“Except you never cared a fig for your father while he was alive. I, however, saw him quite regularly about the neighborhood, while you feared to set foot within our quarter.”
I could hardly answer these charges, which I knew were only too just. I told myself that his words meant nothing, that Mendes knew nothing of how my father treated me, that a man of his spirit could have taken it no more than I. But I could not quite believe my own thoughts, perhaps because when I left, I left not out of anger or indignation or the justice of my cause—I left with my father’s stolen money in my pocket.
We rode in silence until the hackney now stumbled to a halt. “We are arrived, Mr. Weaver.” He handed me my daggers, hangar, and pistol, and wished that I might use them in the best of health. “I hope you meet great success in your inquiry,” Mendes said as I stepped out of the hackney. “Mr. Wild does as well. That may be difficult for you to believe just now, but I promise you it is so.”
My legs shook a bit as I touched the cobbled street, and the daylight in my eyes, after the dark of the hackney, made me feel like a drunkard just roused from last night’s stupor. As I limped toward Mrs. Garrison’s front door I thought of all the information I had obtained that day, and wondered why I felt no closer to knowing anything at all.
TWENTY-THREE
I FOUND WILD’S MANEUVERINGS rough and barbaric, but for all his clumsiness, I could not see his game. There was no shortage of men pushing me toward the South Sea Company, and to suspect that they all conspired in this together was to say that my uncle was part of this conspiracy. That possibility filled me with dread, but in light of the information I had obtained, it was one I could not entirely dismiss. Why had my uncle wished to keep me clear of Bloathwait, whose involvement in these matters grew evident? Did Sarmento deal with Bloathwait with or without my uncle’s knowledge? And why did my uncle maintain a friendship with Adelman, a man so important to the South Sea Company, if it appeared that the Company’s hand in my father’s death was undeniable?
For the nonce, no question plagued me more than Wild’s interest. I could not imagine how a dandified pickpocket like Wild stood to gain from exposing the Company. Despite his claims about the importance of punishing murder, my success in these matters would perhaps be the greatest threat to Wild’s concerns, for many a man in London, as Sir Owen had shown by example, would pay more to have an honest man return his goods than pay a more moderate fee to the thief that took them in the first place. I could only conclude two probable explanations for Wild’s behavior: either he aimed somehow, through all his maneuverings, to remove me from his way; or, for reasons I could not yet guess, the South Sea Company was so dangerous to him that he would risk my injuring him in the future in order to expose the Company now. I could not even speculate on what the Company could have to do with an oily fiend like Wild, but if he did fear the South Sea, why did he not give me more information with which to do the Company harm?
Quite exhausted and hurting from the blows I’d taken of Wild’s men, I entered Mrs. Garrison’s house, now prepared at last to sleep. I could not say with any truthfulness that the pain had subsided much; if anything, it ached more acutely, though the sting of it had passed. I believed that I could tell from past experience when an injury was serious or no, and while I knew I should be in discomfort for some days ahead, I did not believe myself in any danger. I would think through these matters properly once I had rested, but rest was not to prove so easy to obtain. Mrs. Garrison awaited me in the hall, her hands red from her incessant wringing.
“Mr. Weaver, sir, are you unharmed?” She appeared something like concerned, even, I would venture, glad to see me, but I knew too well the meaning of her clucking her tongue. I had heard it many a time and often when my rent was past due.
“Yes, Mrs. Garrison,” I said with a soft voice, doing my best to put her at ease. She would not soon forget the horror of having those villainous men in her home. “There was no cause for alarm. These were some foolish men, but utterly harmless.”
“I am glad you are well,” she said. “I thought they had hurt you quite grievously.” There was a pause.
“You wish to add something, madam?”
“Mr. Weaver, I cannot have ruffians coming into my home. This is a respectable house I run, sir. I have looked the other way, with your being a Hebrew and such, sir. Many’s the folk who would not do so,” she added hastily. “But I can’t have these ruffians, armed with swords and guns and the Lord only knows what manner of weapons, come into my house and threaten me and frighten me and the servants, sir.”
