The Thief of Hearts

by Elizabeth Ellen Carter

  “It is truly magnificent, Count,” she breathed, unable to take her eyes off it. No wonder this man Van Dyke coveted it for himself. Even the beautiful, brilliant white diamond butterfly brooch taken from the Barrington Arcade could not compare with this singularly magnificent gem.

  Reluctantly, she handed back the stone. Valois lovingly fitted the treasure into its secret compartment, then closed and locked the box, which then went back into the safe. And with a turn of the handle and a spin of the dial, the safe was sealed.

  “Now you have seen my little treasure and the length I go to protect it, I would like to hear, dear Inspector, your plans in detail to keep it safe during the exhibition here at the hotel.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Caro put a hand flat to her stomach and looked at her reflection in the mirror.

  Her gown was the colour of her favourite caramel fudge. The soft pleated satin of the neckline was gathered at the shoulders which were decorated with feathers of tan and black. The bodice was covered in matching hail spot tulle. The line of the gown was nipped in at the waist and fell to just above her ankles. The skirt shimmered as she walked.

  It was a magnificent gown, designed by a professional costumier selected by Tobias and fitted just for her, with Count Valois footing the bill. She winced a little at the cost, especially considering not one but two gowns had been made – and one of them would never be worn.

  Spectacular though it was, the gown was something she would never have chosen for herself, but Tobias had explained to everyone that for the performance to work, every eye - men’s and women’s alike – needed to be focused on her.

  “It's Caro who will be the real star of the show,” he had told them. “My job is to be unobtrusive until just the right moment.”

  And for the rest of the week she and Tobias rehearsed several hours a day in a salon at the lavish Richmond home of the Count’s friend, the Duke of Teck. Each night on her return home, Caro collapsed into bed to sleep dreamlessly until one of the maids woke her at seven in the morning to start all over again.

  The reflection that stared back at her was nearly a stranger. Her eyelids were smudged with something resembling soot and a coloured pencil was drawn across her brows, making them stand out against her naturally fair skin. Her lips were stained the colour of berries.

  She used a lot more make up than she would normally wear but she was assured by Georgette, the theatre choreographer whom Tobias had hired, that all of this paint was necessary to stand out as a performer.

  From out in the salon she could hear the chamber orchestra start to play.

  “Are you ready, ma cherie?” Georgette asked. “Just a few minutes now.”

  Caro nodded and stood, feeling the fabric of her gown fall. She ran a long scarf of matching satin through her hands. From behind the screen she watched the assembly of more than a hundred invited guests file through the doors into the large room.

  The chamber orchestra was seated in a corner of the room and in the middle of the space stood a plinth about three feet high draped with a black cloth that fell to the floor all around it. Atop the plinth stood a display box with bevelled glass panels on all four sides and an ostentatiously large padlock in glittering silver securing the door.

  The milling people approached the plinth and Caro heard their murmurs of disappointment as they spied an empty display case. They had all come to see the Star of December but all that was inside was a vacant velvet-lined mount. They weren’t to know it, but there was a surprise waiting.

  Caro leaned out as far as she dared to see if there were faces she recognised.

  Her brother and Bertie were somewhere about, given charge by Uncle Walter to keep an eye out for suspicious characters in the crowd.

  There was her mother and father with Uncle Walter. Gwen and Margaret walked in arm in arm, Gwen in cobalt blue that set off her pale skin and black hair, Margaret in raspberry red that brought colour to her cheeks and highlights to her blonde hair.

  Uncle Walter had said some of his best men would be in the room but dressed in tails, and she was hard pressed to pick any of them. And waiting for her in another room off the hotel salon was Tobias, getting ready for the performance.

  To help quell her nervousness, Caro softly hummed along to the tune the orchestra played.

  The music came to an end and other piece began. After this, Count Valois would emerge.

  She smiled, recalling how she had thoroughly enjoyed spending the past few days with Tobias at their rehearsal studio at White Lodge. Any concerns her parents and brother might have had about them spending so much time together, was assuaged by Uncle Walter vouching for Tobias.

  Her new friend was an excellent tutor and they talked and laughed as much as they rehearsed. Again and again, the polyphon was wound up in the salon and the tune played until in the end she got the performance down perfectly. It was remarkable how well they seemed to work together in such a short space of time.

  With the help of Mademoiselle Georgette, they had perfected a routine for this one night only.

  Caro closed her eyes, recalling their final rehearsal only a few hours previously. Even now she could feel the touch of Tobias’s hand as he held her in their dance. Perhaps it was because of the romantic story Georgette had devised for them – a fairytale performance that would result in the Star of December magically appearing in the case – that her heart beat a little faster.

  The orchestra ended with a flourish and the hubbub of voices quietened.

  From her vantage point, she saw the Count’s equerry step out in front of the orchestra and call the attention of the guests before asking them to please gather around the perimeter of the room. A few moments later, Count Valois entered, crisply turned out in black evening dress with a sash of vivid red satin across his chest. And that chest was filled with medals which Tobias quipped might have been bought from a curiosity shop on the high street.

