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“So, you think that because she has been made aware of her dire circumstance she has taken to stealing what she cannot afford?” Jeb thought about that. It made sense.
Making a mental note to write to Hooky the first chance he got, he kissed the top of Sophia’s head and settled her against him even closer.
“I think she has,” Sophia murmured as she practically lay against his side and revelled in his embrace. “I have tried to warn her that she will wind up in jail if she gets caught, but she just doesn’t listen to reason. The amount she has stolen is ridiculous. They are all items she can tuck into her reticule, or pocket, so nobody will be any the wiser that she is the traitor in their midst. It is why she has stolen snuff boxes and the like. I think the Harvell’s hairbrushes are the largest items she has taken, apart from a couple of small picture frames.”
Jeb was positively bursting with questions. “What does she do with them? Are they still in the house?”
He was hooked on the mystery, and wanted nothing more than to help Sophia with her wayward relative, if only to get the cloud of worry out of her eyes. However, notifying the magistrate was definitely not possible because he knew that Sophia was likely to be tarred with the same brush once news got out about Delilah’s crimes.
He wasn’t a member of the Star Elite for nothing though, and knew there was a way to cover up the crime while making sure that the right thing was done.
“Some of them are still here. Several nights ago, I was awake in the early hours of the morning and heard a noise downstairs. I got up to see what it was, and saw Delilah hurrying across the garden with a package. Earlier that day, I had found a drawer stuffed full of things she had stolen. When I saw her in the garden, I went to check the drawer, and found it empty.”
“Do you think she hid the goods somewhere, or handed them over to someone?” He thought about the man who had accosted him the other night.
Sophia thought about that. “I really don’t believe she has buried them anywhere. It was two o’clock in the morning. I know it is odd to meet anyone at that time of the night, but I cannot help but feel that she gave them to someone. I don’t believe she was gone long enough to have the time to dig a hole to bury them. The bundle was large enough for a sizeable hole to be needed. Besides, I saw her boots beside the back door the following morning. They weren’t muddy like they would have been if she had been digging.”
“Maybe she hid them in the woods?”
“I don’t know.”
Jeb looked at her. “Have you been to check?”
Sophia shook her head. “I haven’t dared, to be honest with you.”
“It’s alright,” Jeb soothed, fully understanding her reluctance.
She had no idea what, or who, she would find in the woods and, given Tabitha’s recent disappearance, had done the right thing in staying away.
“I will go and take a look in the morning,” he promised.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Unfortunately, you are not likely to get the truth from Delilah if you ask her what she did with them. My aunt can see nothing wrong with her behaviour because Delilah believes that the victims can afford the loss. I told her that the Harvells couldn’t, but she ignores me. She knows how impoverished they are. They try, bless them, but it is evident to anyone with eyes in their head that they are poorly equipped already. You or I could replace them. The ladies will find it another expense that would probably stop them purchasing enough food to eat.”
“I know.” Jeb placed a comforting hand over hers. The anger in her voice at the unfairness of the situation made him inordinately proud of her for her compassion.
“What do you plan to do with the rest of the belongings? How much is left?”
Sophia led him to the cupboard under the stairs and showed him the box.
“She has tried to move it but I found it and put it back again. As far as she is concerned, it has been disappeared from where she left it. She won’t ask me for the items back because they aren’t hers either, and she knows I would take her to task over it. So, at the moment we are at a stalemate. Although she has promised me she will return the items, at the last minute she just refuses. Given that I am here, and we were going to homes of people who had items stolen, I thought I could return a few. I don’t see why Delilah should keep them.”
“You took an incredible risk,” he warned her. “Being caught at the ball with your hands on several stolen items would make even the most sceptical person question your integrity. You cannot be associated with this, Sophia. Don’t take such a risk again.”
“I know I should go to the magistrate, Jeb,” she whispered. “But she is my aunt. I cannot help but feel that I am betraying her. She has stopped stealing for now, but I just don’t know what to do. She claims she doesn’t know which items came from which houses.”
“But you know she does.”
“I think so.” She looked at him a little ruefully. “It doesn’t take a genius to work out who owns the Harvell’s hairbrushes.”
Jeb nodded his understanding. He swept a tender finger down her cheek and traced the tell-tale tear stains gently.
“Let me help you with this,” he pleaded huskily.
“I don’t want to go to the magistrate.”
He shook his head slowly, but his mind raced, looking at the possibilities and discarding the ones he knew wouldn’t work.
“I don’t know what to do,” she admitted. “I am not going to leave them in the house.”
