by Anne Ashley
He rose to his feet. 'Come, let us be gone from here, and trust that the fresh air will not be long in restoring your wits.'
Daniel turned, about to lead the way out of the inn, when he promptly collided with a small stocky individual who had been supping his ale at the very next table, and found himself on the receiving end of a rather direct, penetrating stare.
'Begging your pardon, guv'nor,' the stranger muttered, hurriedly stepping to one side. 'Didn't notice you standing there. No offence intended.'
'And none taken. It was as much my fault as yours,' Daniel responded, ever the polite gentleman.
It was only later, after he had arrived back at his friend's lodgings, that Daniel noticed his fob-watch was missing.
Trying not to dwell on the loss of a possession which he valued highly, simply because it was the last present his rapidly ailing father had bestowed upon him, Daniel accompanied his friend to a certain establishment where gambling for high stakes was the norm.
Mr Merrell, unlike Daniel himself, was a compulsive gambler, and was never happier than when seated at a table, glass of fine old brandy at his elbow, cards in his hand, pitting his skill against other gamesters. Considering he always played for high stakes, it was perhaps fortunate that Lady Luck had seen fit to favour him thus far. He certainly lost large sums on occasions, but never appeared unduly worried, for he felt certain that that beloved, fickle 'lady' would smile favourably upon him again before too long.
Daniel, standing behind his friend's chair, watched the play for a time, and then drifted away to enjoy a hand or two of piquet with an acquaintance. He distinctly lacked the faith in Lady Luck which his friend Montague possessed, and decided after half an hour to leave and seek out his mother who had planned to attend a large party being held at a house nearby.
The hostess, a friend of the family's for many years, was delighted by his unexpected appearance. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Daniel did not delay very long in searching out his mother, and discovered to his intense disappointment that she had come to the party alone.
'Although Robina insisted that there was absolutely no need to summon the doctor, she didn't feel equal to accompanying me this evening,' her ladyship disclosed. 'I believe she has every intention of joining us on the picnic tomorrow, however.'
'If she feels well enough, then of course she may, but if not, do not hesitate to summon the doctor.'
The Dowager recognised that decisive note in her son's voice. Like his father before him, Daniel was a most charming, level-headed man, but could be quite determined and authoritative when the need arose. She smiled up at him. 'And have you definitely decided to return to us tomorrow, my dear?'
'Yes. I've given orders for my belongings to be taken back to the house during my absence. As you know, I've arranged to spend the day with Roderick. I expect to return to Brighton early in the evening, and will come directly to the house.'
Leaving his mother to return to her friends, he wandered about the room, stopping from time to time to converse with several acquaintances, but Robina's absence meant there was little inducement for him to remain, and he soon took himself off, deciding to have an early night as he had an early start in the morning.
Declining the footman's offer to find him a hired carriage, Daniel walked the relatively short distance back to his friend's lodgings, arriving just as a church clock somewhere in the distance chimed the hour. As he waited for his friend's very efficient manservant to admit him to the house, he thought he detected someone lurking in the shadows on the opposite side of the street. He paid little attention, however, and went straight into the house as soon as the door had been opened, taking himself into the library for a nightcap before finally retiring to his room.
No sooner had he poured himself a brandy than the sound of the door-knocker echoed in the small hall. To him it seemed a very odd time for someone to decide to pay a call, and therefore made no attempt to hide his surprise when the servant entered a minute or so later to inform him that there was a person at the door wishing to see him.
'What sort of person?'
Mr Merrell's very correct manservant sniffed loudly. 'A very common sort, my lord. He came to the house earlier whilst you were out. I would not have hesitated to send him about his business had it not been for the fact that he informed me that he had in his possession some property belonging to you.'
'Has he, indeed?' Daniel murmured, his thoughts automatically turning to the missing watch.
'So I am led to believe, sir. When I suggested that he might safely hand whatever it was over to me, he stubbornly refused to do so, declaring that he would place it in your hands personally, or not at all.'
'In that case, you'd better show the fellow in,' Daniel suggested, and a few moments later a small, stocky individual wearing a serviceable frieze coat, and twisting a somewhat battered and misshapen hat round and round in his hands, entered the room.