  “Monsieurs et Mesdames, ladies and gentlemen, thank you,” he said, standing before the orchestra, his voice much louder than his size would suggest. “Tonight, to help reveal such a precious gem as The Star of December, we have a special presentation for you.

  “The Star of December is unsurpassed in its magnificence. It has been coveted by kings, desired by the most beautiful of women. My humble self cannot express in words its value – not in monetary terms, non, non, non, that is but of secondary importance to the romance of this stone.

  “Alors, rather than tell you, I shall show you in the story of The Thief of Hearts. Orchestra, if you please.”

  The musicians began to play a dramatic intermezzo that would bridge to the performance.

  “It is time, cherie,” Georgette prompted and Caro turned back into the side room where, lid yawning open, the lacquered Egyptian-styled chest on its low stand with handles like a sedan chair awaited her.

  Georgette helped her step into the chest and arranged her gown so she could crouch down and get into position on her side.

  “Ready?”

  “Yes,” she replied and closed her eyes to steady her nerves. She felt the space become claustrophobically close, heard a rustling sound as the second gown was placed in the chest and, a moment later, the firm clunk of the lid closing.

  “Come in now,” Georgette called out, beckoning the two men who would carry the chest into the salon atop the special stand that Caro had learned was referred to as a deceptive table.

  From inside in darkness, she could only imagine the scene unfolding as she felt the chest being lifted by the men, and smiled at Tobias’s cheek at suggesting two uniformed constables carry the chest into the room – and her uncle’s sense of humour in agreeing to arrange it.

  The chest and stand rocked gently as it was carried into the salon to the applause of the gathering. Caro knew from rehearsals the box would be placed gently down several feet to one side of the plinth and display case.

  The gasp she then heard from the audience must, she supposed, be their reaction
to Tobias’s entry from the other side of the room. She knew he would cross quickly to her and the performance would begin.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” she heard him say as the orchestra quieted on cue, “permit me if you please to introduce myself. I am The Dark Duke.”

  The audience applauded politely and a voice called out that Caro recognised. It was Bertie.

  “I say, have you got the Star of December in there?”

  “I am sorry to disappoint you,” replied Tobias above a smattering of laughter, “but this chest is as empty as that display case.”

  Caro heard the chest lid being opened and Tobias went into the act, lifting out and holding up to audience the second gown. “The only thing in here is this dress and nothing more.”

  He invited one of the ladies to approach and look into the chest to confirm it was vacant. Caro knew the woman looking in would see nothing but an empty box lined with striped fabric but couldn’t help but hold her breath until she heard her confirm it.

  “And the dress? That is unoccupied also?” asked Tobias, a smile in his voice, and the woman laughed and confirmed that too.

  “Then let’s just put it back in the chest,” said Tobias and a moment later the lid closed with a clunk once more and the orchestra took up the first notes of Brahms’s Ballade in D-minor, not only setting the tone for the rest of the performance – dark, mysterious, intriguing – but also covering any noise Caro might make within the chest. She stiffened, ready to move.

  “Alas!” Tobias called out loudly, giving Caro her cue. As he continued to address the audience, she sprang into action, opening the hinged half panel of the false floor and drawing the second gown down into the deceptive table below. Moving quickly but with care not to trap her own gown, she moved atop the fixed portion of the chest floor and closed the hatch. After several dozen rehearsals in the last few days, she achieved it all in just the time it took Tobias to speak.

  “An empty display cabinet and a dress within an empty chest!” proclaimed Tobias. “Such a puzzle, ladies and gentlemen! Where could the Star of December be?”

  At that, he raised the chest lid and Caro stood. The audience gasped and applauded as Tobias held out his hand to help her step out of the chest.

  With a flourish, he passed his hand beside her head and the spectacular blue gem was suddenly in his grasp as if he had plucked it from her ear. He held it up to another gasp from the surrounding crowd as Caro raised her satin scarf and turned in a circle, trailing the fabric with arm held high.

  Caro began to dance. With the eyes of the audience on her, it allowed Tobias to slip away with the two hotel footmen who swiftly carried away the chest and stand.

  Mademoiselle Georgette had told her to feel the music and it would guide her steps. The choreographer was right. Suddenly, it was as if there was no audience. It was just Caro and the music.

  The scarf in her hand moved as she moved, either trailing behind her or fluttering above her head when she held it aloft. She moved around the plinth and empty cabinet and the surrounding crowd fell back a little further from it. She fully understood the importance of the scarf in the upcoming misdirection. Her job was to make sure everyone noticed it and saw it as part of her.

  She danced alone for almost a minute, then the music changed, becoming darker and more dramatic. At that point, Tobias re-emerged into the circle around the plinth, half his face covered by a white satin mask making a dramatic counterpoint to his black top hat and evening dress complete with cape lined in red satin.

  He wove his way towards Caro, playing his part of a mysterious villain tempting the maiden ever closer with the beautiful blue stone in his hand. How the guests gasped yet again when he opened his hand and held it aloft. Caro caught it flashing in the light and smiled to herself. The audience was not to know it was the glass replica.

