketch to roll as bandages, for accidents can happen in the best regulated household.

Caleb grunted in relief as the bandage kept the wound somewhat compressed; and sighed in greater relief as Jane laid his forearm up across his chest to rest on the other shoulder and tied a sling to hold it.

"That should do very nicely" she said "We can send for a doctor in the morning."

"If you think I want to see any damn sawbones…." said Caleb

"Oh I was thinking of sending for a proper physician" said Jane "But if you dislike the idea very much we shall defer the decision until the morning; it is" she added as though in an aside to Fowler "A necessary thing to humour the patient lest he fall into a fever."

"You're a damned managing wench, Mrs Churchill" said Caleb. "Here, Fowler, is that fellow over there dead?"

"Yes Mr Armitage; I fancy it must be beginner's luck" said Fowler "And I'm afeared I'm going to shoot the cat."

He certainly looked green enough to be expected to vomit.

"Rise above it, brother of a soldier!" said Caleb. "You might as well stick him in the coal cellar; here, let me have a look at his face first" he half rose.

"Fowler will lift his head for you" said Jane.

"Sorry madam but Fowler will not" said Fowler, fleeing.

Caleb got up and came over, grunting slightly.

"As I thought" he said "This is the fellow who was torturing Dorothy. Well HE won't do anything of the kind again."

"Indeed no; and I must give Fowler a bonus for so excellent a shot" said Jane "He will be quite a hero with Dorothy!"

"S'welp me, better him than me" said Caleb. "This other don't look a whole lot better character; whatever else. I reckon these precious pair are the ones that did for you husband. That was quite a baste on the costard you gave him; I doubt he'll wake afore daylight. Here, let me reload the barker Fowler's left lying about so careless; with one arm useless I can't guarantee to throw this fellow in with out other prisoner and stop Jimmy the slum trying something on. You keep the barker pointed at him and I guarantees yer, there ain't nothin' so scary as a woman with a pistol."

"Why?" asked Jane.

"Because women is held to be nervous with loud noises and to shut their eyes and pull the trigger anywise; which could mean an injury a lot worse than death, especially as a woman is generally weak and can't aim as high" said Caleb. "Just take it from me that a barking-iron in the hands of any mort is a scary business" he added hastily.

He half dragged the unconscious man to the storeroom where James Ripon was incarcerated; and Jane held the pistol resolutely on the startled captive.

"Gawd, wot have yer done to O'Toole?" he demanded, shocked "Where's Smudger?"

"Well, well, quite the happy family" said Caleb. "Anyone else you'd care to name for me while you're about it?"

Ripon went green.

"No fear" he said "They'd bloody kill me."

"Well you're for the queer ken at least and most likely dancing at Beilby's ball" said Caleb cheerfully. "And knowing what your mate Smudger did to one man and tried to do to a girl, I'd happily watch you dancing on the nubbing-cheat" and he swung the door back on the frightened man.

"And now" said Jane "You will go to bed. Fowler!" as the footman returned "All are safe bar the body; perhaps you will lock the door to the kitchen until the morning so that you might explain; and run for a constable. And on a Sunday they may not be there!" she said.

"Tomorrow, Mrs Churchill, I will be equal to deal with anything" said Fowler majestically.

"Good man" said Caleb "And yes ma'am, I am now going!"

Chapter 19

Jane hardly expected to sleep after the night alarums; but she woke up to Ella's cheerful voice asking if it were to be considered a normal feature of entertaining a Bow Street Runner to find bodies in the kitchen.

Jane sat up.

"Ella, you were not surely permitted into the kitchen before that horrid thing had gone?"

"Mrs Jane I was not; and nor should you have been! You should have woken me; what is the good of me sleeping in your dressing room if not to be woken to support you? And that wretched man has taken a fever!"

"I was afraid he might" said Jane "What has the magnificent Fowler managed to do about tea and toast with THAT on the floor?"

"Magnificent Fowler! I'll magnificent him!" said Ella "Putting on airs because he shot a common housebreaker! He went and got some street urchins and paid them to get a barrow to take the body to Bow Street with a letter in his own hand, mark you, written in Mr Armitage's name that they were to take it in charge and send a constable to collect the prisoners. Hah!"

"I wager at that it was at Mr Armitage's suggestion" said Jane mildly "Feverish or no. I must go and look at my patient; write a note for me to Doctor….. no, I did not like Doctor Wingfield. Dear me, how very provoking!"

"Mrs Jane dearie, there's nothing wrong with Mr Armitage that we can't cure and a doctor can't charge for killing" said Ella "And I do grant you, though I wasn't sure at first, he is worth saving. And though I've had more upsets in the last few days than is considered proper in a decent household, well you can't complain that it is dull. Lawks, though, I'm glad it wasn't me hitting that fellow on the head!"

"Ella, you are sweet to me, but don't you think that you ought to be ashamed of your reticence?" asked Jane.

Ella flushed but laughed, glad that her mistress was in a good enough mood to be moved to irony.

"Madam must have her little joke" she said. "Miss Bates is all agog to hear all about it."

Jane smiled.

"Dear Aunt Hetty; I fancy she is quite enjoying herself bar the strain of the funeral" she said. "I will go to her when I have attended Mr Armitage. He will eat gruel; milk gruel but gruel. And if he behaves himself I may permit him a restorative pork broth."

Ella had her own ideas on what Mr Armitage might think about that; she also had the opinion that her mistress would win the encounter.

"Gruel and bedrest or I get a doctor in to bleed you" said Jane "And I'm not sure that bleeding might not be a bad idea anyway; it lets out the evil humours of a wound."

"I lost enough blood thank you" said Caleb "If I lose any more I shall turn into a revenant and haunt your house for eternity moaning and rattling chains or whatever such unnatural wights do."

"I doubt anyone would notice the difference after last night" said Jane "Which as the rest of the household contrived to sleep through it means there would be little point to such a doleful and macabre exercise. Here is your gruel; when you have eaten it I shall check your wound. If you do not eat it I shall send for a military surgeon."

"Madam, you are a cruel woman" said Caleb "I believe I have been laid up under the sign of the cat's foot!"

"Indeed you have, Mr Armitage" said Jane smiling at him.

"Jane-girl, if you smile at me like that, I'll eat any damnable slop you put in front of me" Caleb asseverated. Jane blushed.
"Why the poor man is feverish indeed" she said lightly. "Caleb, I wish you will permit Ella and me to nurse you without making a fight of it; I am not unaccustomed to sick nursing, though I confess never of one wounded by a bullet before."

"I'll try to behave Jane-girl" said Caleb. "Even for Ella; for I fear if I refuse her ministrations you might withdraw yours."

"I should certainly have to consider it; for you are a contrary creature, Mr Armitage" said Jane.

"Oh but Mrs Churchill, I do have my faults also" said Caleb.

Jane gave permission for the servants to stay away from church if they found themselves too overset by the events of the night; or possibly to excited and eager to see the developments.

A pair of constables turned up to relieve the household of its prisoners, one of whom was sullen and truculent the other still groggy from a combination of Jane's blow from the candlestick and the bruising he had taken already from Caleb wrestling with him in the darkness. He was complaining in the idiom of Ireland that he needed a priest.

"Sure, for joy, and aren't I wounded t'death so I am; wirra that I should die unshriven loike yez pagan English!"
Needless to say the constables ignored his complaints.

"It's my dooty, ma'am, ter talk ter Mr Armitage" said one of the constables staring at the ceiling rather than seem impudent enough to meet Jane's eye "This bein' his case and nowise anyone wishful to push in on it; but I needs to report as 'ow 'e's still in the land of the living, see."

"Oh quite so" said Jane. These men were a far cry from Caleb's relatively gentlemanly bearing; and they were too far more bashful in the house of a …..how would they phrase it, gentry mort, thought Jane. She led them both to see Caleb.

"Visitors for you, Mr Armitage" she said gaily as she opened his bedroom door after a swift knock; to forestall any flippant and indeed flirtatious comment that might arise to his lips for seeing her enter first. She stood at the bottom of the bed while the men mumbled apologies to Caleb for disturbing him

"Listen you men" said Caleb "Them gaolbirds wot you're taking in; you keep 'em safe, see? I don't want 'em piking off because sure as eggs is eggs they'll be the next ones to end up dead and no good as witnesses if you lose 'em. Is that clear?"

"Yuss Mr Armitage" nodded the least monosyllabic of the pair.

"Good; because while they're kept safe – and incommunicado if you can manage it, Strewth I mean nobody didn't ought to be let talk to them nor they to each other if the Paddy is conscious and as sensible as any Irishman may ever be" he added seeing looks of incomprehension " – then Mrs Churchill and her household are also relatively safe. But look, Tobias!" he addressed the spokesman "You can give out that I am shot; and make as gloomy noises about it as you like. I ain't about to turn up me toes, but if there's them as think I might be, well we might get further, see?"

"Ar" said Tobias, agreeing in his own idiom.

"Well that's a relief to be rid of them" said Caleb when Jane returned to see how he had born the visit.

"The prisoners or the constables?" asked Jane tartly "For the latter do not seem to be of your calibre in the least."

"Well they ARE only constables of the watch not officers of the law" said Caleb. "A relief to be rid of both I'd say. I feared a rescue if it became known the prisoners were here; if there is a master mind behind the jewel thefts – and I believe there is – then he could easily hire a small army of ruffians to storm this house on a quiet Sunday and either remove or silence Jimmy Ripon and his friend O'Toole. I think O'Toole and the man called Smudger – his name is almost certainly Smith, as it's a common nickname – were the strong arm men. Now such are easily replaced; but we may hope, if I am thought to be at death's door, that you may receive a visit from the nib cove himself. And if not, perhaps a visit to him might be in order. I strongly suspect that our precious birds will stand buff, refuse to talk; possibly because they fear the boss more than they fear the law. Though we might let loose your pretty eyes on the Irishman; they are notoriously tough nuts to crack but full of sentiment; a few tears over the terrible things done to your husband might do the trick."

Jane considered. She had stiffened at the compliment to her pretty eyes but what Caleb said did make sense.

"We shall see what develops" she said "Better not to go out of my way to provoke a reaction until we see if this master mind tries to act first; for I will not go near him, nor O'Toole without you nearby and that is impractical until you are healed and will besides give away that you are not so near death's door as we wish them to think."

He nodded.

"Cogently put my dear Mrs Churchill…. Might I have a drop of laudanum? This arm throbs someat cruel now I be better enough to notice it."

"Of a certainly, Mr Armitage" said Jane. "I believe you refused it to Ella earlier."

"Yes; I wanted to be sensible to talk to any idiots who came to see me" said Caleb "Well they've been; and I doubt anything much will happen before tomorrow. So I may take the opportunity to recuperate."

Jane decided to fill in her Aunt Hetty on all that was going on.

Miss Bates glowed pink with excitement as Jane revealed the whole story.

"Oh Jane! Oh if it were not that it has caused you misery and poor Frank lying dead so foully done away with – though I must say my blood boils that he has proved so false in more ways than just adultery, not that JUST is quite the word to use, for it is serious enough – where was I? Oh yes, if there were not so many horrid aspects to this, it must seem quite like a horrid romance of the kind that one might find in a circulating library, quite unrealistic of course but SUCH an entertaining read as they may be!"

"It is easier to deal with if one can but imagine oneself living in a novel" said Jane. "For my own part the puzzle of untangling the villain of this piece is the way that I might more readily cope with the unusual and indeed nightmarish situation."

She had explained that she and Mr Armitage believed one of the three jewellers to be involved at least in the jewellery thefts; and Miss Bates was torn between being thrilled at having actually been in the presence of a master criminal and a little shocked.

"Mr Armitage did not ought to permit you to take such risks, dear Jane!" she said.

"He prefers, I think" said Jane "To permit me to collaborate with his investigation and taking such risks, over knowing that I should probably investigate on my own if he did not; and that would put me in greater danger. I need to do this, Aunt Hetty."

"I find it hard, my dear, to truly understand why it matters to you so much; if Frank was so unkind to you, why do you care about finding his killers?" Miss Bates was puzzled.

Jane stared down at her hands, passive in her lap, willpower keeping them still.

"Because, Aunt Hetty, I feel some guilt that perhaps I might have managed to change his nature had I not turned away from him so soon, decided that as he did not love me I should not need to care for him; indeed I made life harder for him in petty revenges for his despite towards me. I do not know if I could have been a better wife to him and saved him from this; but you have taught me to view everyone with charity and so I feel I should try to find charity for Frank; and do my best to prevent these terrible people killing other men, those who perhaps are merely foolish enough to get into debt and yet have a much loved family. I cannot put it clearly; I am sorry."

"My dear, DEAR Jane!" Miss Bates embraced her "You are good to try to understand his faults; it is harder for me to forgive him for it is my dear niece whom he has hurt and it is easier to forgive those who wrong ourselves than those who wrong those we love; and it is so very like you to also consider the feelings of others hurt by these villains! But I pray you, do, my dear Jane, PLEASE take care!"

Posted on: 2011-04-26

Chapter 20

Jane was doing the accounts in the book room on Monday morning when Fowler announced Mr Churchill.

"Well Jane!" said Mr Churchill "This is indeed a sad and sorry business! Frank MURDERED you write; though had he committed suicide over your profligacy I should have been less surprised!"

Jane stared open mouthed; then anger drove her to speech.

"MY profligacy? I assure you sir it was not I who lost two thousand guineas in some gaming hell, nor I who maintained a mistress; indeed YOUR NEPHEW saw fit to chastise me when I tried to make economies! You DARE to accuse me when I have tried my hardest to maintain the outsize household Frank considered necessary and when I have had to sew to create modish dresses when he believed me out shopping to avoid his punishment for looking dowdy? When I have had good nourishing food thrown at me because it is not the most fashionable cut? Indeed sir, I blame you in some measure for Frank's death for had you apprised me of his request to you for the sum I might by use of the knowledge of the same been able to use sweet reason on Frank to accept that economies were necessary; or had you posted down THEN to find out what was wrong you might have had some influence on him; instead of which he has engaged in dishonesty to pay his debts the result of which means that his crooked friends have had him killed; and I am in no inconsiderable danger since they erroneously believe me to be in possession of something he stole from them! Yes, sir, STOLE! Frank stooped to common theft, it appears, no doubt with the casuistry that as he stole from thieves it did not count!"

Jasper Churchill had gone grey and he sank into a chair.

"Jane – no, I cannot believe this!" he cried.

"Well sir if you will call me a liar, I suggest you go through MY accounts and through all of Frank's papers in the escritoire" said Jane "I have tried to put them into some semblance of order. I wish you joy of it; but I will not remain here with you to call me a liar."

"Jane; I apologise; I did not mean to call you a liar. I meant merely that I found it hard to believe that Frank could be so…so… lost to shame and what is due to his name!" cried Mr Churchill. "I had assumed that a poverty stricken girl, given an allowance such as I paid Frank had had her head turned in the big city with all the shops and entertainments available…."

"Still my integrity is impugned" said Jane coldly "And I will leave you to believe the evidence of your own eyes what may be my fault and what not. Since I saw some half of the allowance you paid Frank from which to make the household run, you will see I have very little over with which to enjoy much in the way of shopping and entertainment; since that also covered the cost of keeping Frank's horse. I shall have tea sent to you; good morning."

She stalked out.

"Mr Churchill would like you to join him in the book room, ma'am" said Fowler some hours later.

Jane entered the book room and raised an eyebrow.

"I apologise for calling your management into question Jane" said Mr Churchill. "I am shocked at how much Frank has squandered. However, as his wife I should have thought you would have had some influence over him. Alas, my poor sister! There is bad blood there; indeed I am wondering whether to continue the allowance at all, or whether to cut off root and branch; no scandal should attach to a Churchill of Enscombe."

"I will not diminish myself to plead for my daughter or the unborn child in my womb" said Jane coolly "But as a mother I shall do my utmost for their wellbeing; and as I am a handsome woman I do not doubt that Jane Churchill of Enscombe might readily make her way and rapidly find a wealthy protector around Covent Garden."

Jasper Churchill spluttered in outrage and horror.

"Jane, you cannot mean it! To RUIN yourself!"

"Why Mr Churchill, it is not as though I am a maid unblemished; I felt very blemished by Frank's insistence on his marital rights after I had barely birthed" said Jane "What is there to lose? Nothing. And much to gain in keeping my children in a way that I wish them kept. Of course I also have the satisfaction, should I have to take this course because you have proved ungenerous to your great niece and great niece or nephew, of making sure that the name Churchill of Enscombe is synonymous with the unfortunate calling I should have to embrace."

