CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

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                             CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

AT MRS VALLENTINE’S ROOMS

‘Could we cover it up with a sheet, Mr Quipp,’ Mrs Possimer asked. ‘It gives me the fair shivers to see him lying there, and all that blood.’

    ‘You are right, Mrs Possimer. We must not be callous.’

    When Mrs Possimer returned with a sheet, Quipp placed it over the body.

    ‘I have been wondering, Mrs Possimer,’ Quipp asked as he did so. ‘What you intend to do after we have taken Mr Granville for all we can. Your share will be a tidy sum, I think.’

    She looked at him in some surprise.

    ‘I had no idea I was to have a share.’

    ‘Well, although I normally work alone,’ said Quipp with a smile. ‘In this case you and Jake have been valuable partners. It is right that you should profit.’

    ‘I have really no idea.’

    ‘You will be able to set up your own household,’ Quipp suggested. ‘An independent woman of means.’

    ‘You mean leave Mrs Vallentine’s employ?’ Mrs Possimer frowned, and looked doubtful. ‘I do not think I should do that.’

    Quipp smiled. ‘I had fancied you would say that,’ he said. ‘You have grown fond of her.’

    ‘Mrs Vallentine is not a bad woman, Mr Quipp, for all her loose ways,’ she said. ‘Merely imprudent. Her beauty is her downfall, and I fancy she never had a mother’s guidance in her early years.’

    ‘And you would remedy that?’

    Mrs Possimer’s cheeks flushed. ‘Sophie Vallentine needs me I feel, and perhaps, Mr Quipp, I need her; the daughter I never had.’

    ‘You have a good heart, Mrs Possimer.’

    At that moment the outer door opened and they heard movement in the hall.

    ‘Leave everything to me,’ Quipp said quietly. ‘And back me up in anything I say.’

    The door of the drawing room was thrust open and Frederick Granville strode in. His face was dark with anger, which made the scar stand out vividly.

    ‘What is the meaning of this impertinent summons?’ he demanded to know. ‘You send this filthy wretch to my house and demanded my attendance. How dare you?’

    ‘Calm yourself, Mr Granville,’ Quipp said soothingly. ‘Murder is a matter of some import, I think.’

    ‘Murder!’

    ‘In cold blood.’

    ‘What are you talking about?’

    Quipp stepped aside and revealed the sinister looking form on the floor. He took the edge of the sheet and drew it away.

    The sudden exposure of the bloodied body made Granville start back in horror. ‘My God! That Lord Langdon. What happened?’

    ‘Mrs Vallentine shot him dead, in cold blood, Mr Granville. It’s murder.’

    ‘I don’t believe it! Where is Sophie? What have you done with her?’

    ‘After the shooting Mrs Vallentine retired to her bed,’ Quipp said. ‘Mrs Possimer was given to believe that Mrs Vallentine expects you, sir, to take all responsibility in the matter.’

    ‘Sophie could not have done this,’ Granville insisted. ‘It is some trick.’

    ‘You may examine her pistol. You will detect that it has recently been discharged,’ Quipp said. ‘I have placed it for safety in the bureau. And there is no doubt that Mrs Vallentine shot Lord Langdon. Mrs Possimer was a witness to the event.’

    Mrs Possimer nodded solemnly.

    ‘I must see my sister.’ Granville strode towards the door, but Mrs Possimer intercepted him.

    ‘She has taken a sleeping powder, sir,’ she said evenly. ‘Her instructions are that she not be disturbed this night. She was sure that you, sir, would know what to do in the morning.’

    ‘I...I cannot be a party to this,’ Granville spluttered. ‘Sophie must face the consequences alone.’

    ‘You cannot escape the consequences either, Mr Granville,’ Quipp said with distain at the other man’s readiness to leave his sister to her fate.

    ‘What do you mean?’

    ‘Unless something is done Mrs Vallentine will face trial. When her background as a bigamist becomes known any jury will convict her. She will hang.’

    ‘I...I can do nothing to save her,’ Granville insisted.

    ‘But think, Mr Granville, Mrs Vallentine’s downfall in the Courts of Law will be your own downfall at the Royal Court. Your ambition to establish yourself as a respectable gentleman in Society will crash.’

    ‘How dare you...’

    ‘Come, Mr Granville, it is no use denying your ambitions. You move among the echelons of high society, yet you are not one of them. They tolerate you because of your wealth and because you amuse the Regent, for the time being.’

    ‘How dare you speak to me in that way? You forget who I am.’

    ‘You are no better than I,’ Quipp said curtly. ‘Your yearnings to be seen as a respectable gentleman have led you along many dangerous paths.’

    Quipp paused. He did not want to tip his hand, and must say no more at this time.

    ‘I shall leave now!’ Granville exclaimed.

    ‘Do so and Mrs Possimer will inform the authorities immediately of Mrs Vallentine’s crime,’ Quipp said. ‘Your sister will be in custody within the hour. You too will be suspect when Mrs Possimer reports your attendance here.’

    ‘But what can I do?’ Mr Granville’s outward bluster began to crack, Quipp observed.

