Page 55 of Code Name Duchess
If you wishto bury your brother, bring the sum of five hundred pounds to the Chinese Pavilion at Vauxhall Gardens. Once the moneyis deposited, leave. You willreceive a notification as to the whereabouts of your brother. If His Grace, the Duke of Cambarton, wishes to have his sister returned to him, the same applies to him. Make the deposit on Saturday, at two in the afternoon.”
Victoria handed the letter to Seth, who frowned. It was not Elton’s handwriting. In fact, it didn’t even look like the handwriting of anyone who knew how to write very well. The letters were sloppy and there were many errors in the writing.
When Seth looked up, he noted the smile on Victoria’s face. What, he wondered, did she have to smile about? Before he could ask, Winnie took the letter from his hand and glanced at it.
“Do you see it?” Victoria asked her sister. Seth drew his eyebrows together and looked from one sister to the other, utterly confused. Suddenly, Winnifred’s entire visage brightened and she stared at Seth, her mouth agape.
“What happened?” he stepped closer toward her and she raised the letter, pointing at something.
“Look. Do you see? The little squiggly lines under some of the letters?”
Seth took the letter and examined it once more. Then, suddenly, his eyes focused in on what the sisters each saw with ease. There were several letters with discreet lines drawn under them. Due to the sloppiness of the writing, it was hard to see.
With a pounding heart, he made out the secret message within the letter and gasped. There—obscured within the message—was a code:
They live.
Chapter 27
“Ido not understand this letter.”
Mr. Markham said it the following day when Winnifred and Seth sat in his office in the early morning hours. He read the letter again and carefully analyzed every single line. Winnie watched as the man’s eyes darted across the lines. Finally, however, he seemed to come to the same conclusion again. Markham shook his head and placed the communication on the table before him.
“I simply do not understand it,” he repeated.
“But it must be true, do you not agree? Surely, our siblings are alive. Why would they have underlined the letters as they did?”
Winnifred’s excitement overwhelmed her voice, and the words came out in a jumble. However, she didn’t care. Even if she sounded hysterical, she had reason to be. The brother she had thought was dead, was alive. At least according to the secret message within this letter.
“Winnie is right. Whoever wrote this letter must have included the secret message. The handwriting is not the same as the first ransom demands.”
Markham leaned back and shook his head.
“We could ask Mr. Weston to reach out to his contact once more.”
“We considered this, too. Weston’s contact is…” Seth trailed off. “Do you suppose it is his contact that sent this letter? I mean, could it be that it was Mr. Weston’s contact that included the secret message?”
“I should think not.” Markham shook his head. “I do not know who his contact is, but by Mr. Weston’s admission, he’s rather mutton-headed, which is why he was able to bribe him into giving him information in the first place. Which is also why the quality of said information is not always reliable.”
He picked up the letter again and scrutinized it.
“Does it strike you as curious that the handwriting is different?” Winnifred asked as she played with the hem of her thick gown. The lace scratched against her skin, making her uncomfortable. The air in Mr. Markham’s office was always thick and overly warm—she could only imagine what it would be like at the height of summer.
Markham shook his head again. “Not at all. A man like Elton does not often take the time to write his letters. Instead, he will dictate them or instruct one of his underlings on what to write.”
Seth nodded to Winnifred. “That is what we also concluded.”
Winnifred allowed her eyes to linger on Seth as an immense feeling of gratitude and, yes, love overcame her. Despite his grief, he had taken such good care of her these past few days. Seth called on her each day, passing the endless hours with her. She knew she loved him, and she knew that he felt likewise, but thus far, neither of them had made the grand confession. Too painful was the world that was presently their reality. And yet, without him, she would not have made it through these last few days.
“I suppose…” Markham tapped his index finger against his chin. “I have an idea. It could be that your siblings are indeed alive, and this is all a ruse. But, on the other hand, this could be Elton’s way of toying with you. It is entirely possible that he had this letter sent to you with the instructions, and he underlined the letters himself, letting you know that your siblings are alive.”
Seth sucked in a large lungful of air before replying. “But why would he do such a thing? Why not immediately tell us that our siblings are alive? Why tell us that they are dead?”
“It was a punishment, wasn’t it?” Winnifred said. “It makes sense, a man like Elton would not like to be toyed with. He went to Vauxhall Gardens fully intending to make the exchange only to be surprised by the authorities. He would be livid about a transgression like that. Even though we made it very clear that it was not our doing.”
A dark shadow spread across Markham’s face.
“You are quite correct, Miss Keating. Elton is well known to have an ill temper, and an event such as what happened at Vauxhall Gardens would incense him. I would not put it past him to tell you that your siblings were dead to send you into utter despair. Then, after letting you suffer for several days, he would reignite your hopes by way of a letter such as this.”
