The Dashing Thief of Her Dreams Page 5

  “I...I suppose you are right,” Deborah conceded, and Bridget became very excited. Deborah, however, calmed her down very quickly. “I am anxious about it because I am already twenty-two, and have been too shy to ever allow another suitor before. I do not want to get my hopes up that the first man that I have genuine feelings for will feel the same way about me as I do about him. It is silly, and I do not know if I want to go through with it.” Just then, Bridget had an idea.

  “How about this, then,” Bridget suggested, taking Deborah’s hand and leaning in closer. “When I go downstairs to give my account of last night, you can ‘happen’ to come with me. Then I shall see how Lord Miles reacts to you and I can give you a full, unbiased report about what I believe he feels for you.” Deborah looked hesitant about the suggestion at first, but soon began to look excited.

  “I suppose that wouldn’t be too high-pressure of a situation,” Deborah admitted. Bridget became very excited once again, and squeezed her sister’s hands.

  “I am so utterly delighted that there is FINALLY a man worthy of your affections! For years I have been the only one to ever speak of romance and love, but that was almost entirely with regard to my ‘fanciful’ stories that you so despise, now, wasn’t it?” Deborah giggled and nodded. “Shall we do your hair up so that I may watch Lord Miles’ jaw hit the floor when you enter the room?” Deborah agreed happily, and Bridget went about tidying her sister’s hair.

  Chapter 7

  The two women descended the stairs a few minutes later, and went to sit in the dining room until they were called for. When their father finally asked for Bridget, both sisters were so excitedly nervous that they could barely keep their composure. They took a moment before they entered the room to collect themselves, and then entered together, arm in arm.

  The moment Lord Miles laid eyes on Lady Deborah, his whole face changed. Yes, he had looked delighted when he had seen Lady Bridget earlier, but now he looked as though he had seen the most beautiful woman in the world. Which, in his opinion, he probably had.

  “Ah, Lady Bridget, thank you for joining us,” Lord Philip said. Bridget smiled to him, and he seemed to notice Deborah but couldn’t place who she was.

  “This is my sister, Lady Deborah Stanhope,” Bridget introduced. Lord Philip stood and bowed to her, and Miles did the same. As Bridget watched him, she noticed that he didn’t take his eyes off her the whole time he stood and bowed. Bridget smiled to herself. If Deborah had been concerned about Miles’ feelings prior to this re-introduction, she no longer had to be: Bridget was as sure that he liked her as she was that she had seen a man in their dining room last night.

  “And this is-” Lord Philip started to introduce Miles, but Miles interrupted him.

  “Yes, Father, Lady Deborah and I have actually already been introduced,” he explained to his father. When Lord Philip gave him a queer look, Miles continued. “We were introduced through Lady Katherine of Kent. If I remember correctly, neither she nor I are excellent players of whist.” Deborah gave Miles such a big smile and such a contented giggle that Bridget could hardly believe that it was her sister standing before her. She had never seen her act in such a girlish way before, and she had to admit, it was quite delightful to bear witness to.

  “Wonderful,” Lord Philip said simply. Bridget noted that Lord Philip seemed far less interested in Miles’ goings on than he did Geoffrey’s. The fact that Lord Philip had explained the circumstances of a son who wasn’t even present led Bridget to believe that he might have had a preference for Geoffrey.

  This could explain why Miles got such a tempestuous look on his face when his brother was mentioned. If she did indeed become better acquainted with Miles, as she hoped she would for her sister’s sake, she intended to ask him many questions about his relationship with his brother.

  Lord Philip and the constable asked her many questions about what had happened the previous night. She answered them to the best of her ability, but unfortunately, as she spoke, she found that no new information was revealed to either herself or the men. When she finished, Lord Philip launched into an explanation of how they would proceed with their investigation, and Bridget found herself becoming very disinterested.

  She pretended to be very intent on what he was saying for a time, but then became so bored that she began trying to sneak glances at Deborah and Miles. She glanced at the two of them out of the corner of her eye, and watched as they intermittently smiled and looked at each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking.

  Finally, their eyes met at the same time, and they both immediately looked away. However, once they each separately realised that it probably wasn’t entirely a bad thing that they had seen the other looking, the both glanced back, and this time, when their eyes met, their faces lit up.

  Suddenly, something caught Bridget’s attention. When Miles smiled, Bridget noticed his eyes. They had a similar tone to the thief’s, but they were a much brighter blue than the deep turquoise she had seen last night. At once, Bridget immediately wondered if she had been mistaken in her view; maybe the eye colour she had seen last night was a bright blue, not turquoise.

  Miles’ eyes were a very similar shape to the thief’s, too. Perhaps most men’s eyes looked like this? Bridget looked casually to Lord Philip’s eyes, but unfortunately her theory was quickly thrown out: Lord Philip’s eyes looked nothing like Lord Miles’. Bridget figured she had to be looking far too deeply into something that had little to no bearing on reality.

