“Not me.”
“Amen to that,” he muttered into his cup.
Duke strolled in at that moment, looking tired but pleased with himself. He bade us good morning and headed directly to the sideboard and the dishes laid out there. He filled a plate, poured himself a coffee, and joined us at the table. He ate two rashers of bacon before he finally looked up, fork paused halfway to his mouth.
“Why are you all staring at me?”
“We’re keen to hear how it went with Jane,” I said.
He shoveled the third rasher of bacon into his mouth and chewed. Willie huffed her frustration at the delay. She drained her coffee cup then got up to pour another from the pot.
“Jane was careful,” Duke finally told us. “She didn’t give much away. I had to resort to questioning the maid who works at the neighboring house. They’ve become friends.”
“I hope you were discreet,” Matt said.
“Her mistress was out so she had the evening off. I bought her a drink at the Hound and Thistle. She told me Jane’s infatuated with Charbonneau.”
“Oh dear,” I said on a sigh. “The poor girl. Fabian isn’t likely to be serious about her.”
“That’s what Betty reckons.”
“Betty, eh?” Willie snorted. “You’re on first name basis already?”
Duke gave her a smug smile. “Wouldn’t be right to call her Miss after spending the night with her.”
Willie screwed up her nose.
“Did you sneak into her employer’s house?” I asked, shocked.
“She doesn’t live at her mistress’s house. She lives in Soho with her sister and her sister’s baby.” He sliced the top off his boiled egg. “Betty left early to return to work and I stayed a little longer to help with the baby while the sister did some chores.”
Willie watched as he spooned egg into his mouth. “This is your second breakfast, ain’t it?”
He smiled around his mouthful of egg.
“You’re going to get fat.”
He rubbed his stomach. “Fat but happy.”
She made a sound of disgust in the back of her throat.
“Can we talk about the investigation for a moment?” Matt said with a pointed glare for Willie. He turned back to Duke. “So Betty thinks Jane was in Charbonneau’s bedchamber on the night of the theft.”
Duke nodded. “According to Betty, Jane spends most nights with him. I reckon she told you the truth about the coughs when you questioned her.”
Matt drummed his fingers on the table in thought. “It seems so.” He stopped drumming. “Good work, Duke. Well done.”
“You’re praising him for that?” Willie cried. “He hardly did a thing! I could have got that much out of the maid.”
Duke set his cup down with a thunk on the table. “Don’t you go near her.”
Willie sat back in the chair, arms crossed over her chest. “Why not?”
“Because I found her first and you’re supposed to be my friend.”
She lowered her arms with a sigh. “Fine. But only because you’re so worried she’d like me more, which we all know she would.”
He rolled his eyes. “You need a hobby.”
“I got hobbies. It’s just that no one will join me in them.”
“Come to my office after breakfast,” Matt said to her. “I’ve got something for you to do.”
While they discussed his plans for her, I sat silently sipping my tea, thinking about Fabian and Jane. While I didn’t expect him to live like a monk, I was still a little surprised that he’d take his maid to bed.
I could hear Willie’s voice in my head, telling me I was being a prude, that Jane knew what she was doing just much as Fabian did. It wasn’t my business anyway and I had no right to even dwell on it. Fabian would probably be embarrassed if he knew that I knew.
I spent the morning with Aunt Letitia while Matt and Willie questioned Fabian’s neighbors. They returned after luncheon to report that nobody had heard anything on the night of the robbery, including coughs, nor had they seen anyone behaving suspiciously in the area.
We were at a loss as to how to proceed. We had no witnesses, no evidence left behind by the thief, and the only suspect had an alibi.
No, not the only suspect. Mr. Trentham had been Fabian’s suspect, but ours was Lord Coyle. If anyone coveted that spell, it was him. If anyone had the means to hire a skillful thief, it was Coyle. He must be top of our list.
But how to prove that he was behind the theft?
It was looking rather hopeless. Matt considered questioning Coyle’s coachman for locations where he’d taken his master lately, but I dismissed the idea. Coyle probably paid his servants handsomely for their loyalty. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’d also threatened them if they ever spoke against him. Short of breaking into Coyle’s house and searching it, I had no other ideas.
Matt, however, had one more. “We’ll ask Brockwell for the names of the city’s most skillful thieves. If Coyle hired one to break into Charbonneau’s house, he would hire the best.”
It seemed like a good idea, and we resolved to visit the detective inspector at Scotland Yard. Unfortunately our plan was thwarted by unexpected visitors.
“Are you home for Lord and Lady Coyle?” Bristow asked after answering the front door.
Matt and I exchanged glances. “Speak of the devil,” Matt said, giving Bristow a nod to see our guests through to the drawing room.
“Two devils,” I added.
“Indeed,” Aunt Letitia said, rising from the sofa. “Please give them my apologies. I have a headache and need to lie down.”
Willie rose too. “I ain’t got a headache, but I’m leaving. No need to give anyone my apologies on account of I ain’t sorry to miss them. Want me to go speak to Jasper, Matt?”
“Invite him to dine with us tonight.”
Duke followed Willie while Matt and I headed to the drawing room. I steeled myself for what I expected to be another trying meeting with the Coyles.
“I wonder what they want?” I asked Matt before we reached the drawing room.
“I don’t know but I doubt it’s merely a social call.”
We greeted them curtly and received the same stiff manner in response. There was no point pretending civility anymore. We’d gone beyond polite niceties.
“To what do we owe this unexpected visit?” Matt asked as he sat.
Hope smiled at him as I sat beside her on the sofa. “I wanted to pay a call on my dearest cousin.” By the way she gazed upon Matt, clearly she wasn’t including me.
Lord Coyle’s heavy lids lowered to half-mast as he regarded his wife. He’d detected the slight too. What he thought of it, however, was not obvious.
“I doubt this is purely a social call,” Matt said to her.
“It is for me. I like seeing you, very much.”
Was she flirting with him? In front of both her husband and me? Hope had never been shy about her attraction to Matt, and while I doubted those feelings had been eliminated, I thought marriage would have made her set them aside. It would seem not.
Matt was rarely unchivalrous where women were concerned, but he completely ignored Hope and focused his full attention on Lord Coyle. Hope’s chin slowly sank and she stared down at her clasped hands in her lap. An outside observer would think Matt’s slight had wounded her, but I suspected it was all part of her act.