Mr Churchill was almost gobbling with outrage.

"Jane, this is BLACKMAIL!" he cried.

"Mr Churchill; it is" said Jane.

"You are…. You are…."

"I am a mother, Mr Churchill; there is NOTHING I would not do for my children" said Jane. "And as the unfortunate profession at its upper end – which I feel sure I could penetrate – pays vastly more than a governess' wages, who would not in any case be engaged if she had her own children, why, my duty is clear."

"You shall have the allowance continued in full" said Mr Churchill in a furious voice.

"Thank you Mr Churchill" said Jane submissively "Then there is no need for me to consider any further course of action concerning future employment."

That she had no intention of carrying out her threat – had only thought of it because she had been so angry – was neither here nor there. He had not dared to call her bluff. And in truth Jane did not see why he should be permitted to turn up full of censure for what was a fault in Frank's upbringing; indulged by his uncle and trammelled but mollycoddled by his aunt his weak nature had been exacerbated by a mixture of indulgence and being kept tied to his aunt by leading strings. Left to make his own way and free of his aunt's demanding nature he had let his inclinations towards profligate pleasure run wild, and the sudden stiffening of his uncle towards him over that outrageous debt, instead of making some push to find out WHY he needed so great a sum was, Jane felt, irresponsible. She had some anger towards herself too that she had not tried to be firmer with Frank from the first; but that of course was why he had married her; he knew she would be grateful for being rescued from the fate of being a governess and so would be compliant and ready to fall in with all that he said, being as unlike his aunt as could be. And she had been grateful; and it was no basis for love or marriage.

Caleb spluttered almost as loudly as Mr Churchill when she reported the conversation to him.

"Jane-girl you would not….. why, I have thought about your situation and it occurred to me that letting the house would bring you almost a thousand a year, surely; and as Frank bought it with his own monies, it devolves to you, his widow, not the estate of Enscombe!" he said.

Jane smiled her demure smile.

"No Mr Armitage; I should not take so drastic a course. Besides, I believe I should think that there is a good man who would offer me his name instead" she gave him an upward glance under her lashes "But I lost my temper; I believe for the first time in my life, for I am generally of equable mien. I should have been faithful to Frank and tolerated his faults as a wife must when she has made a terrible mistake in her marriage; but after having been humiliated by him in so many ways – yes, I will admit it in as many words to you – to be accused of profligacy, to have Frances and my unborn child accused of being like to have bad blood, it was too much; and the worm has turned. It seems to me that upbringing has more to do with how a child may behave than purely blood and I was so angry that he condemned Frances and baby without trial, guilty without a chance of proving themselves innocent."

"Which is according to the Code Napoleon; and nothing good ever came out of France" said Caleb. "I am glad that you stood up for yourself and the children; I should have had a few things to say to this precious uncle of Frank's if I had been there."

"Yes Mr Armitage; and I might too have leaned upon your strong presence and permitted it of you" said Jane "But I am determined that bar the ordinary levels of gratitude for a good deed, that may be repaid, I shall never again be ruled by gratitude. And I would not accept an offer of marriage in the spirit of giving my children and myself a home and a father with income. I had rather be able to contribute to the household."

"Well, Mrs Churchill, there we have a problem with MY pride" said Caleb "For if I were to offer for a beautiful woman whose house may bring in an income many times what I am paid, what then am I to do?"

"I should have thought that any woman would be glad of a father to her children, those that were and those that were not yours also, who would give them time and love" said Jane. "It seems to me that a man who is an honest family man and who will give himself as well as take is a man who is a prize beyond mere monetary measure."

"And any man who finds so generous a woman who could love outside her estate and give aid and succour to a man to the extend of darkening the daylights of an assailant with a glimmer-stick would consider her beyond the price of rubies as the Good Book says" said Caleb.

"Good; then when I am out of mourning we need not discuss any economics save how much we must needs put towards a household" said Jane. "When I am in half mourning you may commence to court me."

"I thought I already had" said Caleb.

"Indeed; but I am taking no notice of such contumely" said Jane demurely.

Jane was glad that Mr Churchill intended staying in his own house at Richmond rather than wishing to stay with her; his presence in the house must needs be oppressive. Moreover, though he had met Dorothy briefly he had as yet no idea who she might be and seemed to be under the impression that she was some young relative of Jane and Miss Bates. Jane somehow suspected that if Dorothy's identity as Frank's mistress were to be revealed to Mr Churchill he would leap to the conclusion, as he seemed indeed inclined to leap from fact to conjecture without intermediate proof, that Dorothy had in some wise corrupted Jane to lead her into a path of vice rather than Jane having rescued the poor girl from a life that would ultimately end up in misery and untimely death; for Dorothy was never going to be what Mr Armitage called a 'High Flyer'. This would of course lead to more argument and unpleasantness such as Jane disliked intensely; though she was determined that she should stand up for poor Dorothy. Fortunately Mr Churchill seemed all that was conciliatory; and Jane suddenly realised, with a flash of insight, that he had, like Frank, been very much at Mrs Churchill's beck and call and his hectoring manner was a reaction to her death; and that Jane standing up to him had reminded him sufficiently of his dead wife's own strong will that he was, at least for the moment, behaving with the same meek manner that he had been wont to show to the late Mrs Churchill.

She managed to smile wryly to herself and considered how diverting she might find the situation if she were watching it as an outsider; as Emma Knightley doubtless might do. She debated whether or not to write to Emma of this; since Emma had become less censorious since her marriage to Mr Knightley; but decided against it. Emma must indeed be shocked at Jane's brazen blackmail of Mr Churchill; indeed Jane was shocked at herself. Anger had its uses when harnessed but indeed was a dangerous emotion to carry one away far beyond the bounds of propriety!

It was however useful to know that one might have the ability to show anger and to stand up for oneself and one's children without even stammering or blushing if the need arose. It was an ability to be cherished; but kept firmly and securely in check.

Chapter 21

Jane took the 'Morning Post' and the 'Spectator' as her newspapers; and generally read one or the other over breakfast and saved the other for teatime. Her eye was caught by the headline 'Notorious Highwayman Strikes Again!' and she picked up the 'Morning Post' to read further.

"It was a sad night for the Honourable Mr ---- and his good lady on returning from a day with relatives to be held up and robbed on Hampstead Heath by a Highwayman believed to have been the notorious 'Sparkler Jack' so named because his invariable demand is 'hand over the sparklers'. Sparkler Jack has so far eluded arrest and this publication wishes to know what the Bow Street Runners are doing about the recent wave of jewellery robberies of which 'Sparkler Jack' is but one contributor Mrs – has lost a fine emerald necklace with good large stones and a curious and singular gold setting as well as the couple having lost between them several rings, and Mr --- 's pocket watch, jewelled fob and snuff box."

The paper also carried the notice of Frank's obsequies;

"The funeral took place on Saturday of Mr F – C – who came to an untimely end last Sunday night" she checked to make sure that there had not been too many details; good, the Officers of the Law had not released too much to the papers.
Jane folded the paper to highlight the story and beckoned Fowler to her.

"Take this up to Mr Armitage if you please" she said. "I fancy he may wish to see it."

Caleb came down to the dining room adjuring Fowler not to hover over him like a duenna with a debutante accidentally come to the Hell Fire Club.

"I wager that Sparkler Jack is a part of the gang" he said excitedly "But now they are short a jarksman to forge new provenance; I am almost minded to persuade that clever-mouthed Mr Despard to play a may game with them; save that I fancy his mouth is TOO clever for his own good and he may yet give himself away. If I could only catch Sparkler Jack making the transfer to that slippery jeweller…. But it will not be done obviously, nothing so simple as a visit to the shop."

"Why not?" asked Jane "Surely the bold approach is the best? For where does one expect to see jewellery if not a jeweller's shop? It conceals by being obviously!"

Caleb laughed, and then pulled a chair to sit down rather suddenly and shakily.

"Mrs Churchill, it is as well that you have never decided to go in for crime; for it is quite plain that you have a talent for boldness that would surpass most of our peevy and timid criminals" he said. "Those who are on the bridle lay – the high Toby, highwaymen, call it as you will are tedious shy about their transactions; they do not risk having their faces seen. I would doubt that our shy friend Sparkler Jack is even known by physiognomy to our Froglander."

"I thought he was Dutch" said Jane.

"He is" said Caleb. "It is a name by which the Dutch are known; perhaps because they caved in so readily under the Frogs to become part of their damned Republic and then empire."

"I see" said Jane "And though they must trust each other to gain their dubious living, the one does not trust the other to see his face?"

"Do not for one moment suppose any kind of trust, Mrs Churchill" said Caleb "There is mutual benefit; no trust. And fences have turned in those who bring them geegaws to sell before now; the notorious Jonathon Wilde made a career of buying stolen property to return for what he described as a 'finder's fee' and if the thieves displeased him he would write a cross by their name; if this occurred twice then he would turn them in. It has given us a new phrase, the double cross, to cheat or betray someone from a position of supposed trust. No Bridle Cull would consider trusting a fence without other considerations being involved, familial connection for example; though these cullies would many of them sell their own brothers. The word 'chum' which is used to describe confederates may be translated as 'friend' but I assure you 'crony' would be closer. Sparkler Jack will wait for a good opportunity to hand over the baubles in the darksmans. And probably to a third party at that; maybe that spry little fellow who got away from us the other night, who strikes me as a bene cracksman; probably also a sneaksman. He has the build, from what little hand I had on him, to get in small places, and to readily hide all day in small places until the household is asleep no doubt too, though that's a specialist piece of crookery. And of course here we are being led by the usual maundering of a newspaper into assuming that the Bridle-cull is going to sell to the head-cully; or is even aware of him. There's more than one fence around."

"I suppose what needs to be determined" said Jane "Is whether or not any of the items stolen by Sparkler Jack have ever been recovered or whether they have disappeared into the underworld. If the latter, is it not indicative of them being reset by our Dutchman?"

Caleb slapped his thigh and winced as the movement of his body jarred his arm.

"You're right; and THAT was why I'd got Sparkler Jack associated with our other little bit o' lay here" he said "Because nothing he has ever stolen has been identified – save one dubious identification that was held unproven where a snuffbox had a cameo set in it and the cameo may – or may not – have been seen and recognised set into a necklace. Gold and silver are readily melted down of course; and stones are anonymous enough in a new setting. Fobs may be recarved, the tops of snuffboxes and vinaigrettes cut down or set in a setting the original owner is unlikely to notice them. And tattlers – pocket watches – are often sufficiently unremarkable or may have covers switched or new ones put on, to change them sufficiently that anyone claiming to identify them may be readily confused."

"It is indeed a large and enterprising industry; but I imagine that the loss of the Avon Necklace must still have been a significant loss" said Jane.

"More to the point, Jane-girl, it's dangerous. It's identifiable. And Dorothy will get her reward from Her Grace of Avon; but I have asked that it not be made public nor any reward given until our man is caught; and I spoke to Her Grace and she is amenable to that" he nodded to Dorothy who was listening wide eyed.

"'Ow much will I get?" breathed Dorothy.

"Never you mind, my girl" said Caleb "Or you'll go shouting your mouth off about it. Enough to make it worth your while handing it over see!"

Dorothy pouted; but did not press the issue.

"Oh Mr Armitage, you will help Dorothy not to spend it unwisely?" asked Miss Bates.

"That I will, Miss Bates; for I suggested that it be invested in the funds for her, that will give her enough to live on if she is not extravagant and any sewing she does may supplement it" said Caleb.

"You are wise and kind" murmured Jane as Dorothy discussed how much she might get excitedly with Miss Bates "For she is quite feckless about money and would spend it all in one day if given the chance; this way it does not matter if her earnings are never good if she may have enough for subsistence."

Jane had forbidden Annie to take Frances out to the park at all for the immediate future but to permit her to take the baby only into the garden, which was fully enclosed. She did not tell Annie that it was for fear of Frances being kidnapped, her return perhaps conditional on handing over the Avon necklace; but permitted the nursery maid to think that with sudden showers prevalent at this time of year returning once a shower started might risk the health of little Frances. Which indeed it might; but Jane did not think Annie stupid enough not to keep an eye on the weather. However it served as a good excuse; and the outing each fine day was quite brief and Jane too attended. Frances was not much impressed by the great out of doors and protested being bundled up in warm outdoor clothes; but Jane felt that fresh air was essential for healthy lungs on warmer days; and having been a sickly child herself did not want to see Frances suffer childish complaints if she might help it, when the day was neither windy nor damp that the child might benefit from the mildness of the better days that held some promise of spring to come.

"My dear Mr Armitage, tell me truly if you think I make a great to-do about nothing over the safety of Frances?" she asked him, when a locksmith had been procured to repair the bolt on the coal hatch and indeed to add a second bolt.

"Mrs Churchill, I believe you very wise to take such precaution over your precious baby" said Caleb "These people will stop at nothing to get what they desire. And whilst I believe that the villain may only come to threaten at first, yet I must recall that Dorothy was not merely THREATENED."

"I pray you will keep close watch and employ Frank's pistol if need be" said Jane. "And if any snatch up my baby I had rather she died shot at your hands than carried off into who knows what slavery."

"Jane-girl, I'm a tolerable shot; it will not come to that" said Caleb gently "My barking-iron suffered a flash in the pan that terrible night; I hurled it at the one Fowler shot and wrestled with the other for want of anything better to do. When my ball discharges I may expect to be as accurate as any man living that does not make a living duelling. I will kill any man who tries to carry off Frances to indentured slavery or any such fate."

"You are very good" said Jane softly; reaching out a hand to lay on his good arm. He smiled at her and the world stood still for a moment that was also an eternity.

The locksmith must be paid however, and meals ordered and all the other little tasks to oversee in a busy household; and if Jane busied herself with more minutiae than she required it was as much to prevent her heart hammering in fear over what might happen at the hands of the Jeweller as to ignore its hammering over the close proximity of Caleb Armitage.

She could not communicate her fears to Miss Bates who stood in the place of a mother to her; for the good woman would be quite paralysed with fear if Jane told her but a tenth of all that she herself feared and imagined; nor might she speak to Dorothy, who was turning out a biddable girl but not long in understanding and just pleased that her own nasty burns were healing well and that she was somewhere safe. Whether or not it was safe, Jane could not guess; what she had heard on the subject of what Caleb called 'cracking a crib' suggested that no house, hall or palace in the land might be said to be truly impervious to penetration from the cleverest of crooks.

It was almost in relief that Fowler came respectfully into the parlour to tell her that a Dutch gentleman wished to see her and that he waited in the book room.

Posted on: 2011-04-30

Chapter 22

NOTE: I have broken up a long piece of speech by Mr Armitage for easier reading and added according to old convention 'reminder quote marks' at the beginning of the separated sections as a reminder that he's still speaking; I hope this makes it easier to read

"My dear Mrs Churchill" Poul de Vries attempted a smile. Jane considered it about as friendly as the grin of the crocodile that was held in the menagerie at the Tower of London. The possessor of the smile was doubtless about as genial and safe to handle as the crocodile too.

"Excuse me; do I know you?" Jane let her eyes be limpid pools and smiled in a tentative and fluttery sort of way.

"Why yes, Mrs Churchill; you bought a piece of mourning jewellery from me" said Mr De Vries.

Jane made a moue.

"What you are come to tell me that it was on display by mistake, that it was already ordered for somebody else?" she said "I really do not think that I am wishful to hear such excuses."

"Oh no my good lady; not at all" said de Vries "I merely hoped to jog your memory concerning my identity. No, it is that I am wishful to purchase from you a piece of jewellery that your husband had in his possession; I suspect it may have been intended as a gift for you when he believed it real…. A trumpery piece of paste which he passed on to a young woman of his acquaintance…. But I know someone who would like to buy such a piece of well made paste in case of highway robbery….. there are so many violent thieves about these days, one hardly knows where one might be safe."

Jane hid a shudder; that was a threat. Really she should be almost thankful that the tedious days pretending with Frank in Highbury had prepared her to hide her true feelings and present a bland and slightly puzzled countenance to this horrid man.

"Paste? Jewellery? Oh, Dolly did mention that she had been given a necklace; unfortunately my husband was very good about buying gifts but less good about paying bills; she pawned it, for colourless stones were not to her taste in any case" said Jane in a careless voice.

The sight of him changing colour to purple and then white was quite priceless.

