Regency Sins: Pickpocket Countess / Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady

‘You take what isn’t yours,’ he accused.

‘For a purpose. From people who have more than they need,’ she countered evenly.

He scoffed at that. ‘You fashion yourself to be a modern-day Robin Hood. I suppose you expect me to believe you give it all to the poor?’

‘I told you as much last night. I keep nothing for myself. If this was about money, I wouldn’t be limiting my raids to mere candlesticks and petty cash. If you don’t believe me, ask Miss Habersham about the orphanage in Manchester or the families living in the poor part of town. They’ll tell you all about The Cat.’

His attention perked at the mention of Miss Habersham. ‘What does the shy spinster have to do with your elaborate charade?’

‘No more than any of the other ladies in the village. At times, they are unknowing conduits for The Cat’s loot in the form of baskets for the poor. Especially around Christmas, the need is great. The ladies go into Manchester the third Tuesday of every month to do their good deeds.’ The last was said with a touch of cynicism.

Stockport was quick to reprimand. ‘They have found an honourable way to do good deeds.’

‘One day a month doesn’t do anything beyond making the ladies feel superior,’ Nora retorted. She’d probably said too much, but she doubted Stockport would tell anyone. He’d kept her secret so far. She rose from the chair and stalked towards the desk, turning the conversation away from herself. ‘What are you working on with such devotion that it demands late hours from you?’ She snatched the top sheet off the desk, narrowly escaping his futile swipe to reclaim it.

‘Ah, Parliament work. The Reform Act? It’s a step in the right direction, but I am sure the House of Lords will never stand for it since it weakens them considerably.’

‘I am surprised you know about it.’

‘I steal for a purpose,’ she reminded him. ‘Until the government takes care of the lower classes, someone must represent them in whatever manner they can.’

‘It shouldn’t be much longer if Prime Minister Grey has his way.’

‘You’re quite the optimist. The bill has been defeated twice in the House of Lords. I don’t see anything happening to change that, no matter how many times the House of Commons passes it.’

‘You are surprisingly well informed for someone who exists on the other side of the law,’ Stockport commented wryly. ‘Still, I can see where passing the bill complicates things for you. You’ll be out of work.’

‘Hardly, my lord, I’ve discovered there is always someone to rob, always a cause to fight for. The lists of injustices in this world are quite extensive.’ She leaned over the desk until their faces were only inches apart. His lips opened a slight fraction in anticipation. The vain man thought she was going to kiss him again. She gave a mocking half-smile and moved back. ‘No, I don’t think I will kiss you.’ She gave his form an obvious perusal. ‘Although, from the state of things, I’d say you need kissing badly.’

Nora backed to the French doors, not taking her eyes from him, and clicked open the easy lock. ‘Thanks for the brandy.’

‘You will be caught, if not by me, then by someone else,’ Stockport said.

‘I doubt it.’ Nora pulled out the little pouch from her waistband, waving it in victory as she fired her parting salvo. ‘I’d get the window fixed upstairs if I were you.’ She bowed theatrically. ‘I give you goodnight, my lord.’

Brandon stared at the spot where she’d stood. Damn! Not again. He took the stairs to his room two at a time, a lamp in one hand. She had come back for the ring! He should have known when she said she’d used the same entrance. This was the second time she’d been in his house and caught him unaware. Perhaps she was a brilliant thief after all. He certainly hadn’t expected her to return and he’d hardly expected to discuss politics with her over his best brandy. Whoever she was, she had too much education to be from the dregs of society.

He lifted the lid of the casket and confirmed his fears. The ring was gone.

In its place was The Cat’s cream calling card, just like the one the Squire had shown him. He turned it over and found a message scrawled on the back: The ring shall be returned to you in exchange for three hundred pounds. I will collect the money in two weeks’ time at the Squire’s Christmas ball.

Ransoming his ring was a neat trick and an audacious one, nothing less than what he’d come to expect from this particular burglar.

He had to have that ring back. However, there was no question of paying the three hundred pounds. The Cat had made a serious misjudgment if she believed him to be a man who would succumb to the unscrupulous practice of blackmail. He would not be The Cat’s whipping boy. The mill and the financial security of the people who depended on him were at stake, to say nothing of his considerable pride.

It irked him immensely that he had been called away from Parliament to play catch The Cat when so much depended on his presence. The latest correspondence from John Russell and other prominent Whigs intimated how much he was needed there.

Brandon crumpled the card in his hand with vehemence and silently declared war on The Cat. Her latest antics demanded nothing less. She would learn at the Christmas fête who ran things in this part of the world, if he didn’t catch her sooner. Already, the inklings of a plan were forming in his mind. He couldn’t find The Cat, but he could find her trail and Eleanor Habersham seemed the most likely place to start. The Cat had mentioned her by name and Eleanor had all the signs of a woman who had something to hide.

Adrenaline still coursed through her as Nora slipped into the Grange’s kitchen. That had been fun! She’d pricked Stockport’s temper and his interest, if those parted lips were to be believed. He’d wanted her to kiss him.

‘Where have you been?’ Hattie’s stern tone sapped Nora’s smugness. Her post-raid elation faded at the sight of Hattie standing in the kitchen doorway, arms folded and foot tapping in irritation.

‘I’ve been to Stockport’s for the ring, just as I told you.’ Nora tried a smile and jiggled the soft felt pouch containing her prize. Hattie was not fazed.

‘It took much longer than anticipated,’ Hattie continued her interrogation, moving to the stove to heat a kettle of water.

There’d be no escaping Hattie’s questions now if the woman had her mind on tea and conversation. Nora knew the signs and humbly took a seat at the long work table. ‘The Earl and I had a little chat,’ Nora confessed.

