“How old are you?”
“I’m in my thirteenth year.”
Trevor’s stomach lurched. What happened in this young boy’s life to make him want to work for a man like Macgregor? “How long have you been stealing?”
“For three years now.”
“You say you don’t have parents. Did they die?”
Nodding, the boy’s gaze dropped to his lap as he twisted his fingers. “Aye. In a house fire.”
“Why are you not in an orphanage or living with relatives?”
“No relatives, and the orphanage didn’t want me, m’lord.”
How odd.“Please explain. How could the orphanage not want you?”
Norman looked up, frowning. “The man who had come to take me out of school after my parents died, told me that.”
“Was Macgregor this man?”
“No. But after a few days, the man who took care of me, sold me to Macgregor.”
“Soldyou?”
“Aye.”
How utterly ridiculous. But then, Trevor didn’t know the ways of this class of people. “Tell me all you can about Louisa?”
Just as Norman opened his mouth, the vehicle stopped. Trevor glanced out the window and noticed they were in front of a bakery. Once the footman opened the door, Trevor jumped down with the boy and walked into the shop. He purchased whatever the lad wanted—which was quite a bit. Trevor smiled, remembering when Louisa ate so heartily as if she hadn’t eaten for months. His heart twisted again, and with it came anger. Macgregor needed to be stopped immediately.
After they climbed back in the landau, the boy stuffed his face with pastries. If Norman had any manners before, he definitely didn’t have them now. Although Trevor didn’t want the lad to speak with his mouth full of food, Trevor wanted to know what Norman knew about Louisa.
“Will you now tell me how you know Louisa?”
“Aye,” he garbled and wiped the cuff of his sleeve across his mouth. “She worked for Macgregor. She was his best.”
“Why? Because she could steal more?”
“That, and because she was so quick, none of her victims knew she was stealing from them.”
Trevor nodded. “Continue.”
“Macgregor favored Louisa because she taught the rest of us how to steal. And, I think he liked her because she was pretty.”
Trevor gnashed his teeth. He prayed that man hadn’t touched her in an improper manner. The mere idea had bile rising to his throat. “Do you know anything about her past? How she came to be with Macgregor?”
Norman shook his head. “All I knows is her family died, too.”
Trevor’s heart dropped. “All of them?”
“Aye. And the man who got her from her boarding school sold her to Macgregor.”
Curiosity niggled its way into Trevor’s mind. Louisa’s story sounded very similar to Norman’s. “Do you know if she knew this man?”
Norman shrugged. “A few times I heard her mention he was her friend’s uncle.”
“Did she say his name?”
