Villemot had important concessions. In return for payment, he was given a single cell and that isolated him from attack. But it did not rescue him from the jeering of his captors or from the pandemonium in the nearby cells. He was kept awake all night by the howls of pain, the forlorn pleas, the screams of violated women and the sound of bruising fights. He had paid for wine but it tasted like vinegar. He had asked for visitors but he was told to wait until the next day. Sympathy was nowhere to be found. Villemot was treated less like someone whose guilt was uncertain than a condemned man biding his time before he ascended the gallows.
His cell gave him neither comfort nor privacy. It was small, fetid and covered in dank straw. When Villemot was shoved into it, a rat had scurried out. Through the iron bars of the gate, the turnkeys could keep him under constant surveillance. He was horror-struck at the thought of relieving himself in a wooden pail that was pitted by age and stained by long usage. For a man of the artist’s delicate sensibilities, Newgate Prison was pure torture.
Morning brought the same sickening reek and the same unceasing tumult but it also brought his first visitor. When he saw Emile being led along the corridor by a turnkey, Villemot flung himself at the bars.
‘Emile!’ he exclaimed. ‘Enfin!’
‘Bonjour, M’sieur Villemot.’
‘None of that,’ decreed the turnkey. ‘You speak English or you speak nothing. Talk in that turkey-gobble and, for all I know, you could be plotting an escape.’ He folded his arms. ‘English.’
He loomed over Emile who was plainly intimidated by his presence. Fastidious by nature, the valet was disgusted by everything he saw, heard and smelled. He was appalled to see his master in such a place and gave him an affectionate handshake through the bars.
‘How are you, sir?’ he enquired.
‘I am glad to see the friendly face at last, Emile.’
‘You do not belong.’
‘Then why did you help to put me here?’
‘M. Redmayne ask the question — I tell truth.’
‘Lie for me next time,’ said Villemot. ‘Protect your master.’
‘I am sorry.’
‘I could have got away.’
‘They look for you, sir. You not run forever.’
‘I’d do anything to keep out of this hell-hole.’
‘It’s cosy when you get used to it,’ said the turnkey with a snigger. ‘You’ll come to like it here in time.’
‘Never!’ Villemot turned to the valet. ‘It is so bad.’
‘I speak to Mr Redmayne this morning. He tell me he will get you out of here soon.’
‘What can he do?’
‘He want to help, sir.’
‘That’s what he says but can I trust him?’
‘I think so. He tell me he has the friend who is the constable.’
‘I met him.’ Villemot fingered the lump on the back of his head. ‘His name is Jonathan Bale. Because of him, I was almost killed when I was thrown from a horse. Why should he help me? Jean-Paul Villemot is nothing to him.’
‘You are, sir.’
‘Am I?’
‘The new house, it is in M’sieur Bale’s parish.’
‘It may never be built now.’
‘Do not say that. You will get out somehow.’
‘Yes,’ said the turnkey. ‘You’ll get out, Villymott. We’ll see to that. We’ll even provide the cart to take you to the hangman.’
‘It is no jest!’ snapped Villemot.
‘Don’t you shout at me, you lousy French dunghill!’
‘I want to talk to my friend.’
‘Two minutes — that is all.’
‘But I have a lot to tell him.’
The turnkey grinned provocatively at him. ‘You’ll have to speak fast, then, won’t you?’
‘What can I do, sir?’ said Emile.
‘Go to the lady.’
‘Mr Redmayne helps you.’
‘He has no power — the lady does. Tell her where I am.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Go straight to the house.’
‘What do I say?’
Villemot was explicit. ‘Beg her to get me out of here!’
The response had been overwhelming. As word of the murder spread ever wider, letters of condolence, tributes and flowers were delivered in abundance to the house. Dozens of visitors came to pay their respects and offer their sympathy. Though it was very tiring to cope with it all, Araminta Culthorpe was glad to have something to occupy her mind. Having dealt with another batch of callers that morning, she settled down in the drawing room to go through the piles of letters that had accumulated.
Eleanor Ryle assisted her, noting each sender’s name before passing the missive over to her. She picked up another from the pile.
‘Mr Henry Redmayne,’ she announced.
‘Throw it away!’
‘But it’s a poem.’
‘It always is,’ sighed Araminta. ‘Destroy it.’
‘You don’t know what he’s written, m’lady.’
‘I know exactly what he’s written and I’ve no wish to read a word of it. Anything that bears his execrable name must be torn up.’
‘Yet you read that letter sent by his brother.’
‘That was different,’ said Araminta, her voice softening at once. ‘Christopher Redmayne is a true gentleman. His commiserations were sincere and heart-felt. What he wrote touched me. Henry Redmayne, however,’ she said, sharply, ‘has sent a poem that contains the same flowery language and the same unsought declaration of love as all the others he’s written. It’s both hurtful and vexing. Tear up his letter.’
Eleanor obeyed her, putting the pieces of paper aside on the table. She reached for the next letter and unfolded it.
‘Mr Elkannah Prout.’ At the sound of the name, her mistress hesitated. ‘Shall I tear up this one as well?’
‘No,’ decided Araminta. ‘I’ll read it.’ The letter was handed over to her. ‘And I’m glad that I did,’ she went on as she scanned the neat calligraphy. ‘Mr Prout is very kind. His words bring real comfort. He’s also apologised for any earlier correspondence he sent me and done so handsomely. Elkannah Prout was acquainted with my husband and says kind things about him.’ She put the letter aside. ‘Next?’
‘Lady Lingoe.’
Araminta was checked. ‘Lady Hester Lingoe?’
‘Yes,’ said Eleanor. ‘She has a fine hand.’
‘But she hardly knew Sir Martin. Her husband, on the other hand, certainly did — he’s an ambassador who travels all over Europe.’ She took the letter and glanced at it. ‘Wait,’ said Araminta, looking up. ‘I’ve just realised why she may have felt impelled to write.’
‘Oh?’
‘Lady Lingoe and I have something in common — we both had our portraits painted by Monsieur Villemot. I remember my husband remarking on it.’
‘Did he see the portrait of Lady Lingoe?’
‘Sir Martin forbade me to do so.’
‘Why was that?’
‘He said that it was not a suitable example of the artist’s work. Besides, I was there to sit for my own portrait, not to look at what Monsieur Villemot had done for his other ladies.’
Eleanor was curious. ‘Does he only paint ladies?’
‘For the most part,’ said Araminta. ‘That’s how he made his name. His excellence is not in question. He has done portraits of members of the French royal family and was feted in his own country, yet he preferred to live and work here.’
‘I wonder why, m’lady.’
‘He told me that he adores England.’
‘But he has a wife in Paris, does he not?’
‘Yes, Eleanor — I’d rather forgotten about her.’
‘It seems that he forgot about her as well,’ said the maid.
‘I’m mightily afraid that he did.’
‘How will she feel when she hears about her husband?’
‘Poor thing!’ said Araminta with a surge of compassion. ‘I’ve been so bound up in my own misery that I’ve not spared a thought for anyone else’s suffering. Madame Villemot will be horrified. What the husband did was utterly detestable,’ she continued, grimacing at the memory, ‘but I can still feel sympathy for the wife. She was not to blame. Madame Villemot is another victim of this tragedy.’