THEODORE’S HEAD WAS, indeed, thick and fuzzy the next day, and from the looks of it, Adelia did not feel much better. She whispered that she had decided not to “press” Charlotte for a little while, though he wasn’t quite sure what she was going to be “pressed” about. He had no energy to ask.
They had barely managed to dress and go down to the main part of the house as it approached the time for luncheon, and they certainly weren’t expecting any callers. They sat in careful silence in the sitting room with Robert and Charlotte. Everyone was moving very slowly.
It was a surprise to everyone to have Mr William Wiseman announced. What the devil could the man want now? He brought nothing but mishaps. And ought he not be in hospital?
“I am not at home at all, to him nor to anyone,” Charlotte whispered, holding a damp cloth to her temples.
“He is requesting an urgent meeting with Lord Lassiter,” the manservant said. Theodore squinted at him. Was the fellow speaking deliberately loudly?
“Just show him in here, will you?” Robert said. “Charlotte, you need not speak. I can’t bring myself to move to another room. He’ll have to talk in front of us all.”
“Well,” said Charlotte, a strangely arch tone in her voice. “It is not as if we hold any secrets from one another.” She stared over at Adelia as if it meant something.
Theodore was keen to see how Mr Wiseman was recovering. He felt sorry for the poor chap in spite of the cloud of trouble he was cloaked in. First he’d been poisoned and now he’d been savagely beaten on the street. He wondered if the man had considered moving. India always needed new Englishmen, didn’t it? Well, according to the English press it did, at any rate.
Mr Wiseman looked terrible. He looked exactly like a man who’d just been poisoned and beaten up. He was given a seat immediately and he took a moment to catch his breath. His face was a mass of livid bruises and swollen flesh, and he moved stiffly, in clear pain.
He apologised for the intrusion and it was brushed aside immediately. Everyone was quite horrified at the state of him.
“I have been sent a note,” he said, getting straight to the point of his visit. “I thought that I had to let you know right away. It is a follow-up to yesterday’s unpleasant business and it’s a warning for me to get out of London.”
“Who is it from?” Charlotte cried.
Mr Wiseman clearly had no patience left for silly questions. He snapped, “It was a threatening letter. It was hardly going to be signed and come with a return address.”
“I think we can guess who sent it,” Theodore said. “It was written at the bidding of Lady Purfleet though we can assume that it won’t be her handwriting. I think I have worked it out. You were looking into the murder of Nettles because of your own poisoning, but you have asked the wrong questions of the wrong people and stirred up trouble in the wrong place. Now Lady Purfleet wants to get rid of you.”
“What if she is the murderer?”
“She might be.”
Mr Wiseman said, “But you don’t think so, do you?”
“No, we do not, on reflection; she is the cause of your beating but not of your poisoning. However, as to whoever is behind it all, we can do nothing about them.”
“That’s what you warned me before,” Mr Wiseman said morosely. “I did not expect to be here and telling you that you were correct about that.”
“I am sorry that things came to this. What will you do now?”
Mr Wiseman sighed heavily. “I suppose that I must lie low, at the very least. Perhaps a change of scene would be good. The French Riviera is very popular in the spring.”
“That sounds like a jolly good idea,” said Adelia brightly.
He shook his head. He clearly didn’t want to be run out of town. He didn’t confirm what he was going to do about it. He struggled to his feet and bid them all farewell.
Charlotte drummed her fingers on her thigh. “Papa, Robert, we must have a serious talk about all this.”
“No, dear one, not now...” said Robert with a groan.
“I shall talk. You shall both listen.” She sounded a little too perky, though she continued to dab at her temples with a languid air of affectation. “It is simply this. Mr Wiseman is in danger and he is doing the sensible thing: he is retreating from the battle. I strongly suggest that you two do the same, at least for a little while. This confirms it.”
“What, are you suggesting we head off to the continent too?” Theodore said.
“If you wish. But at least stay here, stay out of trouble, stay out of any conversations and investigations and anything which will make a bad situation much, much worse. You have had your warning and we all realise now that we are in something that goes much deeper than we are capable of unravelling. Nor do we need to unravel it. Let it lie. Stay here, recover, move on. Had we not all resolved to do so? I was sure that Robert had said he would no further into this business.”
Adelia nodded. “I am inclined to agree with her.”
Theodore shot her a look. “Inclined? Really?”
“Yes.” Adelia did not frown or smile. She looked at Theodore with such a curiously blank expression that he knew immediately that she was planning something.
Something that did not go along with Charlotte’s suggestion at all.
She was not inclined to give it up at all.
Twenty-three
“I need some new bits and pieces for the exhibition preview tomorrow night, darling,” said Adelia as winsomely
