Charlotte House Affair 01 - My Particular Friend

were soon out of the sight of the party. I marvelled that neither our presence nor departure had been remarked upon. We then made our way to the road and walked perhaps a quarter mile until we found our carriage waiting to take us home.

Explanations
    Upon our return, Charlotte immediately despatched five messages. Two of the messages were sent to Miss Bassett and Miss Chivington, two to Mr Jenkins and Mr Sunderland and the last to Mr Wallace.
    Of course, we also had to inform Mrs Fitzhugh of all that had happened, but only after a substantial meal and hot drink. I was telling her of the moment when both men fired and then flew backward. The gasp she produced informed me as to my skill at telling tales.
    ‘I was horrified at what had happened, and so was Charlotte. She even stood and gave away our concealment.’
    ‘That was unwise,’ Mrs Fitzhugh said, looking at Charlotte.
    ‘I admit I was momentarily alarmed,’ Charlotte said, ‘and my reaction was made more severe by the thought that my reasoning had proved faulty. Fortunately it was not, merely my appreciation for the extent that the gentlemen would go was insufficient.’
    ‘But surely your reasoning was at fault,’ I said. ‘They neither fired dumb nor announced a reconciliation. Instead they took aim at one another and only a kind Providence …’
    ‘Oh, please Jane, it was nothing of the sort. It was all staged so skilfully that even I was deceived, and I must credit Mr Sunderland’s ingenuity. He may now retire from the field honourably, and with the scar to prove how far he has gone to defend his good name.’
    ‘You mean Mr Sunderland deliberately shot Mr Jenkins where he was protected by his flask and Mr Jenkins …’ but I could not complete my statement for it sounded hopelessly impossible.
    ‘Don’t be facetious, Jane, no one could be so good a shot with a pistol, and surely Mr Jenkins is not so good a shot as to merely graze Mr Sunderland’s cheek. I think you will find the solution here.’ #
    She stood and with a look of absolute triumph reached her hand into a pocket and …
    ‘Oh, they are in the other pocket,’ she said, sheepishly. She then reached into her other pocket and extending her hand produced three small balls upon it.
    ‘Those are pistol balls?’ Mrs Fitzhugh asked.
    ‘Yes, I …’
    ‘You took those from the ground as we were leaving,’ I said.
    Charlotte looked annoyed at my interruption and perhaps her failure at producing the desired dramatic effect, and said, ‘Just so. And these are the proof of their subterfuge.’ She said the last with some drama.
    ‘They look like ordinary pistol balls,’ Mrs Fitzhugh said.
    ‘Then take them, Margaret.’
    She took the balls from Charlotte and weighed them in her hands. ‘They are curiously light,’ she remarked and then handed them to me. The balls were indeed very light.
    ‘Of what are these made?’ I asked.
    ‘I think they are made of dried clay and then wrapped in lead leaf. See where I have scraped one?’
    I examined them and saw that one indeed displayed a dark brown colour underneath a thin lead covering.
    ‘Oh, I see,’ I said.
    ‘I do not understand,’ Mrs Fitzhugh said.
    ‘These balls are harmless,’ Charlotte explained. ‘They have not been fired and will turn to powder once … uh, fired.’ She smiled at the double meanings of the word.
    ‘But how could they hope to maintain this deception? Surely the seconds …’ I said, about to accuse the seconds of complicity, but then remembered that Charlotte had earlier suggested their involvement.
    ‘Yes, Mr Sunderland’s second is surely a party to this, although Mr Purcell need not be so. Mr Arkwright loaded the pistols and affirmed everything was proper and Mr Purcell may have took him at his word. The balls look realistic enough to have fooled anyone who had not handled them.’ #
    ‘But how was this accomplished? If the balls are harmless, how can you explain their injuries?’ Mrs Fitzhugh asked, understandably confused. As she asked her question, however, my mind raced as I thought of the earlier proceedings.
    ‘It was prepared in advance. Mr Sunderland’s face was quite concealed by his muffler. A hot poker?’ I suggested.
    ‘That is my thought,’ Charlotte confirmed. ‘It would take some nerve and likely the cooperation of Mr Arkwright to produce the desired effect, although I suspect that the effect produced was more severe than the one desired. And you will recall Mr Jenkins