"She – she has PAWNED it?" he looked ghastly "But – but – where? Which pawnbroker?"

"La, I have no idea" said Jane "and I doubt she has either; the girl is quite half-witted, I felt I had to take her under my protection; I expect she has already spent the whole five pounds she got for it; and it is as well if she has forgotten, for if the pawnbroker finds out it was paste and she has cheated him I should think he will be cross as crabs. I am sorry; but if you are a jeweller, then making paste pieces is easy enough for you is it not?" she smiled brightly.

"F-five pounds? That stupid girl got rid of it for FIVE POUNDS?" he cried.

"Outrageous, is it not?" said Jane "But perhaps he was sorry for her. I only hope he does not come looking for her to complain. I am sure though that she cannot have been stupid enough to have mentioned my late husband's name to him that he come here; she prattles artlessly in her odd argot, but nobody would bother to listen, even if she was indiscreet. But anyway, I am sorry that I cannot help you; the necklace is long gone. Are you all right? Do you require a doctor? For you look most unwell….."

"I am perfectly well" snapped De Vries. "Thank you; I can see myself out."

"Oh Fowler will not mind" said Jane knowing that Fowler was waiting.

De Vries exited all but spluttering.

Jane smiled to herself. Two men she disliked that she had brought close to apoplexy in as many days; really there was an intoxicating quality to this.

Caleb entered the bookroom through the door that communicated with the parlour.

"That was a clever play" he said "Though I fancy he will work out that it was a play."

"But the necklace is not here; that was no less than the truth" said Jane "Did I do wrong to divert his suspicions from the household? I fear his attacks on Frances or Aunt Hetty or Dorothy. I thought if you wanted him confessed it might do to go to his shop and tell him that I have obtained the necklace back and ask him if he had lost it and if he will make me an offer…. In light of my husband's allowance dying with him. And be on hand to arrest him when he identifies it if I might borrow it to that end."

"I fancy that the Duchess of Avon will not let it out of her sight again" said Caleb dryly. "I do not know that I can let you risk yourself in a spot of ladylike blackmail however; he might seize you and threaten your person" he frowned "And I suspect that he will decide that if Dorothy HAD mentioned your name, that meant that you, and Dorothy and all your household were a risk….. first he will send agents to every pawnbroker in Pimlico and around. That will take some of his time and energy….. then I fancy he will send in agents to murder every one. It has not taken the risk away but has bought some time. Fowler shall run errands; I have a few of the First Regiment of Foot Guards – they are the Grenadier Guards since Waterloo – who owe me the odd favour, who would quietly join the household for a day or two for a bit of milling."

"Poor Mrs Ketch!" said Jane "She will be most put out! Still, better put out than dead."

"Quite so" said Caleb. "I have friends enough who will not let anything happen to you or your household; I can arrange to protect Frances."

"And let us now go and spend some time with her; I have had enough of villains and I want to hold my daughter" said Jane.

Three slightly disreputable men drifted down into the area and were duly presented to Jane and bowed awkwardly assuring her that they would remain perfectly invisible and do their best to help with any heavy work Mr Fowler and Mrs Ketch set them. One was wearing an eye patch, another held his arm a little stiffly and the third seemed to be simple. Jane asked Caleb about them.

"Plenty were demobbed after the war that can get no honest work" he said "A few days with food and a roof over their heads will suit these boys fine in return for guarding the house."

"Why I must pay them too, to be sure" said Jane "I would not think of anything else; we shall have to see about what may be done for them for a longer period; is it because they were wounded that they cannot get jobs?"

"Partly, ma'am; partly that there are not enough jobs to be had. Mechanisation has taken many jobs, and those now released from the wars have no jobs to go to, and desperate poor because of these Corn Laws that set the price of bread so high; those with pitiable wounds like peg legs can often make their way by begging. Which leads to soldier-mawnds, beggars that pretend wounds for sympathy, giving a bad name to the many who really have lost legs and the like."

"How could you pretend to have lost a leg?" said Jane, bewildered "Is it not a little obvious?"

"Bless you for an innocent, my dear Mrs Jane….that is what they call you in the servant's hall, so I am not too free to use that…. " he said, giving her a half shy, half defiant look "They do it by strapping the leg up, bent at the knee and seemingly lost from the knee down; some will wear a stump and others push themselves around in a cart as many genuine legless beggars do; and some of those will too wear clymes, false sores made by bruising crows-foot, spearwort and salt and binding it to the skin to make an angry looking but not too painful sore; they may pick at it and use powdered arsenic on it to make it look worse. If they can seem more injured they get more from sympathetic coves, or more often the morts."

"Dear me!" said Jane "There is a lot more to beggars than I had realised; I may have to peer more closely before I give to any."

"It will make you no friends with the canting crew though it will earn you their grudging respect" said Caleb "But genuine beggars will love you for your discernment. I keep in touch with beggars, genuine ones; vail them well and they are my eyes; one of the messages Fowler ran for me was to ask a couple of beggars to shift their patch to keep an eye on Poul de Vries. Nice that we WERE correct in our determination of which one it was!"

"Well once that apprentice called him Mynheer DE Vries, so we had the initials PDV, AND he twitted me about not being able to wear diamonds or other stones, so it did seem obvious" said Jane. "Catching him out will be the thing. Well, if there is a reward from Lloyds of London, that may help me to find permanent positions for these three friends of yours, even with Frank's debts to sort out. And they too might run errands and be your eyes on a salary from me; if that would not dent your pride."

"To be honest I would welcome the chance to do my job better; we are underfunded and undermanned" said Caleb.

"Have you been talking with Fowler's stone in your mouth?" asked Jane "You are being all refined today, save your canting words."

He grinned sheepishly.

"Mrs Jane Churchill should have a man whom she can introduce to her gentry friends and not be ashamed of his speech; it may take me the whole year but I am determined that none shall have cause to complain."

"You know that I am indifferent to such outward signs" said Jane.

"Yes ma'am; but many are not; and would see it as a reflection on you. Besides, I will also get the swell jobs which means in general a higher reward; which makes me more able to hold up my head to you. I know it does not matter to you; I cannot help it mattering somewhat to me" he said.

She nodded.

"It could not be otherwise with a proud man. Frank would hang happily on the sleeve of a wealthier wife; but he was weak. You are not weak in any wise" and she blushed scarlet. "It may be that when I remarry my allowance from Mr Churchill will be cut; or at least reduced. I plan to lay aside what I may, and so put that into the funds to give an income for the future."

"You are wise Mrs Jane; and I will in that case definitely advise moving to a smaller house and letting this one; that way you may have both income from it and hold property."

"I do hate money" admitted Jane "Or rather I hate having to consider every farthing and how to best use it. Still, I am far better off than many and should not complain. And relative penury with love and happiness would still be an improvement on the sham of high society I lived with Frank. And if it should come to it, I have lived in relative penury with my aunt and grandmother; I am not some useless woman who does not know how to manage a household."

"My dear, that I had already realised; and we were not going to discuss economics!" said Caleb. "Let me tell you more about Will, Jackie and Daniel."

"I should like that" said Jane. "I expect each of them has something of a history!"

"Yes and I don't say I know it all either" said Caleb. "Will was a weaver; decided joining up was better than dying of weaver's lung. As you see he's not a big man though he's tall and lanky; bending over the looms must have hurt something cruel and contributed to his decision. Tall is good for a Foot Guard; so he did well, lost his eye in the last half hour of Waterloo, which is cruel bad luck. A spent ball lodged in it; one of those unlucky accidents.

"Jackie, who may be muscular but isn't tall got in by blague and a big personality; he'll do most of the talking for them. London boy; not as low class as me, he's the son of a fishmonger down Billingsgate. One of the other men in his company used to call him 'The Fish' until Jackie lost his temper – he had had words before but you can drive a man too far – and he picked this other fellow up bodily and dumped him in the river, and held him under long enough to start worrying; and asked him 'who's the fish?'. I was a corporal then; I confess I turned a blind eye to the business. When there's hazing, the men do best to sort it out for themselves. Jackie took a bullet much the same way I did the other night; only he didn't have so fine care as me, and that took infection. We cut it to let the poison out, but seemingly it never quite healed right. He reckons we saved the arm cutting the poison out, and when it's better weather he can use it more; and he can use it, it's just a little stiff and clumsy. He guts fish for his pa when he can't get other work but he hates it. Never eats fish if he can avoid it!

"Daniel, he's from Essex; a bit slow he was to start off with, which he got teased was for being a country boy; he was right by an artillery piece when it went off premature; got knocked right over and his ears bled. He was deaf for weeks, though it comed back to him. Only we don't rightly know if he's still a bit deaf or if the concussion of the blast knocked him sillier; he don't always seem to mind what you say the first time, and if that's account that he don't hear or don't understand I don't know nowise; and he never was smart enough to understand to answer if he was asked. Jackie looks out for him; gets him work carrying boxes of fish. He's strong is Daniel; and as gentle as any unless people he counts friends are in danger. Best thing for our Daniel is to put him under Annie's orders to guard the babby; he'll understand that. Nobody won't hurt Frances with Daniel on guard."

Jane nodded.

"Well I shall leave you in charge of the – dispositions, I think you call it – of your troops" she said.

Chapter 23

When Dorothy arose next day she looked quite pale and woebegone.

"Oh Mrs Jane, please don't cast me orf aht into the world!" she cried.

"Why, Dorothy, why should I do that?" asked Jane putting an arm about the girl. Dorothy sobbed noisily and clung to Jane for comfort.

"B-because me flux 'as come, and Molly said if I weren't carryin' the master's child I weren't no better than her, less account of her bein' virtuous!" sobbed Dorothy.

"Dear me; a little unkind of Molly" said Jane. "I will speak to her quite gently. I will not cast you off; but really, you know, as you do have to make your way in the world, it will be easier for you to NOT have to have a baby. Keeping a base-born child would be very hard; and giving a child up would be very hard too, even knowing that it is best for that child. Better that you should have children with a loving husband, do you not think? You are young Dorothy; and soon the time you have had to spend at Covent Garden will seem just like a bad nightmare that you can put behind you. Though" she added "It is my opinion that honesty is always best with any man you love. If he loves you he will know that it was not by your contriving that you fell from grace and will accept it and praise your honesty. You shall stay in the household and learn as I have promised to be a seamstress or milliner and I shall see to getting you a good position."

"You are so KIND Mrs Jane!" cried Dorothy, embracing her.

Jane might have wished she did not embrace with quite so much enthusiasm as she still fought the morning nausea; but she said nothing. She sent Dorothy to lie down and had Ella take her a hot brick wrapped in a blanket to help her with the pains associated with the distressing monthly proof of womanhood.

"What you should understand, Molly, is that when Dorothy was no older than you she had her virtue taken by force; and lost her position because of it" said Jane "Which is grossly unfair. She has had little choice but to embrace an unfortunate profession; but she also gave my husband affection and companionship and for that I look upon her also with affection. She is learning to speak as a lady to be able to work as a millliner one day; you might listen to her practise her speech, and help her if you wish to improve your own speech; for you and Annie do not have so far to go. If you too work hard and take the training that Mrs Ketch gives you, it may be that you will learn enough to be housekeeper one day to a great house; where you will have surpassed Dorothy's position as a milliner. Our lives are what we make of them; Dorothy has been ready to learn to forget her terrible ordeal as one of those kinds of women. You should thank the Good Lord that you do not know how terrible that may be and have sympathy for one who has been in some respects enslaved by circumstance. You should also give thanks that you are fortunate enough to be cleverer than Dorothy and so, if you are as industrious as you are clever, have every opportunity of rising."

"Oh Madam I WILL work hard!" said Molly flushed with pleasure.

"There's a good girl; and I should like you to apologise to Dorothy for being short with her this morning; that I expect she took more amiss because we do not feel well at such times and more inclined to take offence" said Jane.

"I am sorry Madam; it just seemed she give herself airs because she might be carrying the master's child and when I saw the implement all bloody….."

"I see; but gloating is not very nice, Molly" said Jane "Poor Dorothy! The thought that she might have a child was all she had to remember the master by; and he was very kind to her."

"Well she's the only one what misses him then" said Molly "He were that demanding! And he frightened my sister, putting his arm around her!"

Jane sighed.

"He was worried about money; it made him short with people" she said "You should understand, Molly, that men become easily out of sorts over worries that women can manage to solve. I am sorry that Annie was frightened; I am sure that he did not mean to do so."

Molly considered telling the mistress that she suspected that the master expected Annie to fall into his bed like a ripe fruit but decided to leave her in ignorance; poor lady, she had to be married to him and had to stick up for him.

Jane hoped fervently that Molly did not understand too much of what Frank may have hoped of Annie and hoped the girl had not been too upset. Of course Annie was a pretty girl; Frank always had an eye for a pretty girl. And it was interesting Annie, Dorothy AND the girl Juliet were all blonde like Emma….. Frank revealed his tastes very clearly. It left a nasty taste in the mouth to realise that she was just the compliant wife, chosen for domestic management and that perhaps she was not even particularly physically attractive to him at all; there because his allowance was increased for being married, and to be kept in her place as a housekeeper with entertainment skills on pianoforte and uxorial rights.

Jane dismissed Molly who went of with reasonably good grace to apologise to Dorothy.

Jane decided that as she had little that she could do save wait for de Vries to make a move, she might as well be engaged on domestic matters, and that she would start with clearing out the pianoforte music that had been Frank's choice not hers. She might perhaps give it to some indigent young woman who yearned for new pieces; Jane did not wish to play them again. Some indeed had words that turned to ashes in her mouth at the thought of how Frank had given them significance in his courtship of her. She caressed the keys of the instrument, a grand piano that had replaced the box piano that now stood in the nursery for when Frances was old enough to learn; and she permitted the music to take her away as she sat and played. Miss Bates was there listening – Jane knew that her Aunt Hetty always liked to hear her play, even if perhaps she was not sufficiently discerning to know good playing from bad. That Caleb had slipped into the room to listen too made her heart race as she looked up from her playing.

"Mrs Jane, you are excellent" he said "I am no real judge of course; and beyond that you are out of practise and hesitated once or twice I could not presume to make comment that would help. But if I may make one small criticism?" his eyes were laughing at her.

"There is nothing to criticise in dear Jane's playing!" cried Miss Bates.

"Oh there is plenty; you are correct, I hesitated and chose a simpler chord pattern when memory failed me" said Jane. "What else troubled you?"

"Oh, it is not a trouble quite yet; but though music be the food of love, Fowler has laid the table for luncheon and is expecting us to repair to the dining room" said Caleb. "We have all forgot the time in the pleasure of hearing you play."

"My goodness! Is it indeed so late? I do apologise!" cried Jane "I must have become quite carried away!"

"And we duly carried with you" said Caleb "But I fear that Fowler will become quite overset if we do not remove instantly to his snowily linened domain of culinary excellence."

Jane chuckled.

"Caleb Armitage you have the most wordy conceits!" she declared.

"I'm also hungry" said Caleb.

Jane was surprised to have a visitor announced in the afternoon; she was playing from music for the pleasure of Miss Bates primarily, Caleb having gone to lie down for the weakness that was still in his arm; and Dorothy lay on the chaise longue looking a little pale but evidently enjoying the playing.

Jane looked at the piece of pasteboard Fowler had brought her.

"Sir Richard Marjoram? Why I do not believe I have ever heard the name" she said.

Fowler raised an eyebrow and rocked his hand and cupped his ear.

Jane nodded. If he were nearby and listening it might be as well.

She went along the landing to the book room; the door from the parlour was in a recess and not immediately apparent; if this man had not poked around she preferred not to advertise that there was a second door into the book room.

Sir Richard Marjoram rose from the Hepplewhite shield-backed chair in which he had been taking his ease and held out his hand. Jane let her fingers brush his conventionally as he bowed over her hand; and sat in her own accustomed chair indicating with a wave of the hand that he should seat himself again.

"Sir Richard; I do not believe I have had the pleasure of meeting you before" she said.

"Alas; it has been my loss" said Sir Richard bowing from the waist in his chair. "I have come to pay a courtesy call to give you my deepest commiserations on the death of your husband; poor Frank! Who would have thought that he would meet so untimely an end?"

"You were then acquainted with my husband, Sir Richard?" said Jane.

"Indeed; a charming companion" said Sir Richard. "A great loss; I am sure that you find yourself inconsolable."

