Silence in Hanover Close by Anne Perry Page B

dressed. Emily could provide those things, but not an escort. Charlotte must be prompted, in case she had forgotten about the Yorks in the excitement of Christmas.
    “I will send her a note,” she added aloud. “And it is always possible Pitt will learn something further, so we should keep abreast of that too.”
    Jack looked thoughtful, gazing at the floor. “I have tried, extremely discreetly, to sound out one or two acquaintances about the Danvers, but I discovered very little. The father, Garrard Danver, is fairly senior in the Foreign Office, which may be how they came to know the Yorks so closely. Although Society is surprisingly small. Everyone knows everyone else, at least by sight or repute, if not to speak to—but of course that is a different thing from calling upon them. There were two sons: one was killed in the Indian Army some time ago, the other is Julian Danver, who may or may not marry Veronica York, depending upon Pitt’s inquiries.”
    Emily gave a little snort of irritation. She was developing an empathy with Veronica York which made the concern about her reputation all the more infuriating.
    “I wonder if anyone has bothered to consider whether he is good enough for her!” she said tartly. Instantly Emily regretted the words; she would have bitten her tongue rather than say something so betraying of her own loathsome suspicions. Please God he would not make the connection! She opened her mouth to rush into speech and smother it, then was afraid he would realize that was what she was doing. Instead she brazened it out.
    Jack looked a little startled. “You mean his reputation?”
    Now she had no answer. To expect a man’s reputation to have the same purity as a woman’s was absurd; she would mark herself as eccentric to the point of idiocy if she suggested such a thing.
    But the alternative was the truth, and that was worse. But how could she back out of this discussion without being caught in a lie? She could feel the hot blood in her cheeks. She must say something! The silence positively prickled.
    “Well, they might be concerned that he was a man of honor as much as he seems,” she said, scrambling for something that sounded better, more specific. “Some men have most disreputable habits. Perhaps you don’t know, but having assisted in the investigation of one or two crimes, I have learned of some terrible things, which were quite unknown to their families.” She forced herself to look at Jack. She was talking too much.
    “Would it have anything to do with Robert York’s murder?” he asked. His eyes revealed nothing.
    “No,” she said slowly. “Unless, of course, he killed him.”
    “Julian Danver?”
    “Why not?”
    “Because he was already Veronica’s lover?” He took her point. “Yes, that’s possible.” He said it with assurance. Apparently the idea did not seem farfetched to him. Divorce would not have been open to Veronica, even with grounds such as proven adultery, let alone with no grounds at all! Emily knew that. Only men could divorce for unfaithfulness, and even then the woman was ruined. Women were expected either to prevent such a misfortune or else to put up with it with grace. And if Veronica herself were cast aside as an adulteress, then Julian Danver would lose all prospect of a career if he were to marry her; in fact, they would not even be received in Society. To all intents and purposes, they would cease to exist.
    “Do you suppose he was so infatuated with her that he lost his head, his morality, enough to do that?” she asked, not because she thought Jack could possibly know but because she wanted to test his opinion of Veronica. Did he see her as a woman who could inspire such a reckless passion?
    The answer was the one she had feared.
    “I don’t know Danver,” he answered seriously. “But if he was capable of it, then Veronica would be just the woman to waken such a feeling.”
    “Oh.” Emily’s voice was tight, a little high. “Then we