Part 17 (1/2)

And could he have known of the tunnel from the Pavilion?

Having known of it, and determining to use it, was but a simple step; to throw all suspicion on Lord Byron, whom the Captain apparently held cheap, should make a lark of murder.

”Jane,” Mona said to me, ”are you quite well? You look faint.”

”It is nothing, I a.s.sure you. Merely that Mr. Forth's descriptions-so exact in every detail-bring the whole of Monday evening before my mind; and I confess the impressions must must make any friend of Miss Twining's rather low. Do not regard it, I beg. Mr. Forth has been everything that is patient and kind, and has been wis.h.i.+ng me at the far end of the earth this quarter-hour, I am sure. I shall not trespa.s.s longer upon your time, sir.” make any friend of Miss Twining's rather low. Do not regard it, I beg. Mr. Forth has been everything that is patient and kind, and has been wis.h.i.+ng me at the far end of the earth this quarter-hour, I am sure. I shall not trespa.s.s longer upon your time, sir.”

”It was a pleasure, ma'am,” he said with regal condescension; and offered me a final bow.

Mona and I curtseyed; I observed a mamma and daughter hovering near the French doors in the hope of being noticed by the Master and put in the way of introductions for the dance; and made good my escape. I should dearly have loved to have heard Mr. Forth's a.s.sessment of their dress, however-for his calculation of the cost of their tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs should, I am sure, have been entirely exact.

Italian lace, twelve s.h.i.+llings the yard, purchased on the cheap at Pantheon Bazaar...

”If you should like a glimpse of the fascinating Captain,” Mona muttered in my ear, ”I believe he is even now in the card room-playing at whist with Lord Byron.”

”Mona,” I said, ”General Twining killed the Captain's uncle in a duel.”

”I know,” she calmly replied. ”I have been acquainted with Derwent.w.a.ter from my cradle; he very nearly offered for me when his first wife, Lady Sarah as was, went off in childbirth-but I have never believed in second attachments. And a wise decision it was-the Master is correct in saying he hunts too much.”

”But were you at all acquainted with the younger brother?”

”Philip? Naturally. He was a rakeh.e.l.l if ever I knew one. But an elopement elopement-I cannot think why he thought it necessary! Such affaires affaires never end well.” never end well.”

”But do you not think it exceedingly odd that his nephew should be dancing with General Twining's daughter?”

”Well-she was was excessively pretty,” Mona said blandly. ”Recollect that I was present at the ball, Jane; I observed the Captain and Miss Twining dance; but I did not find anything particular to remark in it. Else I should have told you the whole.” excessively pretty,” Mona said blandly. ”Recollect that I was present at the ball, Jane; I observed the Captain and Miss Twining dance; but I did not find anything particular to remark in it. Else I should have told you the whole.”

I could have shaken the Countess for her imperturbability. ”Nothing particular particular-even when the a.s.sembly was concluded with Catherine's murder? And I suppose you see nothing untoward in the Captain's playing at whist with a man he despises?”

She gazed at me, bewildered. ”But men are always gambling with those they despise! It lends spice to the winnings!”

”Exactly,” I returned, in my driest manner. ”Lead me to the Captain, Mona, if you please.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

d.a.m.ning Testimony THURSDAY, 13 MAY 1813 1813.

BRIGHTON, CONT.

THE OVERWHELMING FIRST IMPRESSION OF C CAPTAIN Viscount Morley was his remarkable beauty; the second, must be of his relative youth. The former I had expected; the latter took me by surprize. Viscount Morley was his remarkable beauty; the second, must be of his relative youth. The former I had expected; the latter took me by surprize.

He was a golden lad, with eyes of cornflower blue; a slim and sinewy figure, whose whipcord body suggested the hunting field-or the cavalry ring. The social excesses of the 10th Hussars were made much of, owing to their patronage by the Prince and the breathless breeding of their officers; but the 10th was also a disciplined, honed, and formidable fighting machine tempered by hard campaigning in the Peninsula-where this boy boy had conducted himself with ”gallantry.” I knew full well what that meant-he had cut his way with a sabre, on horseback, through rank upon rank of the French; and he had come out unscathed at the other side. Seen from the rear in his regimentals, the Captain appeared compact, spare, and efficient-one glance at his face, however, which was suggestive of the angel, and any girl of fifteen should be lost. had conducted himself with ”gallantry.” I knew full well what that meant-he had cut his way with a sabre, on horseback, through rank upon rank of the French; and he had come out unscathed at the other side. Seen from the rear in his regimentals, the Captain appeared compact, spare, and efficient-one glance at his face, however, which was suggestive of the angel, and any girl of fifteen should be lost.

He rose from the card table as Mona approached; bowed with charm and correctness as she forced my acquaintance upon him; and remained standing, to Lord Byron's impatience, until we should have pa.s.sed on. I met those limpid blue eyes only once, before demanding of myself how I could possibly have imagined such a boy capable of murder murder. He could not be above four-and-twenty years of age. That he should find Catherine's face and form alluring must be natural; that he should then ruthlessly force her head beneath the waves, impossible.

