When Theodore entered the room again, Mareham jumped to his feet with a look of relief on his face, and a certain amount of urgency as he said, “Calaway, what took you so long? Come along now, old chap, it’s been a year or more since I’ve seen you and I am sure the ladies don’t wish to listen to our boring old chatter about dreary masculine pursuits. Let’s leave them to it.” He left abruptly.
Theodore spun around on his heel and felt somewhat astonished by the Earl’s sudden departure from the room, especially as Mareham had left his own son behind with “the ladies.” He caught Adelia’s eye.
She smiled very thinly and wryly. He wondered what it meant. Constance was suppressing laughter, however, so he didn’t think it was terribly important. He went off after Mareham, still clutching the book he’d brought for him.
Mareham all but dragged Theodore into a smaller room alongside the main reception room. There was no fire lit but the old judge’s energy seemed to be keeping him warm enough. Theodore offered him the book. Mareham took it and didn’t even glance at it. He began to buttonhole Theodore immediately.
“Calaway! I say, what the devil is going on in your family, sir? I came here to get a few things off my chest about my own family – I shan’t deny that – no, not one bit. But I thought I had problems until I started talking with your good lady wife! She’s either delusional or she’s acting quite, quite beyond her sphere of influence – which is it? Which is it, man?”
Theodore did not waver under the onslaught but he felt rather as if he were standing at the prow of a ship that was being lashed by waves and wind. “Lady Calaway is neither delusional nor overstepping her influence, as far as I am aware. What has given rise to this?”
Mareham paced the room, blustering and puffing, almost seeming to be at a loss about the whole thing. Eventually he said, “Well, look here. It’s like this. I mean to say, the good lady seems to believe she’s some sort of policeman.”
“Ah.”
Mareham found his flow again. Years at the bar meant he was not lost for words for very long. “Now, I do know all about you and your dabbling in the law, and while I might not entirely condone it, I can certainly understand it and I don’t think you do any harm as long as you know your place, of course. And as a gentleman I rather do feel that there is a need, albeit a small one, for discreet enquiries undertaken by a man of your standing. Some things cannot be trusted to the common-or-garden policeman on the beat, you understand.”
Theodore nodded cautiously.
“But! Your own involvement is one thing. Lady Calaway’s involvement is quite another! Quite another, sir! It was something of a shock to me when she mentioned, just now, that she herself has taken quite an active role in the investigations! I had to stop her from speaking further before she led my poor Constance astray in her wild imaginings. Now, will you tell me: is she speaking the truth, or is she merely slipping into the usual ravings that sadly too often accompany the long march of advancing years? Which is it?”
Theodore realised that he either had to confess that Adelia was old and insane, or that she was an appalling transgressor against the conventional norms of society.
Well, he had been married to Adelia for a very long time, and he knew exactly how she would want to be spoken of.
He smiled. “She is speaking the truth,” he said, and watched the Earl go puce.
“And you ... and you ... and you let her?”
“Indeed. I encourage it. She has been an invaluable helpmeet to me in all my endeavours and can obtain information from people that I have no hope of communicating with. It may be that she considers me to be her assistant. I know where my strengths lie, now. It has been a hard and slow understanding for me, and I still chafe at the knowledge that I am not quite as easy to converse with as I should like to be; but that’s of no matter in the end. We have our roles and as a pair, we work very well together indeed.”
“Sir, I know the world is changing and I too am aware enough of my own foibles and idiosyncrasies. Yes, I know that some might call me antiquated and irrelevant. Still, society has some manners left in it, and I do fear for your wife’s reputation – and your own!”
“Reputation? Yet no one knows of her involvement. It has surprised you, after all. You had no idea what she did until you learned of it just now, and nor does society at large. Her reputation remains intact.”
“Well, then, what of her safety! Her moral character! Her innocence as a woman! She must be protected, sir, and you are her husband – this is your duty!”
Theodore nodded. “I appreciate your concern but let me assure you that it is unfounded. We do not engage with the sorts of characters that you are worried about. We merely make a few careful enquiries as to people’s backgrounds. Lady Calaway might indulge in a little drawing room gossip as part of our investigations but neither of us are running around at night, duelling with ruffians, or placing ourselves in low places of danger and scandal.”
All of that was a lie. They had never actually intended to do any of those things yet they seemed to happen anyway.
And Mareham knew it. He said, “Yet was she not kidnapped at one time? How did your daughter’s leg get broken? Who shot at your other daughter? Lady Calaway has just mentioned
