“This is an early visit,” he said, his voice still gravelly from sleep. He walked with care to keep his tea from sloshing, then took a seat across from her. “Which seems a tad unnecessary to me.”
“Time is of the essence, Leonard.”
He took a deep breath and sipped his drink. It would be futile to point out that she shouldn’t address him as such. Nothing about this woman was conventional. She thieved and was a widow in her early twenties, giving her a strange independence most young women didn’t have. “How did you learn my name?” he asked instead.
She smiled, eyeing the cup in his hands. “I heard the gentlemen referring to you as Leonard last night.” Then she leaned forward. “Are you going to offer me tea?”
“I wasn’t planning on it.” He took a long, slurping sip just to make his point, then smacked his lips. “Mm. Quite good.”
She rolled her eyes. “Anyway. We have work to do, and I thought it best to get an early start.”
Leonard grimaced, lowering his cup. “I am not a person who enjoys early mornings.”
“Ah, so you are a man of the evening?”
“No.” He jerked his head. “I am not that either.”
“That might not work in our favor, for I am both.”
“Good thing this situation will not last long. Then I can go on sleeping in and be home reading by myself in the evening, and you can go on doing whatever it is that you do.”
“Except no more thieving. I made a vow.”
“Yes, you did.” He took another sip of tea, then he finally felt a bit of guilt for his rudeness as he began to waken and get his wits about him. He stood, then rang a bell. Fitzroy came a moment later.
“A pot of tea if you wouldn’t mind, Fitzroy.” Leonard turned back to Mrs. Gillingham. “Now, what is it I have to do today? Pet a tiger from the royal menagerie?”
“We need to figure out where Mr. Fagean lives and his daily habits.”
“Why?” Leonard took a few steps closer. “You will not steal this necklace back.”
She sighed, then watched as Fitzroy rolled the tea cart in. Once he left the room, she helped herself to a cup and stirred a bit of cream inside. “No. I am not planning to steal it. But I need to find a way to be introduced to him and his wife.”
“We can’t just go and ask to buy the necklace?”
With a roll of her eyes, she took a drink of her tea. “No,” she said after swallowing it down. “That would be most suspicious, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I suppose.” He leaned against the wall behind him. “I just want this ugly affair over.”
“I understand. But I promise you will be rid of me soon enough.”
“I still don’t think it necessary to start this early in the day. I will have to ask you not to show up again at such an hour.”
“That may be an impossible task.”
“Because?”
She smiled over the rim of her cup. “Because you look rather adorable when you are awoken first thing.”
His hand immediately shot to his hair. True, he hadn’t put in any pomade, but he had combed it. Was it that obvious? Feeling strangely vulnerable, he instead turned his attention to the window, pulling the drapes to the side as he glanced down the street. Sure enough, he could see her garish carriage. “Will we take your carriage?”
“I had thought of hiring one. Mine might draw attention.”
“Without a doubt.” His eyes were nearly blinded by the yellow even from this distance. “Why such an outlandish color?”
“I like the attention.”
He glanced back at her. At least she was bold enough to admit the truth, which Leonard could begrudgingly appreciate. “You didn’t seem to last night.”
