Chapter Eleven
Riley took a moment to gather his thoughts.
‘Did you meet Ezra through Verity?’ Riley asked.
‘Yes. Over a year ago now.’
‘Excuse me, Mrs Wendall,’ Riley said, ‘but I am confused. Ezra was not employed by Lady Randall at that time, was he?’
‘No. I had occasion to call on Verity, which is something I avoid doing whenever possible, since we do not get along. If you have met her, I dare say you can understand why. Anyway, it seemed like fate afterwards, since on the afternoon I chose to call, Ezra happened to be there. Verity was not pleased to have their tête-à-tête interrupted.’
‘Verity? Good heavens!’ Riley muttered.
Mrs Wendall smiled, then threw back her head and sighed. ‘I am well aware of Ezra’s background, Lord Riley. We had no secrets from one another as far as I am aware. He was a scoundrel, but he was also charming, impulsive and addictive company. In short, he was everything that my husband was not. Gordon was a good man, but completely devoted to living up to his father’s image and building his business to ever greater heights. His driving ambition was to become the most prestigious cooper in London and he had little time for society or pleasures of any type. I was…’ She paused with eyes closed, choosing her words with evident care. ‘If not neglected, then certainly left to my own devices, as evidenced by the fact that we have no children.’
‘You are very forthright, madam.’ Riley inclined his head. ‘Thank you.’
‘I want you to catch Ezra’s killer. It will not bring him back, but it will give me some small comfort if I know the person responsible has not got away with it. I am also very curious about why he disliked Ezra so much that he felt it necessary to murder him, for that matter.’
‘You strike me as a lady of quality. May I ask why you married beneath yourself if it was not a love match?’
Mrs Wendall gave a half-smile. ‘A very astute question, Chief Inspector, the answer to which is not so very out of the ordinary. My father was the younger son of a reclusive viscount. I am sure you will not have heard of him.’
‘A younger son left to make his own way?’
‘Indeed. He had a falling out with his brother, so there was no help from that quarter and my father was not much inclined to put himself out to improve our circumstances as a family. We lived on the brink of poverty, and it was my father’s inspired idea to marry me off to a middle class man of means who would be able to clear his debts.’
‘I can see that prospect would attract any man of taste, ma’am, but if Wendall wasn’t interested in marriage then why…’
‘His father wanted to improve the family’s stature and…’
‘He would do anything to please his father,’ Riley finished for her, smiling.
‘Quite. I made a life for myself and was content, if not fulfilled. But I always knew there was a missing element. It was almost as though I was marking time, waiting for that elusive something to make itself apparent.’ She paused to fold her hands neatly in her lap. ‘It might sound fanciful, but the moment I set eyes on Ezra I knew I had found what I hadn’t known I’d been searching for.’
‘You knew presumably that he brought himself to Lady Randall’s attention by staging an attack on her carriage and then riding to her rescue, yet you didn’t object to his methods of self-advancement?’ Riley asked, careful to keep any censure he felt out of his voice.
‘I learned of it after the event. And before you ask, I also know of his intimate relationship with Ida Randall.’
‘You must have been very much in love to not only ignore his criminal activities but also share his affections with another woman,’ Riley said.
‘I was a married woman, Lord Riley, and not ready to break my vows. But I was so sorely tempted by my fascination with Ezra, and wanted him as a friend. He was wild and had done so many daring things, whereas I had done nothing with my time other than to embroider samplers—or so it sometimes felt.’ She threw back her head and closed her eyes. ‘He came into my world on a summer breeze and nothing was ever quite the same ever again. He didn’t take life seriously, you see, and he was the best possible fun. He called to see me whenever he came to Clapham and I lived for those visits, pathetic creature that I am. However, our friendship went no further than that.’
‘You mentioned that Verity introduced you to Ezra over a year ago, but your sister-in-law has impressed upon me her strong dislike of Ezra and all he stood for. I cannot conceive of them ever being friends.’
‘You really don’t know my late husband’s sister very well, in that case.’ For the first time, a note of bitterness entered Mrs Wendall’s voice. ‘She too was captivated by Ezra.’
‘Blimey!’ Salter said from his position against the wall.
‘Quite so, Sergeant. It’s difficult to imagine Verity being stirred to passion of any type, but such was the addictive nature of Ezra’s charm that even she was drawn in by it.’
‘How did they meet?’
‘Verity took a tumble in the street one day. Ezra, ever the gentleman, picked her up and took her into a private parlour in a local tavern. He even arranged for a doctor to look at her ankle, which she twisted in the fall. She was completely overcome by the attention and, at the time, very angry with her mother-in-law for refusing to give her husband money that he needed to grease the necessary palms for some political campaign or other. Verity, in case you
