been seized by the constables, but it would have done no good for me to step forward. I could hardly have vouched for your character, when I think so little of it.”
“Are you certain that is the only reason you were at the Haymarket that night?”
“Of course I am certain. Don’t be irritating.”
“Your presence there had nothing to do with my inquiry?”
“Damn your inquiry, Weaver. I care not whether it is your inquiry into the South Sea or into Miriam’s money. Why can you not mind your own affairs?”
I then understood his agitation. “Miriam told you that she believed me to be inquiring into her finances.”
“Quite so,” he said proudly, as though he did not understand the words, “it was I who told her that your business with your uncle was to discover what had happened to her money.”
“Why did you tell her that?”
“Because I believed it to be true. The stories about you and the South Sea Company and such had not yet begun to circulate about the ’Change. I could imagine no other reason for your uncle to welcome you back.”
“Why do you follow Miriam, Sarmento? Is it not clear that she cares nothing for you? Do you really believe that you can win her?”
“It is none of your concern, I promise you, for she will never consent to a marriage with a ruffian like you. And to win her, I only need her to give me one more chance.”
“One more chance at what?”
Sarmento opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself. A heavy blush began to spread across his face like a ruddy shadow.
“One more chance at what?” I repeated.
“To get her money back.” He nearly shouted. “She’d been asking me to manage her investments, and I did well at first. But I made some foolish moves.”
“How much did you lose?”
He shook his head. “More than a hundred pounds.” He let out a long, almost comic sigh. “After that she had me relinquish all control over her funds. One foolish move, one stupid mistake, and ’Change Alley unmanned me in a single day. She entrusted her money to Deloney. I tried to warn her that he was a profligate rogue, but she would not listen.”
“She listened to me,” I told him. “I’ve exposed Deloney.”
Sarmento gasped. “Then where is her money now? Perhaps I can reclaim it.”
“Her money isn’t the same thing as her heart. You seem to forget that.”
Sarmento laughed. “You may believe what you wish.”
I waved my hand in dismissal. I had not come here to learn of Sarmento’s feelings for Miriam. “I have more important business with you—and that is your connection to Martin Rochester.”
“Rochester?” he asked. “What have I to do with him?”
“What do you know of him?” I demanded, raising my voice and taking a step forward.
Sarmento was clearly shaken. “I know nothing of him, Weaver. He’s a jobber. I’ve heard his name, and that is all. He and I have had no dealings.”
I did not misbelieve him. Sarmento was an unpleasant man, but he was a transparent one. I did not believe he could lie to me on this matter and convince me. I took a few steps back to indicate that I would not harm him.
“I came here because a man I know told me he had overheard you speaking of me in connection with Rochester,” I told him.
A strange look of pleasure spread upon Sarmento’s face, as though he had been waiting all along to tell me what he now had to say. “I believe I might have mentioned your name. There was some betting to be done— whether you would survive your inquiry. A gentleman offered to bet that you would be dead before the end of December. I put down fifty pounds that you would yet live.”
This news truly astonished me. “I am gratified by your confidence,” I told him blankly.
“Don’t be. I was merely handling the odds as I have been taught to in ’Change Alley. You see, it is a perfect bet, Weaver. Either way, I win something.”
“Tell me,” I said as I opened his door, “for I really wish to understand. I have lived among the Christians for ten years now, but I have never felt compelled to become one of them. What is it that has driven you to do so?”
“You have lived among them,” he said as he turned to leave the drawing room. “I should like to do the same.”
THIRTY-ONE
I SPENT THE REST of the day and most of the next attempting to determine my next move. I found that I could theorize no more. Thus, on Monday night, I changed into some worn and tattered clothes, for I had no wish that evening to look the gentleman. I had the misfortune to pass my aunt as I left the house, and she looked at me so disparagingly that I could only smile and tell her I would explain later. My destination was the Laughing Negro in Wapping, where I had not set foot since retrieving Sir Owen’s letters from Quilt Arnold.
After Adelman had attempted to convince me that I had been deceived about the South Sea Company, I felt that I could no longer know anything for certain, and I began to worry that I had been relying too much on my own abilities to make sense of information of which no sense could be made. I therefore took a detour on my way to pay a visit to Elias on the chance that he might be at home. Though it was early, especially for a man of Elias’s tastes, he was not only in, but undressed and ready for bed. The rigors of preparing his play for the stage had nearly exhausted him, but he assured me he was eager to learn more about my progress. In his nightdress and cap, he invited me into his rooms, where we shared a bottle of claret.
“I have read your comedy,” I told him, “and found it utterly delightful.”
His face fairly glowed with pride. “Thank you, Weaver. I trust your opinion considerably.”
“I have no doubt that it shall be a success,” I said.
He smiled with pleasure, refilled my glass, and asked which parts I liked in particular. We spent some time discussing
Elias listened closely to each detail. “I am astonished,” he said, once I had finished my narrative. “This story exposes the deceptive villainy of the new finance. Each step you take makes you disbelieve that you had ever taken the previous one.”
“There are very few things I know for certain now. The South Sea Company may indeed be my enemy, or Bloathwait may have been manipulating me all along. Wild may be planning to murder me, or he may simply be looking to profit from my inquiry. Rochester may be his partner or his enemy. And with Kate dead, I can think of no sure way to get closer to Rochester.”
“And what do you do now?” Elias studied my face with a particular attention. From the way he stared I thought he wished to gauge something medical about me.
“I shall return to the Laughing Negro,” I said. “I shall seek out Wild’s man to see what I may learn of him.”
“Why do you seek out Wild’s man? Are we not convinced that Rochester is our villain?”
“I do not believe that Wild is a prime mover in this villainy, but he has shown more than a common interest in my business, and I should be astonished if he does not withhold from me some useful information—not because he is involved with these murders, but because it is some advantage to him that I should continue my inquiry.”
Elias rubbed his nose quizzically. “How can you be certain that Wild has had no share in the murders? Indeed, since we know his name to be a false one, must we not consider that Rochester might
I nodded. “I had thought on that, certainly, but I do not believe what you suggest is at all probable. Wild encouraged my inquiry. He set me upon the South Sea Company. Even if we assume that he gave me erroneous or incomplete information, we cannot dismiss the simple fact that he did not try to stop me. We speak of Jonathan
