Free Letters to a Lady by Joan Smith Page B

he hardly recognized smiled at him. He soon recognized that bold pixie smile and the slanting eyes full of mischief. “Missie! What the devil—”
    “I got them, Harrup! I got your letters.” She beamed and hopped forward to lay them on his desk.
    “You got the letters? How?” He stared from woman to letters in bewilderment.
    “I’ll tell you all about it on the way to the watch house,” she said, shooting a nervous glance at him.
    Harrup’s eyes widened in dismay. “The—what?”
    “Unfortunately Ronald got caught, but they think he was only stealing Walter Scott.”
    A great feeling of foreboding came over Harrup. He glared and pointed with one finger at a chair by his desk.
    “Sit!” he commanded.
    Diana sank gratefully onto the chair. “I am rather tired,” she admitted. “It was quite fatiguing moving the barrel and getting in the window. It was a tight fit, but I could not let Ronald smash the front window, because of the people on the street.” She spotted the wine and poured herself a glass, which she gulped, then sighed wearily.
    “Am I to understand you and that cawker of a brother broke into Lord Markwell’s flat and stole the letters?” he asked. His voice sounded hollow, as though he were shouting down a long corridor. “And got caught?” he added.
    “Only Ronald. I got away with the letters.” She pointed to the stack on his desk. “It wasn’t Markwell himself who caught us. It was only a servant. Oh, I do hope Ronald has the wits to give a false name at the watch house. Do you think he will, Harrup?”
    “No. A boy who doesn’t know enough to wipe behind the ears will hardly be on to it. Where is he?”
    “I’ll have to show you. I followed him in your carriage, but I couldn’t tell you the address. I was discreet! We stayed well behind them. No one will suspect you are involved.”
    “My going to bail Ronald out will slip them the clue. The fact that you’re staying at my house is confirmation, not that it’s needed.”
    Diana pondered this a moment. “That’s true. You’ll have to give a false name, too—or you could have someone else do it for you.”
    “Lord Eldon, perhaps?” he suggested satirically. “The lord chancellor should have no difficulty gaining Ronald’s freedom. Or would you prefer I ask my future father-in-law, Lord Groden, the stiffest rump in England, to do it?”
    Diana looked at the letters, carelessly tossed on his desk, and felt she was being treated shabbily. “It’s the least you could do! We did it all for you, and it was neither easy nor pleasant, I assure you. Look at my dress—ruined. My best slippers have turned to mush,” she added, lifting a foot to show him. “To say nothing of my sable-trimmed cape,” she added, for this was considered the greatest loss.
    Harrup cast a sympathetic eye at the well-turned ankle and sighed wearily. “Thank you, Diana. I am happy to have the letters back. You’ve done more than enough tonight. Go upstairs and have a bath, and I’ll bail Ronald out.”
    “I have to go with you,” she said simply.
    “Housebreaking and stealing weren’t sufficient amusement for one night? You want to top it off with a visit to a watch house?”
    “Yes, I do,” she agreed. “I’ve never seen one before. But I expect I’ll have to wait in the carriage. I want to talk to Ronald and make sure he’s all right. He got wounded in the—”
    Harrup jerked to attention. “Not shot!”
    “Oh, no. Just cut a little when he smashed the window. The idiot took off his gloves. I told him not to hit it so hard. At least Markwell’s servant was not at all violent.”
    A trip to the watch house seemed tame after Diana’s other activities, and as Harrup was eager both to free Ronald and hear the story, he agreed to let her come along.
    “You’d best lock those letters up before we go,” she suggested.
    “We know how efficacious a lock is,” he answered, and tucked them in his inside pocket. He placed his own evening