“Thank you, Clorinda,” he said, with a faint smile. “But the fact remains that I did.”
She glanced towards her cousin, and saw that he was staring at Worth with a mixture of horror and incredulity in his eyes. She got up. “Oh, what are you saying? Where is Perry? For God’s sake, tell me, one of you!”
“By this time,” said the Earl, “Peregrine is probably in Marine Parade. Don’t look so surprised, Mr. Taverner: you cannot seriously have imagined that I should permit you to ship my ward off to the West Indies.”
“In Marine Parade!” Judith repeated. “The West Indies! Bernard! Oh no, no!”
Bernard Taverner passed a hand across his eyes. “It’s a lie! I did not have Peregrine put away!”
“No,” agreed the Earl. “You did your best, but you reckoned without me. However, you may console yourself with the reflection that your careful arrangements were not wasted. The master of that highly suspicious vessel off Lancing was quite satisfied to receive Tyler in Peregrine’s stead. In fact, I am inclined to doubt whether he even appreciated that an exchange had been made. I was quite sure, you see, that you would not expect to see Tyler back again in Brighton. That would have been too dangerous, I feel. So it was really very safe for me to dispose of him precisely as he meant to dispose of Peregrine.”
“Lord Worth, you may attempt to foist this monstrous story on to me if you please,” Mr. Taverner said. “You will find it hard to prove.”
“I might have found it hard to prove had you not so obligingly abducted Miss Taverner today,” said the Earl. “That error of judgment, my dear sir, has made it so easy for me to prove the rest that I am confident you will not put me to the trouble of offering my proof to a Grand Jury.”
Miss Taverner sank back into her chair. “All those other attempts— you made? But the duel! Ah no, that at least cannot have been your doing!”
“I am sorry to disillusion you, Miss Taverner,” said the Earl implacably, “but that duel was Mr. Bernard Taverner’s first attempt to dispose of Peregrine. The news of it was brought to me by my tiger, who, by a fortunate coincidence, was in the gallery of the Cock-Pit Royal when the quarrel between Peregrine and Farnaby took place. By the way, Miss Taverner, while I have grave doubts of that surgeon’s ability to recognize your cousin, I have a reasonable dependence on his recognizing me.”