That she did not destroy the diary tells me that she wished for the truth to be known someday. So I proceeded accordingly. The choice was left to Mr. Sackville. He could choose to face exposure, or he could choose to not face it.
As for the women whose deaths you’ve connected to his, yes, indeed there was a connection. Lady Amelia and Lady Shrewsbury came upon Clara and Mr. Sackville. Clara recorded that she was terrified they would inform her parents, but her uncle assured her that it would not come to pass. Lady Amelia’s husband owed Mr. Sackville a ruinous amount of money. Lady Shrewsbury was not in financial distress, but she was a social-climbing toady who didn’t have enough character to gainsay Lady Amelia.
The incident took place when Clara was a few months short of eleven. These women failed her utterly. They did nothing to protect her from Mr. Sackville’s predation, then or ever.
I offered them the same choice as I did Mr. Sackville.
They all chose chloral. Cowards, one and all.
Lady Sheridan died in the night. Expect the matter to be made public soon.
Yours truly,
An admirer
P.S. Best of luck with life as Sherlock Holmes.
P.P.S. I have taken temporary custody of the children from the house Mr. Sackville frequented in London. I hope they—or some of them at least—will grow up and be well.
P.P.P.S. Lady Sheridan and I ran into each other quite by chance. I have the habit of investigating establishments that purport to help women. She had long been a patroness to the YWCA. We met each other outside the association’s institute in Bethnal Green, not a place I expected to encounter Society ladies.
Recognition shocked us both. But almost immediately we began to speak. I had always regretted the injury I must have caused her. Unbeknownst to me, she had devoted herself to the welfare of vulnerable young women because of the harsh fate I had met with—which she felt was far more punishment than I deserved.
At some point in the conversation we began reminiscing about Clara. She told me that she had never believed in the explanation the physician had offered, but only pretended to do so for her husband’s sake. Clara had been far from well. Lady Sheridan had tried everything in her power to uplift the girl’s spirit and blamed herself for failing.
I debated with myself, but in the end decided to tell her the truth—and assured her that I would not let the guilty parties go free.
But Lady Sheridan had decided to take matters into her own hands anyway. And it was only the full execution of Sophia Lonsdale’s plan that had prevented her from committing murder at the end of her life.
“So all three of them took the chloral themselves,” Treadles heard himself murmur.
“Sophia Lonsdale must have been in the hansom cab Lady Shrewsbury got into the night before her death,” said Miss Holmes. “I wonder that she didn’t also confront Lady Amelia in person.”
“But there is no evidence of her having been in the vicinity of Curry House.”
“I believe when the young Marbletons reported on how difficult it is for a stranger to go unnoticed in the area, she opted for the postal service instead—it can’t be difficult to have her package resemble, from the outside, a wrapped magazine or some such, so that the servants would pay it no mind. The worst that could happen would be that someone finds a typed, unsigned letter detailing Mr. Sackville’s perversions. But of course Mr. Sackville would have destroyed everything.”
Treadles nodded. “Do you think Sophia Lonsdale was in a hurry at the end? Almost a fortnight passed between Lady Amelia’s death and Mr. Sackville’s, but only a day elapsed between Mr. Sackville’s and Lady Shrewsbury’s.”
“It’s possible she became impatient. It’s also possible she wished to take advantage of my scandal.” Miss Holmes smiled slightly. “Seems more plausible to have a healthy woman die in her sleep when she’d been greatly angered by her son than for no reason at all.”
Treadles had no idea what he could say in response. He did not understand Miss Holmes’s scandal. It made no sense how such a diamond-bright mind could have made such foolish, downright immoral decisions.
She took a sip of her tea. “What of the valet, Hodges? What will happen to him?”
He was glad to move away from the subject of her carnal weakness. “I do not believe Lord Sheridan, when he learns the truth, will wish to prosecute. And if he declines, I have no reason to believe Scotland Yard would take on the task.”
Miss Holmes folded the letter and carefully placed it back in its envelope. “I have a presentiment that in revealing Clara’s tragedy, Sophia Lonsdale will credit her dead friend, the one who had held Clara Sackville’s diary for many years, with the plan for vengeance, so as to keep her own name out of the news.
“No woman goes to the trouble of staging her own death without a compelling reason. Inspector, would you please keep her involvement in the case out of public knowledge?”
Treadles considered a moment, before saying, “I will.”