  There was no way that Miles could have been the robber: if her sister liked him, he obviously had to have a good character. And if he was the son of Philip Nott, he was a nobleman and would have no need to steal their family’s silver. But Bridget remained stuck on the tone and shape of Miles’ eyes - how many people could have such similar looking eyes?

  Bridget was jolted out of her thoughts by Lord Philip. “I do apologise, Lady Bridget, but could I trouble you to give us the description of the thief one last time?” Bridget turned her attention to him and nodded.

  “Yes, certainly. He was tall, probably about a head’s height taller than I. He was not a large man, but still seemed quite strong. He was dressed all in black and wore a black mask that obscured almost his whole face, save for his eyes. His eyes were turquoise.” Lord Philip looked at Bridget intently and nodded along with her explanation as the constable took notes. When she finished speaking Lord Philip seemed pleased, but Lord Alymer looked distressed.

  “Whatever is the matter, Father?” Bridget asked. Lord Alymer looked to her, surprised that she had noticed a change on his face.

  “Hearing you describe the suspect has brought back the concerns that kept me up all the rest of last night,” Lord Alymer replied. He smoothed out his eyebrows with his thumbs; an odd but very telling habit he had that he only did when he was upset. “It is nothing short of a miracle that you were unharmed last night, my dear. A man like that would have no hesitation in... hurting a beautiful young woman like yourself. I am so grateful that you were unharmed, but I can’t help but worry about what might happen if this thief were to strike again.” Lord Alymer turned his attention to Lord Philip.

  “Lord Philip. I have two daughters at home who I now feel are most vulnerable to another attack such as this one. I fear that if this happens again, we may not be as fortunate as we were this time. In addition to this, the silver tankards that were taken held two precious gems that are family heirlooms. As you can tell, there is a great deal weighing on my mind after the events of last night.” Lord Philip, with his bushy white moustache and thinning white hair, looked even more serious than he had a few moments ago.

  “I understand the gravity of the situation all too well, Lord Alymer. That is one of the reasons why I came to the house myself along with the constable: I felt that after the sudden death of your dear Lady Frances, you deserved to have no more bad fortune in your life.” Bridget gave her sister a quick glance, and Lady Deborah returned it with a sad smile. The two young women
were still feeling the heavy grief that came along with losing their mother, in spite of being as old as they were when she had passed.

  Lady Frances had passed away quite suddenly one afternoon. She had come in from her ride about the country with their father, but had collapsed as they were walking from the stables to the manor. The doctor said it was ‘cardiac insufficiency’, which Bridget understood to be the patient’s heart not being sufficient for pumping blood throughout the body. She thought this was a truly unlikely thing for her mother to have died of; Lady Frances had the biggest heart of anyone she knew.

  After a pause, Lord Philip continued. “As I mentioned when I first arrived, we shall work tirelessly to ensure that the thief is apprehended and punished to the full extent of the law. You shall not have to worry about the safety of your daughters or your possessions for very long, My Lord.” Lord Alymer looked very grateful to have heard Lord Philip’s assurance.

  “I thank you most heartily, My Lord,” Lord Alymer responded, rising to shake his hand. Lord Miles also stood and received a handshake, and the two women rose to curtsey to them. Bridget noticed that when Miles bowed to Deborah, he didn’t take his eyes off her, and she likewise noticed that Deborah did the same when she curtseyed to him. She was utterly delighted that her sister had found such a handsome young man who seemed to be wholly taken with her.

  “Now, this has been a most formal visit, Lord Alymer,” Lord Philip said seriously. “Perhaps we should meet under a more pleasant pretense at my home in a few days’ time. Would you all do me the honour of joining us for dinner on Thursday?” Lord Alymer looked very pleased at this suggestion and visually checked with his daughters that they were pleased with this arrangement as well.

  They each nodded emphatically, and so Lord Alymer replied, “That would please us greatly, My Lord; thank you for such a kind offer.” Lord Philip dipped his head to acknowledge what Lord Alymer had said, then responded, “I feel it is the least I could to show my solidarity with your family in this trying time.” With that, the constable, Lord Philip and Lord Miles were all led to the front door and bid farewell.

  Bridget noticed that Lord Miles took particular enjoyment when Lady Deborah handed him his coat. Their fingers may have even touched when the hand-off occurred! Bridget made a mental note to ensure that her sister sat next to Miles when they went to dinner in a few days’ time.

  After the men had set out, Lord Alymer returned to his work in the study and the girls excitedly ran up to Bridget’s room.

  “Did you not see how he gazed upon you, sister!” Bridget squealed excitedly the moment they’d closed the door. But Deborah did not respond; instead, she ran across the room to the window and looked out of it. “Whatever are you doing?” Bridget asked her.

