An Unexpected Pleasure (The Mad Morelands #4)(61)

He nodded toward the barkeep behind the counter, and the man nodded back, familiar enough with Theo that he moved to the tap to draw him an ale. Theo strolled to a table nestled in the corner of the room and sat down to wait.

Shortly after the barkeep brought the tankard of ale and placed it on the table before Theo, the door to the tavern opened again and a young man walked in.

Slender and lithe, the young man had a shock of blond hair, untidily cut, and piercing blue eyes. He moved with noiseless grace toward Theo’s table, signaling to the barkeep, and pulled out a chair. His name was Tom Quick, and he had been an employee of one Moreland or another for a number of years.

“Yer grace,” he said in greeting, grinning, his eyes alight with mischief.

Theo grimaced. “You can’t plague me with that title yet, Quick.”

He watched as the barkeep brought another tankard and Quick took a long pull from it. He knew better than to try to hurry Tom. He was his own man, more given to insolence than subservience.

Quick had grown up in the slums of the East End and had made his living as a child as a pickpocket. He did not know his father or mother; his last name was one given to him by the man who ran the gang of pickpockets, and it referred to his speed at lifting items from strangers. Doubtless he would have ended up as most of his accomplices had, in Newgate, but for the fact that one day he had attempted to steal the wallet of Reed Moreland. Theo’s brother, recognizing Tom’s innate intelligence and abilities, had not turned the boy over to the authorities but had taken him in, feeding and educating him, and giving him a job.

Quick had worked for Reed, then for their sister Olivia in her business of debunking mediums, and now generally worked for Kyria’s husband, Rafe, in whom he had found a kindred spirit. He had, however, been happy to take on a small task for Theo on his Sunday off.

He let out a sigh of pleasure as he set down his ale and leaned back in his chair. “I followed your Miss Henderson, just like you asked. She went to a house—a snug little place. Then I followed her back to Broughton House. She didn’t go anywhere else. So I returned to the area where she visited, and I talked with a few people in a tavern or two.”

“And what did you find out?” Theo asked.

“The house where she went is being rented by an Irishman. Nobody knew his name, or they weren’t telling. But he visits the taverns—well, he would, wouldn’t he, being Irish?”

Theo considered Tom’s news for a moment, aware of a fierce surge of jealousy. Who was this man to Megan? Husband? Lover? Or simply a business associate? It disturbed him to realize how much the answer mattered.

“Did anyone know what he does for a living?” Theo asked finally.

“Not that any of them could tell me. He’s full of Irish stories and the like, but they didn’t know anything about his work. Seems that, on reflection, they realized that he didn’t talk much about himself, really, except for long ago things about Ireland.”

“Indeed? Interesting.”

“That’s not the most interesting thing,” Tom went on. He took another swig of ale and sat back in his chair, looking quite pleased with himself.

“All right. I’ll play along,” Theo said. “What is the most interesting thing?”

“When I was following your lady…I realized I wasn’t the only one. There was another fellow trailing her.”





CHAPTER 12




Theo stared at Quick in astonishment. “What?”

“After walking along after her for a little ways this morning, I noticed this other chap in front of me. He was taking all the same turns I was, and once when she stopped to look in a store window, he stopped, too. I realized that he was following her, just like me.”

“Who the devil was he?” Theo asked, his brows drawing together thunderously.

Quick shrugged. “Don’t know. Never saw him before today. But I’m sure I was right, because while I was idling about, waiting for her to come back out of the house, I saw him doing the same.”

“Did he spot you?” Theo asked.

Tom shot him a scornful look. “’Course not. I may not be in the game anymore, but you won’t find any better than me. I know how to stay out of sight. He was clumsy, or I wouldn’t have noticed him—followed too close behind her.”

“Is he in the game, do you think?”

Quick shrugged. “I don’t know. I been out of it too long—don’t know anybody in it anymore. But usually, following somebody around—you got to figure one or both of ’em’s up to no good.” He paused, then added, “Who is this woman, guvnor? Is she going to hurt your family?”

“Not if I can help it,” Theo replied. He sighed, then said, “I’m not sure. She is the twins’ teacher, but I can’t help thinking there is more to her than that. I have found her in a couple of places where she had no reason to be. I suspect she may be a thief—or working for one.”

He saw no point in mentioning that she was also someone who had come to him in a dream ten years earlier.

“Chuck her out—that’s what I would do,” Tom offered.

“I’m keeping my eye on her,” Theo promised.

“Aye. Well, she’s worth keeping an eye on, all right.” Tom grinned, then added seriously, “But not worth letting any harm come to your family.”