Part 10 (1/2)
”Jem saw her.”
”And who is Jem?”
”Undergroom at the Pavilion,” she said immediately. ”He's by way of being a cousin.”
”I see.” Betsy's relations were extensive enough to cover most of Britain. I set down my teacup. ”And this fellow saw saw Miss Twining before her death? Well enough to recognize her?” Miss Twining before her death? Well enough to recognize her?”
”Not so as to know her name. Jem's not the sort to be acquainted with young ladies. Asleep, he ought to have been, at such an hour-but one of the Regent's mares was dropping a foal that night, and Jem was up in the loose box a-helping of her. The mare's first, it was, and having a hard time of it. Jem stepped out with a lanthorn to fetch hot water from the kitchen, and that's when he saw her-a girl with dark hair, dressed in white, hurrying away from the Pavilion. Headed towards the Steyne, she was, but powerful late Jem thought it, to be abroad alone.”
”He did not chuse to speak to her?”
Betsy shook her head. ”Wasn't his place, ma'am, to take notice of young ladies leaving the Pavilion in the middle of the night. The Regent'd have had his head, like. Young ladies've been slipping in an' out of the Regent's quarters for years, and n.o.body the wiser. Besides, there was the mare to think of.”
”Did he say what time this was?”
”No, ma'am.”
”I should like to talk to Jem,” I said thoughtfully.
”If you're wishful to have a word, I can always send for him.” The maid coloured painfully. ”Jem is always ready to oblige me.”
”You would do better to send him to the magistrate. The coroner's panel a.s.sembles this morning, and they would give much to know what your cousin saw.”
”A reward, like?” Betsy eyed me curiously; ladies who were knowledgeable of the workings of inquests had probably never come in her way. I slid out of bed and went to my reticule. Within it, I kept a few coins. I withdrew a s.h.i.+lling.
”Please give this to Jem,” I said, ”and urge him to seek out Sir Harding Cross. The Regent, I am sure, shall not reproach him for speaking publickly in a matter of murder.”
If I surprized her, Betsy made no comment-but pocketed the coin and promised to do as I urged.
BEFORE THE EVENTS OF YESTERDAY, I HAD MADE A HAD MADE A thousand plans with Henry for the balance of the week. We were to take in today's race-meeting, on the course established by the late Duke of Queensberry just outside of town; we were to drive past Hove, to the ruins of St. Aldrington's Church; we were to hire a pair of dippers, and thousand plans with Henry for the balance of the week. We were to take in today's race-meeting, on the course established by the late Duke of Queensberry just outside of town; we were to drive past Hove, to the ruins of St. Aldrington's Church; we were to hire a pair of dippers, and bathe bathe in the frigid seas, first obtaining a respectable costume for the purpose; we were to attend a concert at the Pavilion, at the express invitation of Colonel McMahon, who had taken an inexplicable liking to my brother, or perhaps to the depth of his pockets. But some part at least of these frivolous pursuits must be set aside. The race-meeting was not to be thought of. I took breakfast in my room, being certain that Henry was already at Raggett's, awaiting the issue of Miss Twining's inquest-and as I sipped my coffee, and fiddled with my bread, I compiled a list of questions that in the frigid seas, first obtaining a respectable costume for the purpose; we were to attend a concert at the Pavilion, at the express invitation of Colonel McMahon, who had taken an inexplicable liking to my brother, or perhaps to the depth of his pockets. But some part at least of these frivolous pursuits must be set aside. The race-meeting was not to be thought of. I took breakfast in my room, being certain that Henry was already at Raggett's, awaiting the issue of Miss Twining's inquest-and as I sipped my coffee, and fiddled with my bread, I compiled a list of questions that must must be answered, if the truth were to be known. be answered, if the truth were to be known.
1. With whom did Catherine Twining dance at the a.s.sembly, besides Mr. Smalls?
2. When did Catherine arrive at the Pavilion in Caro Lamb's care?
3. What was the purport of the ladies' tete-a-tete?
4. When did Catherine quit the Pavilion?
5. If the undergroom observed her walking towards the Steyne, how did she come by her death in the sea?
6. Where was Lord Byron at the time?
7. Colonel George Hanger?
8. General Twining? Mr. Hendred Smalls?
9. What did Lady Caroline Lamb do after Catherine left her?
10. When did the General discover that his daughter never returned home Monday night-and did he sound an alarum?
11. How could a body be carried into the King's Arms in the dead of night without being seen?
12. Did anyone at the Arms hear a disturbance in Byron's rooms? Query: Who was lodged next to Byron?
I should have to speak with the princ.i.p.als on my list, of course-tho' some might bar their doors against me. The endeavour should demand considerable address. I considered of the prospects: the General, whom I knew already for a formidable man, and whose plans for his daughter I had reason to suspect; Mr. Smalls, from whose interview I should derive little but plat.i.tudes and no pleasure; Caro Lamb, who should be unlikely to disclose her schemes to anyone. Desdemona might better a.s.sist me there there.
