I paused to rest my hands on the rough wood of the table a few feet from her to observe her efforts. She pushed aside the pot she was working on and pulled an empty one toward herself. Then using a trowel, she shoveled a small bit of dirt into the pot and reached inside with her hands to form the earth into a well.
“I assume you didn’t come here to watch me transfer my ferns,” she remarked, putting a great deal more effort than was called for into the task before her. “Or do I mistake the matter?”
“No. Actually, I came to ask you about your nephew.”
Lady Fleming’s hands stilled for a second, and then she renewed her ministrations. “Which nephew? I have several.”
“Mr. Archibald Young. But I think you already knew that.”
She lifted her gaze, and for an instant I could see the fear and uncertainty I was looking for in her eyes before it was swiftly masked by haughty annoyance. Her mouth pressed into a thin line, and her chin lifted so that she could stare down her nose at me.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I wasn’t even aware that you were acquainted,” her voice snapped, almost in accusation.
I reached out to finger one of the coarse leaves on a plant she had already finished transplanting. “Yes. We were introduced at Lord and Lady Rutherford’s Hogmanay Ball. The same night that Lord Buchan’s body was stolen from his grave nearby.”
Her eyes were wide and almost wild, puzzling the implications, but the rest of her was stiff and unyielding. “I hope that you aren’t about to make unsavory accusations about my nephew. Because unlike you, I can assure you that the members of my family revere the dead.”
I didn’t rise to her bait, understanding now that she was just lashing out in panic. “Lady Fleming, we know,” I told her gently. “We know your nephew visited the Beckford Parish Churchyard a few days before the late Lord Fleming’s bones were stolen.”
“He was visiting his father’s grave.”
“We know that he is friends with several young men who also recently had deceased family members’ graves disturbed. And that some of these friends have providently come into large sums of money.”
Her gaze dropped to the side, but I continued on implacably.
“And we know that you are already aware of much of this. That you already suspect your nephew’s involvement, but you’re too terrified to admit it.”
“I . . . know no such thing,” she protested, her voice beginning to tremble. “So you can take your baseless accusations and leave my house immediately.” She pointed toward the door with her dirt-smeared finger, but rather than retreat, I advanced.
“Lady Fleming, if your nephew is involved, the best way you can help him is by telling us what you know,” I reasoned. “If our suspicions are correct, he and his friends have fallen into league with a dangerous band of criminals from Edinburgh. When they started out, their plan may have seemed simple, but now that these body snatchers know how lucrative this ransom trade can be, they may not let them stop.”
Her hand had dropped to the table and she was now shaking with some suppressed emotion.
I stared intently into her eyes. “They’ve already killed one man. Do you honestly think they would hesitate to kill another if your nephew objected to their actions?”
The fear she’d been struggling to hide suddenly swam to the surface, making her eyes gleam. I waited for her to come to her own decision, hoping she would trust me with whatever she was concealing. When her shoulders dipped and she turned to press her hands flat to the table in front of her in support, I knew she was about to confide in me.
“I . . . I don’t know that he’s involved,” she began hesitantly. “But . . . he came to me for money a few months ago.”
“How much?”
“Several thousand pounds.”
My eyebrows rose in surprise. “Did he tell you what it was for?”
She nodded. “He wanted to marry. But the girl’s father refuses to allow the match since Archie’s income as a second son is so limited. He said he wanted to invest the money in a shipping venture, that he would triple his capital when this ship docked in London.”
She closed her eyes tightly, and I could see she was close to tears. “Why didn’t I just lend him the money? If I had, then he wouldn’t have gotten into this mess.”
“Why didn’t you?” I asked out of curiosity.
She sighed. “Because Archie isn’t always the most responsible. He’s tried schemes like this before. And my husband has said in the past that shipping ventures aren’t always the safest way to invest. If the ship sinks in a storm or is robbed of its cargo, or sometimes if it’s only heavily delayed, you can lose everything.”
“Did Mr. Young and Lord Shellingham stay here recently? Within the past few weeks?”
She nodded, brushing her blond curls away from her forehead with the back of her wrist. In this light, I could see streaks of gray just starting to show at her temples. “About a week ago. For two nights. They said they were just passing through.”