Page 34 of A Vocation of Violence
Yes, this obsession ran deep indeed. I laid a gentle hand on her arm, treating her as I might treat Aunt Nola. “I know this is difficult. But think how it would honor Vivienne’s memory to see justice done.”
At last, the pages of Vivienne’s private scheduling diary lay open before me, like the petals of a dark flower. I could feel the weight of Claudia’s gaze heavy upon me as I carefully turned each fragile page, brushing my fingers over the inked words that revealed the hidden corners of Vivienne’s life.
“Here,” I murmured, pausing at an entry that seemed to leap from the page and demand my attention. “Not a year agoshe attended a voyage to the Mediterranean…on a private island owned by Geoffry Prescott, the Earl of Southaven and a rake of some repute.”
“He couldn’t have done her in.” Claudia waved the name away like a bad wind.
“Why not?” I pressed.
“Because he’s been feeding the fishes since before Christmas.”
I couldn’t say his death was strange, having never met the earl, but it certainly added to the body count surrounding Vivienne.
“How did he die?” I asked.
“Can’t remember.” Claudia wrinkled her impish nose, shrugging. “Think it was an accident, but no one much misses him. Especially the girls in his employ, handsy bugger.”
I knew the type.
“So Prince Albert Victor, the Duke of Clarence and second in line to the throne after the Prince of Wales, and Vivienne were vacationing on this island not ten months ago?”
“Yes, but I can’t think of a time they ever met.”
“Was Darcy among them?”
I breathed a sigh of relief when she shook her head.
“Drumft?” I pressed, to the same effect. “Jorah? The Baron or Baroness Morton?”
“Not this time, but they’d been before.” Taking the book from me, Claudia flipped back and back to the summer, showing me when Vivienne had also attended a summer fete at the island alongside the baron and baroness. “I remember they attended because she made me demand the staff that she sit far away from them.”
So after twenty years, Vivienne had climbed high enough on the social ladder to attend the same events as her rival from youth.
Was I reaching too far afield in order to save Darcy from his own guilt, or me from having to investigate a royal in a manner that could see me dead faster than soliciting Jack the Ripper for sex in Whitechapel on an October evening?
“What do you think of Darcy?” I asked. “You can be frank with me. I’m fond of him, but I want to find out the truth.”
The look she flashed me was as canny and fraught with suspicion as I’d ever seen. “Darcy’s not her usual fare,” she said carefully. “He’d not have lasted long.”
Unsure of what she meant by that, I asked, “Did he treat her cruelly?”
“No, but he’s simple and stupid. Vivienne was already looking at other men.”
“Which other men?” I asked, my voice sharpening in defense of my friend.
Her gaze fell. “No one specific. But it was only a matter of time.”
Something told me the girl was keeping secrets for the dead, and I could only get from her the information she was willing to part with.
“Tell me, Claudia,” I began, turning toward Vivienne’s maid, whose eyes were still fixed upon the scheduling diary with a fervent intensity. “Were you aware of any rendezvous between your mistress and the prince?”
“Of course not,” she replied, her voice shaking slightly. “I knew nothing about nothing. But it doesn’t surprise me; Vivienne always had secrets.”
“Secrets can be dangerous, especially in the hands of someone like her,” I mused, watching as Claudia clutched the diary to her chest with a vehemence that made me uneasy. “It could be her secrets that got her killed, which is why I would like to know about your mistress. Not to judge her, but to find her killer.”
“If I knew, I would tell. I swear it! Vivienne was more than just my mistress,” she whispered, her eyes suddenly brimming with tears. “She was my idol, my everything. I would have done anything for her—anything.”
“Even if it meant putting yourself in danger?” I asked gently, sensing that there was more to Claudia’s obsession with Vivienne than mere admiration.