Jane viewed him with a faintly jaundiced air. Here was a man whose mouth smiled constantly; and whose eyes held very little warmth. If anything one might see derision in their depths; and a smiling mouth and sneering eyes she was well used to from Frank.

She gave a small, tight smile.

"Oh I believe, Sir Richard, that I bear up tolerably well" she said.

"Ah, you are brave; and too with a small child I understand" said Sir Richard.

Jane raised an eyebrow.

"You know of my daughter? I am surprised."

He smiled deprecatingly.

"Ah, a proud father will always speak of his offspring" he said.

"Yes; but this is my husband Frank of whom we are speaking" said Jane. "I find it hard to believe that he would have mentioned my daughter; since he was quite indifferent to her save when he found the wails of a small child intolerable. I do not believe you are a friend of Frank's at all; if you are a creditor of his I wish you will come right out and say so; it is not after all something that will cause me great surprise since I have been going through my husband's papers. I shall however expect you to have proof."

Sir Richard displayed his teeth in an ingratiating rictus that was hardly improved by having black notes amongst the white of his ivory display.

"Oh my dear Mrs Churchill, you QUITE misunderstand; perhaps poor Frank found it hard to display any affection to a small baby, not knowing quite how to handle the same; but he certainly spoke of her! Which is why, as his dearest friend, I have come on this errand" he went on smoothly, rising, bowing and going down on one knee "It is my desire to take into my protection the poor bereft wife of dear Frank and to be a father to his daughter. I could hardly do less!"

Jane stared.

"Sir Richard I beg that you will rise and sit upon the chair in a civilised manner instead of making so ridiculous a declaration to one who has been in mourning for less than a fortnight! It is indeed most unseemly!" she said.

"Mrs Churchill; I confess that such a declaration cannot be anything but bald and cold; for we do not know each other; but I can have no other wish, my heart not being otherwise engaged, than to undertake to get to know you where if not love then affection might spring from a mutual affection for poor dear Frank who would surely wish his dear wife taken care off after being so foully felled and thrown into the Serpentine."

Jane frowned briefly then schooled her face.

"Sir Richard, flattered as I am by such an offer I cannot possibly contemplate courtship until I am at least in half mourning; and moreover I should need to find out the legal position of my unborn child" she said. "You will not speak of this again for the nonce! I must bid you good day!" and she rose.

Perforce he rose too.

"Permit that I may call upon you again!" he said his hand on what he obviously fondly believed to be his heart.

Jane sighed.

"Very well, Sir Richard; provided that you will undertake to behave with perfect decorum" she said, ringing the bell.

Posted on: 2011-05-03

Chapter 24

Jane sent for Jackie, the spokesman of the soldiers.

"Suppose you wanted to get hold of newspapers several days old, would you be able to do so?" she asked.

"Yes Ma'am; what was you wantin'?" asked Jackie.

"The Monday editions of every different paper you can get hold of and any Sunday paper too if that is possible" said Jane "How much money do you need?"

"Should manage it gratis; but if you gives me a sow's baby – a half borde – sixpence – that oughta cover anyfink" said Jackie. "Reckon I can pick most up in coffee 'ouses and inns and fings."

"Well take a shilling; and what you save, you earned" said Jane.

Jackie grinned.

"Fanks Missus Churchill" he said.

Jackie was gone about an hour and a half and came back with a veritable pile.

"'Ere y'are" he said "Gazette; Spectator; Times; Mornin' Chronicle; Mornin' Post; Observer; Cobbetts dirty little Political Register; and the Globe. Reckon that covers most on 'em. Unless you wants the radical papers or specialist magazines?"

"No, these will do fine" said Jane. "I have never seen the Political Register; it seems to be more a pamphlet than a newspaper."

"Yerse, well, it avoid the tax that way" said Jackie, considering spitting and thinking better of it. "I don't say 'e's WRONG ter criticise the government but 'e's a bit confrontational-like; and where's that gwine ter get 'im? Banned an' in the coop if y'arst me."

"Perhaps he feels that nobody will listen if he is not confrontational" said Jane.

Jackie sniffed.

"That's as maybe, Ma'am; but it'll only put the backs up o' the government and landowners and where does that get the common man?"

"I can see that it is a tricky question to consider" said Jane "How outspoken to be in order to be heard whilst not causing too much enmity towards those one would champion."

She gave Jackie a nod of dismissal; his political views might prove interesting but there was something she was looking for; and she perused each paper in turn.

None of them gave any more information than the Morning Post she took herself.

Mr Armitage found Jane examining the relevant passage that she had clipped out of each of the papers that carried it – which was not all – frowning.

"I may be being stupid" she said.

"Unlikely" said Caleb "Tell me about it."

Jane had an excellent and retentive memory; and relayed the conversation with Sir Richard including the tones and facial expressions.

"Sounds a dashed queer cove to me" said Caleb. "What's all this stuff?"

"I asked Jackie to get me papers, all the ones he could, that were printed on Monday or Sunday" said Jane "Read these; you'll see why."

Caleb read through them and his eyebrow gradually elevated. He whistled.

"Very clever of you Jane-girl" he said.

"Unless anything was reported before" said Jane.

He shook his head.

"Bow Street don't let out anythink – anyTHING – but the barest and baldest of facts; a robbery took place such-and-such, a body was found so-and-so, identified as so-and-so; no details just in case, see? Especially with robberies account o' finding the baubles. 'cept a list is circulated to jewellers and 'opes the expensive ones at least is honest. I dunno if you were right to say he might come back; but then if he's got somethink – something – to do wiv all this….. 'course he could say he were Sir Richard Malodorous or whatever, but how do we know he is?"

"Marjoram" said Jane mildly "We do not; how pleasant it would be if somebody would but make a complete list of the peerage to check such things! However if one might follow him when he calls again, the size and location of his lodging might be some indication as to the veracity of his claim. Bearing in mind his blatant lies I can but assume that he is one of the same stamp as that footman James Ripon; a butler perhaps who has learned to support the manner of a peer. Not that I have much idea how a 'Sir' or a 'Lady' might be in any wise different to any other of the gentry if indeed they are."

"Well the odd few I've tangled with vary from bein' gents through and through to bein' arrogant and stiff rumped" said Caleb. "Which ain't any guide nowise. Well I don't say someone born in the purple ain't necessarily not goin' to be a wrong 'un; look at Frank. Who might have been half flash half foolish but a fly cove who's weak enough to need a quick way to the readies….. yes, he shall be followed. I don't like to ask, but a bit of blunt to throw about would help."

Jane unlocked the small chest in which she kept cash.

"Take what you need" she said "There's a mix of coin in there."

"I will write you a receipt for it" said Caleb.

"Very well; it will make you more comfortable and will mean I keep track" said Jane.

Caleb took a selection of coins, and counted them out to write a reckoning.

"I don't know that I shall use all this but it is useful to have more than you need rather than less" he said.

"I have noticed this also with household accounts" said Jane demurely.

"And you keep them with such a neat and pretty hand" said Caleb "No man would feel he had to stand over a woman keeping such excellent accounts but he might decide to do so anyway just to breathe the scent of her hair and admire her neat and well shaped hand pursuing of its most efficient endeavours……."

"Mr Armitage you are flirting again" said Jane in a tone of reproach that her flushed cheeks and sparkling eyed belied.

"Why Mrs Churchill! I'm afraid I am!" said Caleb not sounding in the least bit apologetic.

Caleb brought a filthy small boy to see Jane some hours later. The child had a lopsided face and a withered arm under which was jammed a rude crutch to compensate in some part for the atrophied and dragging leg.

"This yere is Simmy; he's as sharp as the taste of Norfolk mustard" said Caleb "And he already knows something about our Sir Richard."

"Strite up I do" said Simmy "See, when I heered that Mr Armitage was stayin' 'ere, wot finds jobs for me, I hopped up as fast as I could toddle, see, Lidy, bein's as 'ow nobody don't take no notice of a kinchin-zad, wot Mr Armitage find dead useful right? So I'm hangin' abaht, and this plum-voiced servant come aht an give me a half-bord wot she say is from the lidy – that's you, right?"

"Kinchin-zad is a cripple child" explained Caleb.

"Indeed" murmured Jane, who had standing orders to Ella to give largesse to any deserving beggars she caught sight of, and feeling faintly ashamed that she had been too caught up in her own troubles to have noticed this pathetic scrap of humanity for herself. "Ella is my dresser; she is a kind woman."

"Ar, she gimme a groat from herself" said Simmy "Which I took most kindly; and she didn't make no condition that I should make meself scarce neether. Wot some swell morts and their servants do see?"

"Get to the point Simmy" said Caleb, not unkindly.

"Yerse, well, I seen this swell cove come out and I fink t'meself, 'Ullo Simmy, I seen him somewhere. And I knows where it is; 'e goes ter cocking and dog fights where vere's good pickin's fer a beggar – better for a diver but I ain't got the agility t'pick pockets. 'E know a few rum coves too; but 'e is a gent, account 'e knows uvver gents wot are famous enough ter reckernise, though I don't say that 'e's no bosom-bow o' any on em. 'E ain't wot yer call the demi-monde but 'e do know plenty wot are if you arsts me, though 'e do go out o' 'is way ter make sure none o' the swell coves 'e goes rahnd wiv don't notice. But maunders – that's beggars in your tork, lidy – maunders see everyfink. And it pay ter know 'oo yer might touch fer a few coppers and 'oo might scrag yer; and reckon 'ed be one as would scrag yer. 'E 'as bang up prancers though! I kin find out 'oo is reelly is if it ain't what 'e says 'e is" his eyes glittered.

"Well Simmy, if you would do that, I should be well pleased" said Jane "Go first to the kitchen however and Mrs Ketch will give you a square meal and will pack you up a veal pie and some bread and cheese to take on your investigations; but you are not to take risks! Do not ask questions of anyone who might er scrag you! And here is some payment for your information and some on account in case you need to grease a palm or two" she took two shillings from her reticule, looked at them, and felt around to find instead two sixpences and three groats. She looked up to see tears in the child's eyes; and knelt beside him to put an arm around his filthy shoulders. "Why Simmy, what have I said to upset you?"

"Oh LIDY! Mr Armitage, 'E says ter tike care, but even 'E aint never told me direct not ter arst questions o' dangerous coves!" said Simmy. "And yer gwine ter feed me AND pay me?"

"I ain't never forbid that, because, little kinchin, I give you credit for not bein' stupid enough to do so" said Caleb. "Strewth, the brat's napping his bib in earnest!"

Simmy was quite clinging to Jane crying and she lifted his pathetically light body into her lap.

"Oh Caleb, anyone would think nobody had ever even embraced him before!" she cried in distress.

Caleb shrugged.

"I don't suppose they ever have, Jane-girl; as I understand it he was abandoned on the doorstep of an orphan asylum at birth, and was too crippled to be indentured either at the mills or as a climbing boy, and ran off when he was about five. I feed him from time to time and he does errands for me…. He's such an independent little sprout, which I admire, I never quite liked to offer to adopt him though I'm fond of him; he's brave and still as gay as a grig with all his troubles. I ruffle his hair; but ……I guess he ain't never had a female what hasn't made the sign of the evil eye; some believe that even lookin' at him can make the same cripplin' effects happen to an unborn child. I didn't think you'd be superstitious like that."

"Quite right; I am not. How ludicrous! Well you shall adopt him as soon as you may be publicly alive again; and in due course he shall have a stepmama" said Jane firmly. "Simmy, you shall have my handkerchief but you must promise to learn to use it properly. Would you like Mr Armitage to be your father?"

"Strite up, Mr Armitage?" gasped Simmy

"Straight up, Simmy; but for now I'm pretending to be dead because I'm working against a very dangerous cove and this Sir Richard might be associated with him. So for now, you're just a kinchin-zad and NO BOASTING because that could lead to you, me, and Mrs Jane here all being scragged, right?"

Simmy nodded. He understood; and Jane's heart went out to a pathetic scrap of humanity not ten years old who understood too well about violent death. He blew his nose ecstatically on Jane's delicate linen handkerchief and Caleb took him off for some food.

Jane reflected soberly that this business was bringing home to her how well off she had always been; and that the bonds of extreme poverty and physical deformity were more profound than those of being a shabby genteel person like a governess. Simmy was fairly repulsive to look at; but cleaned up and fed up a bit she had no doubts that she would get used to his odd appearance with the drooping right hand side to his face. If Caleb had been married before and had already had children, crippled or no, she would accept them as stepchildren; so it was untenable that she should not be a mother to one Caleb had considered adopting without realising that the independence was but armour against the world. Of course Caleb saw poverty and misery every day; had grown up with it. He could be fallible in reading people; and how typical that he should err on the side of not wanting to take the child's self respect and independence!

Chapter 25

"I meant to tell you about Simmy and see if you wouldn't find him a spot to sleep at times" said Caleb. "A man is shy of adopting a lad when there's no woman's hand in the house and equally shy of asking the best woman in the world to see her way to giving any kind of affection to a child not even a blood relative of…. I am losing myself here; you know what I mean don't you, Jane-girl?"

"If you have an affection for the child then you should look on him as your son; and it argues well that you will readily accept another man's children as your own" said Jane. "How could any woman not warm to that poor child? He is a loathsome creature at the moment, but it is hardly his fault! Cleanliness and good food will do wonders; but my dear Mr Armitage, he must learn to speak in a way that will not leave Frances and baby picking up bad habits. To learn cant for the fun of it when they are old enough to use it only in play and not as everyday is one thing; but I will not have them use it as a matter of course."

"No; and I will engage to teach Simmy the same" said Caleb. "Had you thought of a name for baby?"

Jane sighed.

"It would be politic to call a son 'Jasper' for his great uncle" she said "For he will be the old man's heir. For a girl I thought perhaps Henrietta for Aunt Hetty. I felt I should try to appease Uncle Jasper; he will have found out that Frank made a will leaving the house to me, which will not please him that it does not automatically entail to Frank's son should baby be one; nor does my blackmail of him to have the jointure in full please him any the better. When he dies the property of Enscombe will pass to baby if he is a boy or to the crown if not; so I am hoping that he should be a boy for why should the crown profit? I doubt I shall have any monies of the estate as I brought nothing to the marriage; but I shall lose no time in getting Mr Weston, as Frank's father, to arrange guardianship of baby in that case. I cannot dare remarry until he is born; for that would probably forfeit his right to inherit. And to do so would be unfair to baby. I can only be grateful that Frank laughingly made out a will naming me as heir to any house in London he might own; which was before he bought this house. It is unfair that women should not be permitted to inherit property! And if uncle Jasper saw fit to contest that will, it would probably be decided in his favour, to be held in entail for any son of Frank or as dowry for his daughters to the benefit of any husband they might have!"

"It is unfair" said Caleb. "And by law, which troubles me, I shall have ownership of the house when we wed."

"You might however if you prefer agree on a secured settlement to give me full rights to leave the house as I choose" said Jane. "And how sordid that such things should have to be discussed! Particularly since I have not yet even given you leave to court me and we are discussing marital finances!"

"Sordid indeed Jane-girl; and perhaps premature; but with children in the case, finer feelings must be laid aside for sordid financial consideration."

"Oh yes, I do agree; else I had not acted so towards Uncle Jasper. I was disagreeably surprised that so meek a man should be so unpleasant towards me; and it gave me the bravery of a lioness in defence of her cubs" said Jane.

"And quite right too" said Caleb "I have noticed that men who live under the sign of the cat's foot may, when released by widowhood, run quite counter to what one might have said was their nature, either behaving with impropriety or becoming very hectoring bullies. And you are quite right to put your children first. Mr Weston seems a good man to consult; what little I saw of him I liked, and firmly suppressed the regular soldier's contempt for a militia man."

"Why is there contempt for the militia?" asked Jane.

"Because they are toy soldiers who join up for the uniform and are never posted anywhere more dangerous then Bath where only the designs of moonstruck young girls may pose them any danger" said Caleb.

"You ARE a complete hand!" giggled Jane.

Simmy came back late in the evening and was not too pleased to be firmly bathed and dressed in cut-down clothes that were clean by Mrs Ketch before he was permitted to go and report. He did get rewarded with a bowl of stew and a good chunk of bread however; all of which mixed indignity and largesse he told Caleb before any kind of report might be extracted from him.

Caleb laughed.

"Well lad, when you're my son you'll wear a clean mish every day, and wash every day too; and you'll thank me for it! It's the dirtiest as catch Gaol Fever first, as well you know! And you'll eat three times a day too."

