A Bright Particular Star (25 page)

Sophie, still astonished
a
t the way the situation had resolved it
self
, watched them
leave from
Theo
’s
carriage.
There
had been no opportunity for
private conversati
on until now and
,
as soon as her companion
had negotiated the
courtyard archway
, she wasted no time in
thanking him ag
ain for
the previous evening
.

“T
here
’s
not
hing to thank me for.
Dashed glad
you we
re not hurt!
I took a
nother
turn about the building with the landlord early this morning and there are definitely no signs of a break
-
in.
Whoever came into your room was already in the bui
lding.
That
doesn
’t
help us
much though.
E
very room was taken last ni
ght
and it could ha
ve been
one of the guests, or one of the servants, even though the l
andlord vouched for all those
.
I presume your aunt and cousin made little
or no
mention of what happened when you saw them this morning?
”

So
phie shook her head.
“
Perry
thinks I dreamt the whole thing.
”

“
Fool!
”
he snapped in disgust
.
“
And w
hat the deuce
made your a
unt change her mind
?
”

Sophie explained,
adding
with a giggle
,
“
Eud
ora now expects me to be overcome
by Perry
’s
charm while he escorts me arou
nd London
.
”

“
H
mph!
We
’
ll see
about that,
”
replied Theo.
“
Could your c
ousin
have been
in your room last night?
After all, he
knows
you have the jewel
and he had been drinking
.
”

“
I
sincerely
doubt it.
Perry does not possess the brains
or
the daring
for such an attempt
.
And even if he did
,
there is nothing he can do
once I am
with James
.
”

“
I
’d
temporarily
forgotten about Verney.
”

“
I’m
surprised you aren
’t
counting th
e hours until you can abandon me on his
doorstep,
”
observed
Sophie ruefully.

Theo
urged
his horses
on
, a grim smile curling his mouth
.
“
I want to ensure you are safe before I relinquish my role
.
I
’
ve not been able to tell you until now, but something Grey said earlier reminded me where I have seen him before.
”

“
Oh?
Where?
”

“S
ir Seymour Dinniscombe is a
good friend of mine
too
.
He
’s
married to my sister
-
in
-
la
w
’s
aunt, and I
went to the
ir
wedding.
That
’s
where I
’
ve seen
Lucius Grey before
—
leaving Sir Seymour
’s
London house.
”

“
After a ball perhaps?
”

“
No,
I passed Grey on the steps one afternoon
as he was coming out
.
We weren
’t
introduced, but I rec
all Dinny saying
afterward
he had just finished conducting some private business.
”

Sophie
glanced
up at him,
a puzzled expression
on her face
.
“S
urely there
’s
nothing strange in that
?
”

“
Maybe not, but D
inny is a
man who dabbles
in all manner
of things
…
poli
tics, policing,
prisons,
secret g
overnment committees.
I don
’t
know the full extent
of his influence
because
he never di
scusses
such
things
openly.
He
’s
a man with a great deal
of
knowledge and
influence
though
,
Grey
’s
assess
ment on that was accurate
.
I’m
not sure wh
at seeing Lucius Grey leaving Dinny
’s
house means
—
perhaps
nothing
at all
,
Dinny
ente
rtains all kinds of people
—
but it
confirms there is more to
Mr
Grey than he would have us believe.
”

“
Olivia se
ems disposed to like him,
”
mused Sophi
e
.
“
I’m
glad she
’s
away from
Ludstone
.
S
he
’s
a different person
when she
’s
free of
he
r mother and brother
,
but I am
concerned
if she is to spend
more time in
Mr
Grey
’s
company
.
”

“
Whatever sort
of man Grey
is,
Olivia will come to no harm
if
Dinny and
his wife
,
Harriet
,
are there
, but you…
”
Theo left the sentence unfin
ished,
adding
bluntly after a pause
,
“
Well, I hope Ve
rney is up to snuff, that
’s
all
!
There
’s
some
strange
business afoot here
.
”

Sophie did not reply
. S
he didn
’t
know how to.
R
egret
was only one of her emotions
as the prospect of
losing Theo
’s
company
loomed
on the horizon
.
S
he was
certain
now
what happened last night
was connected with the Star
.

****

The morning
’s
journey
proved uneventful.
They passed through Thatcham, Woolhampton
, Theal, Twyford and Hare Hatch
without incident and by the time they app
roached Maidenhead Thicket,
they
had caught
up with
Mr
Grey
and Peregrine
’s
carriages
.

Theo, who
now thought
it unlikely Sophie or Olivia could be taken to their res
pective destinations
tonight becaus
e of the late hour, had m
ade up his mind to suggest
they
stay
overnight at
T
he Bell and Anchor in Hammersmith
, completing
the final
stage tomorrow.

T
he three ca
rriages approached the
infamous
t
hicket in close procession.
Sophie
was
entertaining Theo with tales of Dick Turpin
’s
exploits on this section of road
, in response to which he
laughed and said
he
had no fear
s of being held up by highwaymen
at
this hour
.

With perfect timing, a
shot rang out
.
It
appeared to have been aimed in
Peregrine
’s
direction as
he
utter
ed
a cry of outrage before his
horses
began
kicking
out
and
rearing in the shafts.
A second
shot followed and
th
is time, the bullet hummed
through the air near Sophie
.

Theo
swore under his breath,
transferred the r
eins to his left hand
and barked at her
to move across
.
Sophie
needed no
further
urging and scramble
d across
the seat
.
Theo,
clam
ping his right arm around her
, pressed her into the shelter of
his body.
A good deal of commotion was taking place.
Theo
’s
ho
rses were plunging and snorting
in fear
.
S
o too were
Mr
Grey
’s
,
while Peregrin
e
’s
furious expletives drifted
towards them
on the
breeze.
It was
Sophie
who
noticed the
two
masked
figures
riding out
from the thicket
and gave
Theo
’s
sleeve
a tug
to alert him.

