Even Pitt was impressed more than he had ever intended to be. His courage wavered. He was absurd even to think of doing such a thing. He would be betraying Narraway’s trust in him.
Watson Forbes was in front of the Prince, a little to one side. The Princess stood apart, isolated by her deafness.
The Prince gestured for them to come forward.
Gracie’s hand tightened on Pitt’s arm so hard her fingers hurt his flesh. They stopped just behind Elsa and Julius. Pitt was pleased that they were so close to each other. They had moved in step, instinctively. He thought of Charlotte and wished she were here, and yet Gracie deserved to be present. And perhaps it was better Charlotte was not with him; thinking of her might destroy his courage.
Simnel was presented, with Olga beside him, and the Prince thanked him for his loyalty and skill.
Hamilton Quase was presented, and Liliane. Hamilton’s engineering brilliance was praised.
Julius was presented next, and the Prince sensibly excused his withdrawing from his diplomatic role because of the very recent death of his wife, for whom he was still in mourning. Elsa was presented as his mother-in-law, also very naturally mourning. Nothing was said of her being a second wife to Dunkeld, who was not mentioned at all.
Narraway was presented in his capacity as head of Special Branch, here to make certain every safety precaution was in place. The Prince thanked him also.
This was the moment of decision. Pitt stood face-to-face with his future king. It would never happen again. Either he condemned Forbes now, or his silence made Forbes safe forever.
“Your Royal Highness,” Pitt said, trying to keep his voice from trembling. He must be fair to Gracie. “May I recommend to you, ma’am, your most loyal and brave servant, Miss Gracie Phipps, who has assisted Special Branch in the service of the Crown.”
Gracie stood frozen in awe. She looked about thirteen.
“Indeed,” the Prince said with some surprise. “I am obliged to you, Miss Phipps.”
Suddenly Gracie’s legs gave way and she dropped a far deeper curtsy than she had intended. She managed to rise again only by hauling herself up on Pitt’s arm.
Pitt remained where he was.
The Prince of Wales stared at him with slight irritation. Pitt took a deep breath. This was the moment. “I regret, sir, that the railway will not be built by Mr. Forbes,” he said.
“Nonsense,” the Prince said savagely. “Please step back, sir! Do not compel me to call for assistance. It would be most embarrassing for you.”
“Mr. Forbes has misled you, sir,” Pitt said relentlessly. His voice was trembling, but he made it loud enough for the whole room to hear him. Was he ruining himself and his family? “He has expressed his belief that such a railway would be injurious to Africa and its peoples, and his own personal fortune is invested in shipping. He wishes to lead the project only in order to sabotage its success. Also, regrettably, he was responsible for a murder in Africa, and for the murder that His Royal Highness sent for Special Branch to solve. I am deeply sorry, sir. Could a resolution have been found earlier, you would not have been troubled at this late date.”
The Prince’s face was gray but for two spots of hectic color in his cheeks. “What the devil are you talking about?” he hissed. “He wasn’t even in the Palace when the woman died, you nincompoop! What murder in Africa? Have you taken leave of your wits entirely?”
“His own son, sir,” Pitt said as levelly as he could. “Eden Forbes. Tragically, he was mentally unbalanced, and murdered a half-caste prostitute in Cape Town. Rather than have him publicly tried and hanged for it, and knowing that it was a compulsion he would continue to follow, Mr. Forbes took him to a lonely place and executed him himself.”
The Prince stood paralyzed.
Watson Forbes swung round and took a step toward Pitt. Liliane interposed herself between them, facing her father. He looked at her eyes, and saw grief, and rage, and loyalty to her husband.
There was utter silence in the vast, glorious room. Every man and woman in it stood like figures in a painted tableau, gorgeous, lifeless.
Gracie’s nails dug into Pitt’s arm.
Pitt felt the sweat break out on his body and the instant after he was cold again.
Narraway was the first to move. He stepped up beside Pitt and bowed deeply to the Prince. “The matter is entirely closed, Your Royal Highness. The innocent have been vindicated and the guilty discovered and will now be arrested. I regret profoundly that it had to be done in your presence. We would all much rather you had not had to be distressed by it.”
The Princess of Wales stepped forward at last, linking her arm in that of her husband, and then she turned to Pitt, her eyebrows raised.
“I am deeply sorry, ma’am,” Pitt apologized humbly. “But I could not stand here and lie to His Royal Highness, and thus cause him to approve someone, in ignorance of their nature, and then be embarrassed later.”
“Your timing is unfortunate, sir,” the Princess said drily. “But I suppose your information is better late than not at all. You may go and finish your business. His Royal Highness is obliged to you.”
Pitt bowed again. “Ma’am.” Then he turned and withdrew as commanded, knowing that the Prince of Wales’s eyes followed him all the way to the great doors. He would neither forgive nor forget this wound, dealt in the throne room, in front of his court and his future ministers.
“’E in’t gonna get over that,” Gracie said in a hoarse whisper when they were back in the anteroom. “But yer done right.” She took a deep breath and smiled up at him. “I knew yer would.”
“Thank you, Gracie,” he said shakily. He thought of putting his other hand over to loosen the fierce grip of her fingers on his arm, but then decided not to. Perhaps it was enough.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anne Perry is the bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, including Seven Dials and Long Spoon Lane, and the William Monk novels, most recently The Shifting Tide and Dark Assassin. She is also the author of the World War I novels No Graves As Yet, Shoulder the Sky, Angels in the Gloom, At Some Disputed Barricade, and We Shall Not Sleep, as well as the holiday novels A Christmas Journey, A Christmas Visitor, A Christmas Guest, A Christmas Secret and A Christmas Beginning. Anne Perry lives in Scotland. Visit her website at www.anneperry.net.
BY ANNE PERRY
(published by The Random House Publishing Group)
FEATURING WILLIAM MONK
The Face of a Stranger
A Dangerous Mourning
Defend and Betray
A Sudden, Fearful Death
The Sins of the Wolf
Cain His Brother
Weighed in the Balance
The Silent Cry
A Breach of Promise
The Twisted Root
Slaves of Obsession
Funeral in Blue
Death of a Stranger
The Shifting Tide
Dark Assassin
FEATURING THOMAS AND CHARLOTTE PITT
The Cater Street Hangman
Paragon Walk
Resurrection Row
Bluegate Fields
Rutland Place
Death in the Devil’s Acre
Cardington Crescent
Silence in the Hanover Close
Bethlehem Road
Farriers’ Lane
The Hyde Park Headsman
Traitors Gate
Pentecost Alley
Ashworth Hall
Brunswick Gardens
Bedford Square
Half Moon Street
The Whitechapel Conspiracy
Southampton Row
Seven Dials
Long Spoon Lane
Buckingham Palace Gardens
THE WORLD WAR I NOVELS
No Graves As Yet
Shoulder the Sky
Angels in the Gloom
At Some Disputed Barric
We Shall Not Sleep
THE CHRISTMAS NOVELS
A Christmas Journey
A Christmas Visitor
A Christmas Guest
A Christmas Secret
A Christmas Beginning
Buckingham Palace Gardens is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2008 by Anne Perry
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Perry, Anne.
Buckingham Palace gardens : a novel / Anne Perry.
p. cm.
1. Pitt, Thomas (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Prostitutes—Crimes against—Fiction. 3. Murder—Investigation—Fiction. 4. London (England)—Fiction. 5. Great Britain—History—Victoria, 1837–1901—Fiction. I. Title.
PR6066.E693B83 2008
823'.914—dc22 2007042767
www.ballantinebooks.com
eISBN: 978-0-345-50484-5
v3.0