Verity Sparks, Lost and Found Read Online Free

Papa. “Well done!” He gave Judith a great smacking kiss on the cheek, nearly crushed Daniel’s hand in a hearty handshake, and then reeled off more congratulations in German and Russian.
    I hugged them both, and then Kathleen came in with the tureen of
consommé
. Of course Judith told her too, and she ran back to the kitchen to get Mrs Reilly and Mary-Kate. There were smiles and congratulations all round.
    “I knew it,” said Mrs Reilly with a smug look. “I’ve had eight of me own, and I can always tell.”
    We were just starting the pudding when Daniel revealed another piece of news.
    “We can’t stay where we are, not with a baby. We’ve taken the lease on a house in Richmond.”
    Richmond was a part of Melbourne in between the city and the Yarra River. If they moved there, no longer could I simply walk to visit. I would have to go in the carriage, or catch the train into the city and a hansom cab out to Richmond.
    “Oh,” I said, disappointed.
    “Don’t worry,” said SP. “I’m staying in St Kilda.”
    “But still – it will make it much harder for me to assist with confidential inquiries. Have you made any progress on the Ecclethorpe case?”
    Papa tapped my hand gently. “No business talk at the dinner table,” he whispered.
    “I’m sorry, Papa.”
    But we’ll have plenty of time to discuss it later, I thought. For Papa had a supper engagement with Mr Rowland, and when we retired to the drawing room for coffee, he went upstairs to change.

    Before I go on, I must tell you a little about the Ecclethorpe case. Before we left for Australia, the firm of Bustard, Hawk and Chaffinch from Halifax in Yorkshire had engaged the Confidential Inquiry Agency on behalf of Mr Josiah Ecclethorpe. He was the inventor and manufacturer of Ecclethorpe’s Equine Elixir and other remedies. He was searching for his daughter, Lavinia. Six years ago, aged seventeen, she’d eloped to Australia with her sweetheart, and Mr Ecclethorpe had promptly disowned her. Now he was sorry. He was paying the Inquiry Agency to find her and convince her to come home.
    Our case file was pitifully thin. Our only facts were these:
    Lavinia Ecclethorpe and Everard Randall were married at St Helen’s Church in Bishopsgate on the 6th of May, 1873.
    The following day, they sailed for Australia aboard the
Barnacle
.
    The couple landed at Williamstown in Melbourne on the 17th of August.
    We hadn’t been able to trace them after that. The only picture we had of Lavinia was taken on her seventeenth birthday. It showed a very pretty dark-haired girl wearing a pearl necklace and a hideous satin ball gown. She looked young and innocent, but she must have had a bit of gumption to have eloped and then travelled halfway around the world with her new husband.
    Daniel and SP placed advertisements in all the major Australian newspapers. At first, they simply asked Mrs Everard Randall, formerly Miss Lavinia Ecclethorpe of Eccle Court, Yorkshire, to contact them in order to learn something to her advantage.
    After a month, they placed another advertisement as well, offering a reward to any friend or acquaintance of the lady who could provide information. Still no replies. It was puzzling. If only I’d had my gift, I’m sure I could have come up with some clues. After all, last year, simply by holding a letter and concentrating, I’d been able to tell that our client’s missing son was not only well and happy, but on his honeymoon at the seaside! But there was no use crying over spilt milk. There must be someone, somewhere, who knew something about Lavinia Randall.

    “Have you made any progress on the case, SP?” I asked, when Papa was safely out of earshot.
    “No,” he said regretfully. “It should have been an easy assignment. But since Lavinia’s husband left England owing a thousand pounds in gambling debts, we think he might have covered his trail somehow. Perhaps he used a false name. We just don’t know.”
    “You’re still placing