Page 28 of Guardian
“Ah.” Her face brightened with the satisfaction of a correct guess. “How is she?”
“I’m afraid she died several years ago, ma’am.”
“Oh.” Her face fell. “A shame. She was kind.”
My ma? Kind?
“Is it only you then?” she asked. “No siblings?”
“I have a younger sister, Sarah. She’s out in service.”
“Ah.” She laid her good hand on my arm, briefly. “Well, I’m sure it was a comfort to your ma to have you both.”
True about Sarah perhaps, but hardly so for me, I thought, but I merely nodded and said goodbye.
The door to the goods room closed behind me, and I paused on the step. I could have sworn Maggie waited by the door to hear my footsteps on the stairs, so I left, planning to see Amelia privately as soon as I could.
Perhaps I was being too suspicious, perceiving Maggie’s frankness as a ploy to earn our trust; her story about Swan River and her injured hand as tactics to soften us toward her; her regret over my mother’s death and interest in Sarah as attempts to get round me. Then again, Amelia was right; I didn’t like change, and I didn’t trust strangers who brought it.
Chapter 10
In the following days, Amelia continued to be present in the goods room as Maggie took each thief out to watch her work. This had tugged at the nerves of some, and two of the younger ones, Cathy and Ann, had returned with a subdued air. When I asked Cathy about it, she admitted she’d been bolder than usual to impress Maggie, who had taken her to task for carelessness. I was determined to thieve as I always did and not allow her to rattle me.
My nerves were being rattled badly enough by learning that Billy and Tommy had left Elephant and Castle. Were they lying low somewhere? Was this ordinary caution, or did they believe there was a heightened risk because Sarah had seen them? Or—God forbid—were they in Mayfair, looking to intercept Sarah as she ran an errand?
I was scheduled to go out with Maggie on Wednesday afternoon, Amelia’s last day. Mr. Ardle had asked me to come extra, as he had a good deal of work, so I spent the morning fixing loose prongs in two necklaces and a ring and repairing the hinges and handles on two jewelry boxes. Afterward, I went to the costume room, changed into a thieving dress, and found Maggie in the goods room. “Ready?” she asked, and I followed her downstairs.
When we reached the street, she said, “Let’s not walk.” I assumed we’d take one of the omnibuses that crossed the river, but she led me to the railway station, where the cab stand was lined with hansoms. She approached, spoke to the driver, and climbed in; I followed, taking a seat beside her as the driver climbed onto his box, above and behind us. The closeness of the space, the way our skirts couldn’t help but meet, suggested an intimacy at odds with how I was feeling, but I did my best to arrange my face and hands into an attitude that was amiable.
“I find it’s easier to talk in a cab, where we won’t be overheard,” she said. “I’ve been enjoying meeting all the girls.”
“I appreciate riding,” I said.
“Good.” She smiled and settled her skirts. “When did you start with Amelia?” she asked with a warm interest.
So she wanted my history.Well, all’s fair, I thought. I was certainly curious about hers. For now, I wouldn’t tell her that I knew my mother had been her jenny the day she was caught. I wanted to hear that story from her, without her knowing that I knew, and this was my opportunity to build some trust. I’d lose nothing by telling her how I came to thieving.
“You said you knew my mother,” I began.
She nodded. “I did.”
“She died when I wasn’t yet fifteen.”
“Leaving you with Sarah to support,” she said.
Maggie had a good memory.
I nodded. “Ma had apprenticed me to a seamstress when I was ten, but that didn’t bring in near enough, and I was too young to start thieving. I didn’t look old enough to go to the shops. But Amelia suggested I could run a badger scheme, so my friend James and I did that for a while.”
“James Kinnon,” she said.
I nodded, increasingly aware that she knew a good deal about me, and—moreover—she wanted me to know she did.Clever, I thought. It was a good way to caution me not to try to keep secrets from her.
“James was working for smugglers on the river, and one night he was caught and put in prison, which put an end to that. But by this time, I was old enough to thieve, and Amelia trained me up herself. I was her jenny for a few weeks and then I was ready to try.”
“What was your first shop?”
“A dry goods store in Bond Street,” I said. I couldn’t recall the name, but the storefront appeared like a picture in my mind. “It had a large plate glass window, a wood-framed door to the left with a diamond-shaped mottled glass pane, two locks, no bell above the door. Inside, on three sides of the room, there were tall wooden cabinets with glass fronts and shelves. I took seven yards of lace and a pair of gloves.” My mouth curved at the memory. “And the clerk’s pocket watch.”
