A flicker of amusement sparkled in her eyes, and vanished as quickly. ‘I am aware of the absurdity, Thomas. Victor has several faults, but petty theft is not among them.’
‘You said a large amount.’
‘Large to steal. It cost a man’s life because he did not have it. But if Victor were to steal, it would be the crown jewels, or something really worth the price of his position in Special Branch. I doubt anything short of the Queen’s crown would be sufficient for him. Someone engineered this very astutely. I have my ideas as to who it may have been, but they are no more than ideas, insubstantial and possibly quite mistaken.’
‘Where is Narraway?’
‘In Ireland,’ she told him.
‘In prison?’ he asked. ‘And why Ireland?’ He must find out. He had expected him to be in London.
‘Not in prison so far as I know, but I have not heard. He went of his own will, because he believes that whoever was the author of his misfortune is Irish, and the answer to that person’s identity is to be found there.’ She bit her lip very slightly. For her it was a gesture of anxiety so deep he could not recall having seen her do it before.
‘Aunt Vespasia?’ He leaned forward a little.
‘He believed it personal,’ she continued. ‘An act of revenge for an old injury. At the time I thought he might have been correct, although it was a long time to wait for such perceived justice, and the Irish have never been noted for their patience, especially for revenge. I assumed some new circumstance must have made it possible. .’
‘You say “assumed”-were you wrong?’ he asked.
‘After what you have told me of your experience in France, and of this man Gower, who was your assistant, and of whom neither you nor anyone else in Special Branch appeared to have any suspicions, I think Victor was mistaken,’ she said gravely. ‘I fear this trumped-up allegation may have had nothing to do with personal revenge, but have been a means of removing him from command of the situation in London, and replacing him with either someone of far less competence or — very much worse — of sympathy with the socialist cause. It looks as if you were removed to France for the same reason.’
Pitt smiled with a bitter humour. ‘I am not of Narraway’s experience or power,’ he told her honestly. ‘I am not worth their trouble to remove.’
‘You are too modest, my dear.’ She regarded him with amused affection. ‘Surely you would have fought for Victor. I think you are fond of him, but even if I am wrong in that, you owe him a great loyalty. He took you into Special Branch when the Metropolitan Police dismissed you, and you had too many enemies to return there. He took some risk doing so, and made more enemies of his own. It is not appreciated in certain circles. Most of those men are gone now, but at the time it was a dangerous act. You have more than repaid him with your ability, but you can now repay the courage. I do not imagine you think differently.’
Her eyes were steady on his. ‘Added to which, you have enemies in Special Branch yourself, because of the favour he showed you, and your somewhat rapid rise. With Victor gone, you will be very fortunate indeed if you survive him for long. Even if you do, you will be forever watching over your shoulder and waiting for the unseen blow. If you do not know that, you are far more naive than I think you.’
‘The loyalty would have been enough,’ he told her. ‘But, yes, of course I am aware that without Narraway’s protection I won’t last long.’
Her voice was very gentle. ‘My dear, it is imperative, for many reasons, that we do what we can to clear Victor’s name. I am glad you see it so clearly.’
He felt a sudden chill, a warning.
She inclined her head in assent. ‘Then you will understand why Charlotte has gone to Ireland with Victor to help him in any way she can. He will find it hard enough on his own. She may be his eyes and ears in places he is unable to go himself.’
For a moment Pitt did not even understand, as if her words were half in a foreign language. The key words were plain enough — Charlotte, Narraway and Ireland — but the whole of it made no sense.
‘Charlotte’s gone to Ireland?’ he repeated. ‘She can’t have! What on earth could she do? She doesn’t know Ireland and she certainly doesn’t know anything about Narraway’s past, his old cases, or anyone else in Special Branch.’ He hesitated to tell her she had misunderstood. It sounded so rude, but it was the only explanation.
‘Thomas,’ Vespasia said gravely, ‘the situation is very serious. Victor is helpless. He is closed out of his office and all access to any assistance from Special Branch. We know that at least one person there, highly placed, is a thief and a traitor. We do not know who it is. Charles Austwick is in charge-’
‘Austwick?’
‘Yes. You see how serious it is? Do you imagine that without your help Austwick will find the traitor? Apparently none of you, including Victor, were aware of Gower’s treason. Who else would betray you? Charlotte is at least in part aware of the danger, including the danger to you personally. She went with Victor partly out of loyalty to him, but mostly to save his career because she is very sharply aware that yours depends upon it also. And another element, which you may not yet have had time to consider: if Victor can be made to appear guilty of theft, how difficult would it be for the same people to make you appear guilty with him?’
It was a nightmare again: frightening, irrational. Pitt was exhausted, aching with the pain of disillusion and the horror of his own violence. His body was bruised and so tired he could sleep sitting in this comfortable chair, if only he could relax long enough. And yet fear knotted the muscles in his back, his shoulders and his neck, and his head throbbed. This last piece of news made his whole situation worse. He struggled to make sense of it.
‘Where is she? Is she safe?’ Safe was a stupid word to use if she was in Ireland with Narraway.
‘Thomas, Victor is out there with her. He won’t let any harm come to her if he can prevent it,’ Vespasia said softly.
Pitt knew Narraway was in love with Charlotte, but he did not want to hear it. ‘If he cared, he wouldn’t have-’ he began.
‘Allowed her to go?’ she finished for him. ‘Thomas, she has gone in order to honour her friendship and loyalty, and above all to protect her husband’s career, and therefore the family’s means of survival. What do you imagine he could have said or done that would have stopped her?’
‘Not told her he was going in the first place!’ he snapped.
‘Really?’ Vespasia raised her silver eyebrows. ‘And left her wondering why you did not come home after chasing your informant through the streets? Not that night, or for days afterwards? She might have gone to Lisson Grove and asked, by which time she would be frantic with fear. And she would have been met with the news that Narraway was gone and you were nowhere to be found, and there was no one in Lisson Grove to help or support you. Do you feel that would have been preferable?’
‘No. .’ He felt foolish — panicky. What should he do? He wanted to go immediately to Ireland and make sure Charlotte was safe, but even an instant’s reflection told him that might do at least as much harm as good. And anyway, the heart of the problem was not there but in London. He had no idea what Narraway’s old case was; there were so many. And it now looked as if that were a red herring anyway. If, however, it was what had lured Narraway to Ireland, and Pitt to France, by reacting thoughtlessly he would be playing directly into the conspirators’ hands. It was an irresponsible, hot-headed thing even to think of.
‘I’ll go home and see Daniel and Jemima,’ he said more calmly. ‘If they have had a week of Mrs Waterman, they may be feeling pretty desperate. She is not an easy woman. I must speak to Charlotte about that when she gets home.’
‘You don’t need to concern yourself-’ Vespasia began.
‘You don’t know the woman-’ he started.
‘She is irrelevant,’ Vespasia told him. ‘She left.’
‘What? Then-’
Vespasia raised her hand. ‘That is the other thing I was going to tell you. She has been replaced by a new maid, on the recommendation of Gracie. She seems a very competent girl, and Gracie looks in on them every day. I have been in touch with Gracie. All is well. In fact, I must say that I rather like the sound of young Minnie Maude. She has character.’
Pitt was dizzy. Everything seemed to be shifting. The moment he looked at it, it changed, as if someone had struck the kaleidoscope and all the pieces had shattered and reformed in a different pattern.
‘Minnie Maude?’ he said stumblingly. ‘For God’s sake, how old is she?’ To him, Gracie herself was little more