And Byron himself: a slight shudder coursed through my body at the thought of the man-so much a prey to his pa.s.sions, so entirely a complex of contempt and ardour. Would he recall my visage from the Cuckfield Inn, and regard me as his enemy? How had the murder of Catherine Twining worked upon his lords.h.i.+p's emotions?
Amidst such a company, my enquiries were likely to be fruitless.
In the course of my mature life-dating, indeed, from my first acquaintance with the Gentleman Rogue, more than ten years ago-I have been so circ.u.mstanced as to meet with a variety of murderers, some very clever and some merely cold. Avarice has been their motive, or revenge, or a pa.s.sionate love turned to hate. There were aspects of this case-the sewing of the hammock, the delivery of the corpse to Byron's bed-that argued a deliberation of mind; and other aspects-the forcible drowning of a young girl, her head held violently under the water as she struggled-that bespoke a destructive pa.s.sion. It was almost as tho' two different persons had been involved two different persons had been involved. Had they worked in concert, or in ignorance of each other? Had Byron done murder-and another delivered the proofs of it?
The only possible motivation for such an act must be to see the poet tormented, upon the discovery of his beloved's corpse; or to see his lords.h.i.+p hang.
If Byron were innocent of Catherine's death, then he, as well as the unfortunate girl, was the victim of a merciless intelligence. There was cruelty and forethought in the execution of the whole; someone had derived pleasure pleasure from dropping that sodden package in his lords.h.i.+p's bed. from dropping that sodden package in his lords.h.i.+p's bed.
It smacked of hatred. Or a desire for vengeance. And in all this, the life of a young girl had been snuffed out as nothing.
And so, after a pause, I penned the last of my queries on the Castle's sheet of paper: 13. Who, among the respectable and the highborn of Brighton, hates Lord Byron to the point of madness?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Conflicting Testimony WEDNESDAY, 12 MAY 1813 1813.
BRIGHTON, CONT.
MY PERIOD OF REFLECTION WAS BROKEN BY A KNOCK AT the bedchamber door. A footman stood in the pa.s.sage, with the intelligence that my brother awaited me downstairs-with a party of friends. the bedchamber door. A footman stood in the pa.s.sage, with the intelligence that my brother awaited me downstairs-with a party of friends.
”Has the inquest adjourned?”
”Not a quarter-hour ago, ma'am.”
I hastened below, and discovered Henry established in a little side-parlour with the Earl and Countess of Swithin; all three were taking gla.s.ses of something fortifying-brandy, in the case of the gentlemen, and ratafia, in the person of Desdemona.
”What is the coroner's verdict?” I enquired, as I accepted a gla.s.s of wine.
”Oh, murder, of course,” Swithin said grimly; ”but to everyone's surprize, it was brought back against a person or persons unknown a person or persons unknown. There is much talk as to the motives in such a judgement; it was said at first that the Regent must have intervened, to preserve the freedom of a celebrated poet and n.o.bleman; but those acquainted with the two gentlemen are well aware that no love is lost between them, the Regent detesting the very sight of George Gordon. His Royal Highness finds the poet's club foot distasteful, and cannot forgive him for forming a part of Princess Caroline's court. So there is astonishment in many quarters. Old Sir Harding Cross cannot be to blame, as he owes his position to the Regent; it was hardly he who taught the jury mercy. Perhaps it was Frogmore, the coroner, who urged caution.”
”For a wonder,” I observed, ”a coroner's panel has drawn a conclusion independent of the magistrate-and declined to hang a man who insists he was elsewhere when murder was done! What is likely to happen now?”
”Byron shall have to go to ground, somehow,” Henry said. ”There are any number of folk in Brighton out for his blood, chief among them the poor young lady's father.”
”General Twining was in attendance, I apprehend?”
”He testified as to the remains being his daughter's, at which point the panel was required to view the corpse. Several went quite green, I understand. The General said only that he had entrusted his daughter to the chaperonage of Mrs. Silchester, who had failed in her duties; that he had quitted the a.s.sembly Rooms at the decent hour of eleven o'clock; ordered Miss Twining's maid to wait up for her; and was roused at five o'clock in the morning with the intelligence that his daughter had never returned. He suspected, he claimed, a further abduction on the part of Lord Byron-and informed the Brighton constables of the fact.”