Mr Marwick shook his head.
“Excellent. I shall stand you an excellent breakfast at The Mermaid, which I am reliably informed is the best in town, and explain just what it is you’ve done, you young Tyburn blossom.”
Aubrey gestured towards the hotel, but Mr Marwick didn’t move, his expression shifting from curiosity to indignation.
“Hold on a moment, I might be a scapegrace, some might even go so far as to label me a jackanapes, butnevera Tyburn blossom.”
Aubrey grinned, inclined to believe the fellow, who had a face of such youth and innocence it was hard to believe he was shaving yet, let alone up to such wickedness as burglary or fencing stolen goods. However, looks could be deceptive, and he would see what he made of young Mr Marwick before he made any decisions.
“All right, there’s no need to take a pet. Come along, we’ll eat first and talk later,” Aubrey said, gesturing toward the hotel. If he knew anything, Della and Vinnie would be hours yet, and he’d get someone to send them a note telling them where he was. For now, he was far too curious to discover more about his new companion and just how he’d got his hands on that brooch.
The Mermaid Hotel, Little Valentine, 7thJanuary 181
“Your late mother’s?”
Mr Marwick, or Alfie, as he had insisted Aubrey address him, looked suitably horrified by this information.
“Now, look,” Aubrey said, not wanting the fellow to think he was about to get him transported to New South Wales. “I’m not interested in you if you were not the one who stole the thing, but I want to find those responsible for the burglary and get my mother’s diamonds back. They rightfully belong to mysister. They’re a part of her dowry and, more than that, they are a connection to Mama that she ought not have had taken from her.”
“I see,” Alfie replied. He toyed nervously with his teacup, turning it round and round in the saucer. “Well, I’m not sure how I can help you to be honest. You see, I met this fellow in a pub, and the truth is, I was none too steady on my feet at the time. We were playing cards, and in pretty deep, and suddenly he produces this brooch. Well, to tell the truth, I thought it was paste, no matter his swearing it were diamonds. Hell, we all did.”
“All?” Aubrey pressed, though his information was far from what he’d hoped for.
He shrugged, his expression one of such good-natured innocence Aubrey’s heart sank. “I’m afraid I don’t know who any of them were—a right mixed bunch, I’d swear. The fellow with the brooch was older, a hulking great brute as I remember, and I think maybe a couple of them were toffs, but honestly, it’s all a blur. How I won I don’t know, and how I got home without someone clouting me over the head and robbing me is a mystery too. But there you have it.”
Aubrey wanted to shake the lad with frustration and demand he remember more details, but he’d had enough drunken nights out in his time to know it was useless. “There’s really no more you can tell me? You don’t remember where this pub was, at least?”
Alfie grimaced and shook his head. “No clue. I fell in with these rowdy fellows, who said they knew a good place, and I followed where they led. I remember a maze of back alleys and whilst I reckon we began somewhere close to the Dials, I’ve not got the foggiest where we landed.”
The Dials, Aubrey thought with dismay. Well, that was about the worst location in London, and searching anywhere in the area would be like finding a needle in a very dangerous haystack.
“I’m very sorry, sir. I’d help if I could. The truth is, I rarely drink to excess, and Alice will have my hide if she discovers it, so I’d be grateful if you’d keep mum,” he added, looking like he was far more afraid of his sister’s scolding than any trouble he might be in for handling stolen goods.
Aubrey nodded distractedly. “Well, that’s that, then.” He slumped in his chair, his heart aching as the possibility of retrieving his mother’s diamonds slipped from his grasp.
“Well, at least there’s the brooch.”
Aubrey looked at him in shock.
Alfie grinned ruefully. “You must have that back, at any rate. I know it’s not like having the complete set, but it’s something. Alice loves it, but she’ll find no pleasure in it now, knowing how it came to us. I’m afraid I’m in for a dreadful lecture, but we’ll bring it up to the hall tomorrow morning, if that suits you?”
Aubrey blinked, having assumed he’d have to negotiate a price at the very least. “You’d give it to me?”
The fellow looked sheepish and hung his head, making him look little more than a cheeky boy. “Ain’t mine to give, is it? I’m just sorry I can’t be of any further help.”
“Not your fault,” Aubrey said, picturing Vinnie’s face as he presented her with the brooch. Alfie was right. It was something, more than something. They had thought the entire set lost for good. Now they had a precious memento returned to them, and they must be grateful for that. “If not for you, we’d not havethe brooch. Vinnie will be so happy. She misses Mama rather dreadfully, and it will be such a wonderful surprise for her.”
An expression crossed the young man’s face that Aubrey could not decipher, there and gone, but Alfie turned away from him, frowning. “No doubt, but you’d best have a care and ensure she doesn’t wear it out and about, not if you don’t want your wicked uncle to hear of it and demand it back.”
Aubrey regarded the fellow in surprise. “Yes, of course. That’s an excellent observation. I hadn’t even thought of that. I’m afraid subterfuge is not my strong point.”
“No, you’re honest as the day is long, I’d wager,” Alfie said with an endearing grin now as he refilled both their teacups. “What you see is what you get.”
“I suppose that’s true, but don’t go thinking I’m a greenhorn,” Aubrey replied, rather amused by this assessment. “If you’re thinking you can take me at cards because I’m an open book, I’m afraid you are barking up the wrong tree.”
Mischievous grey eyes met his as the young man smirked, lazily stirring his tea. “Oh, aye? Confident, are you?”
“Why, you young whippersnapper!” Aubrey replied, torn between laughter and indignation at the fellow’s tone, which was perfectly calculated to bait him. To his surprise, Aubrey discovered he was enjoying himself too much to resist. “I’m tempted to teach you a lesson.”