Daniel had a remarkable memory for faces, and instantly recognised the individual with whom he had momentarily collided in the inn that afternoon. 'So, we meet again, Mr—er...?'
'Higgins, sir. Honest Hector Higgins, at your service.'
'It is to be hoped, Mr Higgins, that you live up to your name,' Daniel remarked in a distinctly sardonic tone, as he gazed at the work-roughened fingers, which looked hard and clumsy , but which might well be nimble enough to remove an article from someone's pocket without the owner being any the wiser. 'You are in possession of an item belonging to me, I understand.'
'That I am, sir.' Delving into his pocket, Higgins drew out the treasured possession and promptly placed it into Daniel's outstretched hand.
He examined it briefly, noting with some relief that it was completely undamaged. 'It would seem, Master Higgins, that I am in your debt. Or at least I would be if I were not fairly certain that you quite expertly purloined this from my waistcoat pocket during our brief—er—contact in that inn.'
A decidedly wary expression flickered momentarily over the weather-beaten features. 'Now, guv'nor, I puts it to you...if I'd filched the watch, I wouldn't be giving it back, now would I?'
'You might if you thought you would attain more by way of reward than you would by trying to dispose of it by other means, especially as my name is clearly engraved in the back.'
'Pshaw! It'd be no bother to scratch that away, and no one none the wiser,' Higgins responded, determined, it seemed, to brazen it out. 'And I didn't bring it back 'ere, personal like, for no reward neither. I'm an 'onest cove. Weren't always, I'm ashamed to say, but I is now, and 'ave been since I met my Dora.'
Daniel couldn't help smiling at this artless disclosure, and was inclined to be generous and give the fellow the benefit of the doubt. 'That being the case, Master Higgins, and as you seem disinclined to accept a reward, the least I can offer you is a drink for your trouble.' He turned to the decanters. 'Will brandy serve?'
'Mighty hospitable of you, guv'nor. Yes, that'll do very nicely.'
Smiling in spite of the fact that he still strongly suspected that some recompense would be demanded for the safe return of the watch, Daniel obligingly poured a large measure of brandy and handed it to his visitor.
'Sit yourself down, Higgins, and tell me about yourself. What do you do for a living?'
'I'm a jarvey, sir. Been driving me own carriage these past ten year or more.' He sniffed, wiping his. snub nose on the back of his hand. "Course, the carriage is getting a bit worn and battered now, and the poor old 'orse ain't what she was.' He shook his head sadly. 'No, won't be long before she pays a visit to the knacker's yard.'
'How very unfortunate!' his lordship said faintly, wondering what in the world had possessed him to invite the visitor to remain.
'Aye, sir. It ain't easy being an 'onest cove. Gentry folk don't like to be seen driving about in a broken-down old carriage like mine, and when you don't pick up many passengers in a day, you can't afford repairs.'
'I sympathise with your plight, Higgins,' Dan
iel responded, wondering when the despondent jarvey would disclose his real motive for this visit. He did not have long to wait.
'Knew you would, sir.' His eyes never wavering from Daniel's face, he consumed the contents of his glass in one go. 'Just like a soft-hearted cove like myself can sympathise with yours.'
Daniel took a sip from his own glass. 'I'm sorry, Higgins. I do not perfectly understand you.'
'Unrequired love, sir, can do terrible things to a man.'
'I'm sure you're right,' his lordship responded, while manfully suppressing a chuckle. 'But I believe you mean unrequited love.'
'Aye, that's it, guv'nor! But don't you be a'fretting no longer, 'cause Hector Higgins be the man to 'elp you there.'
Daniel blinked several times, wondering if he could possibly have misheard. 'I'm sorry, Higgins, I do not perfectly understand you. I am not in need of help.'
'Now, now, guv'nor, there's no need for you to be ashamed of yer feelings. Comes to us all in time. It 'appened to me, and now it's 'appened to you. Not that I likes to interfere, you understand, but I couldn't 'elp overhearing that little talk you had with your friend in the Crown, and knew I was the very man you was looking for.'
