They found that both house and inhabitants were unharmed, though the same could not be said for the invaders. Apparently, while four people had entered the house meaning to kidnap or murder the family, two had stacked kindling along an internalwall in the basement and splashed it with gin so it would catch quickly despite the cold damp conditions.
They had been piling furniture onto the stack to give fuel to the proposed fire when the neighbors discovered them. The row of old terrace houses dated back nearly to the days that London was rebuilt after the Great Fire, and had been built in brick, but even so, had the fire caught, it might well have spread along the row.
Nothing and no one could have stopped the neighbors from expressing their anger on the bodies of the invaders. Two of them were still unconscious, and all six had bruises and broken bones from the beatings they had taken.
Under that treatment, those still conscious had spilled everything they knew. However, they had not been able to name the person who hired them. A man in a pub. A man who was muffled up against the cold and who wore a cap pulled down over his head. A man who kept to the shadows.
“The buyer paid half of the reward for the attack up front,” Cornelius said. “He was to pay the other half after the job was done. The constables went to the rendezvous, but the buyer must have heard about his hirelings’ failure, because he did not turn up.”
Satisfied that Cornelius, Thomasina, their son, and the three aunts were all safe and well, Allan and Melody returned to Mayfair to find they had missed another attempted kidnapping.
“Papa,” Lydia shouted in greeting, “we fooled the kidnappers!”
Kidnappers? Allan’s immediate reaction was to grab his child and begin checking her for injuries. “Are you hurt, Lydia?” He looked wildly around and fixed his gaze on his brother-in-law. “Phineas, what happened?”
“An attempted kidnapping,” Phineas said, baldly. “The two girls delayed the kidnappers while Benjie came to fetch us.” He ruffled Benjie’s hair. “They were all very brave.”
There was more to it than that, of course. The girls, who rightfully regarded themselves as the heroines of the hour, claimed the right to tell the story.
“Cook gave us some bread to feed the sparrows, Papa,” Lydia said.
“Aunt Harmony sent Uncle Hugo to guard us,” Harriet explained. Hugo, who was hovering on the outskirts of Allan’s family group, was one of the Moriarty men. The children had adopted their regular guards as honorary uncles and aunts.
“There was shouting in the mews, and Uncle Hugo went to see what was happening.”
“I am sorry, my lord. I should have left it to my colleagues and stayed with the little ones,” said Hugo. Allan nodded in acknowledgement, but most of his attention stayed with his daughter and Melody’s Harriet.
“A man appeared in the gateway to the kitchen courtyard,” said Lydia. “He said the cat had had kittens, and if we came with him, he would show us.”
Harriet was lifting herself onto her tiptoes and back down, clearly unable to contain her excitement. “We told him that Uncle Hugo said we must stay where he left us.”
Lydia nodded, and grinned at her friend. “We asked him to bring the kittens to us.”
“He said they were too young to move.” Harriet shrugged. “He stayed in the shadow of the gateway, and kept looking around as if he was afraid of being seen.”
“The man hadn’t seen Benjie. He was on his way back inside.”
That was Lydia’s contribution, and Harriet added, “Benjie doesn’t like the cold.”
“So, I thought of the code words,” said Lydia.
The code words?Allan’s face must have indicated he didn’t understand, for Harriet explained. “Mama gave us a code to use if we were in danger. That way, if we had to send a message, such as if someone kidnapped us, we would just have to say purple pickled eggs, and she would know it was us.”
“She told Harriet and Benjie, and Harriet told me.” Lydia gave her friend a hug. “So, I said to Harriet, “I love kittens more than purple pickled eggs. Do you think Uncle Hugo would understand if we went with the nice man?”
“Benjie was so smart,” said Harriet, casting her cousin an approving smile. “He rushed off inside. I argued with Lydia about staying where we were told, and she argued back, and the man just watched.”
Lydia was bouncing now. “And then the guards came and caught the man and his friends, and Uncle Baldwin says it was because of us!” She hugged her friend.
Allan, his head teeming with all the ways things could have gone wrong, felt his legs grow weak with sheer relief, so he dropped onto his knees and held out his arms for his daughter.
Melody, he noticed, was doing the same with her daughter and nephew.
“I am so sorry, my lord,” said Hugo, again, hanging his head and adding, in an undertone, “Mrs. Moriarty is going to kill me.”
“Uncle Hugo told us to stay where the uncle who was at the window could see us,” said Lydia. “So, we did. Do not blame Uncle Hugo, Papa.” The Moriarty men had posted one of their number at an upper window to watch for assaults on the house, such as the one that drove Phineas and Harmony from their home and last night’s one in Smithfield.
“Yes, and he punched the bad man very hard,” Harriet pointed out.
