Page 18 of Blackmail at Beckwith Place

“Drive down to the village, would you? Fetch Doctor White and bring him back here.”

Crispin nodded and turned on his heel. By the time his feet hit the grass, he was running.

“Come along, Pippa,” Aunt Roz said, and I held the door as we all passed through and into the house.

A minute later,Abigail had been deposited on one of the Chesterfields in the library, and Francis was dusting off his hands, almost literally. He was brushing them down his sleeves repeatedly, as if trying to get rid of the imprint of Abigail’s body.

“Here.” Aunt Roz took little Bess out of Uncle Herbert’s arms and dropped her into mine. I held on as best I could as Aunt Roz continued. “Better go back outside. We can’t leave Harold and Euphemia in charge for too long. One of us should be there.”

Uncle Harold nodded, eyes lingering on Abigail. “What do I tell them?”

“The truth,” Aunt Roz said. “The doctor’s coming, and until he’s looked at her, we have no idea what’s going on.”

“Did you hear what Pippa said?”

Aunt Roz glanced at me.

“The girl’s name is Abigail Dole,” I said. “This is Bess. They came to the Essex House Mansions last week looking for Christopher.”

Aunt Roz looked unfazed by this statement. “Well, we know she isn’t Christopher’s. Francis, do you have something you’d like to confess?”

Francis shook his head. “No, Mother.”

“Herbert?”

Uncle Herbert looked offended. “Of course not, Roslyn. How can you even suggest?—?”

“It’s just as well to be sure, dear.” She patted his arm and then nodded towards the door. “Go on out there and mitigate whatever damage you can. I’ll stay with her until the doctor gets here. You push off too, Francis.”

Francis hesitated, glancing from Abigail to Bess to his mother and back. “What if?—?”

“The doctor will be here soon,” I told him. “The village isn’t far.” And Crispin wouldn’t be holding back, I assumed. I added, significantly, “Constance must be worried.”

Francis blinked, and then panic streaked across his eyes for a moment as that thought penetrated, before he spun on his heel and headed for the door.

“Well done, Pippa.” Aunt Roz waited for them both to get out of sight before she sank down next to Abigail with a sigh. “Tell me everything.”

“There’s not much to tell,” I said, eyeing her. “She showed up a few months ago at Sutherland House. According to Rogers, she was looking for the Duke’s grandson. This was?—”

“Before Henry died.” Aunt Roz nodded. “Naturally they thought she was looking for Crispin.”

“Of course. And it makes sense that they would, given how free he is with his favors.” Not to mention his habit of using Sutherland House as his own private love nest whenever he was in Town. If Abigail had been there before, it made sense that she would come back.

After a moment, when Aunt Roz hadn’t said anything, I added, “Who else is there? We know the baby isn’t Christopher’s, and Francis said she wasn’t his…”

“What Francis said,” Aunt Roz told me, and there was an edge to her voice, “was that there wasn’t anything he wanted to confess. It’s not exactly the same thing, is it?”

Well, no. Now that she mentioned it, I supposed it wasn’t.

“Surely you don’t think…?”

“I don’t think anything,” Aunt Roz said, which was clearly a lie. She was thinking all sorts of things; she just wasn’t sharing them with me. “Go on. She went to Sutherland House, and Crispin refused her. Then she came to your flat?”

“Last week. It must have taken her all this time to track down where we live, I assume.”

Aunt Roz nodded.

“Christopher wasn’t home. I asked her to come upstairs and wait for him, but instead she ran away. All I got out of her that time, was her name and the baby’s name.”