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Jonathan Broughton: The Russian White: A Victorian Thriller

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Jonathan Broughton The Russian White: A Victorian Thriller

The Russian White: A Victorian Thriller: краткое содержание, описание и аннотация

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The Russian White, a large uncut diamond given by the Holy Eastern Fathers to the founders of the Russian State, is revered by the Russian Orthodox Church. Tsar Peter the Great, determined to rule Russia without the church’s intervention, gives the diamond to King William of Orange of England on a visit to London’s shipbuilding yards and so. with a single stroke, weakens the church’s authority in Russia. King William, aware of the diamond’s significance and certain that the Russian Orthodox Church will attempt to steal the diamond back, hides the diamond with a group he calls The Brotherhood. A group of four of the most influential gentlemen in English society. The date is now 1853. Russian flexes its military might against Turkey. In Victorian London, Russian spies are everywhere and The Brotherhood fights to keep the diamond secret and safe. One of The Brotherhood, William Hunt, has a sister called Isobel. She is a fiery and headstrong young woman who is determined to live her life according to her rules. She runs away from home and joins a theatrical troupe where she falls in love with the young manager, James Turney. The troupe is a front for smuggling Russians into London who have been sent to find and retrieve the Russian White. Isobel is caught up in a dangerous situation that brings her into confrontation with her brother, The Brotherhood and even the government as it faces war with Russia. The Russian White remains a hidden but very real presence as intrigue, deceit and murder are carried out in its name.

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Terrington assessed the situation. The short stocky man followed James. It meant taking two of them out.

Terrington waited until they were out of the light then sprinted after them. He reached the short man first and kicked his legs out from under him. The man shrieked and fell, and the heavy trunk pinned him to the ground.

Then running footsteps as James ran back, and Terrington leapt up, knocked him backwards and smothered his face with the handkerchief.

James struggled to escape, but Terrington held him with a tightening grip, until the chloral hydrate took effect and James’s legs buckled and his body went limp.

The stocky man struggled to free himself from under the trunk, and Terrington grabbed his hair, pulled his face up, and pressed the handkerchief over his nose. The man sighed and lay still.

Then more running steps. His Master’s carriage stood at the end of the alley, a black outline against the lights from the street lamps.

“Is that you sir?” It was the coachman.

“Over here.”

The man shuffled towards him.

“Quick!” Terrington grabbed James’s legs and dragged him towards the carriage. “Take his arms.”

They carried James between them, and William opened the carriage door as they approached.

“There’s two of them sir.” Terrington pushed James into the carriage and left him on the floor.

“Who’s the other one?” queried William.

“His servant I think. I couldn’t take one without the other.”

“Fetch him then.”

Terrington ran back, and the coachman followed. They heaved the trunk aside and left it propped against the wall, then dragged Peter back to the carriage and threw him in on top of James.

William pressed a guinea into the coachman’s hand. “Take them to St. Bethlehem’s Hospital. Ask for Doctor Hood. He is waiting for them. Quickly now.”

Chapter Five

Isobel reached the corner of Berners Street and Oxford Street and the boarding house where James lodged. She couldn’t believe it! A hack stood outside the apartments. Wasn’t that typical! She had walked all the way from Regents Park Crescent, through Portland Place and down into Oxford Street, and she hadn’t seen a single one.

Few people walked the London streets at night. Men she passed stared with hard looks. Somebody whistled from the darkness of a shop doorway, but she didn’t lose her nerve.

She pressed her arm against The Russian White. Her soft skin yielded to its hard edges. It reminded her, as if she needed reminding, of why she was out so late at night. Her cheeks burned with excitement. She wanted to run and laugh and yell at the top of her voice; “I’ve found The Russian White.” It took all her control to stay calm.

She gripped the front door key in her fingers and crossed Oxford Street into Wardour Street where the entrance to the apartments stood at the top of a short flight of stone steps.

She glanced up at his window. A soft yellow glow burned around the edges and her heart beat with excitement. She hurried up the steps and to her surprise found the front door open. How careless. She stepped into the hallway and shut it behind her, but when she turned the key, the lock failed to catch. She pushed it too, and hoped the wind didn’t blow it open during the night.

She ran up the stairs to the second floor landing. The lamp at the top of the stairs glowed pale cream. She knocked on James’s door, but there was no reply. She knocked again and tried the handle, and the door opened. The room was dark now.

“James?” Slow steady breathing came from the bed. Was he asleep already? “James, wake up.”

He muttered and turned over. He still wore his clothes, for they stank of smoke from the Club.

“James you’ve got to wake up.” She shook him, then recoiled. His shoulder didn’t feel right. She stepped back, alarmed. A floorboard creaked and she spun round, and the door shut with a bang.

The sheets on the bed rustled, and Isobel screamed. A cloth smothered her face and stifled her cries.

She smelt lavender, and something sour that made her sick, and the cloth pressed harder and harder over her nose and mouth. Her knees buckled as her legs turned to water, and the last thing she remembered was her brother’s voice whispering in her ear.

“Got you!”

Chapter Six

Doctor Hood sipped his port, closed his eyes and swallowed. “Well, well, William. What a risky business.”

Opposite him, William smiled, his own glass of port untouched. “Nobody saw us.”

“And—?” Hood gestured with a twist of his hand, aware that Terrington stood just by the door.

“It is quite safe.” William pressed his palm against his chest.

“Thank goodness for that.” Hood sipped his port. “So, two mad sisters eh?”

“It seems so.”

“How tragic that insanity is so prevalent in your family. Your mother too?”

William sighed, but Hood persisted. “I’m sorry it must be painful for you.”

“I feel that the present time is inappropriate for a discussion concerning my family’s health.”

“Of course, but Isobel?”

Hood determined not to move until his port was finished. William owed him this moment of indulgence. After all, he had secured the room in the Club where The Classical Beauties performed. William instructed him, true, suspecting his sister, but he had made all the arrangements.

William sat so prim and neat in his bespoke suit. Sharp creases, boot leather shining, the smooth young face betraying no signs of advancing years. The comfortable look of privileged upbringing. Underneath that pampered exterior he was the same as any man, subject to the whims of human frailty. Scratch just a little, and that well-bred decency might turn to black despair. He had seen it many times before, when men under pressure buckled. No sign of the mask cracking yet though. His control was admirable.

William began; “I found out about her acting with The Classical Beauties—”

Hood interrupted. “It’s all so juicy. How did she meet them?”

“By chance I think.”

“She wasn’t informed?”

“Suggesting that she knew about the Russian White already?”

“Sssh!” Had he forgotten Terrington? “No,” Hood whispered. “But perhaps she found out.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. Luck?”

“She didn’t know anything about it until she ran away.”

“Oh good.”

William’s mouth tightened into a sharp thin line. “I dislike your suggestion that I was careless about the diamond’s security.”

“Don’t mistake me William. I’m not blaming you. But she’s a crafty one. Look at the merry dance she’s led you.”

“Indeed.” His lips relaxed and the tension passed. “I think James Turney told her about the diamond when they became lovers. In fact I’m sure of it.”

“Really?”

A vein throbbed in William’s neck. Hood had noticed it before during moments of anxiety, and it was being very active at the moment. This was a very dangerous situation. Neither The Chief nor Judge Buffrey knew anything about this clandestine meeting, and according to the terms of the Constitution regarding the safe keeping of the diamond, that was illegal. Mind you, The Chief’s cavalier approach earlier that evening towards that ancient document proved that nobody was prepared to be guided by its strict principles any longer.

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