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levels – pompous and bullying, not above trying to force the hand of the Queen herself or getting
Rayley thrown from the Byculla Club. The man who was so uncaring when his lackey Benson was
killed, and so willing to bribe Morass to bring convenient information to light and leave other, less
useful, facts in the shadows. But Davy could also see the rejected child who lived within. His
evaluation of the Weavers and their motives was undoubtedly apt. They didn’t want him - they
wanted the pictures, the proof of his existence, the convenience of an heir. It was the child Michael
who proved them to be a family and not a nest of vipers.
He has been alone and lonely all his life, Davy thought. And what of Adelaide? Her
youth had been even more brutish and solitary. Would it really be such a grave miscarriage of
justice if these two ended up together? Believed themselves to be a proper family?
“The Weavers did not give me much,” Everlee was saying. “Not in terms of love and
understanding. But they did give me a hero’s name and a large inheritance and I promise you I shall
use both, Officer Mabrey, to rectify the slights my sister has suffered. She shall have not only the best
doctors London can offer, but she shall recover in my home and when she is well, I shall introduce
her…”
His voice trailed off and Davy’s imagination was left to finish the thought. He was
struck with the vision of Adelaide scrambling over the garden wall, her legs splayed and arms
grasping like those of an ape. Could this man really introduce such a woman to his political allies in
London as his sister?
But from the set of Everlee’s chin, there was no doubt he intended to try. His
determination to have family, at long last family, seemed to override every doubt.
Trevor said some good might come of all this, thought Davy. It is up to me to see that
it does.
“So your trip to India has given you back your sister,” Davy said to Everlee, who was
now unashamedly wiping tears and even nose drippings onto the sleeve of his Savile Row suit. “And
a sister is a fine thing to have, is it not? I have often wished that I could claim as much.”
“True, true.” Everlee paused. “But will she be prosecuted?”
Davy swallowed. The question would require another lie, this one more convoluted
than the first. For it was a lie mixed with the truth and they were, in the end, the trickier kind. For a
moment he almost sympathized with the icy Rose Weaver, who had found herself caught in the snare
of a faked pregnancy and thus forced to tell one mistruth after another to protect the first.
“Any doctor, whether bought by a bribe or not,” he finally said “would readily testify
that Adelaide is not in possession of her full senses. She did not plan the crimes herself, but was
merely acting on orders issued by her headmistress, a woman with a most powerful personality and
whom Adelaide viewed as a figure of absolute authority.”
“I know this Miss Hoffman,” Everlee said with a shudder. “And she is bad business
indeed. That day at Cawnpore- “
“Yesterday.”
“Yesterday?” Everlee frowned. “Yes, you are right, it was merely yesterday. Anyway,
at one point when I was descending the hill I found Miss Hoffman simply standing there at the bottom
and staring up at me. The expression on her face was most disconcerting. I would readily believe
that woman to be capable of anything.”
Davy forced himself to feign a shrug. “The important thing is that Trevor has convinced
Seal it is unlikely a jury would convict Adelaide. If the case were heard in London, a judge will
most merely refer her to the care of an asylum. Or more likely, in lieu of an institution, to a doting