"GAWD!" said Simmy "Well fer eatin' free times a day reckon the scrubbin'll be worth it!"

"It is" said Caleb sympathetically. "I know; for I found out when I joined up. Now what have you found out?"

Simmy grinned.

"Well the cove is Sir Richard Marjoram like wot 'e say 'e is; that's strite up. Got THAT off the footman cove what gimme a baubee, skinflint owd….."

"LANGUAGE!" barked Caleb "And if you spit in here I'll tan your jacket!" he then added to Jane "A baubee is a ha'penny; not much of a vail."

"No indeed" said Jane "If I catch you spitting, Simmy I will make you clean it up and I will wash your mouth."

"Sorry sir, sorry lidy" said Simmy more impressed by the cruelty of women than the idea of a whipping. "Any roads, this Sir Richard, he come by the title in the army seemingly for bravery in action; 'swhat the footman say. 'E's the third son of some Earl or uvver – that's this Sir Richard, not the footman" he explained "Wot's disin'erited im fer some sort o' kick up over someat. I dunno! Didn't make no sense t'me."

"You did well Simmy" said Jane "And when you are Simon Armitage you shall be properly educated so you do understand and then you may help Mr Armitage even more."

Simmy blinked.

"I ain't averse t'be Armitage, Lidy, but why won't I be Simmy no more?"

"Why, because Simmy is but a shortening of the name Simon; it is a name you might think more a man's name than a boy's as you grow up" said Jane.

Simmy considered this.

"I ain't never been nuffin but Simmy" he said "But stand to reason; the 'sylum christened all the boys in rotation after disciples and all the girls after all the morts in the Bible which ain't as many. I've allus wonderd, Lidy, 'course they learned us Bible stories, if there weren't no morts, 'ow did they….." he caught Caleb's eye on him and amended what he had been going to say to "……'Ow did they marry and 'ave brats?"

"Why Simmy, if anyone wrote an account of history of our own time, there would be a great deal about the men; those who fought Boney and those who make laws; when it is men who write history it is merely that they do not bother to mention the women unless they cannot help it" said Jane. "It is not that there were less women in Biblical times; just that they were not mentioned."

Simmy digested this.

"Reckon it's account of 'ow once you lets morts in you bain't never shut o' vem" he opined.

"And when they cook and mend and care for you, that's not such bad thing young shaver" said Caleb firmly.

Simmy was provided with a blanket to sleep in the kitchen with Caleb's small army; and went to sleep more comfortably than he recalled ever having been in his short life before.

"What I want to know is" said Jane to Caleb "Why, if this Sir Richard is involved in the killing of Frank, would he want to offer marriage to me? I can see why he might want to question me to find out what I know – I confess when I became wise to him I almost became sick with apprehension – but marriage?"

"You sweet and green goose" said Caleb "What but that a man owns his wife, and her possessions, and that as they are one in law she cannot testify against him?"

"I could not in any case; I know as yet nothing to testify" said Jane.

"Unless you know of the necklace – and to get it back, and quiet your tongue on it, do you think any man is going to find it a hardship to wed a beautiful woman who has besides this elegant town house and potentially a fortune too? Recollect he does not know that all the dibs were on Frank's side; indeed he may even believe that Frank married the fortune he ran through so successfully, since he suddenly appears on the town with money and a wife. You know, and because you have told me, I know that he married you only because his aunt had died; and that she had obviously also had a secured settlement to leave money directly to him. But to all outward appearances he has a new wife and blunt to flash to go with her."

Jane paled.

"Does that mean I shall be the butt of all the gazetted fortune hunters in town?"

"More than likely" said Caleb cheerfully "I'll darken their daylights for them though if you want me to."

"I should prefer to use tact in the first instance and if that fails a bucket of cold water as one uses on amorous curs" said Jane sedately.

He gave a shout of laughter.

"Jane-girl, the suggestion is delightful; and spoken in that prim tone of yours, one might take you for the governess you never had to be dealing with some embarrassing cur in the park when out with your charges!"

"Well it is a deal better than falling into hysterics and merely dragging interested little eyes past and hoping that the children do not ask loud question with the unfailing clarity of tone that always occurs for such inappropriate queries when their mama is listening" said Jane.

"You have no illusions I perceive" said Caleb.

"None whatsoever" said Jane "So he prefers to OWN me than to kill me; I suppose that it makes sense. A drab like poor Dorothy being murdered would, I am sure, elicit less interest than a widow of respectable birth living in a neighbourhood such as this. Should I encourage him at all?"

"I should say your tone of censure about his unwarranted hurry was about the right tack to take" he said. "Do not DIScourage him; but permit my friends and me to do a little carpentry."

"What are you about?" asked Jane.

"The bookroom and the Parlour run back behind the stairwell to have a deep alcove on each that has the connecting door in it. Doubtless he noticed the alcove; but made a little shallower and lined with books, that there might be a concealed doorway, I might construct a small secret room that he not I hope notice the difference in the depth. If a piercing is made to the stair well for fresh air and some modicum of light from the skylight above the stairs it would be a place in which to listen to conversations in either room at need. And a better choice than the little parlour across the landing from the bookroom."

Jane nodded. The bookroom was a long narrow room permitting a second room at the front that was best described as cosy; the deeper rooms lay at the back, the parlour and the dining room, the dining room running across the stair well.

"Yes; you do what is needful" she said half reaching out to him "Indeed I would that you will start first thing in the morning; for I fear this Sir Richard and I would be happier to know that you are indeed nearby."

"Don't worry, Jane-girl; I won't let the fellow hurt you" said Caleb taking her hand and pressing a gentle kiss on the palm.

Posted on: 2011-05-07

Chapter 26

Caleb was still not recovered from the bullet wound by any manner of means; Jane cleaned and dressed the wound twice daily, and though he mostly scorned to lie abed he did lie down on the chaise longue to direct the efforts of Will, Jackie and Daniel who seemed to take a positive delight in a little bit of constructive demolition, as Caleb put it to Jane.

"You are an infuriating man with a propensity for making contrary comments" said Jane surveying the mess and concealing her dismay.

"Well if you are disposed to compliment me so well, Mrs Churchill….." said Caleb who was rigorous in his propriety over terms of address in front of others, especially underlings if not in the outrageous things he said..

"What, you thought it a compliment Mr Armitage? I fear you must be feverish again" said Jane.

"I could make a few comments about the fever you create in me but I fear I should only make you blush. Like that" said Caleb.

"Impossible man!" said Jane, more irritated with herself that he could bring colour to her cheeks so easily.

He grinned at her.

"Break your fast, Mrs Churchill; and THEN comment" he said.

Jane went in to breakfast with Miss Bates who wanted to discuss all that the soldiers were doing in great detail; Dorothy agog to know what the purpose was; and Jane murmured that they were employed usefully as seemed fit while they were about the place setting up a chamber that might comfortably house a patent flushing water closet on this floor rather than the more primitive arrangement of the close stool in the little room off the dining room.

"Why what an excellent idea!" cried Miss Bates "The Bramah closet downstairs is a most excellent contrivance; Mr Woodhouse has one too at Hartfield to prevent his servants having to go down the garden in the cold for emptying things; and the Coles have one on EACH floor in their house, only fancy!"

Jane murmured that she was glad that the idea suited and added that it did not seem quite the conversation to go with toast and conserve of apricots even if there were no gentlemen present at the moment.

Miss Bates fluttered an apology and turned the conversation to the sewing Jane was engaged upon.

Jane happily answered all her Aunt Hetty's questions on her plans and Dorothy, feeling better this day, joined in happily and the ladies planned sewing endeavours to take up their day while the men sawed, hammered and converted.

They were thus engaged, Miss Bates having started Dorothy on the long seam of the centre back of her gown, having completed the two side seams, and Jane gathering ruffles for her own gown, when Fowler came in.

"It's that fellow Sir Richard again" he said "And I've left him downstairs in the salon next the reception room; couldn't think what else to do with him, Madam, with the work in the book room and in here."

"Dear me, how very precipitate of him!" said Jane. "You had better show him up here to the parlour; or no, perhaps that will not answer; unless, Dorothy my dear, you do mind repairing to the nursery to play with Frances for a while? Annie shall bring her down in a quarter of an hour. You may be in danger if he sees you. Aunt Hetty, I beg you say NOTHING of Mr Armitage to this man; he may be an enemy; I pray you might talk of dear Highbury to him and how much we miss it. Caleb shall go through to the other room and direct from there; the men, setting up a Bramah closet shall continue working."

"Oh Jane!" gasped Miss Bates "I know I talk too much; it is a fault of mine because I so much like company; can you trust me not to say anything untoward?"

"DEAR Aunt Hetty, you should think only that you do not want to discuss this nasty business; think about Highbury and its excellent people. I will not let him question you" said Jane.

Dorothy, at the word that this was an enemy took herself off without further bidding; she had no desire to be burned again! The burn on her face was nicely crusted over but she feared she might bear a scar all her life and the thought of the men who had been prepared to go to such lengths filled her with horror!

Caleb nodded at Jane's dispositions and quickly explained to the three soldiers what Mrs Churchill was suggesting was their supposed purpose.

"Ain't a half bad idea at that" said Jackie, thoughtfully "And explainin' wot you was doin' in there too if you gets found listenin' any time"

"And the plumbing might be installed at a future date; never mind that for now!" said Caleb.

Sir Richard bowed over Jane's hand and permitted himself to be introduced to her Aunt Hetty.

"You are having work done to the house?" he asked, wincing at the banging.

"Indeed yes!" said Jane with a look of fatuous enthusiasm "My husband had wanted a Bramah closet for a long time; and as it was all fixed up that they should come I could hardly say them nay; and indeed such a modern feature is an advantage, do you not think?"

"We live in such exciting times!" added Aunt Hetty "With such wonderful inventions; fabric woven into such pleasing patterns or printed with complexities no loom could make and wonders like the Bramah closet; why in no time at all the clever little machine Mr Trevithick built might even be made big enough and fast enough to carry people as fast as a post chaise, and never tiring the way horses do! Mr George Knightley – he resides in Highbury where I generally live, you know – considers that it may be ultimately possible for steam powered carriages to reach an average speed of as much as fifteen miles per hour! And just imagine the luxury to travel so fast and cut the time of travel by so much!"

"Perhaps Sir Richard is a noted whip who already knows the thrill of travelling so fast, at least over short distances" said Jane. "Do you drive, Sir Richard?"

"I do; and I like to ride" said Sir Richard. "Would having a phaeton and pair help to make up your mind, Mrs Churchill?"

Jane copied the irritating titter of false laughter that Augusta Elton was wont to utter.

"Fie Sir Richard!" she said "I have told you I will not even THINK of this matter until I am out of black!"

"What matter is this, my dear?" asked Aunt Hetty.

"Why dear aunt, Sir Richard has a mistaken idea that his friendship to Frank means that he should make me an offer; MOST ineligible until I am out of mourning."

"Oh indeed!" cried Aunt Hetty. "It cannot be thought about! Sir Richard, you are at fault!"

Sir Richard smiled his mirthless smile.

"It has been known for a widow to put off her weeds early for the sake of a father to her children" he said.

"Oh quite impossible" said Jane "Moreover there is the matter of the entail on Frank's Uncle's property; if I remarry before my child is born and it should be a boy, I shall be disinheriting him; you must recognise that, Sir Richard, that family matters must stand above everything."

There was a tic in his cheek.

"Ah, quite, yes, I see that" he said. "But what of your own fortune, Mrs Churchill? Might not the entail be broken if your own fortune was to be added to the estate?"

"Oh but my fortune is all you see in front of me" said Jane deciding to equivocate over owning the house "My face is my fortune, sir she said, as the song will have it. Everything else was Frank's. The house is mine as long as I care to stay in it; and if I dislike my grandchildren, why I might have myself embalmed after the Egyptian fashion and insist on staying on display in the reception room to irritate them" and she smiled brightly enjoying the effect of letting foolish whimsy rule her tongue in trivial inconsequentialities of so absurd a nature.

"JANE dear!" protested Miss Bates.

"It seems a trifle macabre" said Sir Richard looking startled.

"It is the Egyptian touches that some architect has put to the pillars and sconces in the reception room has put the idea into your head" said Miss Bates "WHAT would Mr and Mrs Weston say?"

"I do not know, Aunt Hetty" said Jane demurely "But I should think that they would probably say nothing as I might expect them to predecease me unless I die young. But there is no reason to suppose that like Cleopatra I should fall victim to any poisonous asp; wherein are such to be found here?"

"There are adders on the downs near Highbury" said Miss Bates seriously.

The conversation was interrupted by Annie tripping in with Frances in her arms.

"Precious darling!" cried Jane taking Frances and almost thrusting her at Sir Richard – taking care that she had tight hold of the child – "Isn't she just adorable?"

Sir Richard actually recoiled.

"I, er, I do not know much about small children" he said, "I had been expecting to see you alone."

"Oh now THAT would have been ineligible" said Jane "I saw you alone in the book room yesterday because I assumed it was business that brought you; but in light of your rather improper proposal I would not see you again without my duenna. And if you WERE to consider any serious courtship in due and proper course I should fail in my duty as a mother not to be absolutely certain that I present to my daughter any men who would wish to be her father. Though I must say that I am not sure that I am wishful to consider one to whom I had, for the time being, given his congé; for I will not be out of black for another five and a half months. And I have to say that I believe I must give Fowler orders not to permit you entry until August."

"But my DEAR Mrs Churchill!" he looked angry but schooled his features as Frances' lower lip came out and she started to cry, turning from him "My dear Mrs Churchill; a moment's reflection will show you that a woman cannot undertake to deal with business matters; and I am ready to stand as your helpmate in that respect without pressing my suit; to deal with any paperwork that should arise!"

"Oh dear Jane is QUITE equal to dealing with paperwork!" said Miss Bates.

"Poor sweetheart! Do not cry!" crooned Jane to Frances then smiled brightly at Sir Richard. "And such things as require a gentleman's touch can be far better dealt with by Frank's father" she added. "Oh Frances, didn't you like him then, precious?"

"His FATHER? I understood that it was his uncle who held the purse strings and he many miles away in Yorkshire!" said Sir Richard scowling at the infant who was taking Jane's attention.

"Oh his uncle is usually to be found on the estate in Yorkshire" said Jane "But Frank was adopted by his Uncle and Aunt because his father was a widower; his father lives just two hours from town you know and might come up to conclude any business I require and return the same day. SO fortunate is it not? You will not need to trouble yourself in the least!" and she smiled brightly again.

"For so lovely a woman I should not think it any trouble at all; besides being closer at hand" said Sir Richard.

"Oh to be sure; but it would not be proper of me to place my family business in the hands of one who is to me at least a stranger" said Jane "My Father-in-law would be most put out. And if I have any immediate trouble, why I might doubtless rely on Mr John Knightley who lives in London – he is a barrister at law – who was long a neighbour of mine and known to my Father-in-law as a most reliable man. I would not worry over putting yourself out on Frank's behalf; for it will be news to me if he ever put himself out on behalf of anyone but himself. Now, Fowler will see you out; and I shall be ready to receive your card in August, Sir Richard" and she rang the bell.

Fowler was hovering; he had taken Sir Richard in dislike being, as he told Mrs Ketch, too free with his vails and expression too veiled to be free, which witticism pleased him so well he stored it up to repeat to Mr Armitage who was, as Fowler also said to Mrs Ketch, more the gent in his manner than this supposed knight may be.

Chapter 27

"Of course, Jane-girl, now you've told him to shab off it might have queered the pitch" said Caleb "If he really is any good at playing the waiting game he WILL wait until August and we lose the Dutchman and we lose him."

"He doesn't play the waiting game that well" said Jane "He won't wait; I fancy he will report to the Dutchman and we shall find ourselves either invaded by ruffians or a housebreaker infiltrated into the house; who will not, of course, find any such thing as the Avon necklace so I do not actually fear the same; since the orders must needs be specific."

"You reason so very well" admired Caleb "I thought I was pretty long headed; but you have me beat!"

Jane laughed.

"Oh perhaps I can help you by being moderately good at understanding people too; together we cover most things" she said. "I was wondering…. Concerning a future that we were not going to discuss…."

"YOUR rules, Jane-girl" said Caleb.

"Yes, my rules; and bad of me to break them" said Jane "But I was wondering, hypothetically, whether a wife of an Officer of the Law might be permitted to help him in other cases….."

