Chapter 3
Cobblestones, Cod, and Complications.
“Bugger me, it’s freezing,” Alfie said, grinning at Lill as she handed him his hat with a sour expression.
Lill said nothing, disapproving of Alice—Alfie’s—more liberal use of the English language when togged up as her own sibling.
“Come on, Lill, sweetheart. Try giving us a smile, it won’t hurt. Much,” he added, giving her a jaunty wave as he slapped the hat onto his head and strode out.
The cobbles were still icy and even though Alice usually wore sensible footwear, it was a relief to feel Alfie’s more solid boots beneath his feet.
The familiar sense of freedom beckoned him on as an arctic breeze tugged at his hat.
For a moment there was sheer exhilaration, the feeling that anything was possible, yet beneath that happiness and bravado, Alice lingered.
Lill said it was all those years running about as a lad that caused the trouble, this uneasy sense of not being entirely comfortable as Alice, at least, not all the time.
Of being not quite one nor the other, or perhaps even both at once.
Alfie felt necessary. He was freedom, liberation from all the constraints that tied Alice down.
Every time Alfie strode out in trousers and boots it felt like victory, like winning against an implacable foe in the face of impossible odds, yet Alice offered the chance to conform, to be pretty, for Alice loved pretty things, silk and lace, and diamonds of course.
Both seemed necessary for survival, for happiness, if such a thing even existed.
“Stop thinking, for the love of God!” Alfie muttered, for a headache lingered on the horizon if too much more introspection was on the cards.
There was a job to do, and it had best get done, or else.
The Promenade, Little Valentine, 7th January 1816.
Aubrey leaned against the railing and stared out to sea.
It was choppy this morning, white horses frothing upon the ferocious waves as they rolled and crashed upon the shore.
A fine mist of sea spray settled over his face, sitting on the heavy wool of his coat and provoking a shiver.
Perhaps he ought to have gone into Madame August’s with Vinnie and Della rather than bide his time outside.
Yet he had hoped he might run into Miss Marwick again.
He had carefully avoided asking where she lived, not wanting her to feel he was stalking her like a hunter after a deer.
Though there was something a little doe-like about her, he thought with a smile.
Not that he had ever believed the hen-witted fluttering she had attempted to throw him off the scent.
Her intelligence had shone through too keenly for him to believe that for a moment, but now and then, when she dropped the somewhat prickly exterior that appeared when she felt threatened, she would smile, and her grey eyes would soften, making those thick eyelashes appear impossibly long, and the tenuous seed of friendship that had sprung up between them seem like something precious, something she did not grant just anyone.
Friendship, he mused. Was that what it was, or was she just placating him, keeping him sweet so he would not look too hard at her brother?
It would be natural for her to protect him, of course, but there was something…
something else. A sense she was hiding something nagged at the edges of his mind but would not come into focus.
Laughter took his attention, refocusing his attention upon the morning fish auction.
Aubrey nodded a greeting to a servant he recognised from the hall, who hefted a large crate to a waiting dog cart.
The locals, bundled up in scarves and heavy coats, gathered too, selecting the best of the catch to take home.
A gust of wind blew up, tugging at his coat and whipping his hat from his head before he could grab hold.
“Hell!” He turned to follow its path, watching with some astonishment as a young man lunged for it, careening over the icy cobbles as he caught hold of the brim and then found he could not stop himself. He skidded over the ice, arms windmilling until he crashed into Aubrey.
“Hold there!” Aubrey called out, catching the fellow by the arms and barely keeping him upright. Thankfully, he was thin as a whip and Aubrey got an arm under him, supporting him until he’d recovered his balance.
“I’d throw that one back, my lad,” one of the fishermen shouted to Aubrey. “He’s only a little sprat, no meat on him.”
A roar of laughter from the onlookers greeted this sally, but rather than look offended or embarrassed, the young fellow swept off his own hat and executed a theatrical bow.
