The Whitechapel Conspiracy - Anne Perry [144]
“That seems … very extreme,” he said thoughtfully. Now he completely ignored Charlotte, concentrating his entire attention upon Juno. “If it was something of which Adinett disapproved so passionately, why did he not simply make it public? I assume it was illegal? Or at the least something which others could have prevented?”
“To make it public might have caused panic, even have provoked others of like mind,” she answered. “Certainly it would have caused England’s enemies great joy and perhaps suggested to them ways in which to damage us.”
Voisey was staring at her with increasing tension. When he spoke his voice was harder, anxiety edged in it. “And the reason you believe he did not report it to an appropriate authority, even discreetly?”
“Because he could not know who else was involved,” she replied. “You see, it is a wide conspiracy …”
His eyebrows rose fractionally. His fingers tightened on each other. “A conspiracy? To do what, Mrs. Fetters?”
“To overthrow the government, Mr. Voisey,” she replied, her voice surprisingly flat for so extreme a statement. “By violent means—in short, to create a revolution which would bring down the monarchy and replace it with a republic.”
He sat silently for several moments before replying, as if he was completely stunned by what she had said and barely able to believe it.
“Are you … quite sure, Mrs. Fetters? Could you not have misunderstood some writings on another country and assumed they were referring to England?” he said at last.
“I wish it were possible, believe me.” Her emotion was clear; he could not have doubted it. He turned to Charlotte.
She met his eyes and was aware of an intense intelligence—and a coldness of extraordinary, almost uncontrollable dislike. It startled her, and she found herself afraid. She could think of no reason for it. She had never met him before and certainly never done him harm.
He was speaking to her, his voice sharp.
“Have you seen these papers, Mrs. Pitt?”
“Yes.”
“And do you see in them the plans for revolution?”
“Yes, I am afraid I do.”
“How extraordinary that your husband did not find them, don’t you think?” Now the contempt in him was unmistakable, and she understood it was Pitt for whom he felt this emotion he could not conceal.
She was stung too. “I don’t imagine he was looking for plans to overthrow the monarchy and set up a new constitution,” she said coldly. “It would have been a more complete case if he could have found the motive, but it was not necessary. And then Adinett chose to go to the gallows rather than reveal it himself—which indicates how wide he believed the conspiracy to be. He knew of no one he dared trust, even to save his life.”
Voisey’s face was dark with blood under the skin, his eyes glittering.
Charlotte wondered how much he blamed himself, as a judge who had sat on the appeal, that he had condemned a man he now had to acknowledge as both a victim and a hero. She was sorry she had spoken so bluntly, but she could not bring herself to say so to him.
“And was he mistaken, Mrs. Pitt?” he said softly, his jaw tight. “If he had told the inspector his reason for killing Fetters, would he have met with belief and help?” He left the other half of the question unsaid.
“If you are asking if my husband is a revolutionary, or would have conspired with them—” She stopped, seeing his smile. She knew exactly what he was thinking: that Juno Fetters had believed in her husband’s innocence also—and been wrong. “I am certain he would have done what he could to expose the conspiracy,” she answered him. “But I take your point that he would not have known any better whom to trust. They would simply have destroyed the evidence, and him also. But he didn’t see it, so the question does not arise.”
He turned back to Juno, and his expression changed, the pity returned to it. “What have you done with this book, Mrs. Fetters?”
“I have it here,” she replied, offering it to him. “I believe that