“And I am Lady Alice. Now what is it you wished to tell me, Bobby? Pay the large, glowering man at my back no mind; he always looks like that.”
A small twitch on the left side of the boy’s mouth was the only indication he was amused.
“A woman I know told me about a man who was a right mean one. Roughs up people for fun, especially if he’s had too much to drink. Near enough killed a man for challenging him.”
Alice felt her pulse kick up a beat.
“There’s plenty like that around, but when she gave me his description, I thought he sounded like the man you asked me to find.”
She nodded, hope battling with anger inside her. Jackson needed to be stopped from his continued assaults on people.
“I asked her to tell me where I could find him, and she said he moves around a lot, but lately is drinking at the Rusty Hook.”
“Where is that?” Ezra demanded.
“Near the docks,” Bobby said calmly. “I slipped inside four nights in a row, and the last one I heard someone call outthe name Jackson. He matched your description, my lady, so I followed him when he left. He’s staying at No. 22, Well Yard, off Marylebone Lane, St Marylebone.”
“Thank you, Bobby, that is excellent information. Now tell me, are you hungry?”
The boy looked from her to Ezra, and then back to her. He nodded.
“Well, you come inside then, and we’ll see about changing that.”
Alice then turned and waved Ezra back.
“He’s a child, Ezra, have mercy,” Alice said.
“Who’s a child?” Maggie said, entering the kitchen.
“This boy is Bobby. He came with information for me and now needs some food. Ezra is deliberately intimidating him,” Alice added.
Maggie was really the only person who could cow Ezra. He would die for her, and when she spoke, he usually listened.
“Move yourself, husband.” Maggie pushed him in the belly. “Come inside, Bobby.”
“I don’t trust him,” Ezra muttered.
“He’s a boy, and he’s hungry. It’s not a matter of trust. It’s a matter of giving to those that don’t have enough food to fill their bellies, unlike you.”
Ezra grunted again.
“Sit. You’ll intimidate the poor lad.” Maggie waved her husband to the chairs around a table where the staff took their meals. “I’ll give him a wedge of cake. It may sweeten his sour demeanor.” She leveled him with a hard look until he sat.
“Bobby, thank you for your information, and please stay and eat a meal with my staff,” Alice said, waving the boy to the seat across from Ezra. “I have someone upstairs who needs to speak with me.”
Alice hurried back up the stairs to her rooms and quickly jotted down the address Bobby had given her. Once that was done, she checked her appearance. Happy with what she saw, she headed for the parlor to where Mr. Nevis awaited her.
A short, bald man rose to greet her.
“How can I help you, Mr. Nevis?” Alice said after she’d taken a chair across from where he’d been sitting.
“Lord Smythe has sent a request that the firm of Newbury, Fletcher, & Nevis Solicitors take over the running of his affairs. I am here to take possession of any paperwork that may be here, my lady.”
“Did my father tell you that in fact I have been running his affairs while he is living in France?”
The man gave her a tight smile that suggested he didn’t believe that for one minute.
“If you will collect the necessary papers, I shall be on my way.”
