The Angel Court Affair (Thomas Pitt 30) by Anne Perry Read Free Book Online

earth had she not informed Melville Smith of the reason, and when she would return? It was discourteous, to say the least. Could it be carelessness? A message gone astray?
    He was back in the kitchen again and its warmth wrapped around him, the comfortable smell of bread toasting in front of the open grating, a breath of air from the open window over the sink.
    ‘What is it?’ Charlotte asked quietly.
    ‘Sofia Delacruz has gone from Angel Court, without explanation,’ he replied.
    Charlotte rose to her feet. ‘What on earth do you mean “gone”? Has someone kidnapped her? How could that happen with all those people around her, and your men watching?’
    ‘Nobody said she was kidnapped,’ he said bluntly. ‘She may have had some urgent call from a member of the family she came to see.’
    ‘And gone out alone, leaving no message?’ Charlotte said with disbelief.
    ‘We don’t know what happened,’ he replied. ‘I’m going to Angel Court now. She wasn’t alone. Two of her women went with her.’
    Charlotte grasped his wrist, holding it with surprising strength. ‘Is that what you believe, Thomas? It isn’t, is it? She isn’t a foolish woman. If she were in the habit of treating her staff like this, it would become known, and defeat her whole purpose.’
    ‘Many so-called saints are tyrants at home,’ he said gently. He knew Charlotte had liked the woman, as had many others. If this disappearance were intentional then Sofia was letting them down, and he resented it. ‘People have ideals of goodness they can’t always live up to . . .’
    ‘Thomas, she hasn’t gone willingly!’ she said with a burst of desperation. ‘You know that as well as I do! You must find her.’ She did not add that she feared Sofia had been hurt, perhaps killed, but it was there in her eyes.
    Pitt’s anger boiled up. He touched Charlotte’s hand gently, loosening her hold, but not letting go of her. ‘Of course I’ll find her,’ he said gently. ‘But you have to prepare for the possibility that this is a deliberate piece of melodrama to gain more attention. It’s possible none of the threats to her is real. The fact that two of her women went with her suggests it was planned. She causes unease, asks questions people can’t answer. She shakes some people’s emotions, but threatened Church of England ministers don’t kidnap visiting Spanish saints. It would make them look ridiculous, for a start.’ He forced a smile. ‘And it would ruin their argument that they have a superior type of holiness.’ He leaned forward and kissed her gently.
    She smiled, laughter fleetingly in her eyes, and then kissed him back.
     
    But Pitt was far less certain of the answer when he paid the cabby and crossed the pavement to the entrance into Angel Court. It was an ancient courtyard, its surrounding buildings three storeys high and with mullioned windows. At the entrance to the courtyard stood a stone angel, life-size, its wings gigantic, its arms raised as if in benediction. It was imposing and strangely sinister. There was an old stable half-door to the left. The ground was paved with rough cobbles, which were rounded on the surface, green moss between them. An old woman moved rhythmically with a broom back and forth.
    Melville Smith had clearly been waiting for Pitt. He strode across the open space towards him, tension in every line of his body.
    ‘Thank heaven you’ve come,’ he said breathlessly. ‘This is a disaster. It makes us look like . . . incompetents! It’s absurd!’ His voice cracked with the effort to control it.
    Pitt felt the sting of the word ‘incompetent’. It applied to him far more than Smith.
    Smith clasped Pitt’s hand, then let go of it. He led the way back across the court to the open door of their lodgings, and inside.
    Brundage was in the oak-panelled hallway speaking with a dark, gentle-faced man whom Smith introduced briefly as Ramon Aguilar. They were both pale and clearly distressed.