“I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
“’Ow much do you want for ’elping my granddaughter out of ’erpredicament, as you call it?”
“I don’t want anything.” Harry frowned. “I did as any gentleman would.”
“For your silence, then.”
“That cannot be purchased either,” he said evenly. “You have my word, however, that I would not harm a young lady’s reputation.”
“My Tessie is a lady,” Black declared.
Deciding it wise not to disabuse the other of the notion, Harry said nothing.
“Sent ’er to the same finishing school wot trained theton’s broods. My Tessie’s as accomplished as any nob’s daughter. Speaks French like a Frog, plays violin like a maestro, and paints like that fellow wot did that chapel’s ceiling.”
Harry wondered what the point of this was.
“Thing is, she’s clever. Got brains as well as looks. Takes after me in that respect—ain’t from ’er father’s side, that’s for certain.” Black snorted.
It was a well-known fact that Bartholomew Black did not hold his son-in-law, Malcolm Todd, in high regard. Inspector Davies had described Mavis’ second husband and owner of a chain of brothels as a cold-blooded and ambitious man. Miss Thérèse-Marie Todd was, in actuality, Todd’s daughter from his first marriage, which meant she had no blood tie to Black. Nonetheless, she was Black’s only grandchild and the apple of his eye.
“Now some men, they don’t know ’ow to ’andle a classy female like my Tessie.” Black leaned forward, his gaze keen. “What’s your opinion o’ spirited, intelligent females, eh?”
As Harry had four spirited and intelligent sisters, he said honestly, “I think highly of them, sir.”
“Good. You’re ’ired.”
“Hired?” He stared at his host. “To do what?”
“To protect my Tessie, o’ course. To be her bodyguard,” Black said impatiently.
What the devil?“Why, er, does she need a guard?”
“I’m the most powerful man in the stews. Got more enemies than a dog ’as fleas. I’m constantly exterminating vermin, and I can’t be worrying about ’er welfare while I’m doing it.”
As the cutthroat’s expression darkened, speculation ran through Harry’s head. Who were Black’s enemies? Was the fire at The Gilded Pearl Black’s way of “exterminating” them? Was there a hidden motive that, once uncovered, could pin Black to the crime?
Keep him talking.“Vermin, sir?”
“Ev’rywhere I look. And the worst pestilence o’ all? Peel’s Bloody Gang. More plentiful than lice, those bastards.”
Harry’s gut clenched at Black’s derogatory reference to the police.Does he know I’m one of them? Is this some cat-and-mouse game he’s playing?
“You have trouble with the police, sir?” he said cautiously.
“Peelers ain’t nothingbuttrouble. They’re the real threat to an Englishman’s liberty.” Black’s beringed hand clenched the arm of his chair. “If I ’ad my way, I’d squeeze every one o’ those nits ’til they bloody popped.”
At least the animosity didn’t seem aimed at Harry.
“Point is, I got my ’ands full,” the cutthroat went on. “I need to know that my Tessie’s out o’ ’arm’s way. I’ve plans to get ’er out o’ my world, to launch ’er into thetonwhere she belongs.”
Thinking of the naughty card-wielding, trouser-clad mischief maker, Harry doubted that a catapult could accomplish the feat.
“Indeed,” he said in neutral tones.
“Got a nob lined up. Cove’s got a title so mossy it’ll open any door for her. Problem is, Tessie don’t agree with my plan.” Black scratched irritably at his wig. “She’s gotten accustomed to doing as she pleases. Ain’t ’er fault, mind you. ’Er father’s ne’er given a piss ’bout anything but ’is own ’ide, and my daughter Mavis ain’t got the constitution to manage the minx. Result being, Tessie’s always danced to ’er own tune. Now she chafes at the idea o’ marriage—says she wants to stay by my side. As if I’d let ’er rot away on the shelf. That’s why I need you to keep an eye on ’er.”
Harry was no nanny. “Seems to me what she needs is a female companion.”