    ‘It is what we can do for you, Mr Granville,’ Quipp said. ‘We can make this all disappear – for a consideration.’

    ‘Ah!’ Granville cried. ‘I see your game!’

    ‘Call it a service,’ Quipp said.

    He reached into his pocket and drew out what looked like a legal document.

    ‘I have here a document drawn up in all legality by our mutual acquaintance, Mr Hardwick.’

    Granville started at the mention of that name, but remained silent.

    ‘Mr Hardwick may be a corrupt lawyer, Mr Granville, but by jingo, he knows his Law.’

    Quipp unfolded the document and laid it on the table.

    ‘Ink and a quill, if you please, Mrs Possimer,’ he said. 

    Mrs Possimer produced said items in an instant.

    ‘You will sign this document, Mr Granville, and I ask you to add a line or two at my dictation, so that your signature can be authenticated at the bank.’

    Granville looked at the document closely and then there issued from his throat a sound as though he were choking.

    ‘This is outrageous!’ he cried out at last. ‘This sum is out of all proportion.’

    ‘Do you refuse?’

    ‘I will not sign!’

    ‘Very well.’ Quipp turned to Mrs Possimer. ‘Mrs Possimer, it is your bounden duty to report this heinous crime at once. Do not neglect to inform the law of Mr Granville involvement. When it becomes public knowledge that he is involved in trade of the vilest kind, he will be disgraced and will sink into obscurity or may even face prison.’

    Mrs Possimer turned to leave the room.

    ‘Wait! For God’s sake, wait!’

    With what sounded like a sob of helplessness, Granville took up the quill.

    ‘Write as I dictate,’ Quipp instructed, and proceeded to dictate. ‘Now sign it.’

    With only a moment’s hesitation, Granville put his signature to the document.

    Quipp took the paper from him and folding it up put into an inside pocket of his coat.

    ‘What will become of...?’ Granville indicated the body.

    ‘That is no longer your worry,’ Quipp told him. ‘We shall take care of it.’

    ‘I shall take my leave, then,’ Granville said.

    ‘No, not yet, Mr Granville,’ Quipp said firmly. ‘There is one more matter for your signature.’

    ‘What? What more can there be?’ Granville asked, with a whine in his voice.

    ‘The monstrous abduction of Miss Eleanor Wellesley.’

    Granville stared, his face turning even whiter than before.

    ‘It was you!’ he burst out in fury. ‘You took her...’

    ‘In actual truth it was Jake here who rescued Miss Wellesley from your evil intentions.’

    ‘I deny...!’

    ‘Your every move was watched, Mr Granville, as you tied Miss Wellesley to the bed. Your evil intentions were obvious.’

    ‘No one could have seen...’

    ‘I saw yer,’ Jake said harshly. ‘Drawn and quartered you ought to be.’

    ‘That would be too good for him,’ Mrs Possimer snapped.

    ‘You have no defence, Mr Granville,’ Quipp said confidently. ‘I have traced the cabbie that assisted you, and William, the Birkett’s footman, who you paid to facilitate the abduction. All will be very ready to testify against you to save their own skins. The abduction and intended deflowering of the lady of quality; a baronet’s daughter. How will that sit at the Royal Court?’

    Granville’s shoulders sagged and he looked a beaten man. ‘What do you intend to do?’ he asked in a faint voice.

    Quipp smiled. They had him like a fat flea between forefinger and thumb.

    He reached into his pocket and drew out a second document.

    ‘It is a matter of restitution,’ Quipp told him. ‘Mr Hardwick, who is himself paying dearly for aiding and abetting you in the fraud, has drawn up a further document, restoring Charnock Park, Northamptonshire and all its estates and environs to the rightful owner, Miss Eleanor Wellesley.’

    ‘She shall not have it,’ Granville howled loudly. He indicated his scarred face. ‘She did this to me. She must suffer.’

    ‘You did that to yourself,’ Mrs Possimer jeered at him. ‘I was there that night when you tried to ravish her. I heard everything. She did what any woman would do. She defended herself.’

    Quipp laid the second document on the table.

    ‘Add a codicil as I dictate, Mr Granville,’ Quipp commanded. ‘And then sign.’

    In his impotent fury Granville let out a strong of oaths which made Mrs Possimer clap her hands to her ears.

    Quipp, unmoved, held out the quill. Granville took it and then wrote the words dictated to him.

    ‘Sign!’ Quipp rasped.

    Granville did so.

    ‘Now you may go,’ Quipp said. ‘But remember one thing, Mr Granville, you will never again contact Miss Wellesley or cause her harm in any way. She is under my protection.'

     'You cannot control me,' Granville snarled.

     'But we can, Mr Granville,' Quipp said with some satisfaction. 'You belong to us now; lock, stock and barrel.’

    Granville had nothing left but more curses before moving to the door.

    ‘One last thing, Mr Granville,’ Quipp said. ‘Should you entertain the notion of getting red of me I would remind you that Quipp has many powerful friends, high and low, who would see you hanged.

          

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