I nodded.
‘In that case, mademoiselle, it has been a pleasure.’ He paused, then, making up his mind, pulled something from his pocket. ‘Here: I have a little souvenir for you. From what you tell me of your predicament, you may find it useful. I got it thanks to you, so it’s yours really.’
He put in my hand a hard object wrapped in a silk handkerchief.
‘What is it?’
‘Open it and see, you silly goose.’
I took off the cloth and saw a diamond-encrusted letter opener, engraved with the crest of the French royal family.
‘I liberated it from the king’s bedroom the day I was following you. I thought, as a letter writer, you might appreciate it.’
I was almost speechless. ‘J-F, you know what you’ve given me, don’t you?’
He nodded. ‘Yes, the key to your ball and chain. I hope you enjoy the moment of your freedom, Cat. I’m just sorry I won’t be there to see it.’
SCENE 2 – A PROMISE KEPT
Frank returned with his parents to London some days after my own arrival home. He reported that Johnny and Lizzie had been married at the beginning of August, while J-F and I were sailing down the Seine, and then had been safely escorted on board a vessel bound for America. I was sad to have missed the wedding; it had been a quiet affair as they wished, performed by the English chaplain to the Embassy. I could imagine some of it: Johnny immensely proud, Lizzie still pale from her illness but steady-voiced as she said her vows. There had been no bridesmaids – Lizzie had said she wanted no one else but me and, as I was not available, she was not going to settle for second best.
‘Did she really say that?’ I asked Frank again as we sat in his carriage rattling through London one morning in early September.
‘Yes she did, Cat.’ Frank smiled at my desire to hear his sister’s words again. ‘No one else would do.’
‘She needn’t have done that.’
‘No, she need not, but that was what she really felt. Johnny backed her to the hilt despite Papa’s attempts to persuade her otherwise.’
I gave a smile of satisfaction which only faded as we approached our destination.
‘Are you sure you don’t want me to come in with you?’ Frank asked anxiously as the carriage drew up outside a familiar black and white doorway.
I drew on my silk gloves – a present from the duchess, as was my gown. ‘No thanks, Frank. You’d better not get involved. It’s best that it’s just him and me.’
Frank grimaced. ‘Shame. I’d like to be there.’
‘I promise a full report when I emerge.’ Joseph opened the door to hand me out. ‘If I don’t return in half an hour, send in the heavies.’ Frank had thoughtfully brought along all the footmen from my temporary home in Grosvenor Square to act as insurance.
Feeling apprehensive but also slightly reckless, I knocked on the front door of Billy Shepherd’s house.
‘Yes?’ enquired the butler.
‘Is your master within?’
‘Who shall I say is calling?’
‘Catherine Royal.’
The butler bowed me into the hallway. Standing on the chequered tiles as my arrival was reported, I turned J-F’s knife over and over in my hand, looking forward to the moment when I could put it to its intended purpose.
‘Mr Shepherd awaits you above,’ said the butler, showing me upstairs. I slipped the letter knife into my pocket as he ushered me into the white room I remembered from my most recent encounter with my least favourite gang leader.
‘Ah, Cat! Returned from your travels, ’ave you?’ Billy strode towards me, his arms open almost as if he was intending to embrace me. I stepped to one side, placing one of his fancy tables between us. He turned the gesture into a flourish of his hands, prelude to a mocking bow. ‘I’ve missed you, but I’m glad you’ve not forgotten our little agreement.’
‘How could I?’ I noticed that the room had gathered more objets d’art in my absence, including a marble statue of a goddess in the Greek style. ‘I see you couldn’t afford the arms then?’
He smiled. ‘Yeah, I was robbed, amount I paid for that hussy and she comes short of a thing or too. But not you.’ He looked at me admiringly. ‘See you’ve fallen on your feet again, coming to me all wrapped up in silk and satin. Just the present I most wanted. So, what’s it to be? I’ve got lots of room for a girl like you in my operations.’ He flicked open a pocket notebook, checking on the state of his empire. ‘’Ow about taking over the girls in St Giles? They need a lot of watchin’ to check they don’t ’old back their earnings.’
‘That’s not for me, Billy,’ I smiled sweetly.
‘Now, now, Cat,’ he said, wagging his finger at me. ‘I can’t ’ave you lazin’ about the place all day. Everyone earns their keep.’
‘I’m not going to do anything for you at all.’
His face clouded. ‘That’s not wot we agreed. And besides, it ain’t ’andsome of you, seein’ as ’ow I’ve not forgotten you while you’ve been away. I did over that Tweadle fellow’s pad while you were out of town – put ’im out of business once and for all, I did.’
This confession momentarily diverted me from my purpose. I sat down heavily in a chair.
‘You did what?’
Billy cheered up again. ‘I knew you’d be grateful. Can’t ’ave ’im takin’ the profit from my girl, can I? ’Is shop mysteriously burnt down two weeks back. Strange ’ow fate works, eh?’
‘Is he all right?’ I asked weakly.
‘As if you care!’ snorted Billy.
‘Well, I can’t say I care that much, but still, I don’t want no one harmed for my sake.’