Page 14 of Speculations in Sin

“I’m afraid so. Poor beggar.”

“What can we do? Sam is no embezzler.”

“Of course he isn’t.” Daniel’s belief in Sam warmed me. “If an outsider of no consequence is responsible for any of the bank’s troubles—if these troubles are even reported—the investors won’t demand all their money back at once.”

“Which would collapse the bank,” I finished.

“It certainly would. I doubt they could cover everything that has been put into it. They are supposed to be able to, but four hundred years’ worth of investments and dividends probably has muddied the pool.”

I regarded Daniel glumly. “So, they are scrambling for a solution. I wonder if they’ve been embezzled at all, or if they are trying to invent a reason that they are short of funds.”

“You could have hit upon it.” Daniel’s hand rested very near mine. “I know you are fond of the Millburns, Kat. I will do everything I can to help you, and them.”

“More than fond of them. Joanna is my dearest friend, a second mother to my daughter.” I let out a breath, which fogged in the January air. “What on earth am I to do if she can no longer care for Grace? I cannot hide Grace in my attic room.” I laughed feebly, but my heart was like lead.

Daniel rested his rough glove on my cold fingers, his strength a comfort. “Grace will be looked after. I promise you this.”

My heart thumped. I wanted so much to believe him, but the chill of reality told me I could not assume all would be well.

“I might have to send her out of London,” I continued, my voice shaking. “I’m not quite certain what I will do if I can’t see her even the small amount I do.”

“London is full of smoke and danger.” Daniel gestured to the miasma that hung in the air. “Grace would have places to run in a village, fresh air, no fear when she walks out to the shops. Perhaps that would be better for her.”

He was trying to find a bright spot in the gloom. “All you say is true.” I tilted my head to study him. “But answer me this: If country life is so excellent for children, why have you had James live all this time in London with you?”

Daniel’s grin flashed, and he lifted his hand from mine. “Would you believe me if I said he refuses to go?”

“A bit. James has a mind of his own. But you could have made him go, and you know it.”

Daniel’s smile turned to a chuckle. “You’ve caught me. I like having the lad underfoot. He is my son, and I’d move the moon for him. But I’d much rather have him next to me.”

“That is it, exactly.” I folded my arms against the cold. “I feel very selfish to hope Sam does not lose his post for Grace’s sake. The day Joanna told me she’d happily look after Grace while I sought work was the day I ceased falling. I’d imagined myself with Grace in a workhouse or giving her to the Foundling Hospital.” I shivered, which had nothing to do with the winter day.

Daniel did not reach for me, but his voice held surety. “That will never happen. I know enough good people that if Grace needs a home to live in, she will have one.”

“That I would pay for,” I added quickly. I refused to be on another’s charity.

“Of course. It would be a similar arrangement to what you have now.”

The certainty in Daniel’s eyes told me that he understood. He usually did, which was why I’d grown so fond of him, blast the man.

“I ought to go back inside,” I said with reluctance. “It is cold, and I have much work to do.”

“I will come when I can.” Daniel’s voice held promise, and I tried not to be pulled to it.

“As you like.” I hoped my nonchalance rang true.

Daniel started to bend to me, then stiffened and stepped away, taking his stance as the affable deliveryman once more. I glanced at what had caught his attention and saw Mr. Davis at the top of the outside stairs to the house, radiating disapproval at us.

“He is very angry with me,” I explained. I quickly told Daniel how Mr. Davis had caught me searching his room and why I had done so in the first place.

“Interesting.” Daniel sent Mr. Davis a lazy salute. “Bury St. Edmunds, you say?”

“A place called Medford Cottage.” I spoke in a whisper, though the rumble of wheels between us and Mr. Davis would muffle my words. “There is no reason to investigate the man. If he says he went to an ill friend, then he did.”

“I have no doubt.” Daniel’s eyes twinkled with humor, but I saw the same curiosity in him that I felt. “I won’t pry if it’s not necessary.”

“You have worked for the police too long,” I chided him. “You want to investigate everything.”

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