The Gentleman Thief. Deborah Simmons

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      “And well you should be grateful,” Lady Culpepper said. “I have refused all callers today, as befitting my distraught condition. So tell me, what is this matter of grave importance you have to discuss? Do you know anything about my necklace?” Georgiana nodded, and the older woman leaned forward, one bony hand clutching the mahogany edge of the chair. Her eyes glittered shrewdly, and Georgiana realized that Lady Culpepper was no fool.

      “Well?” she asked impatiently.

      “I have reviewed the incident with the information at my disposal and have narrowed down the suspects to a likely few,” Georgiana answered. At Lady Culpepper’s odd look, she added, “I consider myself most adept at the solving of mysteries and hope to come to a definite conclusion soon. However, I would like to speak with the servants, if I may, and ask you a few questions.”

      “Who are you?” Lady Culpepper demanded.

      “Georgiana Bellewether, my lady,” she answered, wondering if the woman was forgetful. If so, that might put a different slant on the case, making it more difficult to ascertain the time of the theft.

      “A nobody!” Lady Culpepper said in an imperious tone. “Just what makes you think you can barge in here—”

      “But you invited me, my lady,” Georgiana protested, earning a rebuking glance for her interruption.

      “You, young lady, are impertinent! I agreed to see you because I thought you knew something about my stolen necklace!”

      “But I do!” Georgiana said. “I can help you, if—”

      “Bah! The help of a silly girl who thinks she knows more than her superiors!”

      “I assure you that my abilities are quite well-known at home, though here in Bath—”

      “Home! A tiny village of no importance, I am sure!” Lady Culpepper sniffed, and Georgiana decided another tack was called for at once.

      “What have you to lose, my lady?” she asked. “I want no reward, but only wish to assist you as well as I may.”

      A look of avarice flashed in the older woman’s eyes at the mention of a reward. “And you will most certainly have none,” she confirmed. A moment passed in which Georgiana met her glare impassively, and finally Lady Culpepper sniffed, her chin held high. “Very well. Ask your questions, but quickly, for I have more important matters demanding my attention than to indulge the whims of every silly girl in Bath.”

      In the few minutes that Lady Culpepper allotted her, Georgiana discovered that the jewel case had been found open, its other contents left intact. The door was locked, and the servant stationed to watch it swore that none had entered.

      “And why did you set the servant to guard your room? Does he do so at all times or only during entertainments at your home?” Georgiana asked.

      Lady Culpepper appeared startled by the question, then she lifted her chin to look down her nose at Georgiana. “That, young lady, is none of your affair. Enough of these questions!”

      “But, my lady!” Georgian protested. Unfortunately, all her efforts to see the premises were met with haughty refusals, as were her requests to talk to the servants, while Lady Culpepper grew increasingly short-tempered.

      For her part, Georgiana was unimpressed with the noblewoman. The more she spoke, the more Lady Culpepper resembled a fishwife, and Georgiana wondered about her antecedents. Biting back a sigh, she persevered as best she could. “Can you think of any servant or guest at the party who would do such a thing?” Georgiana asked.

      “Certainly not!” Lady Culpepper answered. “One hopes that none of one’s acquaintances is a foul criminal! Of course, this is Bath, not London, and it is no less than what I deserve for opening my home to the ill-bred rabble that frequent this city. I assure you that as soon as I have my jewels back, I will be returning to London, where I am far more selective in my invitations.”

      Georgiana refrained from mentioning the higher incidence of theft in the more notorious city, but nodded in a placating manner before continuing. “You have no enemies or those who might seek to target you in particular?”

      Georgiana noted the sudden paling of the older woman’s face with interest. Whether Lady Culpepper was angered by the very suggestion of malice or by the truth of it, Georgiana could not tell. “Begone with you, child! I have wasted enough of my time with this nonsense!” she said, her tone brooking no opposition.

      With a wave of dismissal, Lady Culpepper called for the butler to show Georgiana out, and there was nothing to do but thank the ungracious woman for her time. As Georgiana took her leave, she could not help feeling dissatisfied. She was struck by the uncharitable notion that the obnoxious woman deserved to have her jewels stolen, but firmly quelled such thoughts, for it would not do to let emotions color her investigation.

      Once outside, Georgiana told the startled butler that she was going to have a look around the grounds and walked into her ladyship’s garden without a qualm, leaving him sputtering on the doorstep. She made her way slowly to the rear of the building, where she stood staring up at the reported locations of the bedroom windows. The view was much better in the daylight, and Georgiana noticed an arched pediment that curved above them—as well as upon the windows below.

      Blinking at the sight, she wondered if, instead of scaling the side of the building, the culprit had simply slipped into another room and out onto the pediment to climb inside Lady Culpepper’s bedroom. The footing for such a feat looked quite precarious, and Georgiana’s heart began hammering fitfully at the idea, for she did not like heights in the slightest. However, an agile man who was unafraid and trained in such dexterous movements might well—”Harrying the plants again?”

      Georgiana was so lost in thought that the abrupt sound of a caustic voice close by startled her and she whirled around, sending her reticule swinging wildly. It connected quite firmly with the form of a man she had not realized had come to stand behind her.

      “Oomph!” he said, laying a hand upon his patterned silk waistcoat. “What do you have in there, rocks?”

      Georgiana’s gaze flew from the slender gloved fingers to the handsome face, where one black eyebrow climbed upward, and she blinked in horror. “Ashdowne! I mean, my lord! I beg your pardon!”

      The marquis’s beautiful mouth turned down at the corners as he smoothed the elegant material, drawing Georgiana’s attention across his broad shoulders and wide chest to his flat abdomen. The sight seemed to make her own far more rounded stomach dip and pitch, and with effort, Georgiana tore her gaze away and back to his face. “What are you doing here?” she asked suspiciously.

      The black brow lifted again, above eyes brimming with distaste. It was a look Georgiana recognized from the night before, and once more she felt like an insect that the marquis found particularly annoying. While she stared, he tilted his head to the side as if to better study the strange specimen that was she.

      “I’ve come to offer Lady Culpepper my condolences, of course,” he said, his tone implying that his movements and their cause were none of her business. “And you?” he asked, glancing rather pointedly toward the side of the building that had so occupied her interest.

      “Yes, I was just doing that myself,” she muttered, trying to marshal her wits. If Ashdowne had been attractive at night, dressed all in black СКАЧАТЬ