Her ladyship made a derisive sound. “Not that I can’t see the attraction, but that’s merely the sort of story one clings to in circumstances such as these, isn’t it?”
Penelope had bent a questioning look on Stokes. When he nodded, she focused on Lady Carville and said, “We are aware you’ve been blackmailed for the past several years.”
All color fled from Lady Carville’s countenance.
Holding her gaze, Penelope continued, “Based on evidence we’ve found in Monty’s study, we can only conclude that he was your blackmailer.”
Her ladyship’s eyes slowly widened. “What?” The word was whispered. Then, a species of horror washed over her ladyship’s features. “No.” Her gaze sharpened on Penelope’s face, and her lips parted as if on a more definite rebuttal, then, she stopped and thought again.
Eventually, she met Penelope’s eyes. “Really?”
From her expression, it was transparently obvious that Lady Carville was genuinely stunned.
“We found a small notebook in the desk in the study.” Penelope drew the book from her pocket and held it up. “The entries are in Monty’s hand, and he lists those who we believe have been his victims and gives details of payments and the dates they were made.”
“Good Lord!” Lady Carville slumped back in the chair. She looked utterly floored, yet at the same time, she was clearly starting to reassess.
Penelope opened the book to the relevant page and quickly confirmed with her ladyship the date of the first demand just on two years ago and the continuing payments, in her case in cash, that spanned the period to the present day. When Penelope inquired as to how the payments were made, her ladyship told much the same tale as Morland and Regina.
Lady Carville grimaced. “I did try to learn who it was, but I was never able to spot them. Even when I hired a boy to watch over one packet, he reported that it was another boy—one of the street boys—who’d picked up the money.” She paused, clearly thinking back, then shook her head. “I’m still having difficulty believing it was Monty, but I have to accept you know what you’re saying.” She tipped her head at the book in Penelope’s hands. “And then there’s that, which, by any stretch of any imagination, is still nigh-impossible to explain.”
After a glance at Barnaby and Stokes, Penelope gently said, “He was blackmailing Morland as well.”
“What?” Lady Carville looked incredulous, but then her features grew grim. “I suppose if he knew enough to blackmail me, then…” She shook her head in the manner of one greatly disappointed in another. “And Morland was his friend for even longer.”
“We can tell from Monty’s annotations that he was blackmailing you and Morland, separately, over your affair.” Penelope met her ladyship’s gaze. “Given the longstanding relationship and the…well, unstated acceptance among the ton, I admit I’m surprised you didn’t brush the notion of blackmail aside.”
“Oh, I would have—if it had been simply over the affair.” Lady Carville paused, studying Penelope, then her gaze flicked toBarnaby and Stokes. After a second, she seemed to come to some decision. She returned her gaze to Penelope and said, “I would have weathered the affair coming out, but the compounding issue was that once—just once—I’d very stupidly borrowed a small amount from Morland. A small loan to cover some debts until the next quarter day. Carville was deep in some political business, and frankly, at that point, I didn’t want him knowing I’d been playing cards. He wouldn’t have approved, and I’ve never done it again. I’m useless with cards, anyway. So I learned my lesson over that, but to get out of it, I needed sixty pounds, and Morland readily gave me the cash.” She paused, then said, “I paid him back next quarter day, and I’ve never got into debt again, but somehow, the blackmailer found out about that loan.”
Penelope glanced at Stokes and Barnaby. Perhaps theFbeside Morland’s name had meant “financing” and not “fraud” or “false” as Morland had thought.
Lady Carville’s features hardened as she went on, “Of course, on the face of it, me borrowing such a sum from Morland wouldn’t have raised much of a dust except for the twist the blackmailer threatened to put on the bare facts.” She met Penelope’s eyes, and her gaze was now fierce. “The blackmailer—Monty—threatened to say that I’d received money from Morland as payment for influencing my husband. Morland’s in the Lords and from the other party, so…politically, the scandal would have ruined Sidney’s career as well as mine and Morland’s. All our reputations would have been shredded.”
All four in the room took a moment to allow the full impact of Monty’s threat to sink in.
Eventually, her ladyship refocused on Penelope. “So of course, I paid. And continued to pay.” She paused, then added, “I did notice that, given the seriousness of the threat, the demands weren’t as extortionate as I’d feared. They were all wellwithin my ability to pay, and the demands often arrived just before quarter day, so I always had the funds.”
Penelope checked the entries in the black book and nodded. She hadn’t noticed that point before—another indication of how well Monty had known and understood his victims.
“One question, if I may,” Barnaby said. “If we accept that your blackmailer was Monty, do you have any notion of how he came to learn of you borrowing money from Morland?”
Lady Carville thought, then her features hardened. “Wyndham Castle. It was there that I asked Morland, and he gave me the money then and there.” Puzzled, she looked at Barnaby. “But that was in my room. I’m certain we didn’t speak of it anywhere else, so how could Monty—how could anyone—have overheard?” Her puzzlement deepened. “Indeed, how could anyone have known I would ask him for cash at that particular moment in time?”
The investigators shared equally puzzled glances. At that point, they had no answer to that question.
Lady Carville’s face darkened. “What I want to know is what Monty thought he was about. This will all come out, and the people who will have to face the music are Pamela, Vincent, and Cecilia. How dare he put his family through this?” She appealed to the investigators. “What on earth for?”
Somewhat grim herself, Penelope nodded. “That, indeed, is one point we will be seeking to understand. Meanwhile”—a glance confirmed that Stokes and Barnaby had no further questions, and Penelope returned her gaze to Lady Carville—“thank you for your frankness.”
“And,” Stokes said, “please keep all you’ve learned in this room to yourself.”
Rising to join Penelope, Lady Carville said, “Of course. Not least to protect Pamela from the distress this will inevitably cause. No sense in precipitating that any earlier than need be.”
“Exactly.” Penelope ushered Lady Carville to the library door, then returned to Stokes and Barnaby and gave her verdict. “She’s a sensible and well-grounded lady, and while I believe she would have the gumption and ability to murder Monty, I truly believe she had no idea he was her blackmailer.”
Stokes nodded. “I agree. She’s definitely low on our suspects list.”
Barnaby rose and stretched, then bent an inquiring look on Penelope. “Who’s next?”