Daniel was becoming faintly bored, and it clearly showed as he said, 'And what service, pray, do you suppose you can render me?'
'Why, abducting the wench o' course! I knows the area round Priory Wood like the back of me 'and. Nowt could be simpler! All I needs to do is lurk in the woods tomorrow, awaiting the opportunity, like, nab the wench, and bung 'er in me carriage. Then you comes riding along, brandishing yer pistol. Mind, I wouldn't advise you discharge the firearm, m'lord,' he went on in all seriousness. 'Might frighten the old 'orse, and she ain't as young as she was. Might be too much for 'er.' He paused to cast a hopeful glance down at his empty glass. 'Now, what's do you think to that, m'lord?'
Daniel regarded him in silence for a moment, much as he might have done some half-witted child. 'I think, Master Higgins, that you have taken leave of your senses. Even if this plan of yours was not ludicrous in the extreme, I would still never countenance such a dishonourable act as abducting a young female and frightening her half out of her wits. Furthermore, what you overheard earlier today was my friend allowing the sportive element in his nature to get the upper hand, which he is sometimes inclined to do, but believe me his idiotic suggestion was never meant to be taken seriously. Unlike the one I am about to make, which is that we both seek our beds.'
In one graceful movement, Daniel rose from his chair, and relieved his highly disappointed visitor of the empty glass. 'Now, Master Higgins, I shall bid you goodnight... And consider yourself lucky that I'm not taking the little matter of the deliberate purloining of my watch any further.'
As the Dowager Lady Exmouth knew very well, there was an element of hard determination in her son's character which surfaced from time to time. It was clearly discernible now. Higgins opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it, and went disconsolately across to the door. 'No offence intended, m'lord,' he muttered over his shoulder and then, manfully resisting the temptation to place a well-aimed punch on the disdainful manservant's long nose, did not delay in leaving the house.
Life could be so unfair, he decided, as he trudged his weary way homewards. Here was he, an honest cove, doing honest work week in week out; year in year out. And for what? Hardly earning enough to keep body and soul together, he reflected, his spirits plummeting to an all-time low. He would be better off by far if he returned to his former profession... But no, he'd promised his Dora that his thieving days were over. He'd left that life behind him when he had moved away from London, and he had no real desire to return to a life of crime.
Not that he couldn't if he'd a mind to be so foolish, he reminded himself. His fingers were still as nimble as ever they were. He'd managed to take that gent's watch without his knowing much about it, he mused, with a certain grim satisfaction. Not that he had ever intended to keep it, though. That had never crossed his mind for a moment. He shook his head sadly, swiftly deciding that, as things had turned out, he might have been wiser to have done so. After all, what had all his good intentions brought him...? Absolutely nothing!
'Ahh well,' he muttered, crossing the street and entering the tavern. At least he had a few coins left in his pocket, enough to buy a tankard of ale to drown his sorrows.
The Crown was unusually quiet that evening, which suited his present unsociable mood very well, and Higgins had little difficulty in finding himself a secluded table in a corner, where he could continue to brood over life's iniquities without interruption.
Fate, it seemed, had other ideas, and was not even gracious enough to grant him the brief period of solitude for which he craved, for no sooner had he made himself comfortable on the settle than a sharp-featured man, sporting a bright red neckerchief clumsily knotted about his throat, and a blowsy female, whose low-cut gown left little to the imagination, plumped themselves, uninvited, on the settle opposite.
"Ere, what's all this, Hector, me old friend? Ain't like you to skulk away in a corner. Had a bad day, 'ave we?' The man's thin lips curled unpleasantly to reveal a set of rapidly decaying teeth. 'Now me, I've 'ad a good day. Told you afore old friend that you want to join forces wi' me.'
'And I've told you before, Jack Sharpe, that I gave up that kind o' life long since.'
'Aye, and where's it got yer, eh?' The decaying teeth showed again. 'Working all the hours God sends, and for what? I bet you ain't enough in your pocket for another tankard of ale.'
This was true enough, but Higgins had no intention of admitting to it, especially not to an unscrupulous little sneak-thief like Jack Sharpe who didn't care how he got his grubby fingers on -money. He was not above sending his woman friend out on the streets, and living off her immoral earnings when he was without the price of a drink.
