Page 14 of The Marriage Debt
‘That it was not Black Jack Standon they caught, of course. Fortunate for Mr Standon and his friends, a pity for the man they are about to hang.’ Her ears strained for the slightest sound from behind her. ‘Not what I would have expected from a man of Black Jack Standon’s reputation.’
The maid’s eyes flickered and she tried to pull her hand free. ‘What do you mean?’ she repeated dully.
‘Black Jack has a certain fame for being a sporting man. A name for courage and being game. Not like him to let an innocent man hang in his place. Where’s the pride in that?’
Now she could sense the presence directly behind her. He had moved as silently as a cat. ‘Good morning, sir.’ She spoke without turning, before he could take another step. ‘Please will you not join me? Another tankard for the gentleman if you will.’ Katherine released the girl’s wrist with a smile.
‘I won’t say no.’ The big man who appeared by her side was so like Theo that she almost gasped. Then he sat down opposite her and she could see the difference. This man was perhaps ten years older: a good thirty eight if not forty. His nose had been broken and his face was rounder, with less apparent bone structure. He picked up the tankard the bar maid put in front of him and tossed half of it back without taking his eyes off the woman before him.
‘What do you know about Black Jack Standon, mistress?’
‘Nothing, except for his reputation. I know the man taken up in his place. I am married to him.’
‘Then tell the authorities who he is.’
‘I cannot prove it. No-one can. The only way to prove my husband innocent is for the real Black Jack to be seen again. I am sure if he knew of the situation he would want to help.’
The brown eyes looked into hers for a long moment then he grunted. ‘Huh. What would be in it for Black Jack?’
‘Pride.’ Katherine said simply.
Twenty minutes later Katherine stepped out into the yard, speaking over her shoulder as she did so. ‘Thank you. I will send word. I knew I could not be mistaken in you.’
In Newgate Theo paced back and forth in front of his bench wishing he could stop thinking about Kat, returning to those very thoughts time and again as the only pleasant recollection he could conjure up. He felt uneasy about her and could not say why. Foolishness: she was safe enough in London now the risk from the bailiffs was gone.
Katherine was experiencing a far more unpleasant time than she had during her encounter with the highwayman. With the freedom of an old family retainer John was giving vent to his anxiety and his self-reproach at letting her meet the man at all, let alone by herself.
‘And it’s no good you telling me you’re a married lady now, Miss Katherine and can do what you want,’ he finished.
‘I haven’t said that,’ she replied mildly. ‘But I must do what is necessary and I fear you are going to like the next adventure even less than this one. But I need your help,’ she added, gazing trustfully at him.
‘Don’t you go batting your eyelashes at me, Miss Katherine. It might work on some highwayman, but I know when you are upto no good.’
‘Let’s hope that Jenny has had as much success as we have and then we can all go home the day after tomorrow,’ Katherine promised.
Jenny was waiting for them at the inn and positively bubbling with both the amount she had found out and her own cleverness in doing so.
‘I went to Mr Highson’s house, it’s but a mile out of town. And I went round to the back door and started chatting to the kitchen maid, told her I was new to the area and looking for work and wondered what this place was like.’
‘Jenny, that was brilliant,’ Katherine said admiringly. ‘Wasn’t she suspicious?’
‘Not in the least. Bored to death, cook’s day off and she was left to make the day’s meals for the master. I settled down and helped her with the vegetables and she told me all about the household. The magistrate is unmarried and has a valet, a rather elderly footman, the cook and herself. When she said she had to lay the table for his luncheon I said I’d help her, so along we go, right through to the dining room.’
‘Jenny!’ Katherine stared in admiration. ‘What else did you find out?’
‘Well, I said wasn’t it awfully exciting, her master being a Justice and all? Weren’t desperate characters dragged there at all hours of the day and night? I wondered what his study must be like. Did he have a great chair like a judge?’
‘And?’
‘She showed me his study. She says that when he’s home he works there every day in the afternoon between two and four. It is on the ground floor and looks out onto the garden. See, I’ve drawn a plan.’
‘You’d make a fair good spy,’ John grunted with grudging admiration. ‘But how to we know which days he’ll be there?’
‘Every day this week,’ Jenny said triumphantly. ‘Mary – that’s the maid – said it was a nuisance because it made more work when he was home.’
Katherine sat back and closed her eyes against the sudden rush of relief. Thank goodness. Her biggest fear throughout was that they would not find the magistrate at home and she would have to persuade Jack Standon to travel to wherever he had gone.
She pulled the plan of Mr Highson’s house towards her and conned it. ‘Now this is what we must do. Listen carefully.’