The men dragged
their horses to a halt
next
to Theo
’s
carriage
, sending a cloud of dust into the air
.
M
ufflers
were
pulled up to cover
their face
s
and
their
hats
were
pushed down low on the
ir
heads
.
B
oth
he
ld pistols.
The stockier man
of the two
had
his weapon
aimed
at
Sophie;
the other man
’s
was trained on
the
carriage
s
in front.

The well
-
built
man
spoke first.
‘
D
on
’t
move if
you know
what
’s
good for yer
.
”
His gaze
skimmed
over the other
carriages
as he added
,
“
Any
of yer.
”

Then, he looked at Sophie.
“
Let
’s
start with you,
m
iss.
Hand it over!
”
h
e demanded
, indicating
the
reticule
in her lap
with a
jerk of his
pistol
barrel
.

Sophie
’s
fingers curl
ed
more tigh
tly around the
reticule
’s
strings
.
Observing
Theo
from under her lashes
, she saw
his
expression
was murderous
.
H
e must be i
tching to reach
for his pistol
bu
t in truth
there
was little he could do.
The footpads
had the benefit of
surprise and
they
would shoot before he could
level his pistol.
Besides, he had the reins in one
hand
and his other
was about
her
waist
, clamping her to his side
, the pressure of his fingers searing her skin through her gown
.

Mr
Grey was
busy bringing
one of his leaders
to heel
and
reassuring
Olivia.
Sophie could hear him speaking to her in a low,
e
ven tone.
There was no chance
of
heroics
from
Peregrine.
She
was
surprised he hadn
’t
alread
y tried to escape
, but presumably
he perceived there was more dan
ger
of being shot
if he did
.
S
he cast aro
und
in her mind
for a
nother
way out
—
it
seemed
so
poor-spirited
to
meekly
hand
over
her
reticule
—
but
Theo
read her thoughts.

“S
ophie,
”
he muttered
warningly,
“
g
ive
them what they asked for
.
”

The stocky man put out a gloved
hand.
“T
hat
’s
the dander.
Be a good girl
and do as the gentleman say
s.
T
oss the pretties over
!
”

There was a
tense pause.
Having settled his horses,
Grey had swive
lled round in his seat to watch
the scene
.
So too had
Olivia.
Bowyer shifted his
precarious
position
on
top of
the
baggage, while Peregrine
, swelling with indignant rage,
glared at
the
highwaymen
, his eyes almost starting out of their sockets.

“
Abominable
impertinence, hold
ing up travellers like this
!
”
he exclaimed
.

”S
hut yer mouth,
yer
fat-headed
, rosy-faced
flash cull
,
or I
’
ll put a bullet
in it,
”
observed the second footpad
with
a contemptuous glance.

Peregrine
’s
face suffused with colour.
“D
isgraceful!
I
’
ll report this
to the magistrate
when I get to Maidenhead
—
”

“
Quiet, Perry!
”
interjected
Mr
Grey
in a low voice
.
“
Remember there are ladies present and we don
’t
want to antagonise these fellows unnecessarily.
M
iss
Devereux
, I advise
you
to
hand over your reticule
as
Mr
Cav
anagh suggests.
W
e are in no position to argue.
”

“
But
—
”

“D
o it, Sophi
e
!
”
said Theo, giving her
a warning squeeze.

Sh
e lift
ed her chin and threw
the man
a
scornful
look.
“
Oh,
very well, but I find it
tedious to be ro
bbed by the Bath Fox
after all
.
I imagined him to be a much
more terrifying figure
—
why, you
’
re only
a
shabby-looking, ill-mannered, pathetic
little cur
wh
o robs
defenceless
women
!
”

A raucous chuckle
broke from the footpad
.
“T
hat
’s
a good one
!
Ha
ha,
best description
of the Bath Fox
I
’
ve heard
!
Tell it to the
Runners!
”
He
continued laughing heartily, clutching at his sides and
even
slapping his thigh
in
glee
.
Beneath his muffler, his companion
chortled
too.

Sophie stared
at him
in amazement.
“
I don
’t
see what there is to snigger at.
”

“
No,
miss
,
daresay
you wouldn
’t
, but it
’s
a ripe joke all the same
!
”
he
croaked, as his
mirth
degenerated into a wheezing fit.

“
I
s this a
robbery or a two
-
penny farce?
”
snapped
Peregrine.

The footpad dabbed
the corner of his eyes with his muffler.
“
Cross me heart
,
sir
, it
’s
robbery
to be sure
, but you can
’t
begrudge us
chosen pells enjoying a
joke.
”
H
e
stopped cackling
at last
and cleared
his throat.
“
Now,
miss
,
”
he demanded,
“
pass over the pretties and be quick about it.
”

Sophie
tossed the
reticule
towards him
.

He
caught it neatly and
tested the weight, nodding.
“T
hank yer—
”
he began.

A
deafening
explosion
sounded
and
Sophie
’s
eyes flew
to
Grey
’s
carriag
e.
Bowyer, it appeared
, had
retrieve
d
a handsome brass
-
barrelled
blunderbuss from
its hiding place
among the portmanteaux
and fired
it
.
It had
missed the highwaymen, but
the
spray of shot
had
caught one of the
ir
horses in the flank
.
T
he gelding
snorted loudly and reared up,
almost unseating its rider
who
fou
ght
to stay in the saddle
.