Please let her be safe,Amelia prayed.
It was more of a plea than anything else, really. She imagined Marjory racing home to their dilapidated little cottage, where Nancy was being watched by Mrs. Abbott, their neighbor. TheHolts had few friends. And as for family, well, it was best not to think about it.
The man turned very stiffly back to face her.
“She’s gone,” he said lightly. “She took the watch.”
“I… I did not know that she’d taken the watch.”
“She stole from me. You looked me in the eye and swore that you were not thieves.”
Amelia closed her eyes briefly. Shame stole over her face, hot and cloying.
“I know,” she said. “But I believed it when I said it. Marjory… my sister… she is trying hard to help me support our family. Things are difficult, money is tight…”
“The transportation hulks are crammed with people who had difficulties,” he snapped, his voice tight and angry. “That pocket watch would see you both locked up in gaol, if not transported. You could pretend that you knew nothing of it, and perhaps the court would believe you, but your sister? Oh, her life is over.”
Cold dread stabbed at Amelia’s stomach.
“So that is it, then? You plan to call the constables?”
He breathed in through his nose, lifting his chin. His gaze never left her. She did not allow herself to look away, either.
I should be more afraid. Perhaps he means to harm me.
But that thought didn’t sit right with her for some reason.
Amelia had never prided herself on sharp instincts, yet a distinct feeling told her that she was not going to end up floating face-down in the Thames over this matter.
Probably not, at least.
“That watch means more to me than you can imagine,” he said at last, his voice shaking.
“Then I will get it back for you,” she promised. “If Marjory has it, I shall make her give it back, I promise.”
“Why should I believe you? You have already lied once.”
“Unintentionally!”
“Perhaps you are lying unintentionally again.”
It was difficult to argue against that point.
Swallowing hard, Amelia tried a different tactic.
“Marjory is a child. Just a little child, trying to help me. I’ll pay on her behalf.”
“And what does that mean, exactly?”
She let her eyes close briefly. Visions of a moldy, filthy gaol cell flashed before her eyes tauntingly. One needed money to bribe one’s way through gaol, not simply to live comfortably but tosurvive.
Money that, of course, they did not have.
“I shall pay on my sister’s behalf,” Amelia said, her voice trembling.
She opened her eyes and fixed them firmly on the man. That was what the situation called for—a firm stare to show that she meant business.
He eyed her for a long moment.
