Page 14 of A Silence in Belgrave Square (Below Stairs #8)

“I do indeed, Mr.Fielding,” I said. ““Please do not draw attention to the fact.”

Mr.Fielding raised his low-crowned hat, for all the world a solicitous vicar concerned about a lady. “Then forgive my intrusion. It will be dark soon. Might I escort you to a more salubrious part of the metropolis?”

“The daylight lingers well past eight o’clock these days,” I pointed out. “But if you must.”

I took his offered arm, happy in truth that he could lead me past the watchers.

They might all be constables under the thumb of Mr.Monaghan, but then again, they might not.

In addition, Mr.Monaghan sometimes employed ruffians to assist him, Daniel had told me, including those Daniel did not trust.

We strolled back through the market and down Southampton Street. I tried not to glance at the house where Daniel lodged as we passed it.

The Strand was more crowded than ever, especially as we approached the huge Charing Cross railway station. Mr.Fielding and I both knew London well enough that we turned without discussion down a side street to avoid the throng, emerging into St. Martin’s Lane and Trafalgar Square.

“My dear brother asked me to look in on you,” Mr.Fielding said as we reached an open space in the middle of the square.

His “dear brother” was Daniel. Errol Fielding and Daniel had been looked after as lads by a Mr.Carter, a criminal himself but apparently one who had been good to both boys.

They were foster brothers rather than related by blood, and they cared about each other, though both nearly had to be threatened with torture to admit it.

“Did he?” I inquired in some irritation.

“He did,” Mr.Fielding said. “I was happy to comply.”

My tone remained testy. “Daniel has been absent more than a week. What has kept you away?”

Mr.Fielding chuckled. “Nothing, dear lady. I have been keeping you in my sights all this time. I am simply much better at hiding it than the clumping dolts following you about town.”

I could not be surprised. Mr.Fielding, though he was truly a vicar now, had long been a confidence trickster with much knowledge on how to dissemble.

“Do you not have a flock to attend in the East End?” I asked him.

“I do, but I also have lads in my parish who do not mind earning a bob or two letting me know how you fare.”

I recalled the more youthful of the beggars I’d been distributing food to this week. “Does one have thick brown hair and a broken front tooth? The other from the Punjab?”

To my satisfaction, Mr.Fielding started.

“You are an observant one, Mrs.Holloway. The Punjabi lad is as much a Londoner as you or I, born and raised here. Both know the streets well and, as I say, don’t say no to a bob or two.

Also, I trust them. They’re loyal to me, and they are quite taken with you. ”

“I ought to have thought of you when they suddenly turned up.” I studied the worn base of Nelson’s Column beside us. “Give them my best wishes, and tell them it is not necessary to watch over me every moment.”

“It is necessary.” Mr.Fielding sobered. “Daniel is in this business up to his neck, and it might endanger you, I am sorry to relate. My watchers stay.”

I ceased arguing, knowing it would do no good. As long as Mr.Fielding’s lads did not impede me, I’d not object. I might even make some use of them.

“I suppose you are observing Daniel as well?” I asked. “Though he pleaded for us both not to?”

“Of course.” Mr.Fielding gave me his perfected innocent expression. “Not that Daniel pleads, ma’am. Don’t exaggerate. He states his wishes quite firmly and grows exasperated when we don’t comply. I have stationed others near the house, who saw you wander there on Monday.”

“Is one a groom?” I thought of the man who’d started to move toward me as I’d peeked into the mews.

Mr.Fielding heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Of course, you spotted him too. He is. I installed him to work for the lordship next door to the viscount. He said he meant to warn you away, but you took the hint and disappeared.”

I was happy to learn that the groom had worked for a friend, not an enemy. I was also glad Mr.Fielding had stationed people near, even if he inferred that I disapproved.

“What does the lordship next door think about Viscount Peyton?” I asked.

Mr.Fielding ran slim, gloved fingers over his neat beard. “Feels sorry for the viscount, being unable to get around by himself. Lord Downes declares that a man in that state might as well be dead. Very hearty sort, is Lord Downes.”

“Mm, he sounds it.”

“Acknowledges that Peyton has a good mind though. Brilliant at chess—at least, he bests Lord Downes every time, which, according to the groom, must not be difficult. Viscount Peyton has a finger in many governmental pies, always pushing for reform. Is sympathetic to foreigners, supports Irish Home Rule. All the traits Downes despises. Gents like Peyton will ruin Britain, and so forth, says Lord Downes.”

