Page 25 of The Housebreaker's Assistant
“They like a good party, they do,” Greer agreed. He lifted one foot up onto a bench directly across from the address they’d been charged with breaking into and pretended to fiddle with his boot. “It’s deep enough into the summer that most of them have retreated to their country houses.”
“Brutus and Titus said Lord Pennington was still in town, that he didn’t leave when he was expected to,” Penny reminded him, leaning against the back of the bench with his arms crossed and his back to Pennington’s house.
“But Lady Pennington and his daughters are already in Lincolnshire,” Greer said. “Which means we’ll have half the servants to worry about.”
“Houses like these keep servants in them even when the masters are away,” Penny said, recalling the little he knew about how the aristocracy lived.
“They do,” Greer nodded, finishing with his boot and standing straight again. He handed Penny a set of lock-picking tools that he’d evidently taken out of his boot. “Left-behind servants often grow lax, but there’s no telling, given Lord Pennington is still in residence.”
“I’m not resting on any laurels or pretending this will be an easy job,” Penny said, taking the tools and studying them. He glanced to Greer. “You planning on teaching me how to use these?”
Greer blinked, then swore under his breath. “You don’t know how to pick locks already?”
“I do, yes. But I’d hardly call myself an expert of your renown,” Penny said, grinning.
Greer swore again, rubbed his face, and muttered something that sounded a great deal like a curse on Brutus and Titus for saddling him with someone so green.
“Right,” he said aloud, shaking out his shoulders. “Looks like we’ll have to practice before we approach the house.”
Penny liked that idea. He liked learning new skills, but mostly he liked when Greer was forced to turn his full attention to him.
It was still too early for the main housebreak anyhow, so Greer gestured for Penny to follow him away from the square and along one of the smaller streets to a dark and quiet mews. He found a gate with a lock, then quickly and deftly demonstrated how to use the lock-picking tools. Penny was impressed by how easily Greer could foil the otherwise solid-looking lock.
“Your turn,” he said, handing the tools over to Penny as they walked inside the mews and over to a small stable.
It took Penny a few times once Greer showed him. He was not used to such refined tools for the job in front of him. It didn’t help that they had to keep their voices down as they worked. But before long, Penny felt his way through teasing the various cogs and dials, or whatever it was he felt inside the lock’s mechanism, until the door to one of the horse stalls clicked open.
“That was simple enough,” he said with a giggle as the startled horse wandered out into the mews in search of hay.
“Careful not to congratulate yourself too much on beginner’s luck,” Greer told him, placing a hand in the center of his back and nudging him toward the mews’ gate.
“Is it luck if you’ve been taught by a master?” Penny flirted, glancing over his shoulder at Greer as they slipped back out onto the street.
“It’s luck until you’re caught,” Greer replied, pulling Penny into a patch of thicker shadows as a gentleman marched quickly past at the far end of the street.
Penny took advantage of the moment to press against Greer. Memories of the cabinet were still hot in his head, and he wouldn’t have said no to repeating them. Especially given the situation they were currently in. Nothing made his blood pump to his cock harder than danger.
“You know,” he murmured, brushing a hand up Greer’s arm as he watched for the best time to make a move. “When this is all over, we could find a nice room somewhere to discuss things. Maybe work out a bit of tension.”
Greer glanced down at Penny and growled low in his throat. Penny loved the sound, until Greer said, “If all you’re going to be is a distraction, then I can do this on my own.”
That stung, but Penny supposed he deserved it. “Some other time, then,” he said with a wink.
Greer stared at him for a long time, like he was considering it, before pushing forward.
They walked around Berkeley Square a few more times, observing not just Pennington’s dwelling, but the houses around it. As things quieted, they ventured back into the mews behind the house, going so far as to slide up to the kitchen door.
“The servants are always the last to go to bed,” Greer said, as if his lesson in housebreaking had truly begun. “But they never sleep deeply. Most of the servants will have rooms in the attics, but there’s always a house boy or scullery maid sleeping, sometimes out in the open, downstairs.”
“What do we do if we find one?” Penny asked, eager to be a good student.
“We leave them alone,” Greer said solemnly.
Penny nodded.
Greer reached into his pocket for his tools. “We head upstairs directly,” he whispered. “We find the study and take the letters we need without faffing around.”
“Not even a little?” Penny teased with a grin.
