Page 33 of The Housebreaker's Assistant
“Did they even know there’d been a housebreak?” Penny asked. “I was there, and it seemed as though Pennington had more to hide than not.”
Brutus laughed. “You’re perfectly correct,” he said, beaming as he picked up a slice of apple from the plate in front of him. “He had a devil of a time explaining why Lord Langston’s head footman was in his house in the middle of the night dressed only in trousers and a loose shirt.”
Penny was glad he hadn’t yet taken a drink of the beer that had been offered to him. He would have spit it all over the table. He’d assumed Pennington’s friend was of his same class. That it was the neighbor’s footman was rich.
“So there you have it,” he said, taking a sip of his beer at last. “Greer and I broke into the man’s house, took the things you needed, and managed to pin the blame on something else entirely.” He saluted Brutus and Titus with his cup, took a long draught, then said, “When can I bring my sister to her new home, then?”
The beer threatened to spoil in his stomach when Brutus and Titus exchanged an uncertain look.
“Your endeavor was far from perfect,” Titus pointed out.
Penny gaped at the man and put his glass down. “Are you going back on our agreement?” he demanded.
“There is no agreement as of yet,” Brutus said. “Pennington was a test. I’m not certain you passed.”
Anger pulsed through Penny. “We got into the bloody house, nicked your damned letters, and got out without a soul suspecting we were there.”
He turned his head to Greer, expecting the man to support him.
Greer stared stoically at the table in front of him.
That hurt more than being accused of failing.
“We did the bloody job,” Penny defended himself. “I may not be the master thief that Greer is, but I held my own. If I can get in and out of a house in Mayfair without years as an apprentice thief and get you what you need, surely, I must be good enough for some silly castle in Cornwall.”
He couldn’t believe he was arguing that he should be allowed to do something that he had adamantly refused to do only days before. But Helen’s welfare was at stake, and now that he’d had a taste of working with Greer, he wanted much more of it.
Brutus seemed to sense the heart of things. “Greer?” he asked, leaning slightly closer to Greer. “What say you?”
Greer was forced to look up. He met Penny’s eyes and stared at him long and hard for a moment, then let out a breath and turned to Brutus. “I am used to working alone,” he said. Penny bristled with betrayal, until Greer continued with, “It was not Penny’s fault the house was stirred. Nothing either of us did caused Pennington and his guest to awaken. They were likely already on high alert lest they be discovered.”
Penny snapped his mouth shut. That was a lie. Their carelessness had been the problem.
Greer wasn’t exactly defending him, but he wasn’t undercutting him completely either.
“Would you like another test?” Penny asked sardonically. “Anything to prove my worth to you.” He narrowed his eyes to make certain the brothers knew he would not bow or shrink before them, no matter how much power they purported to have.
Brutus and Titus stared at each other for a long moment before Brutus sighed and gave his attention back to Penny and Greer. “There isn’t time for another test,” he said. “Lord Fabian is in imminent danger. The more we delay, the more likely it isthat this supposed buyer Hammond has for him will come to collect.”
“We need you to depart for Cornwall with all due haste,” Titus agreed. “Whether your partnership is tried and tested or not.”
“And you will shelter my sister while I am away?” Penny asked. Nothing else mattered besides that.
To the brothers’ credit, Brutus didn’t hesitate before saying, “Yes, we will care for your sister in your absence. But if anything should happen to you, we would not be able to keep her indefinitely.”
A sick, quivery feeling shot through Penny’s gut. Helen was safe, but only for now, only if he succeeded in doing something he was unskilled at, aided by a man he was uncertain wanted him along, against what was reputed to be an impregnable castle.
He did the only thing he could think to do. He grinned as if it were nothing, rubbed his hands together, and said, “When do we depart?”
Chapter Ten
War raged within Greer’s chest as he stood guard outside the door to Penny and his sister’s room at Mrs. Hunt’s boarding house.
“This ain’t right,” Mrs. Hunt protested, trying to move around Greer to shout at Penny as he packed his and Helen’s few belongings into two large cases. “You lot cannot leave like this without paying me a farthing for the trouble. It ain’t right.”
Greer shifted in mirror to Mrs. Hunt’s attempts to get into the room, glowering at the woman.
“You’ve been threatening to toss us on the street for ages now,” Penny said, coming to the door and standing by Greer’s side. “I would have thought you’d be happy to see the backs of us.”