Hattie slapped a plate of sugar biscuits down on the table next to Nora and sniffed. ‘From the smell of it, I’d say you’d had a drink, too. Getting above yourself a bit, aren’t you, drinking with the likes of him?’

Nora bristled. ‘What is your point, exactly? The man needed taking down a notch. You should have seen his face when I drank down his fine brandy in a single swallow.’

Hattie put down the tea things and stood back from the table, hands on wide hips. ‘My point is, why did you do it? You could have gotten the ring without Stockport knowing you were there. Instead, you risked everything for a few prideful moments of confrontation. What if he’d called for help?’

‘He didn’t call for help. I knew I’d be safe or I wouldn’t have done it.’ Nora dismissed Hattie’s complaint with a heavy sigh. There was no sense in confessing to the moment’s trepidation she’d felt when he’d gone to pour the drinks with the bell-pull hovering inches from his hand.

‘Safe? Because he let you go last night? Pardon me for saying so, but you’re getting dicked in the nob if you think you’re ever safe with a man like him. Those men think they own the world and everyone in it.’

Hattie poured herself another cup of tea and turned her thoughts in a different direction, apparently done with scolding. ‘We have to be more cautious than ever. Our goal is in reach. The Cat is succeeding. While I was doing the shopping today, I heard that more of the investors are on the brink of pulling out. They’re worried about the security of the mill. They fear that if The Cat can get to them so easily, The Cat will get to the mill and sabotage its construction. They aren’t willing to risk their money further.’

‘Or their reputations,’ Nora said wryly over the rim of her teacup. ‘Are Cecil Witherspoon and Magnus St John getting edgy finally? They have the most to lose as long as I am free.’

That comment earned her a reprimand from Hattie. The woman shook her finger. ‘You know I don’t hold with blackmail. I’ve never liked the idea of you taking those documents out of Witherspoon’s safe.’

‘It’s not blackmail. It’s insurance,’ Nora protested. ‘Those documents prove the mill is unsafe and the contractors are deliberately cutting costs by using substandard products.’ Nora smiled, remembering the thrill of the night she’d broken into Witherspoon’s study and cracked his safe.

A reliable source from town had sent word he’d overheard a rumour about something murky on the mill’s contract. He’d been right. From there, it wasn’t a large leap of logic to see that Witherspoon had an insurance scam on his mind. He’d build the mill with substandard materials and after a year or two have the building succumb to an ‘accidental’ fire. He and the other investors would be waiting to claim the insurance money. The scheme would never come to pass if Nora could prevent it.

‘I wish I could have seen his face the next morning, don’t you, Hattie?’

‘No, I don’t,’ Hattie said briskly, gathering up the tea things. ‘He was furious then and he’s still furious. You’ve made an enemy of a very dangerous man. The Cat might be succeeding, but the risk is going up. It’s not just the investors who are angry now. Some of our own wealthier residents are disappointed too, like the Squire. The news is that they mean to redouble their efforts to catch The Cat. They’re convinced as soon as The Cat is caught, the additional investors will come.

‘It might be for the best that no one knows you raided Stockport’s. It would put them over the edge. I fear we’re out of our depth here. We’ve never gone up against a man like Stockport before. He’s not one to be trifled with,’ Hattie fretted.

Nora covered Hattie’s hand with her own, hearing the unspoken plea in the woman’s scolding. ‘I won’t get caught. You and Alfred taught me to be a good thief. Eleanor Habersham has to go into Manchester tomorrow to conduct business. I’ll take a look at the situation first hand, if it will make you feel better. Alice Bradley and her daughters are going into the city tomorrow too for shopping and they’ve offered Eleanor a ride. Alfred can take a note up to Wildflowers in the morning to say I’ll join them.’

Hattie looked at her with concerned eyes and Nora braced herself. ‘These days I wonder if I should have taught you to be something else. Maybe then you’d be settled with a home, children and a husband. You’re only six and twenty. It’s not too late for you to have a real life, Nora.’

‘It is too late. This is my real life. I made that choice a long time ago, Hattie. Besides, if you recall, I tried marriage once and found it sorely lacking. I discovered men are highly exaggerated commodities, both in and out of bed.’ Even as she said it, her thoughts wondered back to Stockport, his ardent kiss, his firm body and the stack of papers on his desk. Perhaps there was an exception to be had. She had to be careful not to overrate him. One good act and a handsome face did not dismiss the reason he was here. She had made that mistake with her brief marriage to the handsome but incurably lazy Reggie Portman when she was seventeen. Well, she wasn’t that impressionable any more thanks to the two years of disappointments that had followed.

Nora said goodnight to her long-time comrade and made her way to bed, her mind plagued with the new information she’d discovered that evening. She wished she knew more about Stockport’s motivations for siding with the Reform Act.

It seemed an odd position for a man of his rank to take. If successful, the Reform Act would redistribute the seats in the House of Commons and lower electoral qualifications, making it possible for much of the middle class to vote. The House of Lords would be weakened considerably. She had yet to meet a peer who would willingly give away legal power. Yet tonight, it seemed she had.

She couldn’t help concluding The Cat wasn’t the only one who wore a mask. Stockport was becoming a conundrum and riddles intrigued her. The reputed Cock of the North was more than a well-dressed womaniser. This evening, he’d shown himself to be a politician, who had unusual convictions for a man of his rank and experience.

The Cat had pierced his outer shield with her kiss. Stripping away the rest of his urbane façade and revealing the man beneath was a scintillating concept to fall asleep on, leaving Nora with jumbled dreams of a hard-chested man rousing to her touch wearing little else but tight-fitted trousers and a mask that kept eluding her when she reached to untie it.