Read Online General Well'ngone In Love by Libi Astaire - Free Book Online

the seal I
gave you for your twentieth birthday, Arthur?”
    The young clerk seemed to freeze into a
block of ice at the sight of the seal, for at first he could
neither speak nor move. When he did recover his senses, he glanced
wildly from the seal to Mr. Melamed.
    “ Where did you find this?”
he snarled.
    “ Your plot to have Lord
Liverwood declared a lunatic and put away, so Mr. Lennox can
inherit the title and the fortune, has been discovered, sir. Mr.
Lennox has run away, leaving you to face the gallows
alone.”
    “ Gallows?” exclaimed the
elder Mr. Barnstock. “I am astonished by your accusation, yet I do
not see why this plot against Lord Liverwood is a capital
offense.”
    “ The capital offense
involves the kidnapping and murder of the boy Berel
Krinkle.”
    Mr. Barnstock was now even more astonished.
“What?”
    “ I didn’t do it!” Arthur
Barnstock shouted. “The boy’s not dead! He was alive, I tell you,
the last time I saw him. Go to the attic, go to Lord Liverwood’s
home, you’ll find the boy in a cupboard.” The young clerk searched
through his pockets with trembling hands until he extracted a key,
which he flung at Mr. Melamed. “There’s the key to the cupboard.
Take it! Why don’t you go?”
    “ I already know that Berel
Krinkle is alive. I also know that he has been safely removed from
Lord Liverwood’s home. I only wished to hear the confession from
your own lips.” Mr. Melamed then turned to the solicitor and said,
“I hope you will assist your client, Mr. Barnstock. Lord Liverwood
may be childish, but he is not the dangerous member of the family.
He deserves better treatment than what he has received at the hands
of his nephew and your son.”
     
    When Mr. Melamed returned to Devonshire
Square, he found the family seated in the drawing room. Miss
Krinkle was there, as well. Although she had tried to insist that
she must remain beside her brother’s bed all night, she had finally
agreed to take turns with the other members of the Lyon
household.
    “ As I suspected, Mr.
Lennox did not wish to wait until his uncle passed away to inherit
the family title and fortune,” Mr. Melamed explained to the
others.
    “ I cannot say I entirely
blame him,” said Mr. Lyon. “An elephant would be quite an expensive
curio to keep, I should think. It must have pained Mr. Lennox to
see his uncle squander his money on such things.”
    “ That may be, but it was
no excuse to have Lord Liverwood declared a lunatic and locked away
for the rest of his life.”
    “ But where does the child
come in to all this, Mr. Melamed?” asked Mrs. Lyon. “Why did Mr.
Lennox need to kidnap him?”
    “ One does need some reason
to put away a relative, especially when he is a member of the
aristocracy,” replied Mr. Melamed. “If Mr. Lennox could prove that
his uncle was a murderer, I doubt anyone would object to his
removing his uncle from society. And he certainly had me convinced
that his story was true, when he brought me the boy’s
coat.”
    “ Thank God, you found that
fob seal,” said Mr. Lyon.
    “ But why did the
solicitor’s son become involved in all of this?” asked Mrs. Lyon,
still trying to puzzle out the mystery. “What did he hope to
gain?”
    “ I believe he expected to
be paid handsomely for his part in the kidnapping and helping to
keep watch over the boy. He seems to be too enamored of betting on
horse races and boxing matches for his own good.”
    “ What did they intend to
do with Berel, Mr. Melamed?” asked Miss Krinkle, speaking for the
first time.
    This was a question that he hoped would not
be asked. Indeed, when he had questioned Arthur Barnstock and
received all the details of the nefarious plan, he had wondered if
he should conceal this detail from Miss Krinkle. Yet now he decided
it would be best if she knew the truth. “They intended to drown
Berel in the Thames, after the river thawed. London can be a cruel
place, Miss Krinkle. We must thank Hashem for this frost.