To Deceive A Duke

Chapter 12

Clarissa busts through the door, her heart racing. The pub is empty except for Chuck who is wiping down tables. He looks up as she shuts the door behind her. She points towards the office with a questioning expression.

"He arrived ten minutes ago." He informs her, swirling his rag around the wood. She inclines her head to him and marches over to the closed office door. She throws it open. Peter sits behind the desk, a book, open in front of him, a pen in his hand. Iwan turns around in the hardwood chair opposite the desk, he grins when he sees her but she doesn't glance his way. 

"Where's the map?" She demands, striding over to the side of the desk and leaning on it.

"What's going on?" Peter asks, peeved at being interrupted. 

"The map." She repeats, "Please,"

Peter looks like he wants to question her more but he reaches into one of the drawers and holds out a folded sheet. She snatches it from him and smooths out the map of London on the desk. There is a bright blue line running across the paper that marks the boundaries of her territory. The rest of the map is marked out with yellow, red, green, white and black lines. She runs her finger from the yellow section, through the black until it stops on the red. Whitechapel.

She looks up at Peter, her expression sombre.

"I had a letter from our favourite corrupt MP." She says, pulling out the parchment and tossing it towards him. "He encloses deeds signed by The Cavendish family for the ownership of all the ports in Cuthbert's territory, as well as every business and profitable building. Cavendish has taken Whitechapel."

Peter picks the papers up and scans them. "Dammit." He growls, slamming his fist on the table. "And they already have The City."

"Wha...what...?" She stutters, blinking rapidly. "I thought they were a new family." She looks down at the white section of the map. "How have they taken The City so fast?" 

"They are and they aren't," Peter says cryptically, sitting back in his chair.

"I don't...?" She waits for him to expand.

"Before London was divided, the Cavendish family controlled almost everything. Through money, power and status they built an empire. The war of the Spanish succession changed that. The French..." He winces and looks away from her. "The influx of the French, German, Italians meant that the city was overrun, the war divided the family and allowed those who were smart enough and had the power and money to chip away at their hold, including..."

"My great grandfather..." Clarissa finishes his sentence, events clicking into place.

"Exactly, and for the last 79 years, they have been fighting in the shadows to get it back. Your grandfather had been keeping his ear to the ground in the last five years, waiting for this to happen. We thought that they were still too weak to threaten us but if they have taken The City and Whitechapel...." He trails off, shaking his head.

"How did they get The City?" She asks.

"Iwan go help Chuck," Peter orders suddenly. The boy looks sulkily at the adults but he does as he is told and leaves the room. Clarissa takes the seat he left and crosses her ankles.

"Tell me about The City." She instructs, "What happened to Alderbridge?"

"He's alive. He's a puppet for Cavendish, he's an imaginary figurehead." Peter explains, "The Cavendish family are smart, they aren't going spill blood and create chaos when there are people who can be bought, people like Henry Alderbridge  "

"So all those deaths, Cuthbert's people, that was Cavendish attacking Whitechapel?" She says.

"Yes, as well as a message to outsiders, to us, a threat of what happens to those who don't cooperate," Peter says, he gestures to the deeds, "And now he's sold away his life, he has no choice."