Free Death in the Peerless Pool by Deryn Lake Page B

godfather.
    â€˜In February.’
    â€˜And what does Italia think?’
    â€˜She does not know yet but I am sure she will be mightily put out. She has had three years of my undivided attention and now a rival in the camp is sure to displease her.’ Serafina turned to Lady Dysart. ‘Do you have any children, Ma’am?’
    It was an innocent enough question but, for all that, a strange quiet suddenly fell over Sir Gabriel and Lord Anthony, even though the other guests seemed unaware of it, for Matilda chattered on inanely and Dr Drake boomed a laugh at Louis. John, though, close to his father as he was, sensed that something had gone badly wrong and wondered what it could possibly be.
    Eventually Lady Dysart spoke, her face expressionless, though her voice was full of pain. ‘Anthony and I had only one child, a daughter, our son and heir having died at birth. Alice was very beautiful, a lovely girl in many ways and all that we could hope for, but she disappointed us by eloping with the son of one of our servants. Anyway, we put that scandal behind us and shortly after that we were posted to Paris and shut up the Somerset home. Then a message came from England that we were to return at once. Alice and her husband had both been killed in a coaching accident, leaving behind a baby boy of only two years old. Naturally, we rushed home to fetch the child and took him back with us to France.’
    Her voice broke and, shaking her head, Lady Dysart relapsed into silence, then rose from the table and left the room. Her husband stared after her mournfully.
    â€˜Forgive her, please. My wife was foolish to embark on such a tale over the dinner table.’
    Serafina looked fraught. ‘It is my fault entirely. I should never have asked such a personal question.’
    â€˜You were not to know, Comtesse,’ Lord Anthony answered sombrely. ‘No blame can be laid at your door.’ He stared down at his plate then cleared his throat, obviously coming to a decision. Eventually he said, ‘I think you should know the rest of the story, terrible though it is to relate. Meredith, our grandson, lived with us until he was three, then one day, with no warning whatsoever, he vanished from the garden in which he had been playing and was never seen again.’
    Everyone gazed at him in horror, and there was a long silence before John found himself asking, ‘But how could this be? Was the child dallying in a public place?’
    â€˜No. The garden was situated behind the Ambassador’s residence in the Marais district of Paris, a mansion protected by a high brick wall. After we reported him missing, the officers of the law searched the premises high and low, and further afield we employed our own people to look for the child, but all to no avail. It was just as if Meredith had been spirited off the face of the earth.’
    â€˜What did you do? Whatever did you do?’ asked Matilda, with a sob.
    â€˜We went on looking, first in Paris, then further and further away. We followed every lead. Our quest took us to remote villages, to Spain even, seeing boys who answered Meredith’s description. But each time we were disappointed. They were either beggars, or tricksters, or just poor homeless creatures who were wandering the streets. In the end I begged Ambrosine to give up the quest, assured her that too much time had elapsed, that we would no longer recognise Meredith even if we were to find him. But still she went on. I think one could fairly say that the hunt for her missing grandson became an obsession with her.’
    â€˜Anthony, my dear, I had heard about Alice but had no idea of this,’ Sir Gabriel said quietly. ‘What a grim burden for you to have carried all these years.’
    Just for a second Dysart’s dark eyes welled with tears, then he firmly controlled himself. ‘Even worse than losing the boy has been watching the anguish eat away at Ambrosine. Believe me, she