Page 50 of With Good Grace
‘I doubt that very much. She is either being paid well to deliver Tom to the man employing her or is doing so out of a misguided sense of…well, something.’
‘Rescuing Tom from the clutches of a loose woman?’ Olivia suggested with the hint of a smile.
‘That’s more like the attitude of my brave darling.’
‘I keep imagining Tom being afraid, and crying for me. He is scared of the dark, you see.’
‘Whoever has him has taken him in order to gain access to you,’ Jake told her.
‘And we think we know who that someone is.’
Jake looked up at the sound of Parker’s voice. He had not heard him return to the room.
‘Who?’ Olivia’s red eyes widened in expectation. ‘Tell me what you know.’
Jake proceeded to relate all they had learned in Bond Street, adding his own conviction that Sir Hubert was still in the capital, using the money from the sale of the Gainsborough to try and gain access to Lady Marchant’s letters.
‘He can have the lot of them,’ Olivia said without hesitation. ‘Providing he returns Tom to me immediately and unharmed.’
‘Of course we shall give them to him, if all else fails,’ Jake replied soothingly. ‘However, I dislike giving in to blackmail and have a mind to get the better of your husband’s brother, if only because he has caused you so much distress.’
Olivia gasped. ‘We cannot afford not to do as he asks; not if it offers the slightest danger to Tom.’
‘Tom’s welfare in my primary concern, along with your own.’
Olivia closed her eyes and nodded. ‘Forgive me, I am not thinking coherently.’
‘There is nothing to forgive.’ Jake squeezed her hand. ‘Now, tell me about the Granvilles. I don’t believe I am acquainted with them.’
‘I don’t suppose you are. They are not top drawer. Sarah’s family live close to mine in Surrey so we were often thrown together in local society before our respective weddings. We remained friends when we both moved to London as married women.’
‘They must be acquainted with Sir Hubert?’
‘Yes, they are.’
‘Does Granville have an occupation or is he independently wealthy?’ Parker asked.
‘Actually, he used to be in a similar situation to my brother Rupert in that he had an import business. I am unsure if he still does.’
‘A competitor to Rupert?’
‘Yes, but they were too civilized to show any rivalry.’ She turned towards Jake, her face alight with hope. ‘Do you suppose that is where Tom is being held? In the Granville household in Kensington? I cannot believe it. Sarah would not be a party to anything of that nature, I am absolutely sure. But if it was done without her knowledge, how could they keep a lively child quiet?’ She paled even more; something Jake had thought impossible. ‘And why would they? Apart from Molly’s connection to Sarah, I can think of absolutely no reason.’
‘Are the Granvilles back from Europe?’ Parker asked.
‘I have no idea. I feel persuaded that Sarah would have called upon me if they had returned, but I have not heard from her, other than the odd brief letter from Italy and I have not received anything at all for several months now. In her last letter she did say that they were thinking in terms of returning to England and that she was glad about it. She was homesick.’
‘You say you do not like Granville, yet his wife remained loyal during your travails,’ Jake said. ‘Would Granville not have objected to her association with you; a suspected murderess? Excuse me, I know you were innocent but society pre-judged the matter and turned its collective back on you for a while.’
Olivia lifted one slender shoulder. ‘Sarah was in a similar position to me. She was compelled to marry Granville but the union is not congenial. She has never said as much, but I think he is cruel to her. I have seen her with bruises and her explanation for them always seemed implausible. Anyway, she gave him two children, and now Granville leaves her more or less to her own devices.’
‘Then why the European tour?’ Parker asked. ‘That would throw them constantly together.’
‘I think Granville’s business is doing no better than Rupert’s and he needed to economise,’ Olivia replied pensively. ‘Sarah did not actually say as much, but I read between the lines. Why else would she not take her maid with her? She made the best of it, put on a brave face and said she hoped that time alone with Granville would mend the rift in their marriage.’
‘I cannot see why the Granvilles would abduct Tom,’ Jake said, pacing as he tried to assimilate all the facts. ‘Sarah Granville is your friend and could not know about Lady Marchant’s letters.’
‘Unless Molly told her,’ Parker suggested.
