Chapter 10
Narrative continued
I was having a quiet think and some afternoon refreshments when I had a most welcome visitor. Miss Hanson had come to ask my advice about something regarding her brother’s situation. I knew that ransom note had been sent to her. Also I tried to impart to her that Mister Blackwood’s advice should have been sought after mine. But a total reliance on my advice she seemed reluctant to give. Perhaps my former charm has failed me in the stronger and more recent influence of Mister Blackwood. My pride suffers in that case, a woman’s heart lost, and so on. Or perhaps Faith has become more world-weary after this brush with the crime, and she has become more hesitant to trust where once she had confided all. At any rate, she looked at me in her most endearing way to ask: “Mister Davis do you think it possible that someone could be holding my brother prisoner?”
I had made sure my butler was well out of the room as I leaned nearer to her. “My dear woman, who could imagine such a man existed? I understand these might be desperate times, but…” I trailed off as I gazed into her soft feminine face and sparkling eyes. I might have a few more years behind me than Mister Blackwood, but I had to do the most with what a bounteous Nature had given me. Also my added age did not mean that I felt Miss Hanson’s womanly graces any less.
Eventually I pieced together the story from her about the ransom note, the detective’s promise to redeem the money or her brother and even some details about the meeting itself. I gather it is scheduled for this evening at some monument. I doubt the ability of Mister Blackwood to extract much information from kidnappers, but perhaps his experience is wider than mine. In the meantime I am sitting in a comfortable chair, a warm fire protecting me from the damp of an April night in Washington, and a lovely vintage wine in my glass. I have been reading a biography of Napoleon and wondering how all these new soldiers will put up with outdoor campaigns. As much as I enjoy my home I can appreciate what a man can do when the need arises. I simply hope the need, for me at least, does not arise.