A Matter of Temptation Read Free

cell ten. And now that prisoner has disappeared.
    “Will the warder you bribed come to tell you—for I’m certain you must have paid someone off in order to achieve your end—or will he run away in fear of his actions being discovered? Either way it matters not to me, because you’ll find yourself at Pentonville before dawn, with this over your head.” He shook it.
    “I know what you’re thinking. They’ll know it’s you and not me.” He laughed for the first time in years, but it was a sound void of warmth or merriment, and he wondered if it sent shivers down his brother’s back the way it did his own. If he was standing closer to the edge of insanity than he realized. “That’s the beauty of my plan. They won’t know, because they don’t know what I look like. They won’t know that this morning my hair was longer, my face bearded. Because the only time prisoners don’t wear the hood is when they’re in their cell, alone. Alone, constantly alone. We work in our cell, we sleep in our cell, we eat in our cell.
    “England’s innovative separate system for reforming criminals is hell on earth, John! And you shall soon bear witness to its inhumanity. Even when we’re allowed to walk in the exercise yardwith our caps covering our faces, we’re not allowed to speak. Separation and isolation are the order of the day and must be maintained. Do you know what it is to never be able to share your thoughts with another? To never share a joke, a concern, a fear, a smile, a laugh?
    “I’m sharing with you the benefits of my experience. Wear your cap and hold your tongue. Don’t even attempt to tell them that you’re not supposed to be there. They won’t listen. Don’t tell them there’s been a mistake. They won’t listen.
    “The only time you’re allowed to use your voice is when singing hymns in the chapel each day. Men weep at the chance to raise their voices in song.”
    Robert looked at the hated cap that matched the brown of his tunic and trousers. It was during his time in the chapel that he’d managed to escape. The pews consisted of high-walled stalls, each man assigned to one. One evening Robert noticed that during prayer, when he bowed his head, he could no longer see the guards, and if he couldn’t see them…he reasoned that they could no longer see him. During those few moments, he became invisible. For weeks, he had patiently used that time to work loose the boards on the floor of his individual stall. Today he’d finally succeeded at working enough boards free that he created a small hole through which he’d squeezed himself. He’d crawled beneath the chapel until he reached the main building. There, a narrowopening for ventilation had led him to the outside and freedom.
    He looked at John and again waved the cap. “You will wear it, brother, because if you don’t they’ll beat you until you put it on. Then you put it on to hide the shame of your beating. You’ll be completely alone, wondering when I’ll come for you.
    “Rest assured, brother, I’ll come as soon as I determine how to prove that I am Robert and you are John. Pray that I come to a resolution quickly.”
    A knock sounded on the door. Robert’s heart hammered unmercifully, almost painfully, against his ribs, while John began to struggle in earnest against his bonds, his cries for help muffled by the handkerchief. Robert silenced him further by pulling the pillow out from beneath John’s head, dropping it on his face, and pulling closed the thick velvet draperies that hung down from the canopy.
    He walked to the door and spoke through it. “I am indisposed. What is it?”
    “I’m sorry to bother you, Your Grace, but a Mr. Matthews has only just arrived and is in quite an agitated state. He insists he must see you immediately regarding an urgent matter involving Pentonville Prison. He is quite adamant—”
    “Tell Mr. Matthews that I’ll meet him at the back doorway, and see to it that no servants are up and