“I did no such thing!” she exclaimed, her voice a loud whisper. “Fine, ye want to call me a thief? Fine. But the only thing I have done is retrieve what is rightfully mine after having it stolen from me in the first place.”
“Why would your supposedly stolen jewels be here?”
She shifted nervously, rolling her lips inward, clearly uncomfortable with the question.
“I willna answer that question,” she said, stubbornly jutting her chin up to him. “Please, let me prove what I am saying to ye,” she pleaded.
Something in her voice had him questioning his accusation of her. But he couldn’t deny what he had seen with his own eyes.
But yet, she had his curiosity piqued. “Just how do ye expect to do that?”
“Follow me to Tolton Hall. I can prove it to ye there.”
His brows lifted in surprise. If she truly were the prowler would she put forward such a request?
Aye, if she was conniving enough.
He couldn’t help himself. “I’m unfamiliar with that residence. Where is it?”
“Stonehaven.”
*
The man Lizziehad seen earlier stared at her as his jaw dropped. She had to make him believe her. The direness of her situation was not lost on her. He truly could turn her in to the viscount, who would have her prosecuted no doubt.
There would be no question of her guilt. He quite literally caught her with her hands in the viscountess’s chest of jewels. Her family would be ruined.
She was thinking that she was starting to win him over, but then his gaze hardened and she wasn’t so sure.
“Ye canna hand me over to the viscount,” she pleaded as she clenched her fists, her grandmother’s jewelry encased tightly in her fingers. She had searched far and wide. Diligently paid attention to who the thief could be.
She supposed she should be flattered the man standing before her thought her capable of pulling off such heists. But, really, now that she finally had what she’d came for, she just wanted to go back home.
“Ye are from Stonehaven?” His voice was quiet. Deep.
“Aye. I live there with my parents.”
“Are they in attendance?”
She shook her head. Nay. All the more reason to wish that he didn’t bring her to the viscount.
“Why no’?”
She threw her hands up in frustration. They needed to get out of this room. But instead, he wanted to engage in small talk. “They had other plans when the invitation arrived.”
His eyes narrowed. “Do they ken ye are here?”
Worrying her lip with her teeth, she contemplated on whether or not she should tell him the truth. In the short time she’d spoken to him, she got the sense that the truth meant a lot to him. It did to her as well, but these circumstances were out of the norm.
He sighed and pushed a hand through his honey-colored hair. “Your hesitation to answer says more than your words e’er could.”
“Please, sir. I promise ye, I am being truthful about the jewels. Truly, look in the chest. There are far more items of value there for the taking. If I was the thief dinna ye think I would take one of those or several of them? But I didna. Why? Because I got what I came for. I really can prove they belong to my family.”
The man shook his head and snorted. “What’s your name, Miss?”
“Lizzie,” she answered without hesitation. She needed to earn his trust. She thought of Mary waiting outside. She would be most upset at the predicament she currently found herself in.
“Surname?”