"Well in such an hypothetical case of course no rules of conduct of speech have been broken" said Caleb with a perfectly straight face. "Now the rules for an Officer of Bow Street do not permit an Officer of the Law to discuss his cases with anyone else; but" he held up a finger and grinned as her face fell "A wife is held to be one body with her husband in law; and indivisible; so if an Officer of the Law spoke to his wife of his cases and obtained her advice, why then he will not have violated the rules for he is merely cogitating in another part of his indivisible self."

Jane laughed.

"Mr Armitage, you are a philosopher; a Sophist!" she declared.

"It seems to work" agreed Caleb cheerily.

Simmy had been busy throughout the day too and returned in triumph to tell Caleb and Jane that he had set up a whole network of informers watching every move that Sir Richard and Poul de Vries made.

"And vis Sir, 'e ain't of the sort wot get vouchers to Almacks" giggled Simmy as though this were a tremendous joke "'Cos apparently 'e go out on Wed's'd'y an' also on'Sund'y, though vat ain't an Almack's day, to a low dive aht 'Ampstead way, place called 'The Spaniard's Inn'!"

"Hampstead? Why is that name familiar?" wondered Jane "Ah, was it not the place of residence of William Murray, Lord Mansfield the judge who famously ruled that slavery was against English law? It was an early step towards abolition and I read a 'life' of his in a magazine after I felt so oppressed by that wretched Elton woman and her boasting about her brother-in-law whose family made their wealth on the backs of slavery."

"Indeed Mrs Churchill, I have heard of Judge Murray too, though you are more knowledgeable than I; but it may be that you recall a more recent reference, for there was an article in the Tattler that the poet Mr Keats is to remove their for the good of his health since the city air makes him unwell" said Caleb. "You read out his poem 'On first looking into Chapman's Homer' to Miss Bates when it was printed in the ladies' magazine you take; I was much struck at the time that by his suggestion one might read these old Greek tales and feel like a gallant explorer and adventurer."

"Indeed perhaps the air outside the city may improve his poetry also; for I cannot admire his writing so well as that of Lord Byron, for all that one might deplore that man's lifestyle and scandalous behaviour" said Jane. "I do not believe it was in connection with either Mr Keats or Lord Mansfield however that I connected the town of Hampstead; how vexatious! Perhaps it was mentioned in stray conversation by someone recently!"

Simmy sniffed. Discussion of queer-cuffins, as his idiom designated judges, or poets, whom he apostrophised as bennish lolpoop chaunter-culls, bored him.

"Well reckon if Sir Richard want some lolpoop to write rhymes for 'im, 'e don't need ter go aht ter 'Ampstead" he said firmly. "The Spaniard's Inn is a place where cocking and the like take place, see?"

Caleb laughed.

"Oh I don't have any suspicion that Sir Richard has any literary bent, nor any desire to oppose slavery, Simmy; but there is a former resident of Hampstead as may tickle your imagination; Dick Turpin was said to have drunk in your very Spaniard's Inn in his heyday."

"CUH!" breathed Simmy, awed. He went on, "That feller Deevrees or whatever 'e's called, 'e don't go out much; and 'e's a skinflint too so nobody 'as took much notice of 'im. Seemingly 'e does go to clients 'ouses though, like some milliner; so we'll find out 'oo 'e visits in a brace o' shakes! Can I 'ave one o' vem little veal pies wot Mrs Ketch make? Cuh vey aren't 'arf tasty!"

"You most certainly may if there are any over" said Jane. "Mr Armitage will make it all right with Mrs Ketch. And Mr Armitage, if it means we are to be one short at the table tomorrow why then, Mrs Ketch shall slice them and serve a platter with slices and a salad arrangement in the middle. It will look quite pretty and will go round quite well enough."

"Yes ma'am" said Caleb. At least he would be able to flatter Mrs Ketch into accepting such an idea; and the good woman had at least taken Simmy more as a challenge than a nuisance.

Jane spent the rest of the evening playing dance music and counting out the measures to teach Dorothy to dance; and for that matter Caleb, who learned fast enough listening to her explanations. By pushing the furniture back they might manage Sir Roger de Coverly and some of the less complex country steps.

"It is hard to show you how to go on without three couples" said Jane "So many dances require the triples to be made into the patterns of the set; and it helps to create the serpentine movements that are so necessary for a pretty effect. Still, if you will learn the steps it will stand you in good stead; for then you may just watch the leading couple at any dance and follow what they do."

"Will yer learn me to waltz?" asked Dorothy eagerly.

"I will TEACH you how to dance the country measures that are danced as waltz-time dances" said Jane "But to dance the actual WALTZ is extremely fast you know; it may be danced at Almack's as they say, with the express permission of the patronesses, but High Society is a trifle ramshackle in its morals you know. Why even Lord Byron is said to have disapproved of the waltz and nobody can call his morals anything but a trifle LAX whatever you may believe of some of the wilder gossip about him."

"What is the wilder gossip abaht 'im?" asked Dorothy, interested

"You are too young to know" said Jane primly "And despite all your unfortunate experiences, too much an innocent. It would shock you."

She had no intention of disclosing that it had been hinted that Lord Byron had fathered a child on his own sister; that was a deeply shocking idea that Dorothy might have difficulty coping with. And as for some of the suggestions that he liked MEN in a certain fashion as well as women, why she preferred not to even contemplate that herself! And she certainly had no intention of repeating any of these shocking whispers in front of Aunt Hetty who would be much upset! Ella associated with too many high class dressers when out shopping. And she, Jane, should be firmer with her in repeating what she had heard.

"Dear me, he IS a rather unsatisfactory character, to be sure!" said Miss Bates "But he writes SUCH evocative poetry; dear Jane has read out loud to me from some of his works and I enjoyed it excessively until I heard that he was a womaniser!"

"No doubt when he is dead, the test of his work will be whether it endures because it is well written, and his peccadilloes forgotten, or will fall into obscurity because the scandal sells it" said Caleb cynically.

"I believe it will endure" said Jane. "One may prefer not to think of the scandal attached; but one cannot help enjoying the cadence and rhythm that makes his poetry exciting. Though his central male roles would doubtless be very uncomfortable for any real woman to have to actually live with; one cannot imagine asking the Corsair to see to ordering a Bramah closet."

Caleb gave a shout of laughter.

"Why Mrs Jane how very practical you are to be sure!" he said delighted. "Is that your measure of a hero – to be able to arrange so fundamental a domestic article?"

Jane considered.

"I should say the ability to procure a Hackney carriage rapidly, to be ready to deal with housebreakers, and to take with equanimity a breakdown in domestic arrangements due to a crisis in the kitchen provide a true measure of a real man" she said. "Also the ability to think and improvise in any crisis and to be ready to notice the indisposition of his wife or any of his offspring."

"Why Mrs Jane, I do believe that you have a far more pragmatic state of mind than those who would sigh over a romantic figure" said Caleb, not displeased in having already managed to cope with all the examples she had cited. "But then, the romantic heroes in poetry and lurid novels are there to be sighed over by romantic young females that may imagine clandestine embraces with a figure who is, when all is said and done, made merely of paper and ink and therefore of no real danger to their virtue until they may meet a more realistic ideal."

"Indeed; if only the silly widgeons may not reject the ideal man for them for failing to recognise that he is a reality and does not need to live up to some fantastic and unrealistic ideal" said Jane. "And alas! I was such a silly widgeon to have my head turned by one who seemed every semblance of a romantic hero whose lustre wore off when I realised that he was but a man of straw if not a man of paper and ink."

"OOO, Mrs Jane, was that some cove you knowed before Frankie?" asked Dorothy.

"No my dear; I spoke of Frank. You saw the generous and heroic side for he visited you; living with him was not always easy" said Jane reflecting that she spoke in understatement. "If he had not been a weak man he would not have told them that you had the necklace, opening you to being hurt. Nor would he have got into such straits that he worked for such villains in the first place" she added then went on with some bitterness "And if he did not care to humiliate YOU when he was with you then he treated you well enough that you are fortunate not to have seen his other side."

"Cor Mrs Jane, did 'e do it to you too?" asked Dorothy who was fingering the rove on her burned face in resentful memory "'E never 'URT me, so I figured, I could of 'ad worse, and 'e allus apologised."

"Then, my dear, I fancy he respected YOU more than he respected ME" said Jane "And we speak out of turn before a gentleman; which was my fault for permitting my feelings to be carried away in so unladylike a fashion."

"Oh my poor dear Jane!" cried Miss Bates "And poor dear Dorothy too! I could not ever imagine such things of Frank!"

"He hated strong minded women" said Jane. "And did not want me ever to be in the situation his aunt held regarding HER husband; because like his uncle he was weak and could not perceive that a strong man likes a woman to be strong also as his helpmate, not his possession."

"If I may say so, hear hear" said Caleb. "Would you like me to withdraw so you may speak more freely?"

"Not in the least, Mr Armitage" said Jane firmly "It is an episode that is behind us; and I need you to walk through and then dance a cotillion with Dorothy."

Posted on: 2011-05-11

Chapter 28

"Will we sew again today, Aunt Hetty?" Jane asked at breakfast next morning.

"Oh my dear, that would have been pleasant, but it is so vexatious!" cried Miss Bates "I am afraid you miscounted the number of yards of black ribbon we should need for you neglected, my dear, to calculate the knots of ribbons the servants must wear, AND the ribbon trim for bonnets! We are QUITE running out!"

"Then it is best that we step into town for some more" said Jane "See, it is a fine day to day; and that we may not guarantee if we wait until tomorrow. I cannot think that the house would be attacked in broad daylight; no ruffians are THAT bold. And come what may they could not persuade any group of Luddites to believe that our house was any kind of mill or manufactory to be attacked to burn machines; nor is it a part of London in which mill owners tend to reside, so using a riot as a cover seems unfeasible. We shall be safe to leave the house for a couple of hours shall we not, Mr Armitage?" she asked.

"I do not see why not" said Caleb "Though I should avoid getting into speech with anyone; and I shall have Fowler find a Hack that has a driver he knows too. One cannot be too careful."

Miss Bates gave a little scream.

"Oh my dear Mr Armitage! Surely you cannot be serious? That is a suggestion from melodrama!"

"More than likely, yes" said Caleb "But I would prefer not to take any chances with Mrs Jane's safety, as I am sure you will agree."

"Oh INDEED Mr Armitage!" agreed Miss Bates.

It was indeed a fine day, if cold; the sun shone thinly and burned away the last sullen strands of haze that would have veiled its face in the half-mourning of the late winter for the summer that was no summer of the previous year. Frost sparkled on the ground and Jane knew better than to touch the cold iron railings about the area, even with gloves, for the cold would strike through the thin leather. Young Molly had left washing on the line the night before and had run out after dark, absently placing her bare hand on the decorative iron surround of the kitchen garden and had a nasty frost burn in consequence.

This winter was not over, despite the meagre promise of the half-hearted sun and the brightness of the sky around it, the colour of tarnished silver, bright against pewter clouds. The air was sharp; and tasted of sleet or snow to come. It was wise to shop now, not wait to see what the morrow would bring; and since the clouds were already beginning to form into the serried ranks of mackerel skies then wind was promised.

Jane pulled her muffler closer. It was bright blue and not conventional mourning at all; but it had been knit for her for Christmas by Patty, the little maidservant in the Bates home; and Jane had been much touched and would not discard it for convention. It was besides warm, of wool from the Donwell sheep, sent to be dyed and spun; and it was a reminder of what was, in many ways, home.

Fowler had found a hack; and was returning sat beside the driver, the clop of the horse's hooves ringing loud in the still frosty air, the metallic ring of the horseshoes on the road a musical note like the striking of hammer on anvil. But the sound of the sedate pace of the horse harnessed to the hack was drowned out by the sudden fusillade of galloping feet from another vehicle; which careered up the street, a closed carriage, a berlin, pulled by two fine bays. The coachman was muffled; not unreasonable on a cold day, but his face might as well not have been there for all one might see of it, thought Jane, wondering what the fool was doing driving so recklessly in a town street.

The bays were pulled up short, almost sitting on their own haunches, right beside her and Miss Bates who was clinging to Jane in some terror that the horses might be runaways and might mount the pavement.

Instead the door opened and a man, also muffled, leaped out and pushed Miss Bates so hard that she fell away from Jane to sprawl on the ground. Jane turned to her with an exclamation of horror; and found herself grabbed by the upper arm.
She twisted to get away; but the grip was cruel and was dragging her towards the berlin.

Jane went to hit her assailant; but he only laughed.

She could not escape.

She could however hope to be followed; and she went limp as though fainting. He gave an exclamation of disgust and went to pick her up; and Jane used the opportunity of having both hands free to loosen and pull off her muffler, gasping as if feeling short of breath; and as she was about to be thrust into the carriage clung suddenly to the door, long enough to loop the brightly coloured muffler round the handle outside, unseen by her abductor who was trying to manhandle an unwilling female inside the coach before reinforcements should arrive.

She heard Fowler's voice.

"Don't shoot you Bedlamite! Nah then cully, give up; you can't get away wiv this in the middle of London!"

The coachman laughed and his muffled voice replied

"I think we are – cully."

Jane was now inside and as the door pulled to her assailant rapped on the coach. There was a stomach lurching moment as the horses doubtless shied and came down running following the crack of a whip.

Jane, who was still queasy in the mornings, promptly lost her breakfast on the floor.

"Well I shan't feel like kissing you now awhile" the voice was familiar; and as he took off the muffler so was the face.

"Sir Richard! What is the meaning of this?" demanded Jane "If you plan to abduct me and force me to Gretna Green I assure you I shall not be a compliant prisoner!"

"Gretna Green? What maggot have you in your head?" Sir Richard sneered.

"What else am I to think?" said Jane "You called two days running making much of the idea that you wished to wed me; I can only suppose that you still persist in the idea that I have some control over the monies that are in entail for my children and have some idea of gaining control over it by wedding me; I assure you that by marriage I stand to lose every last penny of the jointure I have. It is a ludicrous idea of yours and if you were at least even BORN a gentleman whatever manner of coxcomb you have become you would offer me a drink to wash out my mouth!"

He gave a sneering laugh and handed over a hip flask.

Jane took a drink, making a face at the taste of the brandy, rinsed her mouth around and looked for somewhere to spit. He pulled a silver chamber pot from under the seat and she spat thankfully.

"Though as you have already defiled the floor of my carriage, your need to spit in an utensil seems a little nice" he said.

"I had very little choice in the matter" said Jane "Had you been a man of any delicacy and sensibility you would have left the utensil ready, bearing in mind that a lady in a certain condition is inclined to a degree of delicacy in her digestion. Or as is proved, the incomplete action of digestion" she added with a grimace. "But of course a man of delicacy and sensibility would not resort to abduction. If we are not bound for Gretna, where may we be bound?"

"You have no need to know THAT" said Sir Richard "But believe me, you WILL be begging to marry me before much longer; the alternatives would be very much more unpleasant. And if you do as you are told and make me a pleasant wife, you will have a pleasant enough life; a little confined perhaps, but I shall make sure you have every comfort."

"But I do not understand WHY!" said Jane opening her eyes ingenuously "I do not have a sous of my own; nothing in the funds, no income, no expectations; Frank married me and rescued me from the humiliating penury of becoming a governess; my father was a penniless lieutenant in a foot regiment! What then can be the attraction in marrying me?"

"Apart from allowing that you are an attractive and spirited wench, the matter is your silence my dear; that you shall not be able to speak against your husband" said Sir Richard.

"Excuse me? Why should I wish to? Surely you have not DEFRAUDED my late husband?" asked Jane.

He gave a bitter laugh.

"You ninny! It is the other way round; are you not aware of that? You know about the necklace; and it has not been pawned. You lied to Poul; you WILL tell me the truth!"

She stared.

"The necklace? Are – surely you cannot mean the trumpery paste necklace my husband gave to his mistress? This is all very confusing; I cannot think; why the world spins!"

Artistically Jane put her hands tremulously to her head and permitted herself to sink back in the seat.

Had the floor not been covered in vomit she might have considered casting herself on the floor but in fear of her life or not she recoiled from such a recourse; not least because the proximity of the smell might have brought up more which would have spoiled her pose as quite insensible.

Sir Richard gave vent to a blistering oath.

"Stupid piece!" he muttered "She HAS to know!"

Jane moaned gently. She could only continue to lie and hope that the blue scarf was seen by enough beggars to bring Caleb and his men to her rescue before she was tortured badly enough to cause her to miscarry. Jane had every belief in her own stubbornness to make her last longer than Frank had done; though her belly turned to water in fear at the very thought.