I’d overheard many a gent in London state similar opinions. Ladies too.

The Irish question had figured prominently in other cases Daniel had taken, dangerous ones that had nearly hastened his death.

Irish Home Rule was a volatile subject these days.

The newspapers harangued about it on both sides of the question.

I had compassion for the Irishmen who wished to govern themselves after centuries of subjugation and impoverishment, but I could not condone those who tossed incendiary devices onto railway platforms or into streets, injuring or killing innocent children.

It might be my daughter who inadvertently stepped in their way.

“Is Lord Peyton involved with Fenians?” I named the group, begun in America and funded by Americans who supported the Irish.

Many American Fenians had family in Ireland and had themselves emigrated to Boston or New York to find employment.

While those who worked for Irish Home Rule had a common cause with them, the Fenians were the ones who advocated using violence, including the bombings, to obtain their goals.

Mr.Fielding shrugged. “It’s uncertain, though likely.

Peyton is in a circle that fuses highborn and low, striving for the freedom of Ireland by any means necessary.

No one can prove Peyton’s connection to Fenians, hence Daniel.

I imagine our Danny’s looking for any evidence that can implicate Peyton in working to destroy the government, or else information to expose the entire ring. ”

The qualms that had fluttered through me since Daniel had gone now returned as watery fear. “Daniel could not have told you all this.”

“I have my own sources. Peyton’s connections are dangerous, Mrs.Holloway. I am certain you understand that if Daniel is caught, they will not hesitate to dispatch him.”

I believed him. I’d encountered such people before in Daniel’s work, from those who tried to blow up railroad bridges to a duke ready to eliminate the cabinet from within.

“And Daniel is sitting in the midst of them.” I clenched the handle of my basket.

I’d sent Hannah into the midst of them too.

Peyton and his followers wouldn’t hesitate to rid the world of her as well.

“What are we to do? I can’t know what is going on in the house every minute, and it seems very quiet there. ” Indeed, the silence was unnerving.

“I have my spies, and no doubt you have yours.” Mr.Fielding’s steady look told me he knew I’d not have stayed idly in my kitchen.

“Spies who themselves can be in danger.”

“But you and I choose carefully,” Mr.Fielding said with assurance. “We’d not have asked those who would be easily found out or who’d do anything foolish.”

That was true in my case, and I knew Mr.Fielding was canny enough to send people who’d never be looked at or questioned. I’d had no suspicion of the groom until Mr.Fielding had told me he had a man in place today, and I’d put things together.

“It is difficult to wait for reports,” I said.

“But wait we must.” Mr.Fielding cast a glance at those hastening around us. “I will not tell my watchers who your watchers are in case they are caught trying to confer. Ignorance is best in this situation.”

“Perhaps.” My jaw hurt from being so tight. “Then again, if each knows there is help nearby, they can reach it if necessary.”

“I will think on it. In the meantime, please keep my men’s identities to yourself. I don’t wish them to be exposed.”

As I could speak to Hannah only whenever she extricated herself from the house, it was easy to agree.

“I hope nothing happens at all,” I said. “Then it won’t be necessary to have reports or other actions from any of them.”

“That would be ideal,” Mr.Fielding answered. “But I am not optimistic. There is unrest and impatience. Gladstone is the best hope for introducing a bill for Home Rule, but the going is slow. Violence is so much quicker.”

“Why does Daniel have to be in the thick of it?” I burst out in vexation. “He is neither causing the violence nor working to keep Ireland under Britain’s thumb. What has all this to do with him?”

“The paths we walk are never the ones we start down.” Mr.Fielding raised a hand as I began to splutter my frustration.

“I know, philosophical aphorisms right now are not helpful. Daniel is paying for a mistake—he told me the tale once—which is not fair to him. I long to pull him out of the fire, but I can’t fight the entirety of Scotland Yard any more than I can call out the Fenians who have infiltrated this country. ”

I strove to calm myself. “I do realize this is a problem Daniel must solve on his own,” I said grudgingly.

“With us to watch him and catch him when he is in peril.” Mr.Fielding sent me a comforting smile. “Fear not, Mrs.Holloway. We’ll pluck him away and keep him safe. Damn the man for making me worry about him so much.”