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packed and was making for the road." The man paused, glancing at Amanda
and then Jemmy. "And this isn't the first time I've caught her trying to escape
her bargain."
One iron brow rose. Lady Finch turned to Jemmy. "Is this true?"
"Yes," he said. "But there is a reason, and if you would just hear me out "
She raised her hand to stave off any further protests. "Not another word,
James. I see quite clearly what is happening." She turned to the constable.
"You say, Mr. Holmes, she was leaving just as she is now."
The man nodded. "Night afore last. But this time, I caught her red-handed.
So if you would be so kind as to get His Lordship to swear out a complaint,
I'll be more than happy to lock her up until Mrs. Maguire can find her
match."
"Lord Finch has been called to his conservatory, a broken pipe or some
such nonsense. He'll be out with his orchids all night."
"But I need a writ from the magistrate if we are to see this done right."
"There's no need for the writ, Mr. Holmes," Lady Finch declared. "Leaving
her betrothal is one thing, but we have a more serious crime at hand. I want
this girl arrested for thievery."
"Thievery?" Jemmy and Amanda both burst out.
"Amanda is no thief," he continued, taking her by the arm and pulling her
behind him.
His mother's eyes widened at his familiar use of her name, but she said
nothing on the subject. Instead she continued to address Holmes. "Arrest her,
I say, for she left my home with the Finch Diamonds. The girl is a thief."
Amanda's hands went to her throat, pushing back her blue pelisse and
revealing the glittering evidence that convicted her more quickly than a hired
jury
But Jemmy could also see that from the surprise on her face she'd
completely forgotten she was wearing them.
"Oh, my lady, I'm no thief. It's just that I was in a hurry and "
"Bah!" Lady Finch said, now in complete high dudgeon over the matter. "I
will not listen to your excuses. Not only are you breaking your bargain, you
also decided to take advantage of my generosity and steal from me." Her hand
fluttered over her forehead, and she wavered on her feet, until Holmes
rushed forward and helped her into a nearby chair. "The ball is ruined. My
good reputation lost. I'll be the laughingstock of the ton."
"Don't you think you are putting on the brown a bit, Mother?" Jemmy said.
"Amanda panicked is all, bridal nerves and such. She's more than willing to go
on with the ball and the match, but that's hardly possible with her in jail." He
slanted a glance in his mother's direction and could see her military mind
working over how best to salvage her fête.
"My lady," Holmes protested. "This is but another dodge. Your son is an
accomplice, and under the law should be jailed as well."
"That would be demmed inconvenient, sir," Jemmy told him, "for I'm
slated to dance the first set with the lady."
Amanda looked about to add her own protest to the plan, but outside in the
hallway, a trio of voices rose that seemed to strike her dumb.
"I told you, Cedric, we would be late. Now we won't be announced
properly," came the strident tone of a very vexed lady.
Unlike everyone else, who turned toward the door, Jemmy watched
Amanda, and with each word argued outside, she grew paler and paler.
She knew these people.
"Demmed waste of money," an older man with a gravelly voice
complained. "First that charlatan from London you insisted I summon, now
running down here, and for what? Why, it's a wretched crush in there,
Marianne."
The anxious and whiny voice of his wife rose in pitch. "All the better to
find Regina a match. With all the young men here, think of what we'll save if
we can arrange an understanding tonight and not have to go to London for the
Season."
"Mother! You promised I would get a Season!" wailed the obviously
unhappy Regina. "I will not be bartered off like some "
"Bah!" Cedric complained. "You'll be wed, gel, and when I say. Now we're
here, aren't we? I see no point in leaving, especially since I've gone to the
expense of driving all this way not until we've seen what prospects are
about. Make for a tidy savings if we got rid of you tonight."
"Oh, no!" Amanda whispered, so softly that Jemmy doubted anyone else
heard her. But she recovered from her shock quickly and spun around to face
the constable. "Take me to jail," she demanded. "I confess everything. I was
trying to escape being matched and I was trying to steal these diamonds. Now
I demand to be taken to jail, right this moment!"
The only person not gaping at her was Esme, who smiled as if suddenly
everything was going as she'd planned it all along.
Holmes, having gathered his wits back together only too quickly, appeared
more than happy to comply, while Lady Finch looked positively murderous.
Jemmy took one glance at the set of Amanda's jaw and knew she'd rather go
to jail than face whatever awaited her in the ballroom. Or rather, whoever.
But how could he allow it? Lock a dying woman away for the night? What
if something were to happen to her? If she became ill, or worse& He wasn't
about to leave her to meet her fate alone. "Mr. Holmes," he said, "if you are
going to arrest Miss Smythe, then you must take me as well, for I have aided
and assisted the lady in her plans to escape."
Holmes rubbed his hands together in delight at having yet another
confession dropped into his lap, but that didn't stop him from looking to Lady
Finch for confirmation.
After all, she was the magistrate for Bramley Hollow in everything but
name.
She waved her hands at her son. "Oh, take him as well, Holmes. And good
riddance. A night in jail might bring them both to their senses."
Eight
« ^ »
T
he jail in Bramley Hollow had been built centuries earlier, a sturdy
building meant to contain even the most heinous of criminals, but over the
course of its existence it had held very few inhabitants. An occasional
drunkard, and as legend had it, an infamous murderess, however for the last
hundred years or so it had only seen the passing of the broom from one
Holmes descendant to the next.
The lack of inmates didn't mean the two side-by-side cells, separated as
they were by great iron bars, weren't kept ready and waiting. Inside each sat a
narrow cot covered with a wool blanket, and a bucket for, well, for necessary
business.
Holmes, quite taken with the gravity of the crimes laid before his
prisoners, saw to his duties with the utmost vigilance. That wasn't to say he
was completely without compassion, for he'd hung an extra blanket between
the cells to afford Miss Smythe a measure of privacy and given her a candle to
keep her from being frightened.
Then he'd locked the cells and the doors tight and sought his own bed.
After several days of watching his prey, he was glad to have this recalcitrant
bride well at hand if only to grant himself a much needed good night's rest.
Amanda glanced at the flickering flame of her candle and sighed. So this
was where her grand adventure would end. A solitary jail cell, with the only
man she'd ever loved locked away next to her. He might as well have been
cast away in a Paris dungeon, what with these iron bars between them. Now
she'd never get to& [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]