“Why didn’t you tell us this?” Adelia asked. She had little sympathy for Mrs Dymchurch at this point.
“It was over. I didn’t think it would ever come out, until last night, when it was all revealed so dramatically and hurtfully, too – poor Octavia! I do feel for her. I promise you that I have not dropped her in the way you think I have. Our shared friendship means I cannot lack sympathy for her. After all, if the love affair had ended before Mr Nettles died, then she could have expected to go on as before, with no one knowing about it, and she would not have been harmed. It seems so especially cruel for it to come out now. And she still might have weathered it. After all, there are other women who have come back from scandal. But...”
“But what?”
“Well, Lady Purfleet has taken up against her, and stirred the pot, which means that no one can openly be Octavia’s ally now without alienating themselves from Lady Purfleet. No one will risk that. I certainly shan’t. I am hopeful we might mend our friendship in the future but for the moment she must be put out of society until all is forgotten – if that is possible. And she will understand why we are doing this.”
“It is certainly possible. It will just take time for her to be welcomed back if she really wants it. But there is a wider issue here. Consider the thought that if you were to move out of the Bohemian set and into more sedate society, you would have no need of Lady Purfleet’s patronage and no fear of what she might say or do. I am beginning to believe that Grace is correct in her antipathy to the lady. It’s possible. I have heard other things about her from Mrs Manning and I am growing ever more suspicious.”
“As for Lady Purfleet herself, I too do not really care for her. She is impossible to know. She is too aloof and always listens, rarely speaks unless it is to drop in something rather cutting that makes one feel as if one ought to have known it all along. She makes me feel stupid. One cannot converse with her. But she’s important to know for her connections, you know, and she is herself always so above reproach, her presence offers a kind of safety, a sanctuary if you like. If I want to stay in the circle that I am in, I must bow to her.”
Above reproach? Adelia recalled Lady Purfleet’s recent interactions and was beginning to doubt it. “So it comes down to a choice for you between being a friend of Lady Purfleet – a woman you don’t actually like – and attending her parties, and being an ally of Octavia Dymchurch, a once-close friend, in her hour of need?”
Charlotte twisted her fingers together. “Oh, don’t put it like that, mama, for I fear I sound like a horrible person. You know who I must choose and it’s only temporary; if the circumstances were opposite, Octavia would do the same to me. Don’t judge me for it. What happened to peace and forgiveness?”
“What indeed?” Adelia sighed. She wanted to believe that London had sunk into depravity but her memory of her own youth reminded her that people had always been so closed and insular, so keen to exclude and include. She said, “Now listen, Charlotte. We came here to help you. You begged for our help. And your father and your husband are still working to uncover the crime that Digby Nettles was involved in, to ensure that no taint of it can attach to yourselves. And by extension, they must look into the death of Mr Nettles. Now that Mr Nettles is associated with Octavia, whose own husband also mysteriously died, don’t you see that you are, in fact, vital to this whole investigation? You are the one who can get close to Octavia. Lady Purfleet is an annoyance but it is to Octavia that we now must look. She was close to both men.”
“Wait one moment, mama. I thought you wanted me to go and see her because it was the right thing to do? That I ought to offer her support and comfort?”
Adelia felt her face harden. “Heavens, no, Charlotte. I fear you have mistaken the whole tone of my words. Did I at any point express sympathy for her? My concern was for the influence of Lady Purfleet over you. No. Would I really ask you to support a potential double murderer? Indeed, I am asking you to consider yourself as an infiltrator. A spy, in fact.”
“You’d put me at risk? You’d send me into the lair of a woman that you now think is a murderer?”
“I don’t think she’s out to murder anyone except men who have wronged her. You are quite safe, physically speaking. Reputationally, perhaps less so but you are apparently not bothered about...” She stopped as the door opened and Robert poked his head in.
“I just wanted to let you ladies know that we’re off to find this pharmacist now.”
Charlotte flung out a hand, and said imploringly to Adelia, “See? Isn’t Mariana da Costa the suspect, not Octavia? I have no reason to go and speak to her. I really do not want to.”
Robert said, “Oh, I’ve been talking with your father, Lottie. Those women are both suspects. What is the suggestion here? Oh, yes, you simply must go and speak with Octavia. Pretend to be her friend once more, and get as close as you can. Find out everything, do.”
“But she must know that you are investigating the death? You’ve spoken to the servants and they will have talked. When I turn up, she will know I am spying on her.”
“You’re her friend. I doubt she’ll suspect a thing,” Robert said. “Why would she? She’ll suspect more if you now