But the questions must be asked-and I alone should ask them. How to effect a tete-a-tete?

”My luck is out, Mona,” Lord Byron said with a scowl, throwing down his cards. His pale countenance bore a restless, feverish look, and his fingers played with the stem of his winegla.s.s, which was only half-full. ”Morley's a deep one; he has had the best of me tonight. I must summon my Runner and make for home.”

The Captain gathered up the cards-coolly pocketed the winnings-and said, ”I imagine your mind is engaged on greater matters than whist, Byron. You are writing a poem, are you not? To the memory of your Leila Leila? But then-you are always writing a poem to someone someone. The ladies who have figured in your verse are legion. Only one, however, has suffered mortally from the honour.”

Byron's countenance flushed, as tho' all the wine in his veins had roared angrily to the surface, and his glittering look fixed upon the Captain. I felt, with a sense of shock, all the violence of pa.s.sion that emanated from the man; it attracted far more powerfully than it repelled.

”She shall live long in my verse, Morley,” he growled, ”when you are already rotted in your grave!”

”No doubt,” the Captain returned, ”-if you are permitted time enough to finish your poem. I thought you exceedingly brave to show your face at the a.s.sembly tonight-and should have feared for your very life on your return home. But you relieve my mind; I had forgot the fact of the Runner.”

Did I detect a menace in these words, so carelessly spoken? But Byron was no longer attending to the Captain; his ire was fleeting. He rose unsteadily to his feet and demanded of Mona, like a weary child, ”Where is Davies? And where has Jane Jane got to?” got to?”

I flushed as he uttered my name, but he referred, of course, to Lady Oxford. I did not exist for Lord Byron this evening, and was woman enough to feel a pang. The greater writer than he, however, overcame it.

”I believe she is in the ballroom, observing the dancing,” Desdemona faltered. ”George-are you unwell? Shall I summon Swithin?”

But Lord Byron's smouldering gaze had fixed on three men who were advancing across the card room towards our party. They were not dressed for a ball, and their countenances were stolid and unreadable. Constables at the beck and call of Sir Harding Cross, and I did not mistake.

”George Gordon, Lord Byron?” the chief of the three intoned.

”That is my name,” his lords.h.i.+p replied; ”but I did not give you leave to make free with it.” And he snapped his fingers beneath the constable's nose.

The fellow's countenance did not alter; he might have been confronting a mad dog, run loose on the s.h.i.+ngle. ”It is my duty,” he said, ”to arrest you, sir, on the charge of murder.”

At which his lords.h.i.+p knocked the poor fellow down.

THE A a.s.sEMBLY R ROOMS FELL SILENT AS B BYRON WAS dragged away-all of Brighton horrified, as it seemed, by the sudden plummet of its favoured comet. The moment his lords.h.i.+p's black head disappeared from the main staircase, however, the orchestra struck up a tune-the old chestnut, ”Lady o' the Timmer Lands.” A few couples moved hesitantly to the floor, and soon the scene was one of gaiety; Lady Oxford did not faint, but continued talking with deliberate animation to Sir John and the man named Hodge; and I found my brother Henry hastening towards me from the supper room. The Earl of Swithin was hard on his heels. dragged away-all of Brighton horrified, as it seemed, by the sudden plummet of its favoured comet. The moment his lords.h.i.+p's black head disappeared from the main staircase, however, the orchestra struck up a tune-the old chestnut, ”Lady o' the Timmer Lands.” A few couples moved hesitantly to the floor, and soon the scene was one of gaiety; Lady Oxford did not faint, but continued talking with deliberate animation to Sir John and the man named Hodge; and I found my brother Henry hastening towards me from the supper room. The Earl of Swithin was hard on his heels.

Mona pulled at Swithin's sleeve with urgency. ”Do something, Charles! They cannot simply throw Byron in gaol!”

”It may be the safest place for him, Mona,” her husband replied grimly.

”Is the whole town so opposed to the notion of innocence?”

”The Regent is-and that must be enough for the magistrate. I have been talking with Old HardCross.” The Earl's eyes flicked dispa.s.sionately towards my brother. ”The intelligence the magistrate received this afternoon, of a tunnel leading from the Marine Pavilion to the King's Arms-or, not to put too fine a point upon it, from the Regent's home Regent's home to a place of to a place of murder murder-has animated His Royal Highness as nothing else should. He is demanding a swift period to the Twining business. Sir Harding a.s.sures me that nothing shall equal his efforts to set the Prince's mind at ease; and therefore, it is to be hoped Byron will hang for the corpse found in his rooms, and there is to be an end of it.”

”But that is unjust!” Mona cried. ”That is...that is criminal criminal, Charles!”

”I am mortified,” Henry said in a low voice. ”To think that Byron's liberty is denied him-that his very life life might be laid at my door-when my only object in speaking with the magistrate was the achievement of justice!” might be laid at my door-when my only object in speaking with the magistrate was the achievement of justice!”

”I believe we should collect our party and return home,” the Earl said gently. ”We can do nothing more here.”

”Where have they taken him?” I asked.