“Thank you, ladies, gentlemen, I’m here all week for your entertainment,” he replied, before replacing his own hat at a jaunty angle and offering Aubrey his.
“Sir, your hat,” he said, presenting it with a flourish and a comically grave expression.
“It had the temerity to attempt a sea voyage. I do hope you will treat it with the severity it deserves. Hats are tricky blighters, they are never where one thinks they are and sneak off when one isn’t looking. ”
Aubrey gave a bark of laughter, rather delighted by the young fellow, and then he took a closer look and realised at once to whom he was speaking. The resemblance between the siblings was marked.
Well, well. What devilish good fortune.
“Hats and Alfred Marwick, I believe, may be placed in the same category,” Aubrey replied with a smile.
The fellow, who could be no more than two and twenty at most going on his boyish looks, stared at him in surprise. “Uh-oh. My reputation precedes me. Who did I offend this time?”
Aubrey chuckled again, recognising his bold younger self in the boisterous youth. “Me, as it happens, but never mind that. Thank you for your heroic rescue of my chapeau. Most selfless of you. You might have broken your neck pulling such a stunt.”
“Happy to be of service but how have I offended you?” he asked with astonishment. “I would swear we’ve never met.”
“We have not, though I have been eager to do so for some days now. Have you broken your fast yet?”
Mr Marwick shook his head.
“Excellent. I shall stand you an excellent breakfast at The Mermaid, which I am reliably informed is the best in town, and explain just what it is you’ve done, you young Tyburn blossom.”
Aubrey gestured towards the hotel, but Mr Marwick didn’t move, his expression shifting from curiosity to indignation.
“Hold on a moment, I might be a scapegrace, some might even go so far as to label me a jackanapes, but never a Tyburn blossom.”
Aubrey grinned, inclined to believe the fellow, who had a face of such youth and innocence it was hard to believe he was shaving yet, let alone up to such wickedness as burglary or fencing stolen goods.
However, looks could be deceptive, and he would see what he made of young Mr Marwick before he made any decisions.
“All right, there’s no need to take a pet.
Come along, we’ll eat first and talk later,” Aubrey said, gesturing toward the hotel.
If he knew anything, Della and Vinnie would be hours yet, and he’d get someone to send them a note telling them where he was.
For now, he was far too curious to discover more about his new companion and just how he’d got his hands on that brooch.
The Mermaid Hotel, Little Valentine, 7th January 181
“Your late mother’s?”
Mr Marwick, or Alfie, as he had insisted Aubrey address him, looked suitably horrified by this information.
“Now, look,” Aubrey said, not wanting the fellow to think he was about to get him transported to New South Wales.
“I’m not interested in you if you were not the one who stole the thing, but I want to find those responsible for the burglary and get my mother’s diamonds back.
They rightfully belong to my sister. They’re a part of her dowry and, more than that, they are a connection to Mama that she ought not have had taken from her. ”
“I see,” Alfie replied. He toyed nervously with his teacup, turning it round and round in the saucer.
“Well, I’m not sure how I can help you to be honest. You see, I met this fellow in a pub, and the truth is, I was none too steady on my feet at the time.
We were playing cards, and in pretty deep, and suddenly he produces this brooch.
Well, to tell the truth, I thought it was paste, no matter his swearing it were diamonds. Hell, we all did.”
“All?” Aubrey pressed, though his information was far from what he’d hoped for.
He shrugged, his expression one of such good-natured innocence Aubrey’s heart sank.
“I’m afraid I don’t know who any of them were—a right mixed bunch, I’d swear.
The fellow with the brooch was older, a hulking great brute as I remember, and I think maybe a couple of them were toffs, but honestly, it’s all a blur.
How I won I don’t know, and how I got home without someone clouting me over the head and robbing me is a mystery too. But there you have it.”
Aubrey wanted to shake the lad with frustration and demand he remember more details, but he’d had enough drunken nights out in his time to know it was useless. “There’s really no more you can tell me? You don’t remember where this pub was, at least?”