"Oh, this is surely a bad dream!" she murmured thickly, her eyes still shut "I shall open my eyes and I shall be back in my own bed!"

"Not a chance I'm afraid, Mrs Churchill" said Sir Richard's sneering drawl.

She opened her eyes wide to stare at him and began to scream.

He slapped her; which she had expected, though the pain of the hardness of the blow was more than Frank had ever managed.

She started to sob hysterically; it was guaranteed to make men nervous though it was a tactic she had scorned to use on Frank, scorned to let him have the victory of making her react at all.

But her victory here was to stay alive and hope that she might do so long enough for rescue.

Caleb would not leave her.

Chapter 29

Caleb came running out on hearing a commotion and Jane's voice raised in distress; he was in time to see the berlin turning the corner of the square towards the Pembridge Road by which the vehicle might go left into the city or right towards the north. Fowler was arguing with the driver of the Hack.

"Foller that bleedin' carriage!" shouted Fowler, beside himself.

"You're 'avin' a laugh, Mr Fowler, strite up you are!" said the coachman "Swelp me, my poor nag can't keep up wiv even one o' them prime prads, never mind two!"

"He is correct, Fowler" said Caleb tightly as Fowler made a move as though planning on leaping up and taking the reins. "However we shall need the services of this good man to take us to see if we cannot get clues as to which direction this carriage has taken. If it only had any distinguishing features!"

"Well there can't be many berlins wiv – with – a blue muffler on the door handle" said Fowler with satisfaction "Not bereft of her wits, Mrs Jane ain't not by a long mark!"

Caleb heaved a sigh of relief.

"Miss Bates!" he said kneeling beside the poor woman, who was sobbing, still on the ground "Are you badly hurt? I should have asked immediately!"

"Oh Mr Armitage, you are everything that is good" cried Miss Bates "I am not hurt….a little bruised perhaps but an application of arnica will soon set me rightabouts; oh, my poor Jane! What is happening? What will become of her?"

"Nuffink if I have any say in it" said Caleb, grimly "My dear Miss Bates, permit me to assist you to rise; ah, here is Simmy. What news Simmy? Did you see what happened?"

Simmy nodded, sobbing in fright himself.

"Oh Mr Armitage, that loverly lady, will vey sell her inter slavery?" he cried.

"It's generally the province of those who kidnap children" said Caleb as Miss Bates gave a little shriek and swooned.
"Here you silly young fellow, get in that Hack – here's a purse – and see what you can't find out. Mr Fowler says there's a blue muffler on the door."

"I seen it" said Simmy. "Reckon I know the prads too; but I'll be back in a brace o'shakes. Onward my man!" he put on a false society accent as he mounted into the Hackney Carriage painfully and awkwardly but proudly.

"I'll Onward you, you little scamp" said the coachman without much rancour. The boy had been given money; and this was a guaranteed fare for most of the morning. It could be worse though if the brat showed any signs of putting on airs to irritate, he'd get a clipped ear for his pains!

Caleb carried the swooning Miss Bates within and up to the parlour where he laid her tenderly on the chaise longue.
Dorothy tripped into the room; she had not wished to join the shopping expedition and had gone instead to play with Frances; but she was beginning to wonder what the commotion was about.

"Eoow, poor Miss Bates!" she cried "What 'appened, Mr Armitage? Where's Mrs Jane?"

"She's been abducted" said Caleb grimly "Now you be a good girl Dolly….. strewth!" he added as Dorothy set up a screech.

"Eoow, eoow, eoow, vey'll murder 'er and sell 'er to ve resurrection-coves if vey don't sell 'er inter slavery!"

Caleb looked around and picked up Jane's floral arrangement of greenery and snowdrops and threw the water, flowers and all in Dorothy' face. She sputtered in shock.

"Right my girl; pick up them flahrs and stems and put more water in 'em or Mrs Jane'll be disappointed when we gets her 'ome" said Caleb losing control of his vowels and aitches a little. "Then you shall see to a hot brick for Miss Bates and a shawl to wrap herself in and a cup of tea. You make yourself useful to her and leave me to worry about Mrs Jane, see?"

"Yes Mr Armitage; sorry Mr Armitage" said Dorothy, subdued.

She was rather in awe of Caleb; but he was kind too, and most men would have slapped her. Dorothy got about the task of picking up the scattered snowdrops and greenery, mostly rosemary, lavender and bay from the kitchen garden, there not being much in the way of plant material at this time of year. Dorothy was not an expert flower arranger though she liked to watch Mrs Jane at the daily task of keeping pleasant bowls of what Dorothy's uneducated idiom called 'erbs in the parlour and dining room, with such flowers added as might be in bloom. Jane had shown Dorothy the green shoots that would be crocuses and bluebells over the next couple of months and had suggested an outing to pick hazel catkins on Hampstead Heath. Meanwhile Dorothy enjoyed the scent of the lavender and rosemary as she poked the plant material back into the pretty bowl Jane had chosen to arrange them in, and stood it near Miss Bates so the scent might help revive her. She ran for a carafe of water and a glass too, to water flowers and give Miss Bates a drink at the same time; for Dorothy was a thoughtful enough girl even if not particularly clever. And if Mr Armitage said he would get Mrs Jane back, he would get Mrs Jane back! And so she assured Miss Bates!

Caleb knew that Dorothy would look after Miss Bates well enough once brought out of hysteria; and ran back down. The three soldiers were waiting for him, much upset.

"I'm not sure we might of stopped it 'appenin' nowise" said Jackie "But one of us might of leaped that rattlin'-cove afore 'e fired on Mr Fowler, or one of us might of stopped the nags, or at least leaped on the back and hung onto the boot!"

"Oh I doubt you might have stopped it" said Caleb "It was over too fast; I sent Simmy to get word from beggars which way they went. He ought to be back before long, so get your barking-irons primed and ready and check the sharp on your cutlasses and we'll be off, I hope, presently."

"We have a sharp on our tooth picks; you don't need to worry about THAT" said Jackie. "Good naval ones they be; got them cheap. Purser on the make; less ways to feather their nests now the war's over see."

Caleb saw; he had heard much about the depredations of crooked pursers at sea, and they made the shenanigans of the Royal Waggon Train look quite honest by comparison.

He was however quite relieved when the Hackney Carriage returned bearing Simmy and a disreputable looking beggar with one leg and scabs and sores all over his body. Caleb eyed the newcomer with mixed feelings.

"If you think I'm introducing you into the house where I'm staying looking like that you maundering fermerdly-cove you can think again, Billy Blue!" he said "Simmy, you take him down the area steps and clean orf all them sores and scabs so he look half respectable and you can let down that leg o'yourn too" he added.

"There's rhino in this right?" said Billy Blue.

"Mr Armitage will give you a quid; di'n't I say?" said Simmy shrilly.

Caleb raised an eyebrow.

"He has information worth that much?" he queried.

"'E's seen that carriage afore and where it go" said Simmy in great excitement.

"All right; when he's respectable" said Caleb.

Billy spat, and undid a strap allowing the leg that had been held up behind him to be released, and shook it to restore the feeling.

"Fer gelt I'll take orf all me artistic finery" he said.

"Bring him to the book room when he's fit to be seen" said Caleb hoping that the information was good; and knowing that a guinea was a small amount to pay for Jane's safety.

Miss Bates had shown signs of wanting to hear what Simmy's acquisition might have to say but Caleb had dissuaded her from leaving the parlour. Billy Blue was a beggar of more colourful language than Miss Bates' delicate nerves would be able to stand, though Caleb grinned at the thought that Jane would have found him more fascinating than disgusting. Jane was a remarkable woman! And he must make shift to rescue her as soon as possible; at least that blasted Hackney coachman was ready to be held as long as need be. Of course he was used to waiting on gentry-morts doing all their shopping; it was probably all of a piece to him.

Caleb tried not to sigh with irritation as he waited; and hid his impatience as he heard Simmy on the stairs with Billy Blue.

"I went down and found beggars to say what route were took, see" said Simmy "And seeminly 'e was 'eading NORF so I finks, Gawd, is 'e takin' Mrs Churchill ter Gretna? And when we was on the Great Norf Road startin' up 'Averstock 'Ill well I fort that were it! Ven I seen Billy yere, in Camden so I says to the jarvis to stop, see?"

"Camden?" queried Caleb.

Billy started to hawk, caught Caleb's furious eye and swallowed, choking horribly.

"Big bully" said Billy.

"Gawd, Bill, 'E ain't nothin' on Mrs Jane, SHE'D make yer clear it up AND scrub yer mouf aht wiv soap!" declared Simmy.

"And yer wants 'er back?" Billy was incredulous. Caleb took a single panther like pace and grasped him by the throat with one big hand.

"One word contrary to Mrs Jane and you might not live to enjoy your guinea; and I'm beginning to wonder if Simmy ain't made a mistake and you don't know nothin'! why Camden?"

"Stand to reason, don't it?" Billy said "They just got the Regent's canal as far as Camden; and there's new 'ouses goin up. Gawdstrewth, bein' the first on the grahnd fer the pickin's is worf a mort o' rhino."

"That follows" said Caleb "Touching the navvies too I suppose with sporting tips, spurious or otherwise, while they extend it towards Limehouse?"

"Well, mebbe" said Billy looking shifty. "Few good fibbing-matches take place out Primrose 'Ill way. Vere's one termorra night, cove called Charlie the Miller against….."

"I am not interested in bare knuckle fights" said Caleb waspishly. "Did you see the carriage with the blue muffler?"

"O'course I did!" said Billy "Struck me as right queer t'see Sir Richard Marjoram's berlin bedecked like a dell in a milliner's shop; so I was able to tell Simmy yere what I knows; and I'd like ter see yer gelt, no offence, Mr Armitage, afore I whiddle the scrap."

Caleb laid a guinea on the table.

"That's for identifying the berlin" he said. "There'll be a brother to it if you have any more."

Billy started talking very rapidly.

Posted on: 2011-05-15

Chapter 30

The drive was not long for Jane; that they had left the metropolis she was able to gauge by the cessation of the noise of frequent traffic and the shouts of itinerant peddlers and traders; they appeared to travel up hill for some way then the carriage turned sharply left and came to a halt.

"We have arrived" said Sir Richard "And if we should encounter anyone and you kick up any fuss I shall smile and inform them that you are my unfortunate cousin released from Bedlam to be under the care of a private doctor. Screams of abduction would be disbelieved I assure you!"

"Oh I don't know" said Jane "You look sufficiently like a loose fish to me that I shouldn't mind putting it to the test. Shall we try it? After all the worst that can happen is that people think I am mad and pity me; at best someone might run you through which I should find vastly entertaining."

Sir Richard stared like a stuffed cod; then slapped her resoundingly across the face. Jane was knocked sideways on the seat but managed to give him a brittle smile.

"Why thank you Sir Richard" she said "The bruise and the cut on my cheek from your ring immediately tells disinterested passers by that you are violent and will make them more inclined to believe me over you!"

He gaped.

The door was opened by his footman.

"Problem, Sir Richard?" he asked.

Sir Richard glared.

"Make sure the coast is clear; this little virago believes she can call my bluff; and I would rather not try her and see" he said.

"Yessir" said the coachman "Here's a muffler on the door; you want that out of sight."

Sir Richard rounded on Jane who ignored him and cried out in delight.

"Oh my muffler! Why I made sure I had lost it when this horrid creature grabbed me; it was knit for me by a maidservant you know, all with her own hands!"

"Cease your prattling woman!" cried Sir Richard, grabbing her by the arm again to manhandle her down the steps. Jane fumbled with her skirt, glad that fashion decreed more width in skirts this season; and took a flying leap for the ground. She stumbled slightly but her arm was free for Sir Richard lost his balance and fell ignominiously to the ground. She found herself in the yard of a coaching inn, which was open and not in a courtyard; and she lost no time in setting off towards open country at a run.

Her freedom did not last long; with a yell the coachman flung himself upon her and pinioned her arms.

She bit his wrist.

Then Sir Richard was there with a wicked looking knife.

"If you don't want me to cut your face off you'll behave" he said.

Jane considered her options. There was no guarantee he might not do so anyway to keep her at home when he married her by force as such was his intent; and that if she got hurt she might at least remain free. But Caleb would come; the main thing she must try to concentrate on were delaying tactics so she might not have to hold out against torture too long.

"How can I be certain you will not cut my face off in any case to make me a compliant wife?" she countered "It might be worth my while to take my chances" and she bit the coachman again. He howled satisfactorily.

"By Jove it is an idea" said Sir Richard. Jane bit harder.

"Please guvnor, guarantee the zantippy so she stop bitin' me!" howled the coachman.

Sir Richard touched the knife to Jane's nose and she felt a sharp pain and hot wet blood.

"I MAY not spoil your face in any case for I like the look of it" he said "But I WILL slit your nose if you do not stop biting right now."

Jane stopped biting.

It had taken up some time at least.

She let them manhandle her in a back door and upstairs. There were some semi-clad females up here too who laughed and talked raucously. That should be no surprise; it was plainly a low dive. There had been some sort of sign at the front which looked to be a man in armour of some description; though it looked more like a lobster with a strange looking helmet.

Jane received a jolt of revelation. A man in lobster armour and a morion helm. Well that told her exactly where she was!

She was pushed into a chair; and the coachman left. She suspected that he would be standing outside the door. One of the other chairs was already occupied by Poul de Vries; Sir Richard took the other.

"I really am still most confused still about why you have abducted me" said Jane "My nerves were quite shattered in the coach when you made me cast up my accounts and I was unable to take in anything save that you are not dragging me to Gretna. And this is that Jeweller; the one who came to see me. Why is he here? Are you acting as a pawnbroker, Sir Richard? You said something about Dolly's wretched necklace; did she pawn it to you? I really cannot be held accountable for my husband's mistress cheating you and in my opinion five pounds was a stupidly high price to give for it even if you did feel sorry for her, and surely recourse to the law would be a better way to recoup…."

Sir Richard hit her across the mouth.

"Shut up!" he said.

She had at least half expected it having copied her aunt's way of rattling on inconsequentially; and Frank had once said that he longed to slap Miss Bates across her stupid mouth. It was something Jane would never forgive; true he had been half in his cups, and she had been suggesting leaving him and returning to Miss Bates because he was being unreasonable; but the outpouring of how hard it had been to make up to Miss Bates without losing his temper had been vitriolic. It had been the point at which she had told him that as he did not like garrulous women he need not expect her to speak or react more than was needful.

Expecting it she rode the blow a little; but it hurt.

Well if he was as easy to manipulate as Frank she would be as passive as with Frank. She sat limp in the chair, trying to relax.

"What did she say in the carriage? Have you questioned her without me that you made her vomit?" asked the Dutchman.

"She cast up her accounts because of having a broken ankle" said Sir Richard.

"She seems to walk quite adequately" said de Vries puzzled. Sir Richard gave him an impatient look.

"She's pregnant you stupid Dutchman" he said. "It is a euphemism…..And all I did was to tell her that we knew she was lying about that prime piece of goods pawning the necklace. She made that she did not understand."

"So? Vell she must understand or she vill not like the consequences" said de Vries. His cultivated accentless speech slipped, Jane noticed, quite as much as did Fowler's under stress. "Mrs Churchill, you vill tell us all about the necklace that we vant to know or it vill not be pleasant; first ve can hurt you vith much more subtlety than poor Smudger managed with the trug; and ve can also arrange that you disappear into a brothel yourself and be most unhappy when you will be villing and ready to tell us all and to marry Sir Richard for his and your protection, no?"

Jane stared.

"Well?" demanded Sir Richard.

Jane transferred her gaze to him, looking mildly puzzled.

He struck her.

"Are you going to talk?" he asked.

"Oh I do not understand!" cried Jane "First you say to shut up now you say to talk! What do you wish me to talk about?"

"What do I wish……why you stupid woman I want you to answer questions as de Vries has asked you!" ground out Sir Richard

"He has asked me something? I do not know Dutch though; I could not understand what he said at all, it was like a dog barking" said Jane "And moreover why would I answer questions of a nasty little mushroom like him? I do not have conversations with cits you know, Sir Richard, especially those who cannot even speak the king's English!"

De Vries looked angry; Sir Richard was quite purple.

"Richard you have better ask the questions" said de Vries in a low voice"If the verdompt vrow cannot understand my accent; ach, it is true I am agitated enough that I do not have command of my voice!"

