Later on, they’d all gathered in the Duke’s study around a table laden with tea and a tray of fruit, wedges of Lancashire cheese, and small rum cakes. Sam’s gaze fell on the delicate teacup that Lady Rebecca had thrust into his hand earlier. He’d read the advertisements touting the benefits of tea drinking, that the brew had the ability to invigorate the body and alleviate the twinges of old age, but Sam couldn’t stop himself from casting a longing glance at the decanters on the sideboard, one which he knew was filled with a well-aged whiskey.
He’d been looking forward to a drink, a small bit of comfort after he’d come up empty in finding witnesses in the businesses along Piccadilly. Unfortunately, the intersection was one of the most crowded in London Town. Sam had learned that only last week, a crosswalk sweeper had been run over by some fancy’s carriage. There was still discontented rumblings about that one, because the carriage had barely stopped—the baron inside had been late for an appointment and angry about the delay. As far as Sam was concerned, it just added another layer of bitterness to folks who were plenty hostile already toward their betters.
“Lady Dover’s behavior seems highly erratic and irrational, to take up with the son-in-law of the man you had designs to run away with,” Rebecca stated, bringing them all back to the investigation. “Why would she risk it?”
“Risk is part of Lady Dover’s personality profile,” Kendra said. “She did it with her masquerade, which netted her an Earl. It probably added to her excitement. It can be like a drug. To an outsider, her behavior may seem crazy. But to her, it was probably intoxicating—especially when she won.”
Sam hadn’t known the lass, but he remembered the portrait in the drawing room. Eve in the Garden of Eden; that had been his first thought. It would appear the artist hadn’t been fanciful with his brush after all.
“For Lady Dover, sex was a tool,” Kendra continued. “She used it to get ahead.”
Sam nodded. “Me men have been making inquiries in Cheapside about the lass. Appears Lady Dover was born Cordelia Baker. Her pa was a butcher in the area but was shipped to Botany Bay after he was charged with being a knight of the road—a highwayman,” he added, when he saw Kendra’s quick frown. “Without her husband’s support, Mrs. Baker couldn’t pay her bills and was eventually sent ter debtors’ prison. She died not long after, leaving Lady Dover and her brothers and sisters ter fend for themselves.”
Rebecca looked at him. “Lady Dover had siblings?”
“Aye, three brothers and two sisters. Lady Dover was the youngest—ten by the time her ma had stuck her spoon in the wall. Folks said she was a fetching thing even then. Could charm a miser into giving up his gold.” Sam paused to take a quick gulp of tea and tried not to think about the whiskey across the room. “The folks said that the children got lucky, ended up in a Quaker orphanage, where they were taught ter read and write. The oldest lass was the first ter leave, when she married. No one knows what came of Lady Dover’s other sister. The brothers were impressed ter serve in the Royal Navy. No one’s heard from them since. Lady Dover ran away from the Quakers when she was fourteen and took up with Guy Ackerman—Bear—not long after. He was a couple years older, but already a mean son of a b—er, well-known in the criminal underworld.”
“He protected her,” Kendra said.
“From what me men learned, he doted on her something fierce. She wanted ter be an actress.” Sam supposed she’d achieved that goal, in her own way.
Alec stirred in his seat. “She would have been celebrated by all of London if she’d taken to the stage.”
“I guess even back then Lady Dover wanted something more,” Kendra said. “Definitely more than what Bear could offer her.”
Rebecca frowned. “I’m surprised he let her go.”
“He loved her,” Kendra said simply. “And if she could charm a miser into parting with his gold, I think she could have convinced Bear to let her go. He wanted her to be happy, and sometimes that means letting somebody go.”
Sam wondered at the look the American and Lord Sutcliffe exchanged. But then Kendra continued, “As I mentioned, Lady Dover used sex to get ahead. But I think that she also used it as a weapon.”
“A weapon?” Sam found himself leaning forward. “How?”
“I’ve been giving this some thought, and . . . well, I don’t think her affair with Roberts just happened. I think she deliberately seduced him after Lady Frances embarrassed her in public by giving her the cut direct.”
Sam was no innocent when it came to the ways of the Ton and their debauchery, but such antics were usually found among the young bucks, not ladies. Even knowing what he did about Lady Dover, he found the idea shocking. “She began an affair with Mr. Roberts just ter get back at his wife?”
“I think it’s possible.” She shifted her gaze to Alec. “You knew her best. Is this behavior typical of Lady Dover?”
A faint tinge of color touched the Marquis’s high cheekbones. He scowled, but Sam sensed it was from embarrassment, not anger. “I did not see a vindictive side to Cordelia such as you’re describing,” he said stiffly.
Aldridge said, his tone mild, “You wouldn’t have, would you, my boy? She had set out to charm you.”
“’Tis cold-blooded of her, but I believe the creature was more than capable of such a thing,” Rebecca said, lifting her teacup and regarding them over its rim. “And I’ve seen Mr. Roberts. Seducing him would not be a great hardship.”
Everyone looked at her, startled.
“I’m speaking of Lady Dover,” she added hurriedly, “of course.”
Sam had to suppress a smile. Miss Donovan wasn’t the only interesting female in the room. He turned his attention from Rebecca back to Kendra. “So you think it’s a possibility that Mr. Roberts killed her because she threatened ter peach on their affair ter his wife?”
The American surprised him by shaking her head. “No. I don’t think Lady Dover threatened Mr. Roberts at all. This wasn’t about blackmail. This was about retaliation. I think she told Lady Frances about the affair herself.”
Sam stared at her. It was sordid, but it made sense. It was only retaliation if your rival knew about it. He frowned, trying to sort through the tangled threads. “So Mr. Roberts killed her because she told his wife?”
Again Kendra shook her head. “He didn’t seem too concerned that his wife knew about it now.”