‘But I don’t even know your name, sir.’
‘It’s perhaps better that you never do.’
Clutching the basket to her bosom, she beamed hopefully. ‘Shall I see you again, sir?’ she enquired, coyly.
‘One day, perhaps,’ said Henry, gallantly. ‘One glorious day.’
Then he flitted gratefully away into the gathering twilight.
Darkness was falling by the time he reached Addle Hill. Christopher was glad that he had made the effort to ride to Chelsea and back. He was now calling on Jonathan Bale to apprise him of what had happened since they parted. He was always glad to visit the little house when the whole family was at home. He was as fond of Sarah Bale as she of him, and he liked the two boys. It did not trouble the architect that Oliver and Richard had been named after the Lord Protector and his son. They were two lively, friendly, fun-loving lads. Whenever he met them, Christopher found himself wondering if he and Susan would ever have such a contented family.
When his wife had taken the children into the kitchen, Bale invited his visitor to sit down then perched on a stool that he had made when first married. It seemed too small for his bulk but it held his weight without any difficulty.
‘I’m sorry that you had to leave us earlier on,’ said Christopher, ‘but my brother would not have been so open in your company.’
‘Did you get the truth out of him, sir?’
‘Little by little.’
‘I long to hear it.’
Christopher gave him a brief description of what had occurred at the house in Bedford Street, picking out only the salient points. Since his friend already had a low opinion of his brother, he saw no point in revealing that Henry had coaxed the maid into leaving the window open for him at night. Bale would despise him even more and would insist that legal action be taken against him for attempted theft. Christopher preferred to keep his brother out of prison so that he could be of assistance to them, and so that their father could be spared the shock of learning about the antics of his elder son.
Bale was interested to hear about the visit to Chelsea.
‘The gardener was poached?’ he said. ‘I wonder why.’
‘I can think of one good reason — he would know about Sir Martin Culthorpe’s regular visits to his garden.’
‘And he’d have some idea how to get the key to that gate.’
‘There’s also the fact that Abel Paskins might have had a score to settle with his old employer,’ said Christopher. ‘I think it significant that, when he found a new position with Mr Foxwell, he took care to say nothing about having worked for Sir Martin.’
‘The person we must look at is the one who recruited him, sir.’
‘Jocelyn Kidbrooke.’
‘He’s not the nicest man you’ll meet.’
‘You said that he was rude and quick-tempered.’
‘He treated me with disdain,’ said Bale, ‘and he had the look of a man who treats the law likewise.’
‘If he’s part of Henry’s circle, he’ll not qualify for holy orders, we can take that for granted. My brother always describes his friends as belonging to a merry gang.’
‘That’s not what I’d call them, Mr Redmayne.’
‘Nor me, Jonathan,’ said Christopher. ‘They pursue pleasure as huntsmen pursue a fox, and they care nothing for the damage they may do in the course of the chase.’
‘Shall I speak to Mr Kidbrooke again, sir?’
‘No, I think it’s my turn. As Henry’s brother, I may at least get some civility out of him. On second thoughts,’ he went on, ‘it might be better if I got Henry to approach him on our behalf. We don’t want to arouse his suspicions. My brother is the best person to tackle Kidbrooke.’
Bale was surprised. ‘Would he agree to help us?’
‘I’ve no doubt about that.’
‘But Jocelyn Kidbrooke is his friend.’
‘Henry owes me a very large favour,’ said Christopher, thinking of the way he had suppressed details of his brother’s peccadilloes. ‘Let me put it more strongly — he’s in no position to refuse.’
‘How close are the two men?’
‘Very close.’
‘They dine and drink and go to the theatre together?’
Christopher sighed. ‘Oh, I think they do much more than that.’
‘He was a parish constable, a blundering fool named Jonathan Bale.’
‘I know the rogue,’ said Henry Redmayne.
‘Then you know how stubborn he can be.’
‘Stubborn, stupid and far too inquisitive.’
‘The man had the gall to ask me if I stole that portrait,’ said Jocelyn Kidbrooke with a snort. ‘I almost knocked him down for his impudence. What’s the world coming to when one can’t have a coffee with friends without being set upon by some idiot like that?’
‘Bale is no idiot. I’d clear him of that charge.’
‘Wait until he comes calling on you.’
‘He already has, Jocelyn,’ said the other, ‘on more than one occasion. He has no need to accuse me of being a thief. My brother has already done that. Ask Elkannah — he was there at the time.’
After an evening spent at a tavern, the two men were being driven in Kidbrooke’s coach through the echoing streets of London. Both had imbibed heavily and their speech was slightly slurred, but, as far as they were concerned, there was a long way to go yet before they would even think of retiring for the night. Henry still felt raw after his abrasive encounter with Christopher and was relieved that no legal action would be taken against him. Jocelyn Kidbrooke had other preoccupations.
‘I’m glad you mention Elkannah,’ he said, pausing to inhale snuff from a silver box. ‘What’s all this balderdash about a pact?’
‘He thinks we should stay away from the funeral.’
‘And you agreed?’
‘Only to get rid of Elkannah,’ said Henry. ‘He kept on and on at me so I pretended to concur.’
‘He badgered me as well and I daresay that Sir Willard was also his victim. I liked the fellow before he developed a conscience. He’s beginning to sound horribly like a priest now.’
‘He’ll come back to us in time. What did you say to him?’
‘I spurned his nonsensical pact.’
‘Does that mean that you intend to go to Sir Martins’ funeral?’
‘I wouldn’t miss a chance to see Araminta for anything.’
‘You won’t see much of her, Jocelyn. She’ll be swathed in black and surrounded by mourners.’
‘But I’d be in the same church as her, breathing the same air.’
‘It is a temptation,’ confessed Henry. As the coach began to slow, he glanced through the window. ‘Here we are at last. I hope that my luck changes tonight. The cards have been unkind to me all week.’
‘I’m not here to gamble,’ said Kidbrooke.
When the coach came to a halt, they got out and walked uncertainly towards the portico of a tall, elegant house. The front door opened before they even reached it and they went into the building and down a corridor. Henry peeled off into the first room they came to, looking for an empty chair at one of the card tables and sniffing the strong aroma of tobacco smoke. Because he was a regular visitor to the house, he was given a cordial welcome and a free glass of wine. His fingers itched to touch the cards again.
Jocelyn Kidbrooke, meanwhile, had gone to a room at the back of the house. Large, luxurious and only half-lit by candelabra, it was watched over by a buxom woman in her fifties with a beauty spot on one cheek. Powder had been used in liberal amounts to disguise her raddled face, and arching black eyebrows had been painted on in such a way that she seemed to be in a permanent state of astonishment. The sight of a new customer brought her to life. As she laughed aloud, her breasts wobbled and her jowls shook.
‘Mr Kidbrooke,’ she gushed, embracing him familiarly. She indicated the array of attractive young women, reclining seductively on sofas as they tried to catch the newcomer’s attention. ‘Whom will you choose tonight, sir?’
Jocelyn Kidbrooke ran an expert eye over the painted ladies.
‘The one who looks most like Araminta,’ he murmured.
In his master’s absence, Emile did not slack. He attended to his duties with even more alacrity. When he had eaten his breakfast, he washed the dishes, fed the cat, made his bed, cleaned all three rooms, taking care, as he did so, to leave the studio almost exactly as it was when Jean-Paul Villemot departed. Believing that the artist was innocent, he was less convinced that anyone would be able to rescue him from the menace of the English judicial system. For his visit to Newgate that morning, he was taking food, wine and the fresh clothing that his master had requested.