Fallen Grace - Mary Hooper [79]
Grace’s expression brightened.
‘I’ve acquainted him with your circumstances and he’s most interested.’ He thought for a moment. ‘No, interested isn’t strong enough a word – he’s ecstatic at the thought of being connected with the famous Parkes case and with thwarting the Unwins at one and the same time. And to see Mr Stamford ecstatic is a strange and unusual thing.’
Grace managed to smile at this. ‘What will happen next?’
‘Mr Stamford has spoken to the partners at Binge and Gently, and they’ve called the Unwins to their offices at midday tomorrow. Now that we have the forged certificate, we’ll go there, too – before the Unwins. I intend to go to Mr Stamford this very evening to acquaint him with the latest happenings. I’ll say we have the adoption certificate, but not speak about how it was come by.’
‘And will the fact that we have this help us?’
He nodded. ‘It will. Had the Unwins handed it over, they might have got away with it. But now they’re under suspicion, the certificate will be checked and double-checked – and someone will also verify that there never was an original at Somerset House.’
Grace’s eyes widened. ‘You said tomorrow. But the Unwins have two funerals to conduct. The bodies are already waiting at the warehouse.’
‘I’m afraid that’s of no consequence,’ James said. ‘The Unwins have not been invited to Binge and Gently as much as been summoned. Besides, they’ll be eager to go along because they’ll believe it’s the final hurdle before getting the money.’
‘They will have heard of the death of their cousin by then.’
‘I don’t think that will affect them too much,’ James said dryly. ‘If I know the Unwins, it’ll just mean more money for those who’re left.’
They sat for some moments longer on the bench, each busy with their own thoughts (Grace’s very much on Lily and her possible whereabouts) until the initial glow of excitement wore off and the intense cold began to cause her to shiver alarmingly.
James immediately stood up and offered her his arm. ‘What am I thinking of? Come, I must get you to warmth and shelter straight away.’
‘But I’ve nowhere to go,’ Grace said. ‘Unless . . .’ She thought of the last awful lodgings she’d stayed at with Lily – the warehouse in Southwark – and shivered anew.
‘Then leave it to me to find you somewhere comfortable,’ James said, hurrying her along the street.
The traffic, earlier stalled by the fog, was flowing freely now, and with the aid of a peeler they crossed Hyde Park Corner and went towards Mayfair. As the streets grew more elegant and the buildings smarter, Grace looked down at her clothing.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked in alarm. ‘Look at me! No halfway decent lodging house will take me.’
‘You aren’t going to lodgings,’ James said. ‘An heiress doesn’t sleep in lodgings.’
‘Am I an heiress?’
James nodded. ‘Remember, you are your mother’s legatee.’
They had reached a hotel by then: a famous, mirrored, sumptuous hotel on the edge of Park Lane. James whisked them through the swing doors, and, while Grace hung back, embarrassed, he went to the front desk. A business card was shown, she heard the name ‘Mr Ernest Stamford, QC’ and also the word ‘heiress’ and the manager immediately materialised. He bowed her towards the central staircase, not seeming to notice what she was wearing.
‘I shall see you in the morning, about ten o’clock!’ James called, and was gone before she could properly thank him.
x
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Grace stood at the window of her hotel room, looking at the vast expanse of Hyde Park spread out in front of her. It was a crisp day with frost in the air, the sky a clear blue. There were clouds of steam coming from the nostrils of the dray-horses pulling the omnibuses, and the people, huddled into their winter clothes, had a pinched look about their faces.
Grace had hardly slept. Of course not; she was too fraught and anxious about what she’d done and besides, the room she was in was so grand she’d not wanted to sleep in it, she’d wanted to walk around it, touching the curtains, sliding her hand over the polished furniture, stroking