Bluegate Fields - Anne Perry [132]
Pitt stared back at him. “Oh, no,” he said, his voice grating with sarcasm. “No, Mr. Swynford. This was not an accidental death. That gun went off almost the moment you had left the room. He must have loaded it as soon as your back was turned—”
“But it was turned!” Swynford stood up, smiling now. “You cannot prove it was murder!”
“No, I cannot,” Pitt said. He smiled back, an icy, ruthless grimace. “Suicide. Esmond Vanderley committed suicide. That is how I shall report it—and let people make of it what they please!”
Swynford scrabbled after Pitt’s sleeve, his face sweating.
“But good God, man! They’ll say he killed Arthur, that it was remorse. They’ll realize—they’ll say that—”
“Yes—won’t they!” Pitt still smiled. He put Swynford’s hand off his arm as if it were a dirty thing, soiling him. He turned to Callantha. “I’m sorry, ma’am,” he said sincerely.
She ignored her husband as if he had not been there, but kept her hands tightly on her children.
“We cannot make amends,” she said quietly. “But we shall cease to protect ourselves with lies. If society chooses no longer to know us and all doors are closed, who can blame them? I shall not, nor shall I seek to excuse us. I hope you can accept that.”
Pitt bowed very slightly. “Yes, ma’am, of course I can accept it. When it is too late for reparation, some part of the truth is all that is left us. I shall send for a police doctor and a mortuary wagon. Is there anything I can do to be of service to you?” He admired her profoundly, and he wished her to know it.
“No, thank you, Inspector,” she said quietly. “I shall manage everything that needs to be done.”
He believed her. He did not speak again to Swynford, but walked past him out into the hall to instruct the butler to make the necessary arrangements. It was all over. Swynford would not be tried by law, but by society—and that would be infinitely worse.
And Jerome would at last be acquitted by that same society. He would walk out of Newgate Prison to Eugenie, her loyalty—perhaps even her love. Through the long searching for a new position, perhaps he would learn to value his life.
And Pitt would go home to Charlotte and the warm, safe kitchen. He would tell her—and see her smile, hold her tight and hard.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 1984 by Anne Perry
cover design by Jason Gabbert
978-1-4532-1905-8
This edition published in 2011 by Open Road Integrated Media
180 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Copyright