The Thief-Taker by T. F. Banks

Author:T. F. Banks [Banks, T. F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Detective
ISBN: 9780440236962
Publisher: Dell Publishing; Random House, Inc
Published: 2001-01-01T16:00:00+00:00

The evening's entertainment was over and Morton sat with Darley and Arabella drinking claret in the library, a room Morton coveted. What books! This was how a man should live.

Darley and Arabella both seemed completely at ease and Morton was determined not to be outdone in this. He lounged in a chair, delicately sipping his claret.

For her part, Arabella appeared every inch the lady in these surroundings. Of course she was an actress, adept at her craft, and certainly she had played ladies enough on the stage. But gone was the Arabella that Morton knew. She of the uninhibited laugh, the outlandish wit, the bawdy jest. Morton hardly knew this elegant creature, perched so primly on the edge of her chair.

“It is curious that you both uncovered the identity of Richard Davenant,” Lord Arthur said. “You need merely have asked me.”

“You knew him, then?” Morton said.

“I never had the pleasure of actually meeting him, but his mother was my wife's second cousin. He was a young man with a future, or so it was believed. In the Davenant family, the world revolved around Richard. And what a soldier he was! Do you know, he refused advancement so that he might not be removed from the heat of battle? That is the kind of man he was. Men would follow him through the halls of Hades, I was told. It is difficult to imagine that such a man would break and run from the French.”

“Men do break,” Morton said softly. “Even such men as you describe. But could this all be family myth, do you think? Some families do make heroes of their lost sons.”

Darley shrugged. “I cannot answer that, though I have heard this of Richard Davenant from others as well. Bear in mind also that these charges of cowardice, of fleeing the enemy, were never officially stated. It was a whispering campaign, perhaps by some jealous comrade.”

“Or someone who was competing for the attentions of Louisa Hamilton,” Arabella added. “The poor woman has suffered the rumours of Davenant's cowardice until even she has begun to have doubts—and this has burdened her with a terrible sense of guilt and betrayal.”

Morton nodded agreement at this. “Is it not odd that there are rumours about the characters of both these men Miss Hamilton favoured? Richard Davenant was, in the end, a coward, or so we're told. Glendinning was something worse, if we believe he was in the Otter for the reason that most are there.” He paused to reflect. “It is as though there were someone out to ruin the good name of any man Louisa Hamilton might choose. This might be coincidental, but it might not.”

“Well, it is clear that this vile man Bromley is behind both these campaigns,” Arabella said firmly. “He declared Glendinning dead from choking after drinking himself senseless, and Richard Davenant dead of cowardice.”

“Yes, it does seem so, and he was later the surgeon for Rokeby's regiment, though I cannot quite make the connection there.” Morton turned to Darley, who appeared lost in thought.

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