The Last Days of Newgate - Andrew Pepper [133]
‘Who, Vines?’ Tilling asked.
‘No, Peel.’
‘Out of the question,’ Tilling said, shaking his head.
‘Away from Whitehall. Somewhere like your house, for example.’
‘Perhaps if you had come to us with all this before the trial, he might have been able to grant you a pardon. I presume that’s what you want? But not after everything you have done, everything that has happened.’
Pyke had expected such a response and was not put off by it. ‘Tell Peel that it will be in his own interest to make the appointment. Point out I’m not a man to be underestimated.’
‘Oh, believe me, Peel is well aware of that fact.’
‘So you’ll arrange a meeting? Tomorrow evening. At your house.’
‘I’ll see what I can do.’ Tilling waited for a moment. ‘But I can tell you one thing. Peel won’t tolerate any more of this carry-on with Edmonton. The situation’s spiralling out of control. He’s going to dispatch the Seventh Dragoons to the area to quell any further unrest.’
‘Edmonton has made his own bed,’ Pyke said, coldly.
‘That may be, but Peel will want a line drawn under everything.’
Pyke thought about this for a moment. There was still so much he didn’t know or couldn’t work out. ‘And Edmonton?’
‘What about Edmonton?’
‘What am I supposed to do with him?’
‘That’s your business, Pyke, not mine.’
Tilling touched his arm and told Pyke he would try to arrange the meeting for the following day. As he turned to leave, he paused and said, almost as an afterthought, ‘Do what you need to do but do it quickly.’
Pyke stood there and watched Tilling stroll down the hill, and did not move until he was a faint speck in the distance.
TWENTY-FOUR
When Pyke visited Hambledon Hall for the second time, the conditions were just as foul as they had been on the first occasion. It was not quite as cold, for it was October rather than February, but a fierce easterly wind drove billowing clouds across the flat, unprotected valley with such intensity that rain fell horizontally rather than vertically. Still, the inclement weather suited his mood and, anyway, Pyke could not have imagined the ugly monstrosity of Hambledon Hall bathed in warm sunlight. The hall had been constructed on marshy terrain and the relentless uniformity of the landscape gave the setting a menacing feel, as though the land had been cursed.
This time Pyke had not been invited to the hall, nor did he make any attempt to enter its grounds. Rather, he tied up his horse well out of sight of the track leading up to the hall, positioned himself across from the main gate behind a large holly bush and prepared for a long wait. About an hour later, a carriage pulled by two horses skidded through the gate; Pyke could not see its occupants but supposed that the carriage belonged to James Sloan. As he waited for it to reappear, he wondered what kind of man Sloan was.
If he had struck some kind of deal with Edmonton, he could not be honest or virtuous or, for that matter, nice, but what if he was handsome or intelligent or attractively roguish? What if Emily found herself liking him? Pyke found this thought as unlikely as it was distasteful, but was it beyond the bounds of possibility? He knew Emily didn’t have to like this man. In order to safeguard her income and inheritance, all she had to do was tolerate him. And, of course, Sloan would want to come across as generous and courteous. A lot was at stake for him.
Pyke wondered whether he might be jealous. It was certainly an odd sentiment, as irrational as it was consuming. Old prejudices towards privilege surfaced: what had this man done to merit Emily? He had, no doubt, led a sheltered, comfortable existence. Perhaps he had been set up in business by his father. He would have a sizeable private income, in order to satisfy Edmonton that he was an appropriate match for his daughter and in order to pay for the parliamentary seat Edmonton had given him.
It felt strange, spying on Emily. As he did so, he wondered whether she had instructed Jo to tell him about this meeting. Was he there at Emily’s implicit behest? If so, for what purpose had