  “I’m trying to catch one last glimpse of him; come see!” Deborah whispered this secretive information as though Lord Miles would be able to hear them if she spoke any louder. Instead of teasing her sister as she so wished she could, however, Lady Bridget ran to the window and gazed out of it with her. At the very bottom of the window, the two young women could see Lord Philip’s grand carriage.

  The constable was just stepping inside of it. Lord Philip appeared to already be inside but Lord Miles stood outside of it, waiting patiently to climb inside. While he waited, Lord Miles looked about the estate, and in a very thrilling turn of events, looked up to the manor. His eyes settled on the young women momentarily, and when they did, Bridget and Deborah screamed excitedly and pulled away from the window.

  They each flattened themselves against the shutters, and didn’t dare look down again until they were absolutely certain Lord Miles was seated inside of the carriage. When they did finally look out again, the horse was pulling the vehicle away from the front door, and they could see no one but the driver seated at the front. The two women looked to each other, bewildered and excited, and then burst into laughter.

  “Do you think he saw us?” Lady Deborah said when she’d caught her breath. Bridget continued to laugh uncontrollably for a few moments after she asked the question, until she finally managed to regain her composure. She walked to the side of her bed and sat down upon it.

  “I have a feeling that he did not, for this is such a dark room and it is so bright outside... but there is always a chance he did!” Lady Deborah’s cheeks went red as she sat in the chair across from her sister’s bed.

  “Oh no,” she bemoaned. “What if he did see us, and now he thinks that I’m some frivolous little girl who watches him from afar whenever he’s nearby?” Deborah put her head into the palm of her hands, and Bridget leaned across the divide to stroke her arm.

  “Debbie,” Bridget began, “I don’t believe there is anything that man believes you are other than the object of his affection.” Deborah’s head snapped up from her hands and she looked at her sister with her brows furrowed.

  “You’re not teasing me, are you? I don’t believe my heart could handle any sort of teasing right now... Lord Miles is the first man who I have truly felt anything for, and if something were to go wrong...” Bridget sensed her sister’s intense distress, and so she pulled her over to sit beside her on the bed.

  “There isn’t an ounce of tease in my voice, dearest one,” Bridget comforted her. “That boy had his eyes so glued to you the whole time you were in the room that I think if you were to have sneezed, he would have jumped about five feet in the air.” The joke brought a small smile to Deborah’s face, and she soon responded,

  “You think he really likes me, do you?”

  Bridget made a noise of exasperation.

  “Yes! If he doesn’t, I shall never trust the character of another man so long as I live!” she cried. Finally, Deborah seemed to take what she was saying seriously, and a grin took over her mouth.

  “Then would you assist me in choosing which gown I should wear to dinner at his father’s estate on Thursday night so that I might look my finest?” Bridget nodded enthusiastically, and the two women scurried off to choose an outfit for Deborah.

  Chapter 8

  In the late afternoon two days later, the Stanhope family boarded their carriage and set off for the Nott Estate. Lord Alymer, who typically let his unruly greying brown hair run free, had it greased down on the top of his head and looked rather like a drowned rat, if you asked his daughters. But he was correct; the look was the fashion of the time and it was appropriate for him to have worn his hair as such for an auspicious occasion such as this one.

  He had the hair on the side of his face nicely trimmed and his thin brown moustache had been brushed out to its fullest volume. He wore a burgundy coat and his best beige ascot. Bridget was proud; her father looked very handsome for having done all of his preparations on his own. The two women, on the other hand, had had a great deal of assistance from one another and were positively glowing.

  Deborah had spent a great deal of time this morning encouraging Bridget’s hair into tight curls, and then gathered them beautifully on the top of her head. For once, the curls seemed to want to stay in her straight blonde hair, and Bridget was very relieved. She wore a light green gown that had lace detailing, and wore a navy spencer made of velvet. Deborah had even convinced her to rouge her cheeks for the occasion, although Bridget wasn’t entirely sure why: it was Deborah who was attracting a man’s attention, not she.

  Deborah, on the other hand, wore a white gown with delicate purple flowers that had been embroidered in rows all down the dress. She wore a matching purple silk spencer, and her auburn hair was done in a very similar fashion to Bridget’s; although much more poorly. Try as she might, hair styling was not Bridget’s strong suit.

  She was grateful that her sister’s hair was already curly, for if it wasn’t, Bridget was not sure she would be able to wrangle it into any sort of style whatsoever. Deborah, too, was wearing rouge, though after she had convinced her sister to wear it, she took a shocking amount of convincing to wear it too.

  The three family members rode largely in silence t
o the Nott Estate. This was not out of awkwardness or due to a lack of things to talk about. Rather, they were quiet because their ride to the house was one of the most beautiful in all of England. As they made their way from the Stanhope Estate to the Nott Estate, they passed by beautiful rolling hills, breathtaking vistas, elegant manors and quaint cottages.