Alfie grimaced and shook his head. “No clue. I fell in with these rowdy fellows, who said they knew a good place, and I followed where they led. I remember a maze of back alleys and whilst I reckon we began somewhere close to the Dials, I’ve not got the foggiest where we landed.”
The Dials, Aubrey thought with dismay. Well, that was about the worst location in London, and searching anywhere in the area would be like finding a needle in a very dangerous haystack.
“I’m very sorry, sir. I’d help if I could.
The truth is, I rarely drink to excess, and Alice will have my hide if she discovers it, so I’d be grateful if you’d keep mum,” he added, looking like he was far more afraid of his sister’s scolding than any trouble he might be in for handling stolen goods.
Aubrey nodded distractedly. “Well, that’s that, then.” He slumped in his chair, his heart aching as the possibility of retrieving his mother’s diamonds slipped from his grasp.
“Well, at least there’s the brooch.”
Aubrey looked at him in shock.
Alfie grinned ruefully. “You must have that back, at any rate. I know it’s not like having the complete set, but it’s something.
Alice loves it, but she’ll find no pleasure in it now, knowing how it came to us.
I’m afraid I’m in for a dreadful lecture, but we’ll bring it up to the hall tomorrow morning, if that suits you? ”
Aubrey blinked, having assumed he’d have to negotiate a price at the very least. “You’d give it to me?”
The fellow looked sheepish and hung his head, making him look little more than a cheeky boy. “Ain’t mine to give, is it? I’m just sorry I can’t be of any further help.”
“Not your fault,” Aubrey said, picturing Vinnie’s face as he presented her with the brooch.
Alfie was right. It was something, more than something.
They had thought the entire set lost for good.
Now they had a precious memento returned to them, and they must be grateful for that.
“If not for you, we’d not have the brooch.
Vinnie will be so happy. She misses Mama rather dreadfully, and it will be such a wonderful surprise for her. ”
An expression crossed the young man’s face that Aubrey could not decipher, there and gone, but Alfie turned away from him, frowning. “No doubt, but you’d best have a care and ensure she doesn’t wear it out and about, not if you don’t want your wicked uncle to hear of it and demand it back.”
Aubrey regarded the fellow in surprise. “Yes, of course. That’s an excellent observation. I hadn’t even thought of that. I’m afraid subterfuge is not my strong point.”
“No, you’re honest as the day is long, I’d wager,” Alfie said with an endearing grin now as he refilled both their teacups. “What you see is what you get.”
“I suppose that’s true, but don’t go thinking I’m a greenhorn,” Aubrey replied, rather amused by this assessment. “If you’re thinking you can take me at cards because I’m an open book, I’m afraid you are barking up the wrong tree.”
Mischievous grey eyes met his as the young man smirked, lazily stirring his tea. “Oh, aye? Confident, are you?”
“Why, you young whippersnapper!” Aubrey replied, torn between laughter and indignation at the fellow’s tone, which was perfectly calculated to bait him. To his surprise, Aubrey discovered he was enjoying himself too much to resist. “I’m tempted to teach you a lesson.”
“You may try,” Alfie replied nonchalantly, lifting his teacup to his lips. “If you think you’re up to it.”
“Oh, may I? Where and when, young fellow? I think it time someone taught you a lesson in respecting your elders.”
Alfie snorted. “Well, at least you didn’t say betters, I might have choked on my tea.”
Any reply Aubrey might have made to this provoking comment was swallowed as Mrs Fairway arrived with their breakfasts. She set the plates down, loaded with bacon and eggs, sausages, fried bread, mushrooms and tomatoes.
“There we are, gents, eat it up afore it gets cold,” she said cheerfully before hurrying away to see to her next customer.
Aubrey looked at Alfie, who was gazing at the massive plate of food with something close to awe. “Well then, sprat, eat up, else I might throw you back after all.”
Alfie snorted and did just as he was bid.