"I agree" said Sir Richard, also in an undertone. "She is not faking; she did not once blench when you told her the consequences; I thought it odd."

Jane heard him well enough; the ears of a musician were quick to hear. Once again she was grateful that she had learned to mask her expression during that secret engagement.

Sir Richard schooled himself to impassivity of manner and explained in detail the consequences of failing to talk to Jane who assumed an expression of worried horror.

"So; what do you know of the necklace?" asked Sir Richard.

"Oh I am so confused and scared!" cried Jane "You are a cruel and ungentlemanly man; why should you care so much about that wretched necklace? I TOLD de Vries that Dolly told me she had pawned it; what can anyone care for – good God! Are you saying that Frank picked up the wrong one by accident when he bought it, that it was REAL? Why Sir Richard, was it then yours and you ended up with the paste necklace? Why then you have every right to be testy but surely you could have been honest with me about that, and not act in so hole-in-the corner way? If I thought for one moment that Dolly knew, I should have gently persuaded me to tell me where then it might be; but you are not going to think that I shall ask her now you have behaved so shabbily towards me; for I shall not be in the least co-operative over helping you to find the wretched thing and I hope it was sold to some Mill Owner's wife for a fraction of its value!"

"Does that onnozelaar wijf not have any kind of speech that is not like your dombo horse that can only gallop or stay still?" cried de Vries.

"Apparently not" said Sir Richard. "Are you trying to put over me the tarradidle that you had no idea that the necklace was anything but fake? Any woman who has seen real diamonds knows what they look like!"

"Oh yes! For I have real diamonds in the necklace that Frank's uncle made me wear at our wedding, and I was never so disappointed in all my born days; for they were so dull and shabby and the rubies quite unprepossessing too, and Frank said that they should have been cleaned, though I do not know how to clean such things and there was not time to take them to a jeweller because they arrived so soon before the wedding. If I had seen Dolly's necklace I should have known at once it was real because diamonds are such ugly dull stones and not in the least bit as exciting as the name of them seems to suggest, for is there not something evocative in the very WORD diamond?" said Jane. "At least coloured stones have something to them other than the dull grey look."

"Dull? Grey? That wench has never a diamond seen never!" cried de Vries "Much less the Avon necklace! That sly little piece Frank was keeping has held out on her also; you will have to get hold of that one, Richard and put HER to the question!"

"I am still tempted to run a needle or two up under her nails to see if she continues to tell the same tale" said Sir Richard.

"Lock her in; and give her time to contemplate that you will test her" said de Vries.

Sir Richard nodded; and seized Jane's left hand, withdrawing a needle pinned to his lapel.

He pushed it a little way under her middle fingernail.

Jane cried out; the pain was considerable.

"It can go a lot further than that" said Sir Richard "And it will. Because in an hour I shall come back and test whether you still tell the same story. And if you wish to change it either speak now, or the minute I return; because that wasn't even starting."

"I don't understand" Jane nursed the abused hand "How can I change what I have told you? You asked questions and I have answered them. Do you want me to LIE?"

"I just want to make sure that you do not you little gabbster" said Sir Richard.

He and de Vries exited the room and she heard the lock turn and Sir Richard's peremptory command to the coachman to keep guard.

Jane heaved a sigh of relief; that bought more time.

And then she might, on their return, spin some fictional tale and let them realise it was fictional with false details; and then sob that she did not want them to hurt her so had made up another story as they seemed to want one. They would still hurt her but the longer she spent talking rubbish the less time they would have to hurt her before Caleb arrived.

And besides she would also spend the time seeing if she might escape.

The window opened inwards; but when she opened the casement she found that the poor quality glass in the narrow leads concealed bars. They had already thought of that.

She turned her attention to the chimney; they would never suspect a lady of quality trying to climb a chimney. In truth, Jane was not too sanguine about her chances of succeeding herself; but where needs must she might make some shift to try.
The trouble was, deciding which flue to take if she DID get up the chimney; coming down ignominiously in a pile of soot in the room where her enemies were would not be a good idea. And when they returned to this room they would see a soot fall and guess; and a fire lit under her would be as bad as any other torture. Jane sighed; she must pin all her hopes on Caleb; but then Caleb was a man on whom one might pin one's hopes.

And Caleb might be helped by having some clew to follow like the thread of Ariadne….

Chapter 31

Caleb, Will, Jackie, Daniel and Fowler were ruffianly looking enough to frighten any villain, as Miss Bates said with half admiration and half trepidation.

"Are you sure your arm will take not hurt, Mr Armitage?" she asked anxiously.

"Miss Bates, if I knew it would cost me the use of it for the rest of my life you know I must still go to rescue Mrs Jane" said Caleb gruffly.

"You DEAR man!" said Miss Bates. "I have my salves if we are ready."

"Beg pardon ma'am? I was not expecting you to be coming….."

"And who else will see to my dear Jane if I do not come?" said Miss Bates "She may need a woman's hand; you and she might very well be smelling of April and May but there are some things that are not seemly. I shall not get in the way."

"Why Miss Bates, I believe I see where Jane gets her indomitable spirit!" cried Caleb in admiration. "You will do well though to stay back; we shall not be playing a gentlemanly game of cricket."

"Mr Armitage, if you plan to save parliament the price of rope by killing them not saving them to be hanged I shall not grieve; these monsters are ready to harm poor helpless women!"

"Ar, and half-women too like Mr Churchill was" Fowler muttered, fortunately too low for Miss Bates to hear.

Caleb agreed with Fowler; he strongly suspected that the villains would find that Jane was a far less helpless proposition than her husband!

The drive was not accomplished as fast as the berlin and its two fine horses might have managed; but it was done with as much despatch as the driver was able to manage for the promise of gold if he might do so. The horse, poor creature, was sweating profusely; but it might rest once they got to 'The Spaniard' Inn; where the jarvis would rub it down and see it fed.
Miss Bates was to wait in the Hackney until called; the three soldiers and Caleb stood as though arguing about something, and pointing much at the tollbooth built on the other side of the road, a gate barring any further progress north without payment of the required toll.

Will walked around the inn towards the back, supposedly to relieve himself and came back grinning.

"Single blue strand o' wool danglin' from a winder" he said; and proceeded to describe in detail where the window was.

Caleb grinned. She would not have got away with using the whole muffler again; his clever Jane.

They walked into the tap room; still apparently quarrelling.

It did not take much in the way of contentious comments about Government and taxation – leading from tolls to the Corn Laws – with one supposed apologist for the government, before a full scale brawl was in progress with other interested parties joining in. Dealing with incidental locals was going to be something that needed to be done first and hard fists and the butts of pistols soon saw these possible reinforcements laid low, while Caleb went up to mine host, smiled, put his pistol to the man's ribs and required him to turn around.

A heavy pewter tankard knocked scientifically against his head ensured that the man lost all further interest in the proceedings; and Caleb tied him up expertly. The soldiers, having subdued the half dozen or so locals, kicked, dragged or persuaded them to sit in a circle, and proceeded to cross their hands behind them to tie in a ring one hand to the hand of the fellow next to him. It had been a method they had used to deal with French prisoners requiring a minimum of twine to keep a relatively large number of prisoners immobilised.

They were then ready to proceed upstairs.

And there would be little notice taken of a bar room brawl in so rowdy an inn.

"Beg pardon I'm sure, ma'am" said Caleb, lifting his beaver to the almost naked prostitute whose door he had just kicked in.

"Strewth! Charmed I'm sure" said the lightskirt half ironically, wriggling provocatively as a matter of course.

"And sorry about this too, ma'am" said Caleb, whipping the key from her side of the lock, pulling the door too and locking it.

He hastened away; the language was indescribable. He had a grim look on his face; this, the second floor, was where Jane was apparently held; and seemed to be given over to prostitutes. They had ignored the first floor as well as the ground floor to get Jane out first; and hope that she had not been taken to some other chamber. Well, he had miscounted; and yet….. there was no other room further along…..

Caleb peered at the panelled wall at the end of this passage; and pounced on what appeared to be a knothole.

There was a click of a latch; and then the concealed door swung open, revealing a villainous looking fellow in the livery of a coachman standing outside another door. He went for a pistol; and Caleb shot him without compunction., thrusting the discharged weapon back in his belt and pulling the second as he turned the key, still in the lock, and kicked the door in.

"Good morning Mr Armitage; I am afraid I cannot offer you any refreshment" said Jane.

Her face was white and strained; and much bruised; and Caleb jerked her into his arms.

"Oh yes you can" he said and kissed her hard.

Jane had never been kissed like this, with this longing need and passion; and her legs felt quite weak as she surrendered to the embrace of her wonderful Caleb who had no sense of propriety at all to kiss a widow with quite such ruthless abandon.

And since he was irredeemably abandoned in any case, Jane kissed him back with equal fervour since he had plainly run mad and one should always humour a madman.

He lifted his lips from hers.

"Jane-girl, they have hurt you….WHERE ELSE?" he demanded terribly.

"Only a demonstration with a needle under one nail" said Jane in a whisper "You are come in the nick of time; I have heard a church clock strike the quarters from somewhere; and I was to be left an hour to contemplate. Oh Caleb! I fear I am close to swooning!"

"Here, Jane-girl, you can't do that yet awhile" said Caleb firmly "You keep behind me, see; and we'll take in the precious villain what took you – Sir Richard Malodorous as I do believe."

"Yes; and oh Caleb! I believe that he may be Sparkler Jack; for knowing this inn near Hampstead Heath; I recalled why it was familiar, because of the highwayman attack."

"Yes and that tallies with what an informant has told me too" said Caleb "And what's more I am hoping to find some of the baubels here that may even convict him of that; I want that …..man……to go to bed with a hempen collar!"

"De Vries is here too" said Jane.

"Is he begawd!" said Caleb "Well he ain't stirred out since the robbery on the heath…. And I must say, with losing you I weren't about to be ready for reports if they'd come in of him stirring today; so there's a good chance of finding all that got took. And if I'm not mistook that's them a-comin' t'see why a shot was fired."

Sir Richard was in the fore and De Vries's voice was to be heard behind him yelling hysterically,

"If dot dombo coachman of yours has shot the wench he vill be in trouble isn't it!"

Sir Richard came face to face with Caleb as he came round the top of the stairs.

"Mornin'" said Caleb "I am an officer of the law and you are under arrest. Are y'comin' quiet-like or do I get the pleasure of hurting you?"

Sir Richard recovered quickly.

"Why – what can you mean?" he said "An officer of the law? Why should you arrest me? I have committed no crime. I am Sir Richard Marjoram; you are making a big mistake my man."

"Well abduction in itself may not be a crime, cully, but torture now, that's a different matter" said Caleb "'Old out yer fambles; I got darbies yere for them."

"Why, a hysterical woman of good family but hardly high degree is scarcely going to have her word believed over mine"
said Sir Richard "Now do yourself a favour, fellow, and accept a gift to make it worth your while to just forget this nonsense."
He reached towards a pocket.

"Sparkler Jack is going for a pistol!" shouted Jane from behind Caleb.

The shock of the use of his soubriquet made Sir Richard freeze momentarily; and in a stride Caleb was beside him, kicking his feet out from under him so he fell down the steep, narrow stair, taking the Dutchman with him.

"Take them, lads!" shouted Caleb.

There were brief sounds of a scuffle and a yell from Jackie

"Gottem!"

"Good; tie them securely then search their rooms thoroughly. Daniel, fetch in Miss Bates and see about making tea for her and Mrs Jane" Caleb called back, turning just in time to catch Jane as she swayed and would have fallen had not his strong arms been there to catch her.

Chapter 32

Jane came to with the awful smell of burning feathers in her nostrils; Miss Bates' kind, anxious face swam into her vision, waving the smouldering feathers.

"Oh Aunt Hetty!" whispered Jane "Caleb did not bring YOU surely?"

"Only after I insisted that he did so, my dear Jane" said Miss Bates "Now if you feel ready to sit up there is a cup of tea here for you; the tea is stale but Daniel at least knows how to make a tolerable brew."

Jane sat up – no easy task for the sofa on which she found herself was an overstuffed thing of too many curves that appeared to attempt to frustrate any move save rolling off it – and took the cup of tea that Miss Bates held out to her.

"They are taken then?" she said "Is Caleb certain he can get a conviction?"

Caleb's own cheerful voice answered her.

"I am now I am able to make deposition that I found the baubels that bridle-cull prigged last Sunday in the room which also has items in it provable to belong to Sir Richard Marjoram; and his change of duds in which he plays at being on the High Toby. You knocked him all of a piece calling out about him being Sparkler Jack; I had been going to shoot him and deprive the nubbing-cheat of some ripe fruit. But that will be a fine prize award to you for Sparkler Jack as well as De Vries. And I'll get my reward too; he sang like a canary. I only had to hint that Frank had already informed and that you were a furious virago out for revenge and that you knew his doxy – I presume he must have one – and he caved in, cursing and blaming the Dutchman for bringing in Frank in the first place. It turns out that someone Sir Richard robbed had vowels from Frank, among others, in with his money; and De Vries hit on the idea of using forged provenance just as you guessed to pass off jewellery changed enough to disguise it. There should be a nice haul of the same, partly broken up, at his workshop; which is where I shall be going next. It's done, Jane-girl; no more danger! And you have found out who killed Frank; you wanted to do that, didn't you?"

Jane nodded and she laid aside the tea cup.

"I did" she said "Oh! Does it always feel so flat when you have succeeded?"

Caleb came and knelt by the sofa and took her hands. Miss Bates tiptoed tactfully out of the room to leave them together.

"Jane, Jane! It only feels flat because you have swooned!" he said "Tomorrow you will be elated!"

"No I shall not" said Jane sadly "For you have no more excuse to stay with us."

Caleb paled slightly.

"No Mrs Churchill I do not; and now of course what happens depends on whether you will receive a low creature like me socially or whether the excitement of the chase has brought about feelings you prefer to forget and all who are associated with it" he said.

"If you mean to abandon me without coming to court me properly when the time is right after kissing me so hard upstairs Caleb Armitage, then you are nothing but a flirt!" said Jane.

Caleb grinned.

"Why Mrs Churchill, if it is your wish, then I shall most certainly visit you…..every day if my duty permits. But I shall remove from your house so that nobody might say anything improper is afoot. And you and Miss Bates shall visit my more humble abode, that Sir Henry Wilton arranged for me; nothin' fancy you know, but snug."

"Why if it is not too snug to rear children in then I fancy it may do well enough" said Jane "And you must take Simmy into your home right away!"

"Yes, bless the brat; he found us the one beggar in all London Town as knew where Sir Richard was a-takin' you; and that he stables a horse there that some might say was similar to the one Sparkler Jack rides. So I had my information too. How did you come by the conclusion?"

"I fear merely by that uncertain route of female intuition" said Jane "For he is known to have excellent horses and to ride and drive; and to visit this inn that was famous for having once harboured Dick Turpin; which is close by Hampstead Heath where Sparkler Jack was known to operate. That a horseman should be associated with jewellery thieves made a connection in my thoughts and I took a leap of faith in the matter. That is all."

"Well it is to my mind an astute assimilation of what little we knew – and a good working guess" said Caleb "And on that information I'd have felt safe to raid this inn I have to say, even if I might not arrest Sir Richard or search his town house. Which now I might do" he added in satisfaction. "And take this precious pair to lie right-and-tight in the lock up; and once it is known that they are caught, then their confederates might be induced to talk to get transportation instead of hanging" he grinned suddenly, a savage grin. "And the queer-cuffin – magistrate to you, Mrs Churchill! – might have been unwilling to give credence to arraigning a noble knight without the overwhelming evidence we have here; but once one of their own class turn bad, they get might peevy about it. There'll be no mercy for Sir Richard; and as he's entitled to a jury of his peers, he won't be able to browbeat no low class types with his rank neither" he winked at her "They'll only be impressed, and not favourably either, at how rank he is!"

"Oh Caleb you are so very handy with words!" said Jane. "And I should put aside my mourning and marry you tomorrow but for one thing."

"Indeed; you must not do Frank's brat out of his property if it is a boy" said Caleb "And I support you in that with all my heart; and I shall fight for my stepson's rights too."

Jane gave a sigh of contentment.

This time she had made a good choice in a future husband!

She put up her mouth for a kiss; and Caleb obliged her with a heady and passionate embrace that almost caused Jane to swoon again from the sheer excess of emotion and anticipation of what was yet to come!

The End....of the beginning