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

Believe me, sir, were I able to dissuade her from speaking of them publicly, I would already have done so.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I apologise for the embarrassment she may cause. I am acutely aware of it, but helpless to prevent her. All the family’s pleading has changed nothing.’
    Pitt felt a degree of sympathy with him. There were few people who were not embarrassed by their families at some time in their lives, but usually not to this extent. Hall was also clearly touched by anxiety.
    ‘I am not looking for your help in moderating her speaking,’ Pitt replied. ‘I already assumed you had done all you could.’
    Hall frowned. He was still standing in the middle of the Turkey rug looking vaguely at a loss. ‘Then what is it you wish of me?’
    ‘Sofia Delacruz was staying at a residence in Angel Court . . .’ he answered. He saw Hall’s bleak smile. He imagined the humour at the name of the place, and the tension of long-known foreboding. ‘She disappeared from there some time during the night before last,’ he continued. ‘Her people are anxious because it has meant they have had to cancel a meeting this evening.’
    Hall’s eyebrows rose in surprise. ‘And you thought she might have come here? I’m sorry, I have no idea why she should do something so . . . irresponsible.’ He sighed. ‘Although I should not be surprised. Her whole life has been a journey of one irresponsibility after another. This is merely the latest.’
    ‘Irresponsibilities that were against her own interest?’ Pitt asked quickly.
    Hall stared at him, a confusion of thoughts racing across his face.
    Pitt waited.
    Hall swallowed hard. ‘Perhaps I spoke in haste. I have known very little of her for the last ten years or so.’ He cleared his throat again. ‘One always hopes that people may change.’
    Pitt had no intention of allowing the subject to rest. He was angry with himself for allowing this situation to arise. He had been more concerned with rumour of an anarchist group in Greenwich and mention of gunpowder, and of course the industrial sabotage. Together they might prompt a widespread strike. He had taken Sofia Delacruz too lightly. Yes, he had ordered the appropriate checks and guards for her, according to the little they knew. He had never believed the threat to be real. Even now he thought it likely that it was a sleight of hand rigged up by Smith, possibly with the help of Henrietta, in order to gain greater publicity for Sofia’s eccentric brand of religion. She thrived on controversy. Being the victim of kidnap could only add to her notoriety.
    He realised with surprise how angry he was. It was not just that innocent and genuinely enquiring people were made fools of, and that Special Branch was being used and the newspapers manipulated, but he acknowledged with a jolt of understanding that he too was disillusioned. He had believed that she was sincere, even that she had a vision of a glory in the world that made sense of some of the pain, the waste, and the seeming chaos.
    And it seemed now as if she were very probably a charlatan. The taste it left in his mouth was bitter. If Barton Hall had endured a lifetime of this deceit then Pitt had every sympathy with his anger now.
    Hall was waiting for Pitt to continue. His face was creased with concern and he stood unnaturally still.
    ‘Has she contacted you since she arrived in England?’ Pitt asked.
    ‘Oh, yes.’ Barton Hall spoke wearily. ‘She sent a perfectly civil letter from Southampton, and then a note when she reached London. She had asked to meet with me the day after they arrived in the city, but I had other arrangements. She agreed that it should be tomorrow.’
    Pitt wondered at Sofia’s keenness to meet her cousin. Was it simply that the meeting was unpleasant and she had wished to get it over with as soon as possible, whereas Hall had preferred to delay it, possibly even avoid it altogether?
    ‘She may return before then,’ he