Page 97 of The Unfortunate Debutante
Lord Revett bobbed his head as he poured four snifters of brandy. “I am greatly concerned about that group of radical thinkers, as well.”
“What do you intend to do with them?” Simeon pressed.
“Arrest them, discredit them… the usual,” Lord Revett informed them, picking up the four glasses and walking them over to a side table. He set them down and handed one to each man.
Simeon accepted a snifter and muttered, “Thank you.” He took a sip of his drink. “And what about underhanded tactics?”
“I don’t condone anything underhanded,” Lord Revett declared, picking up his brandy.
Swirling the drink in his hand, Simeon pursed his lips. “That’s interesting. Constable Stone informed me that you authorized him to blow up a balloon at the Anti-Corn Law rebels’ protest in Grange Gardens.”
Lord Revett huffed. “That’s ludicrous. He’s obviously lying.”
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to verify your story since he’s dead,” Simeon said.
Taking a sip of his drink, Lord Revett didn’t respond for a moment, clearly startled by the news. “I’m sorry to hear that. How did he die?”
“I shot him as he attempted to use a flaming arrow to blow up a hydrogen balloon with a load of gunpowder in the basket,” he answered dryly.
Lord Revett’s face grew pale. “You shot Constable Stone?”
“Yes, but he wasn’t a constable anymore. He’d been fired from that position,” he shared, giving Revett a pointed look. “Were you not aware that I also work as a Bow Street Runner?”
“I was not aware of that fact,” Lord Revett admitted. “Do you know why Stone would do something so vile?”
“His intentions were to kill as many Anti-Corn Law rebels as possible,” Simeon replied. “As he attempted to kill me, Stone claimed he was acting under another’s authority.”
Lord Revett eyed him suspiciously. “You couldn’t possibly think I had anything to do with that, do you?”
“I definitely do,” Simeon replied.
Lord Revett frowned, lowering his glass to his lap. “What do you want, Lord Wentworth?”
“Your resignation.”
With a stunned expression, Lord Revett stared at him for a long moment. “You must be joking,” he finally said.
Simeon pushed away from the wall and came to sit down across from the Home Secretary. “If your nefarious plan had succeeded, that bomb would have killed thousands.”
“I had nothing to do with that…” Lord Revett attempted.
Simeon cut him off. “You gave Stonecarte blancheto stop those protestors, including mass murder.”
“I did no such thing!” Lord Revett shouted, placing his drink onto the side table. “I merely asked Stone to attend the rally and to intervene only to arrest violent protestors.”
“Like he did at the demonstration in Templeton Square?” Adrien asked from his chair.
Lord Revett put his hands out in front of him. “I admit that Stone’s tactics did get out of hand during that one, but we have riots daily over the Corn Laws. If that demonstration had turned violent, it could have wrecked London.”
“I was at that rally,” Simeon informed him. “Stone struck and arrested the Marquess of Downshire’s ward.”
“I heard about that,” Lord Revett said with an apologetic smile. “Most unfortunate.”
Simeon shook his head. “No, what was most unfortunate were the people that were beaten and battered at your request.”
“Again, I had nothing to do with that. But I must question what you were doing at the rally, Lord Wentworth?” Lord Revett asked.
“I was on assignment.”
