Drake acknowledged them with a nod, then the thunder of running footsteps in the stable yard heralded the arrival of Toby, Carter, Drake’s men, and a bevy of others, including Louisa, Robbie, and Julia.
Drake smiled. “A trifle late, yet still welcome.” As Louisa pushed through the cluster of large men now clogging the stable doorway, Drake waved at the figure slumped in the straw. “I give you our erstwhile mastermind.”
Louisa halted beside Drake and stared at the downed man. “Jonathon Rattling!”
“Indeed,” Drake confirmed.
Rattling chose that moment to finally raise his head and look blearily up at Drake.
Drake’s chilling smile returned. “Jonathon Rattling, Viscount Melrose, by the power vested in me by the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, I’m arresting you on numerous charges of crimes against the realm.”
Rattling slumped back on the straw. “Go to hell.”
Chapter 19
Later, they gathered in Mr. Kirkpatrick’s study.
Carter, Robbie, Julia, Drake’s men, and the staff who had rushed out to the stable had been the first to return to the house, where Secombe and the rest of the staff had held the fort and kept the by-then-flagging party going. Thereafter, Carter, Robbie, and Julia, now acting as hostess—with Nigel and Tilly coerced into assisting—had worked with the staff to bring the evening to an end. Eventually, Carter had announced that there’d been a serious accident elsewhere in the house, which had encouraged the last stragglers to leave.
Mr. Kirkpatrick had been informed of his wife’s death by Christopher, while Toby had led a contingent of staff to retrieve Rose’s body from the folly.
Meanwhile, the visiting coachmen who had witnessed the events in the stable were sworn to secrecy by Drake, then dispatched to ferry their young masters home.
Subsequently, Drake, assisted by Louisa, had spent half an hour interrogating Rattling before dispatching him with a significant escort to be incarcerated in the manor’s cellar.
Drake had also given orders for the present occupant of the manor’s cell to be released and sent home.
Now seated in an armchair opposite Mr. Kirkpatrick, Drake said, “Hardcastle was only a minor cog in Rattling’s wheel—I doubt he had any clear idea of the wider implications of Rattling’s scheme. It seems unfair that Hardcastle’s life, and the lives of his family, should be ruined because Hardcastle fell victim to the manipulations of a self-centered, arrogant, and dangerous villain like Rattling.”
After all the guests had departed, Nigel and Tilly, the only other living coconspirators, had been returned to their rooms, still under guard.
On being informed of that, Drake met Mr. Kirkpatrick’s gaze. “Given they did their part in maintaining the fiction that all was well with your late wife’s parties, and without that support, we would likely not have succeeded in capturing Rattling, I’m inclined to grant them clemency.”
Mr. Kirkpatrick raised his shaggy eyebrows. “So they’ll be released?”
“With a caution and a warning to never, ever, err in any way whatsoever again.” Drake paused, then added, “I’ll call tomorrow and speak with them. Until then, they can remain in their rooms.”
“I’ll come, too.” From her position in the armchair next to Drake’s, Louisa reached across, twined her fingers with his, and looked at Mr. Kirkpatrick. “I’ll suggest that it’s time for them to return to their home and, subsequently, make their own way.”
Mr. Kirkpatrick inclined his head to her. “Thank you. They aren’t welcome to remain here.”
From her position in a corner of the chaise, with Christopher in an armchair beside her, holding her hand, Ellen studied the lines weariness and grief had etched in Mr. Kirkpatrick’s face.
“If we’re to speak of Rattling exploiting others,” Louisa said, “I would have to say the most shocking example was his manipulation of Rose and, through her, drawing in Nigel and Tilly, too.”
Louisa had already shared what she knew of Rose and Rattling’s past with Drake, Ellen, and Christopher; now, she explained to the others, “Rose and Rattling are second cousins—he’d known her all her life. Years before she married, the pair engaged in a liaison that lasted for a year or more. Rattling knew Rose’s character—what was important to her, how she might react to various scenarios. He knew which emotional strings to pull to lure her into doing as he wished. He knew she was drawn to money, that having it and spending it were important to her. More recently in London, he might well have heard direct from her of her wish for more funds.”
Louisa paused, her head tipping pensively. “Indeed, even in hatching the scheme in the first place, he might well have had involving her in mind—not only would she jump at the chance to make money, but from their past association, he knew she possessed the required social skills to devise and pull off the critical distribution of the counterfeit notes.”
Drake nodded. “He knew her well—well enough to seek to keep his identity from her. Whoever learned he was behind the scheme would have had a powerful hold over him for the rest of his life. So he approached Rose through an intermediary—the Frenchman, Millais—and when he came to meet her here, he chose a place drenched in shadow and wore a mask.”
Louisa affirmed, “He wasn’t about to trust her with his secret.”
“You said he and Rose are family,” Julia said. “Does that mean he’s related to Tilly and Nigel as well?”
Louisa stilled; those acquainted with her knew she was consulting her capacious knowledge of the haut ton’s family trees. Then she refocused on Julia and nodded. “Yes—they’re on the same side of the family.” She paused, then added, “Indeed, as a scion of the senior branch of the Rattling family tree, Jonathon’s brought down opprobrium on the entire family, root and branch, in a fairly major way.”
Christopher said, “Even if the public never learn of his crimes, the Rattlings themselves will know, and they’ll also know that all those Drake has to tell of this—including Victoria and Albert—will know of the family’s disgrace.”
Louisa looked at Drake and cocked an inquiring eyebrow at him, plainly asking what he thought about that.
His expression unrevealing, he shook his head. “I can’t predict how those to whom I report will choose to respond to Rattling’s guilt. However”—he looked at Mr. Kirkpatrick—“while I will have to include Rose’s name and the part she played in Rattling’s scheme in my report to Whitehall and the palace, I doubt anything more will come of her involvement, especially given she was, ultimately, killed by the true villain of the piece.”
Drake paused, then added, “Jonathon Rattling was always an exploiter—even at Eton. He rarely got his hands dirty, but instead grew adept at persuading—or intimidating or blackmailing—others to do his bidding.”
After a moment of silence, Mr. Kirkpatrick harrumphed and looked at Julia, seated beside him. “I can’t say I’m glad all this has happened, but, well, sometimes one makes mistakes, and Fate steps in and saves one from the consequences.” Rather ruefully, he patted Julia’s hand. “I’m simply glad this wretched business is over, and Julia and all of you and everyone else is safe.”