“I wonder if I could say a word or two to you,” Mrs. Waverly said. She twisted her hands together. It was the first time he had seen anything besides overweening confidence in her. “It is about my daughter. I want to explain something.”
He rested against the stairwell wall. “I am listening.”
“I want you to know that she is not by nature like me. She is not truly one of us. I saw how you watched her while we were in her chamber. I saw the expression in your eyes. I fear that you are drawing conclusions about her character that are not accurate or fair.”
“She has it in her to be not only one of you, but one of the best of you.”
“That is true. My husband saw that very early. He began teaching her and she learned quickly. She could work a lock better than I could by the time she was nine. She proved to be nimble and fearless. But . . . she also began to question the why of it. To me more than her father. By the time she was twelve, I could tell that, despite her abilities, she would never do.” She laughed quietly. “One time we came back from a party with a lovely little cameo brooch. Amanda discovered it had a hidden spring and that it opened. Inside was a snip of hair. It upset her terribly that this was not an ordinary bauble, but a treasured one. She argued for days that we had to take it back. You can see the problem, I am sure. A thief cannot be sentimental like that. She can’t go returning brooches if she discovers they contain personal meaning.”
“It was not returned, I assume.”
“Her father left soon after. It would be too dangerous to return it to where it had been. However, since she continued nagging me about it, I took her to the house one night and we tossed it over the wall. Hopefully it was found.”
“Her conscience became inconvenient for you. Is that why you put her in a school?”
“She did not belong with me any longer. She was better off at that school.”
“She would not steal for you so you cast her adrift.”
Mrs. Waverly’s eyes narrowed. “It was a good school full of well-born girls, not a small boat on the ocean. And I had no choice.”
You could have chosen not to be a thief any longer. He did not say it, but her expression firmed as if she heard him anyway.
“I had hoped to see you, but not to talk about this,” she said stiffly. “My daughter never really introduced us. I want to know who you are.”
“I am Langford.”
Astonishment, then dismay. She closed her eyes, shaking her head. “A duke. Oh, Amanda, what have you done?”
* * *
Gabriel found a seat in the public room of the inn and called for some ale. Around him, other travelers and some local men raised a din of high spirits and drunken pleasure. A group of fellows standing near his table enjoyed a hearty camaraderie.
He had drunk half of his ale before they shifted around, permitting a view of the far side of the chamber. Two heads bent near each other, holding a conversation at a table there. He picked up his ale and walked over.
“Why didn’t you send up word you were here, or come up yourselves?” He slid onto a bench next to Stratton while he spoke.
“I would have, but Stratton here has more delicacy. We arrived late, and he thought you and Miss Waverly might be occupied,” Brentworth said.
“Is it done? Was the dagger delivered?”
Stratton shook his head. “It is here. It is not yet in the hands of the man you seek, but still with the one who is carrying it there.”
Gabriel looked around the chamber. “Which one is this Pritchard?”
“He has now gone above. First, he hired the private dining room—”
“Which meant we could not,” Brentworth said. “He also takes the best chambers, which means we cannot.” He gestured to the crowd. “We arrived late enough that there was only one left so we are sharing.” He leaned in. “Do you know how long it has been since I have shared a bed with another man?”
“I don’t know why you are complaining,” Stratton said. “You are the one who snores. Last night, your chamber did not even adjoin mine and I could hear the goose honking all night.”
“Why is he here?” Gabriel interrupted. “He is all but back already. The house is barely half an hour away at most by horse, and that is at a slow walk.”
“As I was saying, he first took the private dining room and ordered an entire joint of beef with all the trimmings. We watched the feast go in along with a bottle of very good wine. Now he is availing himself of a chamber above,” Brentworth said. “It has been like that the whole way. He is living very high, and enjoying it enormously. I think he dallied here until morning so he could enjoy it yet again.”
“Which means it probably is not his money,” Stratton said. “The bills he is getting would make most men swoon.”
“Let that be a lesson for all of us, gentlemen,” Brentworth said. “If you hire a man to engage in nefarious deeds for you, do not allow his expenses to be carte blanche.”
