The Earl and the Pickpocket. Helen Dickson

you, it was for my own protection that I dressed as a boy.’

      ‘Yes, I can understand that. Why did he attack you?’

      ‘Because I ran away.’

      ‘Are you afraid of him?’

      ‘I’m afraid he will put the law on me—that I will go to prison—and because I ran away from him nothing would please Jack more than to see me rotting in a filthy cell. If he were to discover I am a girl in boy’s clothing, it would simply amuse him, and he would use it against me.’

      ‘Then he would do well to remember that receiving is as much a capital felony as the stealing of the goods.’

      ‘He knows that, but he is shamelessly bold and hardened above cautionary fear, working in an organised and far-ranging manner. He controls shoplifters and housebreakers, but I never progressed further than picking pockets. He despises laws and will carry on with his wicked trade, making sure he never hands over stolen goods himself, but craftsmen he employs—paying them handsomely so that they will keep their mouths shut, making them unidentifiable first.

      ‘He always uses someone else to exchange the spoils for money at a time and place arranged by him.’ She looked up into Adam’s warm blue eyes. ‘I have no money, nothing of my own, and when Jack took me in I knew I was on the road to prison, or worse—to the noose at Tyburn.’

      ‘Why did you stay with him?’ Adam asked gently. ‘Why didn’t you run away sooner?’

      ‘I couldn’t. I was afraid—and no one runs away from Jack,’ she said quietly. Those few words held a world of meaning that Adam fully understood. ‘Jack humbled me, confused me and seriously diminished my own sense of worth, and I could not seem to be able to clamber out of the dark hole into which I had fallen. Besides, it was inconceivable for me to return to my former life. I had nowhere to run to. I couldn’t see the point in exchanging one hell for another.’ She shrugged. ‘What’s the difference? When I did finally pluck up the courage and left Jack, hoping to find your Toby and receive payment, I staunchly decided to take charge of my own life and to choose its direction. I made up my mind to live decently, to find work of some kind to support myself.’

      ‘Dolly may be able to help you there,’ Adam suggested casually.

      Offended by what she thought he was implying, Edwina drew herself up proudly and raised her chin to a lofty angle. ‘I may not be honest, sir, but I would never stoop so low as to become a whore.’

      Observing that her eyes were dark with anger, Adam suppressed a smile and directed a stern countenance at her. ‘I was not suggesting that you should. That was certainly not what I meant.’

      ‘Besides, I’m unattractive and skinny, with none of the curves required to be one of Dolly’s girls, and not much hair to speak of, either,’ she said, running her fingers through the short, wispy tresses.

      Perching his tall frame on the edge of a dresser and folding his arms across his chest, Adam arched his eyebrows, squinting at her with his head cocked to one side as he made a study of her. The purity of her face was quite striking. With her large eyes and unbelievably long dark eyelashes resting against her smooth, high cheeks, she looked innocent and incredibly lovely. She glowed with that strange fragile beauty of a young woman newly awakened to her sex, a nymph, clothed in bright yellow finery. Not for the first time, he wished he could immortalise her on canvas, but could he—or any artist—do justice to her flawless beauty? He smiled inwardly at the poetic bent of his thoughts and the challenge she presented.

      ‘Allow me to disagree. You are a remarkably beautiful young woman. You have the kind of unusual looks that put you in a class by yourself. The colour of your hair is divine—such radiance. You have a good neck and an excellent bone structure, and your features, particularly your eyes, are perfect.’

      Edwina’s lips twitched slightly as she tried to suppress a smile. ‘In the past I’ve often been called sweet and sometimes pretty, but no one has ever complimented me—in such a matter-of-fact way—about my bone structure or my long neck. I don’t quite know whether to feel flattered or offended.’

      ‘I meant it as a compliment. I speak as I find. What happened to the five guineas I gave you?’

      ‘I had to give them to Jack.’

      ‘Had to? I gave the money to you, not Jack,’ he admonished sharply, coming to his feet.

      ‘I know better than to cheat him.’ Edwina was downcast. ‘I’m sorry.’

      ‘Don’t be. Having witnessed his brutality at first hand, perhaps it was as well. Did you manage to make enquiries about Toby?’

      ‘Yes. As you know, cripples are a common sight, and no one I asked remembered seeing a boy who answered to that name. One woman vaguely recalled seeing a man and woman with a boy, a crippled boy, about a week ago, but they left St Giles and took to the road.’

      Interest flickered in Adam’s eyes. ‘Anything else?’

      ‘Yes. They had a bear with them.’

      Adam lowered his eyelids and reflected for a moment. ‘A man and woman, you say?’

      She nodded. ‘Do you think the boy might be Toby?’

      ‘It’s possible,’ he replied absently as he began to pace restlessly about the room, frowning thoughtfully.

      ‘Who is this boy? What does he mean to you?’

      ‘He is my cousin’s child—the son of a young woman who died a while back. Even though I have never laid eyes on Toby, he means a great deal to me.’

      ‘Do you fear for his safety?’

      ‘Naturally, but I don’t think he’ll come to harm while he can earn money at freak shows.’ His frown deepened. ‘A crippled boy and a bear,’ he murmured, tossing the image around in his head. ‘A useful combination. Unless they have transport of some kind I don’t believe they will leave London. I can only surmise the man and woman are to display them to the curious at fairs and markets, and if so I’ll find them.’

      Edwina’s eyes lit with interest. ‘Are you going to look for them? If so, will you take me with you?’ she asked enthusiastically. ‘Two pairs of eyes will be better than one.’

      Her words caught all Adam’s attention. He ceased pacing and looked at her with narrowed eyes. What she was asking was out of the question. But what was he going to do with her? As a lad he’d have no qualms about taking her along—but this young woman was a different matter entirely.

      ‘No.’

      Watching his finely moulded lips form his answer, Edwina was surprised and mortified by his refusal, and also a little angry, but she was even more surprised by the unmistakable regret she’d heard in his voice. ‘But why not?’ she argued.

      ‘For a start, fairs are known to attract violence and vice. Some are also well known centres for the distribution of stolen goods, places where criminals congregate—although I’m sure you will know all about that,’ he remarked with meaningful sarcasm. ‘Not only do you run the risk of meeting Jack, but you also risk being robbed or crushed to death—as small as you are.’

      ‘Do you mean to frighten me with a description of what it is like to come into contact with thieves and cutthroats, when I have lived among them for six months of my life?’

      ‘Aye, as an insignificant lad. If you were to appear among them now, looking as you do, you wouldn’t last five minutes. You are not an easy woman to ignore.’

      Edwina was indignant. Her head lifted and her chin squared up to him, the action saying quite clearly that she was contemptuous of being told what to do by anyone. ‘I don’t need to be protected,’ she said boldly. Her anger made her eyes gleam like green stones, and her mouth hardened to unsmiling resentment.

      ‘And I don’t expect to have my decision questioned,’ Adam rapped out. Despite his anger he admired her courage.