Blast! If Miss Doyle was to attend Ascot and a ball, she’d need the proper clothing.
Well, at least it gave him a purpose for being out. He’d order the necessary items from Mrs. Halford and then schedule a meeting at the house in Dalston. Westbrook wouldn’t be there, of course, and for a moment Henry wondered if he’d need to go in disguise. He was supposed to be distancing himself from the notorious rakes.
Chapter 9
Ah, this was his favorite place to be, outside of his library, of course.
Henry sipped from brandy, his legs stretched out before him, legs crossed at the ankles and his stockinged feet resting on a small table. His fellow Devils were as comfortably arranged in the large sitting room in the house in Dalston and a few stood beside a window enjoying cheroots.
“Does anyone know if the theft has been solved?” Mr. Declan Keegan asked.
Henry glanced at his friend. “What theft?”
“The theft, in Mayfair, only a few doors down from yours,” Mr. Julian Ashford answered as if Henry should already know about it.
Alarm shot through Henry. “There was a theft near my home? What did they take? Was anyone injured?” Miss Doyle was in his home. Of course, there were several servants who could offer protection, but none could protect her as well as Henry.
“The thieves broke in while the family was away, tied up the servants, and took the Egyptian artifacts that were going to be handed over to the British Museum,” explained Mr. Michael Darton.
Pickmore stood and crossed to the sideboard where he refilled his glass. “Yes, I read about the theft at Lord Edgeworth’s home. I had been by the day earlier to view the display. It was rather impressive.” Pickmore turned to the gathering. “He even had the sarcophagus laid out so visitors could view the mummy.”
“Good God,” Henry muttered. If that didn’t give members of household nightmares, he wasn’t quite certain what would. “And all of that was taken.”
“Only the sarcophagus was left behind. They even took the mummy,” Lord Raphael Clarke answered. “Bow Street assumed the sarcophagus was too heavy to carry.”
“Have other homes been robbed?” Henry asked, still concerned with Miss Doyle’s safety.
“No, only Edgeworth.”
That didn’t mean that everyone else was safe from intrusion and for those reasons, he’d make certain his home was not vulnerable to thieves, and that Miss Doyle was protected. “If all of you knew, how come I didn’t?” Henry demanded.
“It’s in all of the newssheets,” Pickmore answered.
Probably in the very ones scattered across his library—the ones he tried to read but couldn’t concentrate on because he allowed himself to be distracted by the presence of Miss Doyle.
What other news had he missed?
“Why the blazes would someone want a mummy,” Mr. Rhys McNaught asked from his perch beside the window where he smoked a cheroot.
Pickmore shrugged. “There is still value in such an item, though I don’t know who would purchase it. If they approached the British Museum, they’d want to know how they came by it, thus they’d be arrested for the theft.”
“Well, enough about mummies and artifacts,” Lord Oliver Sellers proclaimed. “We’ve plans to make and we are now one less Devil.”
“Norbright is lost to us,” Keegan lifted his glass in a toast.
“Witnessed the vows. He’s relinquished being a Devil for the arms of one woman,” Ashford shook his head with sadness.
They all knew Norbright had married a teacher at the Wiggons’ School for Elegant Young Ladies at Christmas. He’d gone there to capture French spies being smuggled into England but ended up with a wife instead.
“This too, will be my last visit, gentlemen,” Henry announced. “But my heart goes with you and I look forward to reading about your debauchery in the gossip rags.” He toasted his fellow Devils.
“Yet, I’ve returned.” Pickmore grinned. “So all is not lost.”
The group chuckled, glad to have Pickmore back in their ranks.
“Then I will need to come up with something especially scandalous to announce your return,” Darton declared.
“You were most recently in India,” Clarke considered thoughtfully. “Perhaps Kama Sutra should be introduced to the Devils, under your guidance of course.”
