Under further questioning, Randall admitted that they had indeed camped out in the ruins on Beacon Hill, though he had found it an eerie place and was certain he had heard ghostly sounds at night.
“’E watched all the time, ’e did, with that little viewing thing. And then ’e would send me out.”
“Did he never leave the place himself ?” Royce asked.
Randall shrugged. “Sometimes ’e’d go to meet someone. Never told me ’oo,” he went on, anticipating Royce’s next question.
“Was it someone in the house?” Stewkesbury asked sharply. When the other man only shook his head dumbly, he said, “What about the case? Did you see him bring a leather satchel back to your camp? Or did you steal that?”
“I never stole nothin’. ’E ’ad the thing with ’im one day when ’e come back. Seemed right pleased at first, but then ’e said something ’bout ’ow it wasn’t enough or something like that.”
“What did he do with the papers inside the case?” Royce asked.
“Folded ’em up and stuck ’em inside ’is jacket.”
“He never said why he wanted them?” Mary asked, and the man shook his head.
“’E never told me nothin’.”
This statement seemed to be the man’s most common refrain. The earl continued to question him, but it soon became clear that they had learned all they could from him. Finally, with a shrug, the earl turned him over to the servants and told them to take him to the magistrate.
After he left, they looked at each other.
“Well,” Stewkesbury said at last. “We may not have learned much, but at last we have captured your assailant.”
“But what will happen with this man who hired Randall?” Mary asked. “Rose is still in danger, isn’t she?”
“I don’t think he is likely to try the job himself,” Royce said. “He did that once and failed. Everyone agrees that he isn’t large, and I think he realizes he’s not up to the task.”
“The odds are he would try to hire someone else,” Stewkesbury agreed. “He must be from London; that’s where he hired this chap. I would think it would be an entirely different matter to find a ruffian to abduct someone here.”#p#分页标题#e#
“But he already has another person helping him,” Camellia put in. “At least, that’s what it sounded like to me. Randall said he didn’t break in here to take the case.”
Stewkesbury’s face darkened. “I cannot imagine any of our people betraying us like that.” He glanced toward Fitz and Royce. “Can either of you?”
Royce shrugged. “I wouldn’t have thought it, but money is a powerful persuader.”
“The footmen have been with me for years. Most of them are from around here.”
“Why do you think it’s one of the men?” Mary asked. “It seems more likely to me that it’s a maid.” When the men looked at her in surprise, she went on, “Whoever took my case went unnoticed. The footmen are upstairs occasionally, but it is the women who are in and out of the bedchambers all the time. No one would think anything of seeing a maid carrying something out of my room.”
“You think it’s Prue?” Rose asked in shocked tones. “Or Junie?”
“No, not really. I would not have thought either of them would do anything to hurt us or the earl. I just think we should not rule them out.”
“You’re right.” Oliver nodded. “We must consider everything. It’s possible the man broke in himself. It’s not unlikely that thievery is his usual occupation.”
“I think we can assume things should be calm now, at least for the next few days,” Royce said.
“Agreed,” Oliver said. “We cannot, of course, relax our guard. But my guess is he has quit, or else he’ll go back to London to hire another ruffian.”
“Good.” Royce gave a short nod. “Then I shall go to Iverley tomorrow.”
“Iverley!” Mary’s heart sank, and it was all she could do not to protest.
“You’re leaving?” Lily asked in a woebegone voice, expressing what Mary would not allow herself to say. “But what about Lady Sabrina’s ball? I was counting on you to ask me to dance so I won’t be a wallflower.”
Royce laughed. “I sincerely doubt that you will have any lack of partners. However, I promise you that I will be back before the ball. So each of you ladies must save me a waltz.”
Mary glanced over at the earl. His face, as always, was inscrutable. But Fitz did not look surprised by Royce’s sudden decision. They already knew, Mary thought. Royce had told them he was leaving, but he hadn’t bothered to inform her.