“I quite understand, Mrs. Garrison,” I said soothingly. “It shan’t happen again. It was all an unfortunate misunderstanding that could have happened to any gentleman.”
“Any gentleman?” she asked. “Begging your pardon, sir, I am afraid I misbelieve you.” She paused. “Mr. Weaver, I must ask you to leave. I must. I cannot have such men in here to frighten me like to death and to do what mischief I know not to me and to my tenants. I’ll need you gone before sundown, Mr. Weaver.”
“Before sundown?” I almost shouted. “I quite understand your concern, Mrs. Garrison, and I do not resent it, but before sundown is hardly reasonable. I shall not have time to search for other lodgings. I might remind you that I am paid through the end of the quarter.”
“I’ll return your money. You needn’t worry on that score. But I must insist upon your departure, sir.” She stood there, continuing to wring her hands. I suppose I could have either charmed or frightened her into changing her mind, but I could not deny that my adventures had placed her in jeopardy. I had no great love for my landlady, but I should have been enraged had she been harmed by any enemy of mine. What she asked of me was an inconvenience, not an impossibility, and the right thing to do would be to comply.
“Very well, madam,” I said. “I shall not cause you further grief.”
She sighed with relief. “Thank you, Mr. Weaver. I
I thought this might be the beginning of a protracted apology, and I held up my hand. “Enough, Mrs. Garrison. I quite understand. You must do justice to yourself.”
“Thank you, sir. Oh, and Mr. Weaver, sir, I think I should only tell you that there is another gentleman waiting for you upstairs. I told him I didn’t know if you wanted anyone up there and that there was no knowing when you was to be back, but he took me no mind and—”
Without another word I turned and ran upstairs as best I could, reaching, as I moved, for the pistol I had only recently replaced into my coat pocket. There was no way of knowing who it could be. Perhaps Wild’s deception had not yet run its full course. Perhaps now I was to contend with the South Sea Company or even an agent of Bloathwait’s. I stood outside my door for a moment, my pistol held high, and with a fluid movement, I pushed the door open and stepped forward boldly, aiming my firearm at the figure who sat facing me.
“You’ve had a lively day, then?” Elias said calmly. “The old bird’s been having seizures. I mollified her a bit by taking some of her blood. Shall I send a bill to Mr. Balfour?” Elias paused. “You can put that pistol down, you know.”
I did as he suggested and threw myself into my armchair. “There’s no condition unbettered by the loss of blood,” I mumbled. “It’s a wonder men who have their limbs lopped off don’t stand healthier than we who still have all ours attached.”
“You laugh,” Elias said cheerfully, “but were I to bleed you now, you’d soon discover a vast improvement in your disposition. Shall you tell me what happened? You look dreadful.”
I briefly recounted my adventure with Wild, trying not to omit any detail that might be of value. Elias’s jaw hung open as he listened. “This is an impenetrable turn. Why should Wild wish to set you against the South Sea Company? What could a trading company be to a man like Wild?”
I shook my head, suddenly quite thirsty. I wished that I kept something such as drinking water around my rooms, but that was a luxury I rarely indulged in. “I don’t know.” I sighed such that my ribs ached. “He mentioned counterfeiting, but if Wild were involved in a scheme to falsify stock, why would he point me to the Company? My inquiry would only risk exposing the scheme.”
Elias nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe he wishes to put you off the Company?”
I could not follow his thinking, and my eyes became unfocused.
“Wild is devious,” Elias continued. “What if he tells you to look to the Company because he knows you mistrust him? Perhaps he claims the Company as his enemy precisely because it is his ally.”
I closed my eyes. “It is a strange business, but I cannot believe that even if the Company were ruthless enough to involve itself in the murder of two prominent businessmen, it would be so reckless as to risk dealings
