Page 69 of Murder at Madame Chambon's
“Lord Dunstableblackmailedmy mother?Is that why you killed him?I don’t understand.How could my mother have information that was valuable to Lord Dunstable?”Evelina managed to push herself up into a sitting position, her eyes widening as she saw the carriage was slowing by a large, freshly dug grave.She no longer cared about the answer, though Grimshaw seemed happy to oblige her.
“You really don’t know what your mama does for a living, do you, poor Evelina?”
But Evelina was more concerned by the scene before her.The grave was in a remote part of the cemetery, shrouded by high, moss-covered trees that blocked out the sun.She twisted wildly but movement was painful and restricted with her wrists tightly bound and Mr.Grimshaw so close in the closed carriage.
“Well, I shall tell you, Evelina, as the last piece of the puzzle,” he said.“For it will help you understand why my duty towards one of England’s greatest families forces me to carry out this unpalatable task.You see, your mama is London’s most notorious brothel-keeper, Madame Chambon.Yes, you are right to gasp, and I am glad to see the surprise on your face, though your disgust saddens me for it seems you really were an innocent victim.I would much rather be doing this to your mother than to you, Evelina; though in time—and sooner rather than later—I will have to find a way to prevent your mama from continuing to pose the threat she does.Money, however, might keep her mouth shut, since she is very aware of the dangers of exposing too much.You, however, in your innocence, have presented more of a threat.Certainly, the men who love you—or, rather, who love your money—are inclined to ask far too many questions about your lineage to make me easy.But with you gone, so is the danger you pose.Your mama, now that I think of it, will have to be next, though that shouldn’t be so difficult.Nor as painful as this is to me.Now, up we sit.Let’s smooth out those skirts of yours, and I’ll straighten your bonnet.You’re as pretty as a picture, Evelina.I should have known you would be since your mama was quite the beauty in her day when she married your papa.An actress on the stage with a string of lovers before penniless Mr.Arthur Fairchild took up with her and sealed your fate by making their union legal just before you were born.”Mr.Grimshaw sighed.“If he hadn’t been so noble, and if you were simply a bastard, there’d be no need for all this.But when Mr.Arthur Fairchild unexpectedly inherited the earldom and became Lord Ravenswood, your mother---took you with her.You should never have existed, Evelina.Not as a legitimate child.I was a bastard though much more loved than my father’s rightful heir, the 4th Earl of Ravenswood.But a bastard is nothing!Only… you weren’t a bastard.And if the Ravenswood estate was to continue through the male line, you were suddenly more than just an inconvenience.”
It was becoming clear.Though the haze of terror was enmeshing her, Evelina did have the cognizance to understand what he was telling her.She was the legitimate daughter of the Earl of Ravenswood, who did not know of her existence, and who had married again and had a son.
“But if my father’s second marriage is bigamous and his son will not inherit because I am the legitimate child, I don’t stand to gain because I am simply a girl.Neither the estate nor title will pass to me, but rather to the next male.I am no threat—”
“Bravo, Evelina.You really can think fast in a tight spot,” Mr.Grimshaw congratulated her as he opened the carriage door from the other side and stood over her.“And in fact, that was why I was prepared to let you live.Perhaps, if your worthless mother had given birth to a son, I might have found a way to have disposed of him twenty years ago.But as a girl, you are no direct threat to the line.However, you know the truth.”He scooped her up, panting a little, for he was not a young man and he’d already exerted himself.“You know too much.You know that Rupert is not the real earl in waiting.He and his sister are not even plain Lord Rupert and Lady Elizabeth Craddock.They are bastards and always will be.You have the power to destroy their destinies and I will not let that happen to Rupert, who is dearer to me that if I’d had my own son.I lived much of my life at Ravenswood Manor and Rupert has asked for my return.No, I will not see the Ravenswood name dragged through the mud.And I will reclaim what was taken from me… byyou!”
“Elizabeth Craddock is my sister?”Evelina asked, her voice rising, the scream bursting from her as she struggled in Mr.Grimshaw’s arms by the edge of the large, cavernous hole.
“Your half-sister.And with that final piece of the puzzle to illuminate you, it’ll make it easier for you to accept what you are, Evelina.Your continued existence is too much a threat to this great family,” said the man who, she now saw, intended to throw her into the large unmarked grave.“But here it will end.A pauper’s grave.You will join the bodies at the bottom of this pit: the final resting place of those too insignificant to warrant a proper burial.You will be covered by dirt and no one will ever find you because no one will ever know where to look.”
Evelina squirmed and twisted and screamed.“The coachman knows!You will not get away with this!”
“The coachman is deaf, and he knows what’s good for him.Silence can be bought, Evelina, especially when one knows the price of disobedience.Your mother knew that and that’s why I let her live.But you—” Sadly, he shook his head.“You had to rock the boat.And, regrettably, you now have to pay the price.”
Chapter 34
William tried to hold the rising panic at bay as Lord Ravenswood put up his hand.“I need to follow him but so he doesn’t realize he’s being followed!”
“I’ve known Grimshaw for twenty years,” protested Lord Craddock “He’s my son’s godfather.And though it was wrong of him to keep something so profound from my ears, he is not a murderer.If he really was prepared to go to such lengths to ensure the estate went to my son, he’d have acted long ago—with all due respect, Catherine.”
William could understand the difficulty Lord Craddock, the earl of Ravenswood, would have in accepting such a possibility.Acceptance was a gradual process.Poor Ravenswood had learned in the space of only a few minutes that his marriage was bigamous, that the son he believed would succeed him was now a bastard, and that the wife and daughter he’d thought dead for twenty years were alive.
At least, his wife was.
And now it was up to William to do whatever was in his power to ensure that Evelina was rescued from whatever ghastly situation she was in.His stomach clenched.Would she still be alive?
Was she locked up somewhere?
He sought for inspiration, his mind going over the possibilities.Could it have been an opportunistic kidnapping?
If Grimshawwerethe perpetrator, where would he have taken Evelina if had picked her up at Highgate Cemetery?
With rising fear, he watched Grimshaw’s carriage disappear out of the front gates and onto the road.
“Lord Craddock, allow me the use of a horse.I beg of you.”
“I do not believe Grimshaw capable of such a thing,” the earl persisted, his genial face contorting.
“And I need to find Evelina,” William insisted, turning on his heel, shouting over his shoulder with sudden inspiration, “Lord Ravenswood, you said your child was buried in the family crypt?That is where I’m going now.And, with your permission, I’ll ask one more time for the loan of a horse.”
But this time he didn’t wait to be granted the request, although he heard it as he ran towards the stables, wasting no time as he shouted orders to a stable hand.
The road was curved, winding through a lightly wooded area which afforded William the cover he needed in case he rounded a bend and unwittingly came upon Grimshaw’s carriage.
It had taken a good ten minutes to reach the stables and saddle up a horse, once Ravenswood had agreed, so all William could do was base his direction on that in which he’d seen Grimshaw disappear.The closer he got to London, the more opportunity there was of making a wrong turn.
Except that William was becoming increasingly certain that his hunch was right.He would find that Grimshaw had gone to Highgate Cemetery.
And he would find Evelina there.
Anger spurred him towards the evil perpetrator, and love for Evelina enabled him to keep up the wicked pace as he tried not to think of the fear she must be enduring.
