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“They began close to two and a half years prior, my lord,” the woman shared.

“Those in the beginning carried the theme of how ‘unlovable’ the world found Lady Emma to be. There are nearly a dozen of those types of messages. Those are the ones you hold, my lord.” Mrs. Ottoway handed Duncan another stack, while Duncan passed off the ones he had been reading to Richard.

Both Graham and Theodora looked over Richard’s shoulders as he flipped through them.

These were the ones he had seen previously.

Mrs. Ottoway continued, “The ones you have in your hand now, my Lord Duncan, began about eighteen months ago. As you are likely to agree, these are more threatening than the ones Lord Orson holds. They also have a more caustic tone and they use quite a few derogatory terms. Lady Emma told us earlier this evening that she had asked her lady’s maid to destroy these, but the butler, Mr. Palmer, had forbidden it.

What authority, my lord, does a servant have over the mistress of the house? ”

“None of which I have ever heard,” Duncan mumbled as he continued to read the messages. “I imagine Lady Emma became quite frightened when she received these. The poor child; she had no one to trust. I wish I had known.” At length, he handed those he held to Graham.

“The last half dozen or so move from degradation to pure threats. They are more detailed and the consequences described for not complying are frightening, to say the obvious.”

Duncan asked, “These three mentioned gold sapphires. Do we know if they have been found? The date on this message correlates with when Lady Emma was attacked. We must assume our Emma either knew nothing of the sapphires or refused to part with them.”

“The message says the sapphires belonged to Lady Donoghue,” Theodora observed as she looked over her father’s arm. “The jewels could be in the Netherlands with Emma’s mother.”

“Earlier,” Richard told them, “Lady Emma told us an unusual tale. I am confident, Theodora, that you will recall all the women we met at the newsprint office?”

“Of course, I do. We have heard nothing from any of them since our call,” Dora said in obvious dissatisfaction.

“Not completely true,” Richard confided.

“On Sunday, after church, I pretended I was going to walk home after services. I had positioned Mr. Bould several streets away, so those following me would be required to race back to their horses if they meant to give pursuit. Therefore, I first walked north, quickly reaching the corner of the street upon which Donoghue House sits. Naturally, I looked in the direction of Lady Emma’s house. ”

“Naturally,” Theodora teased.

Richard shrugged off the insinuation. “Anyway, who do I see leaving Lady Emma’s house, but the taller woman of the three to whom we had spoken only the day before.

I followed her on parallel streets for several city crossings before I confronted her.

She claimed to have called at Donoghue House to assure herself of Lady Emma’s safety and was told by Mr. Palmer that Lady Emma had returned to her parents on the Continent. ”

“The Continent?” Graham said sarcastically. “Did she think we would be foolish enough to believe that Lady Emma returned to parents who have essentially ignored her for a decade? Not a very skilled liar, in my opinion.”

“Foolish indeed,” Duncan observed. “I believe, once we recover Lady Emma, this Mr. Palmer requires a bit of time in my office. He has been ‘master’ of Donoghue House for too long.”

“I will be glad to assist,” Richard assured. “The thing I wanted to share was that the woman from the protesters said her name was ‘Miss Babbington.’ When I mentioned the encounter to Lady Emma, she said Miss Babbington was her half-sister.”

“How is that possible?” Theodora demanded. “Why did one of the others not mention the connection?”

“I wondered the same thing after Lady Emma told us of her half-sister.” Richard raised his hands in supplication, indicating he had also been taken by surprise.

“Emma said her mother had been married briefly before marrying Lord Donoghue. Only a year or so to an older man who had fallen on the stairs of their home and had passed from his injuries. I still do not understand how Emma and Miss Babbington kept it from the others. They protested together often.”

“And the man’s name was ‘Babbington’?” Duncan asked, ignoring the other parts of Richard’s tale.

“That was the name we were given,” Graham confirmed.

“Most assuredly, I cannot know all of the gentry and the aristocracy,” Duncan said, deep in thought, “but we should examine this turn of events more closely.”

Graham asked, “Should we ask Hartley to investigate?”

“At a minimum, we should search Debrett’s for the Babbington family,” Duncan declared.

“Pardon for the delay, my lords,” the porter said. “Two of the men decided it was best if they watched over all four carriages. I hope this is acceptable.”

“Are you Andrew Sawyer?” Richard asked the man he did not recognize as being a part of the group earlier.

“Yes, me lord. Me friends said you wished to speak to me,” the coachman said, his eyes down in respect.

“Might you describe the passenger you accepted from this hotel?” Richard asked vaguely, so as to learn whether the man was legitimate or not.

“A young miss dressed in light blue,” the man responded.

“I told your friends that much,” Richard accused. “What else might you have noted?”

“Blue gown,” the man said again. “Cut modestly. Silver slippers. Very little jewelry. A single blue bauble on a plain gold chain.”

Richard nodded his acceptance of the man’s response. “And the lady’s coachmate?”

“Also a female. Be a few inches taller than the lady in blue. Dark of head—maybe auburn or brown, as far as I could tell, but not black. Dressed in a dark, somewhat masculine-cut jacket. A white undergarment which had a look of a gentleman’s cravat rather than the lace a woman might wear, and a dark skirt.

I thought she might be the other young lady’s companion. ”

“And where might you have set them down?” Richard asked with more calm than he actually felt, for the driver had described someone he already knew.

“North, sir, towards Hornsey, but I didn’t set them down at their destination.

The older-looking one opened the trap and ordered me to pull over at the next cross street we were to pass.

We were perhaps a quarter hour from Hornsey at that time.

I thought it foolish, especially at this time of night, but there were a few houses nearby, so I did as the woman said. ”

“Damn!” Richard growled and threw his hands in the air.

Duncan stepped in between Richard and the coachman.

“Pardon my son. He is not criticizing you. He is simply worried over the two ladies. Is there a chance you learned anything about their destination after you set them down?” He looked to Richard.

“How much was each man to receive when reporting to you, my boy?”

Richard remained staring at the wall and praying for a miracle. “Ten pounds, sir,” he said with a sigh.

The coachman looked about curiously. “I’d not heard their destination by name, my lord.

” When Duncan frowned, the man rushed to say, “But the plain-faced one asked the other if the girl could guess where they would claim their rest. Then, she told the one in blue it was a place with her father’s name. That’s all I know, my lord.”