  She and Tobias skirted one another around the empty display case. Chase, retreat, entice, break free – all in time to the music and circling closer and closer to the plinth. Then, at last, the maiden was caught – lured by The Thief of Hearts and the magic in the stone.

  In character, Caro did her best to resist, putting the plinth and cabinet between herself and the Thief. Tobias stretched his hands as though offering the stone. Caro leaned towards him as though hypnotised.

  He stepped around and approached, his hands moving in the air. Hers followed suit, the scarf in her hand fluttered above her. Then he captured one end of the scarf and used it to draw her closer. Finally, the maiden was unable to resist, taking the stone in her hand and holding it up, always keeping it in view of the audience.

  Tobias turned in a tight circle, his cape flaring out, then snatched away both the stone and the scarf.

  In an instant, he flared the satin over his hand and appeared to press the sparkling gem into it, rolling and turning and bundling the Star of December into the ball of shimmering fabric, turning full circle as he did so to show the action to the crowd.

  When, in the very next moment, he flicked the satin out across the padlocked display cabinet like a maid throwing a sheet open across a bed and the fabric fell, draping the glass-sided box, a shocked sharp intake of breath came from the crowd.

  What had happened to the Star of December?

  The answer came in the next second as Tobias whisked away the satin scarf and the diamond was revealed magically transported inside the locked display cabinet, sitting majestically in the previously empty velvet mount.

  A general gasp of surprise rose up. “It’s there!” said a breathless woman.

  Success!

  The ballade closed and the room burst into cheers and applause. Tobias bowed and turned. He picked up Caro’s hand and bowed over it before bringing her forward to join him in accepting the ovation. Caro bowed as he had done.

  “You were superb!” he whispered before taking another bow.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Caro’s cheeks ached. She couldn’t recall a time when she had ever smiled so much. She accepted congratulations from guests and again from her family, but still, she was glad for the respite when, after an hour of circulating among the guests as they admired the Star of December on display in the glass case, the guests filed away from the salon towards the dining room for supper.

  Tobias too had no shortage of admirers – particularly of the female kind, she noted with a smile. Still, it was strange that whenever she looked for him in the crowd, his eyes always seemed to find hers.

  When the guests had left the room, she and Tobias waited with Uncle Walter at the display cabinet and the Count returned with the ebony box.

  “Ah, merveilleux, the show was a tremendous success, was it not?” said the Count. “Such a performance! It will make all the newspapers and many people will come to see the Star of December for the full day showing tomorrow.”

  “And now, before I join you for the supper mes amis, I shall put my beauties to bed.”

  Tobias unlocked the cabinet door and took the diamond from within, and produced the replica from his waistcoat pocket. The Count took them one at a time and restored them to their respective compartments in the ebony box.

  Just as he and Walter moved off, Tobias interjected.

  “Do you mind if I accompany you and the Inspector to your suite?” he asked.

  “But of course!” the Count agreed heartily. “I shall feel especially well guarded in the company of no less prominent personages than a Detective Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard and The Dark Duke, the cleverest magician in all of England. I did want to talk to you about your phenomenal trick tonight. You will tell me how it was done, yes?”

  Before Tobias answered, Walter chimed in, giving a smile to the small group.

  “I think you’ll find, Count Valois, that magicians – like detectives – are bound to secrecy.”

  ***

  After dinner, a select group accepted the Baron’s invitation to end the evening with sherry in his apartments. They rode up the eight floors in the lift and when they eme
rged on the top floor, a uniformed officer greeted them.

  “Been all quiet here, sir,” he told the Inspector, “No one has been through who hasn’t been a verified guest or staff.” He lifted up a clipboard as evidence of his diligence.

  Another uniformed officer stood at the entrance to the Count’s suites. He too had nothing of interest to report. No one had lingered and no one went past him along the corridor either.

  “Well, it looks like we’re safe then,” said Walter. “Get Davies and head off duty, you’ve earned a break.”

  “Thank you, sir,” the young man said with something that sounded like relief.

  The equerry moved past them and hastened to light more lamps and prepare drinks while the Baron excused himself to go to his private rooms.

  “It seems like all of this preparation was an anti-climax,” said Edward as he took two drinks from the proffered tray and handed one to Gwen who was seated on the leather chair by the fire. “Perhaps we were wrong, perhaps The Phantom or Van Dyke, whatever this character’s name is, isn’t really interested in the Star of December diamond at all.”

  “You’re as bad as your sister,” smiled Bertie. “Detective work is methodical, detailed and slow. Tonight’s performance might have frightened off the thieves. They might decide to strike at another time in another city.”

  “Well, we can but hope he and his gang have been so completely frightened off by the esteemed detectives of Scotland Yard that they would never dream of committing such a theft,” Margaret added.

  Tobias raised a glass.

  “A toast – to Scotland Yard and her hardworking detectives!”

  Everyone raised a glass.

  After the toast, Caroline’s mother found the piano and started playing softly.

  Tobias approached Caro and bowed to her.