'Still,' Jack shrugged, 'I don't know why I'm bothering wi' you. You wouldn't be much 'elp to me n' more. You're not up to it no longer—too old and too slow.'
'Oh, no I ain't!' the older man countered, the goading just too much for him this time. 'I'll 'ave you know I filched a fine pocket-watch this very day. Had it off the waistcoat and into me own pocket in a trice, and the gent none the wiser.'
'Oh, yeah!' Jack's tone was decidedly sceptical. 'Where is it, then? Show it to me!'
'I ain't got it no longer,' Higgins mumbled, going slightly red in the face. 'I gave it back.'
'You did what!' Sharpe and his companion roared with laughter, making Higgins feel more uncomfortable than ever.
He took an uneasy glance about him. 'Keep your voice down, can't yer!' he snapped. 'Do you think I want everyone to hear?'
'Frightened your little wife wouldn't like it if she knew you'd been up to your old tricks again, is that it, eh?' the woman goaded, and Higgins cast her a look of distaste.
'Shut yer mouth, Molly!' Jack ordered, his gaze suddenly intense. 'I reckon old Hector 'ere ain't spinning no yarn. I reckon he did filch the timepiece.
Though why in Hades 'e decides to give it back, I can't imagine.'
Half wishing now that he hadn't done so, and being made to feel incredibly stupid into the bargain, Higgins explained the reason behind his actions, relating the conversation which he had overheard earlier in the day and disclosing what had subsequently occurred.
Jack listened intently, absorbing every last detail. 'So, you actually went to this Lord Exmouth's house, hoping he'd agree to your plan, and he threw you out on your ear, did 'e?'
'No, not then,' Higgins countered. 'I told you, I went round to his 'ouse, round to the rear entrance, and discovered from the scatty kitchen wench that 'e weren't staying there. Only 'is mother and this wench he's got his heart set on is living in the 'ouse. He's staying with a friend. So I calls there, and the second time I goes, I sees 'im.'
'Pity he weren't interested,' Jack remarked, much to his female companion's intense amusement.
'Can't say I'm surprised!' she scoffed. 'If
the gent's half as fond of this wench as you reckon 'e is, Hector, he wouldn't be so mean as to want 'er abducted in a broken-down old carriage like yourn. Why, I've travelled in the dratted thing m'self once, and I should know. Black and blue I was after I got back from me sister-in-law's funeral.'
'Shut yer gab, woman!' Jack growled. "Ere, go and get us all another drink.' He tossed her a coin and waited for her to move away, before turning once again to Higgins.
'And you reckon this wench Lord Exmouth's a fancy for will be out at Priory Wood tomorrow?'
'I've already said so, haven't I?' He cast a suspicious glance across the table. 'Why are you so interested, anyhow?'
'No reason, I suppose.' There was a faint rasping sound as Jack rubbed his bony fingers back and forth across his chin. 'All the same, it's a damned shame the cove didn't take to the idea. Might 'ave been able to 'elp you out, there.'
Having had more than enough for one day, and more than enough of the present company, Higgins hurriedly tossed the contents of his tankard down his throat and rose to his feet. 'Thanks all the same, but I can do without your sort of 'elp, Jack Sharpe.'
'Oh! Hector gone, as 'e?' Molly remarked, as she returned, glasses in hand. 'Never mind, I'll soon drink 'is gin. The ungrateful dog!'
'Oh, no, you won't!' Jack whisked the glass from her fingers. 'You needs to be up bright and early in the morning. I've got a job for you.'
'Oh, yes?' She cast him a wary look. 'What kind of job?'
'I wants you to go to this Exmouth's house and keep watch. If this wench goes to Priory Wood, I wants to know about it.'
'But I don't even know what she looks like,' Molly pointed out, not relishing the prospect of rising early. 'Besides not knowing where she lives.'
'You'll find out easy enough.' He was thoughtful for a moment. 'You 'eard what Higgins said. Apart from the servants, only Exmouth's old mother and the girl are staying at the 'ouse. You wait outside and keep watch.'
