Why Kill the Innocent (Sebastian St. Cyr #13)(82)

“And it worked,” said Hero. “She shut up.”

“She did. She doesn’t appear to have told anyone else—not her brother, not Liam Maxwell.”

“Because she didn’t want to risk their lives,” said Hero quietly. “So she kept it all to herself. The poor woman. She must have been so frightened, and with no one to turn to for advice or support.”

Devlin pointed to the following Sunday. “It was just a few days after that when Princess Charlotte received word that the packet containing her letters to Hesse had been stolen from his trunk in Portsmouth. By the time Jane came for their lesson on Monday, the Princess was in a panic, and Jane offered to ask Caroline if she knew what had happened to the letters. She went out to Connaught House the very next day—Tuesday. But Caroline said she’d had nothing to do with the letters’ theft.”

Hero studied the calendar. “Then what?”

Devlin tapped the square representing the day after Jane’s visit to Connaught House, a Wednesday. “This is when Jane went to see Lord Wallace. Given the timing, I seriously doubt it had anything to do with piano lessons for young Miss Elizabeth Wallace.”

“Jane suspected Wallace was involved in the letters’ theft?”

“I think so. And if she was right—if Wallace actually was behind both the theft of the letters and now all these deaths—then how the devil do we prove it? Because you can be certain his lordship isn’t doing his own dirty work.”

“Something obviously made Jane decide to ask Wallace about the missing letters but not the other Whigs around Caroline—not Brougham, not Earl Grey, but Wallace. Why?”

“Because she knows him for the nasty piece of work he is?”

Hero gave a startled huff of laughter. “Perhaps. Although I can’t help but wonder what she hoped to accomplish by going to see him. Surely she didn’t expect him to actually admit to the theft, let alone give her the letters?”

“Probably not. Although she might have thought she could convince him not to publish them by appealing to his better nature.”

“Does Lord Wallace have a better nature?”

“He must. His belief in everything from the evils of slavery to the need for public education suggests a basic core of decency—somewhere deep down below all that massive self-regard and natural abrasiveness.”

Hero frowned as she studied the rough calendar. “Your handwriting is appalling. What happened on that Thursday—exactly one week before she died?”

“That’s the day Peter van der Pals asked Jane to spy on Princess Charlotte for Orange—and promised nasty repercussions if she told anyone about it.”

“Only, this time Jane didn’t keep silent. She felt honor bound to speak up, and so she warned Miss Kinsworth.”

“She did. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize the lovely Lady Arabella was listening at the keyhole. Which is why on the following Monday—just days before Jane was killed—she and Vescovi had that argument beside the ice-skating pond in St. James’s Park.”

“That’s when Vescovi told Jane about the Prince of Orange’s sexual interests.”

Devlin nodded. “Jane went the very next day to see her uncle Sheridan and ask him for the truth. It was as she left Savile Row that van der Pals waylaid her and raped her.”

“To punish her for telling on him,” said Hero.

“To punish her, yes. But it could have been more than that. I suspect he knew Vescovi told Jane about Orange. Van der Pals was familiar with their argument by the canal, remember? And while he claimed he didn’t know most of what was said there, I think we can be fairly certain that was a lie.”

“So the rape was not only a punishment, but also a warning?”

Devlin nodded. “Jane ignored van der Pals when he threatened her the first time. So the rape was his way of showing her that he was deadly serious. I suspect he warned her that if she made the mistake of telling the Princess about Orange’s sexual exploits, he’d kill her. And then, out of pure spite, he told her about Edward Ambrose’s mistress.”

“After which Jane went to Covent Garden to see the woman for herself. Oh, heavens. Poor Jane.”

Devlin leaned forward again. “That’s the same evening she was arguing with Ambrose on the steps of the Opera. When I asked Ambrose about it, he claimed they were quarreling about her recent visit to Caroline at Connaught House. But looking at this, I think he lied. I think she confronted him about his mistress.”

“Given the timing, it makes sense,” said Hero. “It also might explain the strange things she said to Liam Maxwell the next day.”

Devlin nodded. “I think she’d decided to leave her husband.”

Hero looked up at him. “So Maxwell is lying?”

“Perhaps. Although it’s also possible she simply hadn’t told him yet.”

“You think that’s why Ambrose killed her? Because he found out she was going to leave him?”

Devlin scrubbed his hands down over his face. “On the one hand, it seems to make sense. The problem is, if he did, then who killed Ambrose and Vescovi?”

“Maxwell. He realized Ambrose had killed the woman he loved, and murdered him for it.”

“He could have. Although if he didn’t, I suspect whoever left that Indian dagger in Ambrose’s chest wants me to think that.”