A Malevolent Connection: A Regency Cozy Historical Murder Mystery (Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries Book 9) by Lynn Messina

Author:Lynn Messina [Messina, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Potatoworks Press
Published: 2021-11-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Although Kesgrave could not name a single instance in which he had confronted an unsavory crime lord on his own territory, he remained adamantly convinced he knew the best way to go about it and refused to allow Bea a single word to the contrary.

“You are lucky I am permitting you to come,” Kesgrave said as the carriage rolled down Eagle Street. “Hawes is a particularly unsparing character, and I expect you to be on your guard with him.”

Requiring no warning regarding the man’s ruthlessness, for she understood precisely how he had risen to his position, Bea took exception to the duke’s patronizing attitude.

He was permitting her?

The only reason Kesgrave knew about the connection between his uncle and Hawes was she had told him.

Contemplating the injustice, she curled her fingers, swathed in her finest kid gloves—yes, her finest kid gloves—into angry fists.

She was also sporting her nicest bonnet, loveliest pelisse and prettiest walking dress, all at Kesgrave’s command. Convinced that it was utterly futile for them to attempt to blend in among the regular inhabitants of Saffron Hill, he believed their only recourse was to stand out. If they addressed their audience from the center of the stage, then nothing unobtrusive could happen to them.

Holding to the shadows, in contrast, would invite all sorts of shifty behavior.

As a result of Kesgrave’s theory, they were both attired as though on their way to an elegant garden party at Lady Jersey’s townhouse. Bea was even wearing diamond solitaire earrings, which she thought was the visual equivalent of sauntering into the middle of a crowded road and yelling, “Hello, thieves, here I am. Please do come and rob me.”

Although Bea trusted the duke in most things, conceding that his understanding of events was usually correct, in this she felt he had made a grievous misstep. Accustomed to being treated with the absolute deference owed to his station, he lacked the ability to imagine anything else.

The Duke of Kesgrave had no idea what it felt like to be worthless.

But the people of Saffron Hill did, Bea thought as they turned onto Grape Street. For them, life came cheaply.

Struggling to unclench her fists, she said, “’Tis you who are lucky, your grace, for I could have very easily withheld the information regarding Hawes’s business venture with your uncle and visited on my own.”

Without question, it was an empty boast. The former Beatrice Hyde-Clare was far too sensible to think she could stride easily into a thieves’ den and reemerge just as effortlessly. She was stubborn, to be sure, and perhaps a little thoughtless, but she was certainly not stupid. Even if she were inclined to embark on such a foolhardy excursion, she would not do it on a day when a hired assassin might be looking for the right moment to strike.

Kesgrave, however, took her at her word, and his countenance turned stormy at the suggestion. “You would not have dared. Hawes oversees a criminal network that engages in thievery, smuggling, illegal betting, intimidation and murder.

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