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“Now”—Cressy nodded at the footman in approval when Diana’s cup was filled—“What were you screeching about when I came in?”
Gabrielle caught the footman’s startled look. He was new here and unused to Cressy. One simply didn’t speak to a duke’s daughter thus, but Cressy had never known when to hold her tongue and had been let go from more positions than Gabrielle could count. Perhaps that was why she was the only servant who’d stayed last year when Gabrielle had announced she couldn’t pay them. And for that, as far as Gabrielle was concerned, Cressy could say or do whatever she liked.
“I wasn’t screeching,” Diana said, not in the least offended. Diana didn’t stand on principle unless it suited her. “We were discussing whether to go to the British Museum now or when you could spare a moment.”
“And I said we have no need to go to the museum. I don’t have the item.” Gabrielle glanced at the footman, and Cressy, following her gaze, waved him away.
Cressy stepped forward. “What do you mean you don’t have it?” She’d lowered her voice considerably, and her blue eyes darkened with concern.
Gabrielle sighed. What was the matter with everyone this morning? “I mean exactly what I said. I do not have Cleopatra’s necklace.” She lowered her voice on the last.
“Was Her Grace wearing it?” Diana asked.
“No, the duchess was not wearing it. It was in the jewelry box as the maid you bribed”—she nodded to Cressy—“promised.”
“Couldn’t you pick the lock?” Cressy was frowning now, and Gabrielle swore there was a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
“Yes, I picked the lock, but someone had gotten to the necklace before me.”
“Who?” Diana leaned forward, expression and tone indignant.
“The Earl of Sedgwick.”
“Sedgwick?” Diana’s brows shot up.
Cressy shook her head, and Gabrielle knew just what she was thinking. No doubt, she’d find a way to mention it in less than two minutes.
“But why would he want it?” Diana continued.
“Good question,” Gabrielle said. “I didn’t inquire.”
“Didn’t you attempt to get it away from him?” Diana asked.
“Of course. I threatened him with the pistol.”
“Really?”Cressy smiled. “Did it work?”
“Yes, but as I was making my escape, he distracted me and was able to…reacquire the necklace. He took the pistol too.”
There was a moment of silence, and then Cressy said, “Did he kiss you?” Her voice was low and ominous. Gabrielle had to give the housekeeper credit. That hadn’t even taken thirty seconds.
“I don’t wish to talk of it,” she said brusquely.
Diana ignored her. “He kissed you. Was it like you remembered?”
“Diana!” Gabrielle blew out an impatient breath. “There are more important matters than what happened between Sedgwick and me. For example, how will I pay McCullough’s creditors this month? Without the necklace, I have no money.”
Silence descended except for the clink of Diana’s cup on the saucer. Gabrielle closed her eyes. How could she have allowed the necklace to slip through her fingers? She needed that money.
When George had died fighting that ridiculous duel with Baron Wolston, she’d been shocked to find she was a widow at only twenty-one. She’d been equally shocked by her dismal failure as a wife. She’d thought she could save him from his dissolution.
But he had only dragged her down with him. Mere hours after his death, creditors had knocked on her door demanding payment for George’s extravagant gambling debts. Gabrielle had had no idea the extent of George’s debt. It was more money than she could imagine.
She had sold most of her jewelry and several other objects of value in the home, but it hadn’t been enough to cover the debt. That was when Cressy, who had taken Gabrielle under her wing from the moment she stepped, wide-eyed and naïve, into George’s town house, suggested with a little training Gabrielle might find other ways to acquire the funds. And that was the day that the housekeeper Gabrielle had barely appreciated became a mentor and mother figure to Gabrielle.
Gabrielle already had the skills to make a master thief. While her father was a country gentleman, her grandfather had been a successful clockmaker. He’d said she inherited his need to know how things worked. Cressy had shown her how to pick locks, and Gabrielle had taken to the task as though she were born to it. There was something exhilarating about feeling the tumblers move and hearing the telling snick. There was also something rather exciting about being where one shouldn’t be.
Cressy had also shown Gabrielle how to pick pockets, but Gabrielle had never found much excitement in that activity. She did it when necessary and found no pleasure in it. Cressy, of course, thought it all great fun, and Gabrielle wondered at how she had acquired these skills. But she didn’t ask, and Cressy never volunteered that aspect of her past.
