‘Very well, that’s settled,’ said Sherry, giving his horses the office to start again. ‘What we have to do now is to decide what the devil I’m to do with you when I get you to London.’
‘You said you would buy me some new clothes,’ Hero reminded him, not without a touch of anxiety.
‘I’ll do that, of course, but the thing that’s worrying me a trifle is where you are to sleep tonight,’ confessed Sherry. ‘We shan’t have time to be married today, you know.’
‘No, not if we are to go shopping,’ agreed Hero. ‘I could come home with you, couldn’t I?’
‘No, certainly not! Wouldn’t do at all!’ responded Sherry decidedly. ‘Besides, I haven’t a home. I mean, I live in a lodging off St James’s Street, and it’s not a situation that would suit you. What’s more, there’s no room for you. I suppose I could take you to Sheringham House, but I shouldn’t think you’d be very comfortable there, with old Varley and his wife in charge of the place, and everything under holland-covers.’
‘Oh, no! Please don’t take me there!’ begged Hero, quite daunted by such a prospect.
Jason, who had been listening with the greatest interest to the conversation, interposed at this point to give it as his opinion that nothing could be more prejudicial to the smooth conduct of the elopement than for Varley, whom he described as a tattling old chub who could be counted on to whiddle the whole scrap, to get wind of the lay. The Viscount, who, in common with every other young blood, was fond of interlarding his conversation with cant terms, found no difficulty in understanding this dark warning. On the whole he agreed with it, but he said with some severity that these strictures on an old family retainer had their origin in Varley’s discovery of an attempted theft of his watch-and-chain, some months previously.
‘And that puts me in mind of something I forgot!’ he exclaimed, turning his head over his shoulder. ‘Dashed if I wasn’t in such a pucker when I left home that it went clean out of my head! I don’t know what you stole while we were there, but you can’t have been two days in the place without biting something. Hand it over!’
‘Keep your glims on the road, guv’nor, keep your glims on the road!’ Jason besought him. ‘I never mills any ken of yours! I’ll cap downright I never did, nor I never will!’
‘Jason!’ said his lordship, in minatory accents.
The Tiger gave a sniff. ‘I forked a couple of meggs from the tallow-faced old cull,’ he admitted sulkily. ‘He never tipped me a Jack, he didn’t.’
‘Do you mean you filched a couple of guineas from my uncle?’ demanded Sherry.
‘Well, how was I to know you didn’t want him forked?’ asked Jason. ‘You never said nothing to me about it, guv’nor, nor I didn’t think he was a friend o’ yourn!’
‘Oh, well, if that’s all, there’s no harm done!’ said Sherry cheerfully. ‘Not but what it was probably my money, if we only knew.’
‘Does he always steal things, Sherry?’ whispered Hero, round-eyed.
‘Oh, yes, always! He can’t help it, you know.’
‘But is it not very awkward?’
‘No, it doesn’t worry me,’ Sherry replied simply. ‘Never takes anything of mine. It used to be a devilish nuisance when he would keep on forking my friends – he had my cousin Ferdy’s watch five times before I broke him of it – but he don’t do that now, and in any event most people know that if they lose anything when they’ve been with me they have only to tell me about it. Always hands over the booty if I ask him for it. That reminds me! Hi, Jason! Don’t you dare steal anything from this lady! Mind, now! I’ll turn you off without a character if she misses so much as a handkerchief!’
‘You wouldn’t never, guv’nor!’ gasped the Tiger, horrified.
‘Well, no,’ admitted Sherry. ‘I dare say I wouldn’t. But I’d break every bone in your body, so don’t you forget it!’
This merciful mitigation of the threat appeared to relieve the Tiger’s mind. He heaved a sigh, and very handsomely offered to allow himself to be nibbled to death by ducks if he should so far forget himself as to take even a pin from his prospective mistress.
The Viscount, accepting this assurance, told Miss Wantage that she might rest at ease. ‘Matter of fact, I don’t suppose hewould think of robbing you,’ he confided. ‘Still, we may as well be on the safe side. Queer little fellow! Do anything in the world for me, and damme if I know why!’
‘How old is he?’ enquired Hero.
‘Haven’t a notion, my dear. Don’t think he has either. Shouldn’t think he can be more than eighteen or nineteen, though.’
‘He’s so very small!’
‘Oh, there’s nothing in that! Trained for a jockey at one time, till they kicked him out of the stables for thieving. You know, I’ve been thinking, Kitten, and it’s my belief I’d best take you to Grillon’s.’
‘Had you, Sherry? Where is that?’
‘Albermarle Street. It’s a hotel. Devilish flat and respectable, but that can’t be helped.’
‘Will you stay with me there?’ Hero asked, a little nervously.
‘Good God, no. Thatwouldmean the devil to pay! We shall have enough to do as it is, concocting some kind of a tale to account for a chit of your age jauntering about without a chaperon, or an abigail. Yes, by George, and you haven’t any trunks either! We ought to have brought a cloak-bag, and a few bandboxes. Grillon’s will never take you in without! Why didn’t I think of that before?’
