Anne Gracie - An Honourable Thief

Hugo frowned at the silhouette; it was strange and yet somehow familiar. The intruder wore loose baggy clothing, shapeless pants and a baggy tunic. He wore some sort of cap on his head, and something flapped against his back. An elusive thread of memory twitched in Hugo’s mind, but he was entirely focussed on the thief’s actions and did not pursue the thought.

The thief leapt lightly off the roof and landed cat-footed, on all fours, balanced on the high stone wall which surrounded Pennington House. He swung his legs over the wall and prepared to drop down.

Hugo raced to intercept him. Just as the thief hit the ground, he threw himself forward in a tackle, catching the thief around the legs.

“Aiee-ya!” The thief kicked out, hard, breaking Hugo’s hold.

“Oof!” Hugo, winded, but determined, grabbed again at the intruder. They rolled on the filthy cobblestones and as he clutched at the loose baggy clothing, he caught a whiff of a scent: strong, foreign, familiar.

The thief was wearing a black skull-cap pulled down over his head and dark muffler wrapped around the lower part of his face. All Hugo could see were his eyes, glinting fiercely in the gaslight. He caught hold of a skinny arm and—

“Aiee-ya!” It was as if a blunt axe had landed on his wrist. Hugo swore and let go, and in a flash the thief pulled free, rolled away from him on the cobblestones and raced swiftly along the alley. A long black pigtail bounced lightly against his back as he ran.

Hugo scrambled to his feet and gave chase.

As he rounded a corner there was a flurry of hooves. He threw himself against a wall as a brown horse bore down on him, a small figure clinging nimbly to its back. Horse and rider passed under the gaslight and Hugo gasped in surprise.

The thief was a Chinaman. The cry he had used was peculiarly Chinese. Hugo had heard coolies use it abroad. He’d not expected to hear it in London. And the clothes were unmistakable—the typical loose baggy dark indigo pants and tunic, a round black embroidered cap and most obvious of all, the long black pigtail hanging down the length of the thief’s back, bouncing and flying as the horse rounded a corner and disappeared.

Of course! No wonder the silhouette had looked odd and yet familiar. And that was where he’d smelt that scent before—in a Chinese joss house! It was some kind of incense, sandalwood perhaps.

But good God! What would a Chinaman want with the secrets of an English Government member?

Panting slightly, rubbing his sore wrist and feeling rather foolish for having been bested by a man so much smaller and lighter than himself, Hugo limped back to the front door of Pennington House and braced himself to rouse the household.

He glanced up at the gas lamps at the front of the house. They were supposed to reduce crime in London; all they’d done was make it more difficult for him. The scarf had hidden most of the rascal’s face, but those damned gas-lamps distorted everything. He’d caught a glimpse of the thief’s eyes—but in them he’d seen only the reflected blue flames of the gaslight and whoever had heard of a blue-eyed Chinaman!

He gripped the knocker and pounded on the Penningtons’ front door.

“Miserable blinkin’ weather. I’d forgotten about the miserable blinkin’ weather. That’s London for you!”

Kit glanced at the sour countenance of her maid, who was peering gloomily out of the window.

“Rain, rain all the blinkin’ time—and then, when it does finally stop, what do you get?—blinkin’ fog! However did I stand it when I was young?”

Kit tried not to smile. “Never mind, Maggie dear, we need not stay here forever, you know.”

Maggie snorted and picked up the woollen stocking she had been darning. “You can’t gull me, Miss Mischief. You’ve always hankered after a home of your own, and now we’re finally home in England—”

“But that’s just it, Maggie,” Kit interrupted, frowning. “I’m not home. I wasn’t even born in England. I don’t belong here, any more than—”

“What do you mean, you’re not home? O’ course you’re home!”

Kit smiled a little ruefully. “No. I’m not. I have no family here—no family anywhere. I’m living amongst strangers here, just as I always have.”

“Nonsense! No family? What about your auntie? Miss Rose is—”

Kit blinked in surprise. “Maggie, I thought you realised.”

Maggie frowned. “Realised what?”

Kit pulled a wry face. “Rose is no aunt of mine. Papa had no kin. She is—or was—one of Papa’s friends. You’ve met a dozen of my ‘aunts’ before.”

Maggie frowned. “I dunno, Miss Kit, Miss Rose doesn’t seem like one of those types. Your pa was always interested in more, more…”

Kit smiled. “More glamorous females? Yes, but it has been more than twenty years since he last saw Rose. Much can change in that time and Rose may well have been quite a dasher in her youth—”

Maggie stopped her with an emphatic gesture. “We’ll not discuss your pa and his hussies. Scandalous, it was!” She lifted a long white frock in delicate muslin and carefully laid it on the bed. Come on, missie, let’s have you into this.” Tossing the gown over Kit’s freshly coiffed head, she turned her around, twitching the fabric into place, examining every inch of her critically. Her eyes softened at the sight of the young woman’s flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes.

“You’re enjoying this, ain’t you, Miss Kit?”

Kit blushed and looked a little self-conscious. “Yes, Maggie. I never dreamed it would be such fun to be a young girl again. To have nothing more to worry about than what to wear and who to dance with. And Miss Singleton is so very kind. I do not care what she may have done in the past, I have not experienced such kindness in…” She sighed, shook her head and drew on her gloves briskly. “Yes. It is very agreeable.”

Maggie looked at her searchingly. “You don’t think you might like to take the opportunity to get yourself a husband, lovie?”

Kit shook her head firmly. “It’s not what I came here to do.”

“Yes, but—”

“No, Maggie. I am here under false pretences. I couldn’t possibly deceive any man into offering for me. It is one thing for a man to offer for Miss Singleton’s poverty-stricken long-lost niece—though money seems to be so important here that I cannot imagine anyone doing such a thing. But to offer for a poverty-stricken unknown adventuress daughter of Miss Singleton’s former—” She broke off hurriedly. “Well! That’s a very different matter, at any rate. Any man knowing my true background is more likely to offer me a carte blanche than a ring, and you know I wouldn’t accept that.”

“I should hope not, indeed!”

Kit laughed. “Yes, Maggie dearest, your stuffy strait-lacing has certainly rubbed off on me.” She caught Maggie’s look and amended her statement. “Well, in most areas, at least. I cannot be expected to have inherited nothing at all from Papa, now can I?” She planted a light kiss on her maid’s rosy cheek.

Maggie bridled in pleased disapproval. “Oh, get away with you, Miss Baggage! I don’t approve and you know it—and I hope I know better than to try to change your mind after all these years, so dratted stubborn you can be—but you do know they hang people here, Miss Kit. Or transport them.”

“Yes, and they chopped people’s heads and hands off in China, but I still have both my bits, don’t I?” said Kit. “You need not worry,” she added soothingly. “It is only a small commission from Papa, and not at all dangerous.”

Maggie snorted. “Don’t try to gammon me, Miss Kit. I wish you’d just forget whatever it is your pa asked you to do. He never was careful enough of your welfare. Can you not forget all that nonsense now His Nibs has passed on?”