Page 71 of An Unlikely Debutante

‘You were planning to rob my house?’

‘It’s not like you’d miss a few pounds here and there,’ Uncle Tom said belligerently, although he cowered as Alex leaned in towards him.

‘What I don’t understand is why you didn’t just take a few valuables when you broke into the house a few weeks ago. You’d already risked getting caught by entering, why didn’t you steal something then?’

Uncle Tom looked down and refused to speak, pushing his lips together in a manner that suggested he wasn’t going to say any more on the matter.

‘I think he’s been in trouble with the magistrate, caught with stolen goods. He’s worried if he gets caught trying to sell anything stolen again in this area, then the punishment would be harsh and swift.’

‘But money cannot be traced,’ Alex said, nodding his head. ‘Right, come with me.’

Alex stood, bodily hauling Uncle Tom to his feet and holding his arms in a way that meant the older man had no hope of escape.

‘What will you do to him?’ Lina asked. She didn’t like her uncle—even less so after the slap that had hurt her cheek so badly—but she didn’t want Alex to do anything too drastic. Uncle Tom might be a low-life scoundrel, but he was still family.

‘I will send one of the footmen for the magistrate, Sir Peter Lawson. He’s a good man, a friend of my father’s when the old man was still alive. He can decide what to do with this criminal.’

Within her family, and the larger group they travelled with, all disputes were settled without the outside meddling of the law. Lina felt a little uncomfortable allowing her uncle to be handed over to the magistrate, but she doubted he would suffer more than a firm warning. It wasn’t as though Uncle Tom had actually stolen anything, despite his intentions.

‘So what was this wager?’ Alex asked when he returned a couple of minutes later.

‘Promise you won’t laugh?’

‘I can do no such thing.’

‘I bet Uncle Tom ten pounds that I could mount and ride a wild horse the length of a field.’

‘You didn’t manage it?’

‘I was thrown about eight feet from the end.’

‘I’m impressed that you managed to mount a wild horse, let alone ride it.’

‘Does this mean I’m allowed to ride your Arabian?’

Alex laughed. ‘No. Not even if you were the finest wild-horse tamer in England.’