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“I agree with you that costumes and props can quickly become foolish,” Rayley said, “but we are not gluing on a set of whiskers, we are affecting an entire new identity. It strikes me as a marvelous challenge, right up there with mastering the latest forensic techniques. And, just as Mrs. Arborton says, the task shouldn’t be difficult. Who knows, the luster may have worn off the adventure already for Anne, and we may easily be able to persuade her to return to London with us. We shall be back by Christmas, I have no doubt of it.” Tess smiled. “This is exactly what I hoped you would say.” Then she hesitated. “I have brought one other thing,” she said. “It was left in Anne’s room and it shows, I believe, the ultimate use LaRusse intends for her, as his muse…and as his…I left it by the door as I came in.” “I shall get it,” Emma said, springing to her feet and thinking that if she was unable to travel to Hever, which sounded quite glamorous, at least she could do research back in London. If LaRusse made a habit of seducing his portrait models, there were probably any number of other ruined lives in his wake, for it was Emma’s experience that men who enjoyed debasing women, rarely stopped with debasing merely one. Who knows, she thought as she approached the cloakroom, there may be more pieces of the story lurking here in London than out in the farmlands of Kent. She quickly found the package Tess must have meant and returned to the drawing room with a tube in her hand, a long thin affair of the sort an architect might use to transport his drawings. She handed it to Tess, who withdrew a rolled paper from its depths and then suddenly looked around the circle and said “Must I be here for this part?” “Of course not, darling,” said Geraldine. “But I insist you stay for supper. Come, let us go tell Gage to lay another plate and as we dine we shall conspire, all of us, to create the identities Rayley and Trevor shall assume for their journey.” “Poor Gage,” Tess murmured but she obediently got to her feet. “It seems he must do everything around here.” “We’ve tried a number of maids but no one suits him,” Geraldine said. “He is horribly shy, you know. I think it’s the goiter. He thinks people are staring at him, which, of course, they are…” The two older women disappeared from the room and Trevor, Rayley, and Emma waited for their voices to fade. Once they were sure Tess was truly gone, they pulled the paper from its tube and unrolled it on a table top then stood, shoulder to shoulder, gazing down at the image found there. It was a half-done sketch, showing the skill of the artist, just as Tess had claimed. But this was no ordinary portrait. A wide-eyed girl, evidently Anne Arborton, was seated on a rock gazing out at the viewer. Her gown had slipped from one shoulder, exposing a young and perfectly round breast. Over the other shoulder was the image of a faraway castle, perched on a hill. And printed at the top of the drawing was the title: The Angel of Hever Castle. “So he’s already had her,” Emma said, turning away from the table in disgust. “The girl’s future is ruined.” “Not necessarily,” Rayley said. “Painters must use live models for their nudes and those models must come from somewhere. Say what you wish about LaRusse, even this rough sketch shows he has
talent. It is artistic in its composition, is it not?” “Perhaps so, but this isn’t art,” Trevor said, with resignation, for he hated winter travel. “It is someone’s daughter.”
Page 2 and 3: The Angel of Hever Castle A City of
Page 4 and 5: and Tom had decamped to his family
Page 6 and 7: and her long-deceased father was no
Page 10 and 11: Chapter Two The countryside of Kent
Page 12 and 13: “Some women are like that,” Ray
Page 14 and 15: Chapter Three The porridge was wret
Page 16 and 17: joke. “But I take care to mix bes
Page 18 and 19: against the stone wall and swallowe
Page 20 and 21: place a jar of red-orange huge on t
Page 22 and 23: had added a woman to her scene, a w
Page 24 and 25: “And do you think Anne was right
Page 26 and 27: Chapter Five LaRusse Franklin Chapm
Page 28 and 29: that Hever is full of secret activi
Page 30 and 31: half-naked girl, just as expected f
Page 32 and 33: Chapter Six Even before she got Tre
Page 34 and 35: the telegram had said. It sounded l
Page 36 and 37: had at last firmly closed, leaving
Page 38 and 39: Melly lifted her chin. “He says h
Page 40 and 41: you have come like all the others -
Page 42 and 43: and she never has.” “I can see
Page 44 and 45: Chapter Nine “So let us suppose t
Page 46 and 47: At the name “Mary,” Emma’s he
Page 48 and 49: in danger. A woman you showed inter
Page 50 and 51: Chapter Ten Despite Rayley’s trep
Page 52 and 53: devised to lift water….I recogniz
Page 54 and 55: Chapter Eleven “Let me make sure
Page 56 and 57: “It would appear my leisure is to
Page 58:
course I did. Was there ever any do
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