The Custom House Murders (Captain Lacey Mysteries #15) - Ashley Gardner Page 0,51

the Bible—we heard about Jonah and the whale until we wished one would rise and swallow our ship.”

I smiled in commiseration. “Remember young lieutenant Wheeldon?”

“Preaching Parson Wheeldon? Haven’t thought of him in donkey’s years. Very certain the word of God would shield him. And it did. Bullet hit him right in the Bible he carried in his coat pocket. He became insufferable after that.”

We shared a chortle. Wheeldon had left the army after Vitoria when his father had passed away in Bristol. I hadn’t heard of him since.

“What about Fitzgerald?” I asked. “The former Carlton House Set man?”

“Oh, he was quite congenial.” Eden leaned back in his chair, lacing his hands behind his head. “I might have found him so only in comparison with the others, but he was a tolerable companion. Come to think about it, he too liked to visit the cargo hold. Said he didn’t trust these sailors who barely made two coins not to rifle the baggage.”

An interesting fact. I wondered why Eden was only mentioning it now.

“I’ve written to Grenville about him. I will be curious as to what he has to say—Grenville has made a study of characters in London. His observations are invaluable.” I realized I missed that as well. I was glad Grenville had found some happiness, but I also hoped he would not absent himself from London for too long a stretch.

I found Eden staring at me with an infuriating smile hovering about his mouth. “You rub shoulders with the famous and casually tell me you await his opinion. My, my.”

I set down my pen. “I believed Grenville would be too pompous for words when I first met him. He has his moments of pomposity, but he really is a clever chap, and can be very kind.”

“I read that he’d married an actress. I imagine the mothers of the haut ton are weeping over that. They must abandon their dreams of having Mr. Grenville—and all his money, connections, and influence—for a son-in-law.”

“They are unhappy, yes.” Several ladies had taken Donata aside and made their feelings clear, knowing she and I were Grenville’s close friends. We ought to have stopped the match, was their decided opinion. “I have been blamed for introducing the pair, and it is true, I did. Or rather, Marianne rudely pushed her way into my rooms to help herself to candles and intrigued Grenville by not being impressed by him.”

“A deadly sin?”

“A puzzling encounter. They danced around each other for a long time, but it was clear a passion had developed. I think them well matched.” I lifted my pen again. “I should not gossip. Grenville has been a very good friend to me. He will weather the storm.”

“I wish him well,” Eden said. “If he can aid me, I will be forever in his debt.”

I noted the little Eden had related next to Fitzgerald’s name. “I have promised many that I will quit London at the end of the week. This includes my wife and my son, and I cannot break my word to them.”

“Which means we must clear up my problem in the next few days.” Eden lowered his hands and rested his elbows on his knees. “I say, Lacey, you have no need to help me at all. This is my conundrum, not yours.”

Yes, I could retire to Oxfordshire and let Eden sort things out with Pomeroy. But I would worry and wonder, and before long I’d be back, unable to cease probing until a solution was found.

“I would never turn my back on a fellow of the Thirty-Fifth Light,” I assured him. “Plus I am intrigued by the mystery for its own sake. I only meant to warn you that we must work swiftly. And you are most welcome to travel to Oxfordshire with me, as well as on to Gloucestershire. Donata’s father’s house must have fifty bedrooms, her family is quite hospitable, and Grenville would be delighted to welcome one of my old friends.”

I wasn’t certain how delighted Grenville would actually be, but he’d politely accept Eden, and I knew Grenville would like Eden after a time. Everyone did.

Eden chuckled. “Fear not, Lacey. I am not in need of charity. I have plenty of funds for my rooms, and I can go rot at my uncle’s leaky pile if I truly need a roof—one full of holes—over my head. My trouble is not cash but finding a way to make myself useful. In the army, we never worried about what we’d do day