C Harris - When maidens mourn

`We've had constables knocking on doors up and down the street,' said Sir Henry, `in the hopes someone might be able to tell us what time Miss Tennyson and the children left the house, or perhaps even with whom. Unfortunately, the heat has driven most of the residents into the country, and of those who remain, no one recalls having seen anything.'

`Any chance the children could have been snatched for ransom?'

`It's a possibility, I suppose, although I must confess I find it unlikely. I'm told the children's father is a simple, impoverished clergyman up in the wilds of Lincolnshire. And while the victim's brother, Mr. Hildeyard Tennyson, is a moderately successful barrister, he is not excessively wealthy.' Sir Henry rubbed the bridge of his nose between one thumb and finger. `The elder boy, George, is just nine years old, while the younger, Alfred, is turning three. They were here with Miss Tennyson when the servants left yesterday morning, but as far as we've been able to tell, that's the last time any of them were seen.' He hesitated, then added reluctantly, `Alive.'

`And the servants never thought to raise the alarm when neither Miss Tennyson nor the children returned home last night?'

`They thought it not their place to presume to know their mistress's intentions.'

`Yes, I can see that,' said Sebastian. `And now they're so frightened of being blamed for the delay in launching a search that it's difficult to get much of anything out of them?'

`Exactly.' Lovejoy sighed. `Although they may prove more willing to open up to you than to Bow Street.' The warm breeze blowing off the water brought them the smell of brine and spawning fish and the freshness of the wide-open seas. His features pinched, Lovejoy paused to stare out across the barges and wherries filling the river. `I'm heading back up to Enfield now, to organize some men to drag the moat.'

Sebastian said, `Any possibility the children could have been the killer's intended targets and Miss Tennyson simply got in the way?'

`Merciful heavens. Why would anyone want to kill two innocent children?' Lovejoy was silent a moment, his gaze still on the sun-spangled water, a bead of sweat rolling down one cheek.

`But you re right; it is obviously a possibility. Dear God, what is the world coming to?' He narrowed his eyes against the glare coming off the water and said it again. `What is the world coming to?'

The Tennysons' housekeeper was a small, plump woman named Mrs. O'Donnell. She had full cheeks and graying hair worn tucked neatly beneath a starched white cap, and she struck Sebastian as the type of woman who in happier times sported rosy cheeks and bustled about with brisk good cheer and a ready laugh. Now she sat crumpled beside the empty hearth in the servants hall, a damp handkerchief clutched forlornly in one fist, her eyes red and swollen with tears, her cheeks ashen.

`If only the master had been home,' she kept saying over and over again. `None of this would have happened.'

`How long has Mr. Tennyson been gone?' asked Sebastian, settling onto a hard wooden bench opposite her.

`A fortnight, come Tuesday. He wanted Miss Tennyson and the lads to go into the country with him, get away from all the heat and dirt of the city. But she wouldn't leave that project of hers.' Mrs. O'Donnell's nose wrinkled when she uttered the word project, as if she spoke of something nasty and improper. It was obvious that for all her geniality, the housekeeper did not approve of Miss Tennyson's unorthodox interests.

Sebastian said, `I take it you're referring to the excavations up at Camlet Moat?'

Mrs. O'Donnell nodded and touched her handkerchief to the corner of one eye. `I know it's not my place to say such things, but, well It's not right, if you ask me. Women belong in the home. And now look what's come of it! Her dead, and those poor lads gone missing. Such bright little fellows, they were. Quick-tempered and full of mischief, to be sure, but charming and winsome for all of that. Why, just yesterday morning before they left for church, Master George gave me a little poem he wrote all by himself.' She pushed up from her seat and went to rummage amongst the litter of recipes and invoices, letters and broadsheets, that covered a nearby table. `It's here somewhere.'

`That's the last time you saw them?' asked Sebastian. `Yesterday morning, when they were on their way to church?'

`It was, yes,' she said, distracted by her search.

`Which church do they normally attend?'

`St. Martin's, usually.'

`You think that's where they went yesterday?'

`I don't see why not, my lord.'

`I'm told Miss Tennyson liked to take the boys on various outings several times a week, particularly on Sunday afternoons.'

`Oh, yes. She was enjoying their visit ever so much. It was lovely to see her with them. Her face would light up and she'd laugh like she was a carefree girl again herself.' A ghost of a smile animated the housekeeper's features, only to fade away into pinched sorrow. `Course, then there were the times I'd catch her watching them, and she'd go all still and quiet-like, and this look would come over her that was something painful to see.'

`What sort of a look?'

`It was like a... like a yearning, if you know what I mean?'

`You think she regretted not having children of her own?'

`If she did, it was her choice, wasn't it? I mean, it's not like she didn't have plenty of offers. Turned them all down, she did.' The housekeeper straightened, a tattered paper clenched in one hand. `Ah, here it is!' She thrust the page toward him.

Sebastian found himself staring at a single stanza of poetry written in a schoolboy's best copperplate. He read aloud:

`Somewhere the sea, somewhere the sun

Whisper of pain and love untold;

Something that's done and more undone,

Are only the dead so bold?'

He looked up. `George Tennyson wrote this?'

`He did. Oh, it's all great nonsense, to be sure. But it's still fine, wouldn't you say? And he but a boy of nine!'

`Do you mind if I keep it for a day or so? I'll see it's returned to you,' he added when she looked hesitant.

`To be sure you may keep it, my lord. Only, I won't deny I would like to have it back.'

`I understand.' Sebastian tucked the boy's poem into his pocket. `Do you have any idea how Miss Tennyson and the children planned to spend yesterday afternoon?'

She looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook her head. `No, my lord; I don't know as I ever heard her mention it. We always lay out a cold collation for the family in the dining room, you see, before we leave for our half day. They eat when they come home from church, before they go out again. We left a lovely spread, with a side of beef and salmon in aspic and a chilled asparagus soup.'

`And did Miss Tennyson and the children eat the meal you left for them on Sunday?'

`Oh, yes, my lord. In fact, the plate with Mrs. Reagan's oatmeal cookies was completely empty except for a few crumbs.' She plopped back down in her chair, her hands wringing together so hard the fingers turned white. `Oh, if only Mr. Tennyson had been here!' she cried. `Then we'd have known for certain something was amiss when they didn't come home last night.'

`What time did the servants return to the house?'

`The others were back by seven, although I'm afraid I myself wasn't in until nearly eight. I spent the day with my sister in Kent Town, you see; her husband's ever so sick, and Miss Tennyson told me not to worry if I was a bit late. She was that way, you know, so kind and generous. And now...' Her voice cracked and she turned her face away, her throat working silently.

Sebastian said, `Were you concerned when you arrived back and realized Miss Tennyson and the children hadn't returned themselves?'

`Well, of course I was! We all were. Margaret Campbell, she's the boys nurse, you know, was all for going to the public office at once. She was convinced something must have happened to them. But we had no way of knowing that for certain, and who could ever have imagined that something like this had occurred? I mean, what if Miss Tennyson had simply decided to spend the night with some friends and forgot to tell us? Or she could have received bad news from the boys parents and set off with the children for Lincolnshire. To tell the truth, I thought she might even have reconsidered staying in London and decided to join her brother in the country after all. I can tell you, she would not have thanked us if we'd raised a ruckus for naught.'