The Frost Fair

    'They must also be lucrative, Mr Crenlowe. Nothing in your shop would come cheaply. If Jeronimo Maldini commissioned something from you, it must have been expensive. Was he able to pay for it?' The goldsmith remained silent. 'Very well,' resumed Christopher, 'if you'll not tell me, I'll have to ask someone else.'

    'Who?'

    'Your client's brother - Pietro Maldini.'

    Mrs Cardinal was still annoyed that she had been rebuffed by Lady Holcroft and deprived of a companion for her visit to the shops. In the event, she remained at the house in the Strand and sulked. It took Susan Cheever a long time to mollify her, showering her with apologies and promising to go out with her that same afternoon. By the time that her son returned, Mrs Cardinal had recovered some of her good humour. Jack Cardinal joined the two of them in the parlour and sat opposite Susan.

    'Did you enjoy your ride with Lady Holcroft?' he asked.

    'Yes,' replied Susan. 'I enjoyed it very much.'

    'I've just been hearing about it,' said Mrs Cardinal, 'and it sounds rather dreary. Who could wish to be driven along crowded streets when she could have been helping me to choose some new additions to my wardrobe? But let's put that behind us, shall we?' she went on. 'Miss Cheever was hardly in a position to refuse the invitation. Now, then, Jack. What sort of a morning have you had?'

    'A rather dull one, Mother,' he said. 'Lawyers are such cautious creatures.'

    'Your father always called them a necessary evil.'

    'I seemed to be there for hours.'

    'What did you do after you left?'

    'I went to the coffee house nearby,' he told her. 'I knew that I'd meet some friends there and I was in need of more lively company. It was very pleasant.'

    'Whom did you meet?'

    'All sorts of people, including one whom I could cheerfully have avoided.'

    'Oh?' said his mother. 'Who was that!'

    'Egerton Whitcombe.'

    'Such an obnoxious young man!'

    'His manners have not improved since I last saw him,' said Cardinal. 'He's just returned from France and is staying here for a week or so. Lady Whitcombe and her daughter have come to London to welcome him back. According to Egerton, they've done nothing but argue since they met.'

    'That's unusual. Lady Whitcombe usually indulges his every whim. When Egerton is around, that poor daughter of hers is all but ignored.' She turned to Susan. 'Letitia is appallingly plain and totally lacking in any feminine virtues. She'll be around her mother's neck for ever.'

    'Not necessarily,' said her son.

    'What do you mean, Jack?'

    'The argument with Egerton concerned the new house that his mother is having built in London. The designated architect is none other than Christopher Redmayne.'

    Mrs Cardinal was contemptuous. 'He should be dismissed immediately.'

    'Why?' asked Susan, stung by the sharpness of her remark.

    'You know why, Miss Cheever. The man's name is impossibly tainted.'

    'Not if his brother is proved to be innocent.'

    "That's highly unlikely,' said Cardinal. 'The talk at the coffee house was that Henry Redmayne would be convicted of murder. It's what Egerton believes as well. That's why he demanded that Lady Whitcombe engages a different architect.'

    'She intends to keep Mr Redmayne?' asked his mother in amazement.

    'So it seems. Egerton vows that it will never happen. Unfortunately for him, Lady Whitcombe holds the purse strings. I fancy that she'll call the tune.'

    'But it's madness. Lady Whitcombe will be employing the brother of a convicted murderer. How can she possibly even consider someone with the name of Redmayne?'

    'Egerton thinks he has the answer to that.'

    'What is it?

    'His sister seems to be inordinately fond of this fellow.'

    'Does she?'

    'And he was very attentive to her.'

    'Was he?' asked Susan, feeling uneasy.

    'He thinks that Christopher Redmayne has gone out of his way to court Letitia so that he can secure this contract. That's what really provoked his ire,' said Cardinal. 'Lady Whitcombe even hinted that this architect could soon be linked to the family by the bonds of holy matrimony.'

    Mrs Cardinal was astounded. Susan felt as if her cheeks were on fire.

      The landlord was a short, bustling man with a bald pate. Having no objection to a second search of the room once occupied by Jeronimo Maldini, he led the constable upstairs.

    'It's exactly as you found it last time, Mr Bale,' he explained. 'All the furniture belongs to me except the desk. That came from Italy with Signor Maldini. His brother is going to arrange to have it moved.'

    'I don't think his brother will have any need for it now,' said Jonathan.

    The house was only a few hundred yards from where he lived but it was substantially bigger than anything in Addle Hill. He was conducted into a large, low, rectangular room with a capacious bed against one wall. The room also contained three chairs, a small table, a water jug and a bowl, a collection of swords and an oak desk with ornate carvings. On one wall was a crucifix. As soon as he was left alone, Jonathan began his search, working systematically around the room. He lifted the carpet, he crawled under the bed and he poked into every corner. No new discovery came to light.

    All that was left was the desk, a bulky object that had taken two of them to move on the first visit so that they could look behind it. The drawers had been emptied for the most part. All that remained in them were some writing materials and a manual on fencing, written in Italian. Jonathan sat down to study the desk, deciding that it must have had exceptional importance for its owner if he had brought it all the way from Italy. He began to explore it more carefully, pulling out the drawers so that he could reach in with his arm then tapping the desk all over with his knuckles as he listened for a sound that indicated hollowness.

    He knew that skilled cabinetmakers could make ingenious secret compartments but he could find none in the desk. He was about to give up when his eye fell on the swords propped up against the wall. Selecting a rapier, he pulled it from its sheath and used it to prod in each of the cavities where the drawers had fitted. Nothing happened at first then he inserted the weapon into another part of the desk and jabbed gently The response was immediate and sudden. As the point of the rapier struck a small panel, there was a twang as a spring was released and a small door flapped open in the side, and at the rear of, the desk. Jonathan went down on his knees to grope inside the compartment that had just been revealed.

    The first thing to emerge was a ledger, containing the accounts of the fencing school but a pile of letters soon followed. Some were in Italian but several were in English. Though they were unsigned, most bore a number to aid identification by the recipient. Jonathan skimmed through some of the correspondence, wondering why an Italian fencing master should be interested in the subjects that were discussed. He then found the most important item in the cache. It was a list of names, against each of which was a number. When he saw the name at the top of the list, he was shocked.

      Christopher Redmayne did not relish the idea of being locked in a room with a man who had tried to murder both him and his brother. When he saw Pietro Maldini, however, he decided that he was in no danger. The man looked beaten and hunted. Wearing manacles, he sat on a chair in the corner of the room with his shoulders hunched and his knees drawn up. Released from his cell on the instruction left by Jonathan Bale, he was ready to fulfil his side of the bargain, albeit with great reluctance. He did not even look up when Christopher came into the room. The architect stayed on his feet.