Page 6 of To Dare the Devil

Hart snorted and sent Kathy a doleful glare. “I didn’t bring her. She smuggled herself along.”

“I thought he was going to buy books!” Kathy retorted defensively, and then realised that might seem as though she was disappointed to be here, which she most definitely was not. It was the most fascinating thing that had ever happened to her. “But I’m glad he didn’t. It’s very nice to meet you, Mr Burt, and I’m so glad you took care of Hart for us. You were very kind to do so.”

“Hark at her,” the boy called Pike said, staring at Kathy as if she was a circus sideshow.

“Aye, you mind your manners, Pike, my boy. P’raps she’ll teach you to talk nice, like a gentleman. Like our Hart here.”

Pike’s expression grew mutinous, and he folded his arms.

“Well, offer the young lady a chair, then, like a proper gent would,” Burt muttered, shooing Pike until he pulled out one of the few pieces of furniture in the place and made a great show of dusting it off with a grubby handkerchief.

“Thank you very much,” Kathy said, perching gingerly on the rickety chair. It gave an ominous creak beneath her.

Pike’s annoyed expression eased a tad, and he sat on the floor in front of her, cross-legged, staring at her, clearly as fascinated by her as she was by him.

“If you’ll excuse us, Miss de Beauvoir, Hart and I have some things to discuss. Pike, you entertain our guest, and mind your tongue.”

“Yes, Burt,” Pike said with a sigh.

Hart followed Burt out of the room and down the dark corridor, leaving Kathy with Pike.

Kathy cleared her throat, wondering what to do now.

“Do you live in a big house?” Pike asked.

“Well, it’s quite big,” Kathy admitted. “I’m very lucky, but it’s not terribly grand, cosier and more comfortable. Aunt Prue is a duchess, though, and her house is vast. A palace, really. And she and Bedwin have lots of other houses too.”

“More than one house?” Pike exclaimed, looking stunned. “What do they want wiv all them houses? Can’t live in more than one at a time, can they?”

Kathy laughed, unable to contradict the logic of that. “No, but the houses take a lot of looking after, and they employ lots of people to do it, so that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“Dunno. P’raps,” Pike said, though he still looked dubious, and they subsided into an awkward silence.

A low groan broke the uncomfortable peace, and the hair on the back of Kathy’s neck stood on end.

“What was that?” she exclaimed, leaping to her feet.

Pike’s expression lit up, his eyes sparkling. “You ever see a fellow what’s been murdered?” he asked.

Kathy’s hand flew to her throat. “No, of course not.”

“Want to see?” he asked eagerly.

“To see?” she repeated faintly. “But… no, that’s silly. How can a murdered man make a noise like that? He’d be dead.”

Pike scowled, plainly irritated by this observation. “Well, all right, he ain’t dead yet, but he ought to be. Will be soon, I reckon. Someone stabbed him wiv a knife. Blood everywhere, there was. And he’s a toff, like you.”

“I’m not a toff,” Kathy said automatically, but she was already moving towards the door that separated this room from the next. The sound came again, low and raw, heavy with pain. The poor man. “Who is he?” she asked.

“Dunno,” Pike said, pushing the door open. “He tried to say afore the fever got him. Began with a V, but we couldn’t understand him. Mrs Wilkes, what comes to help with him, named him Valentine on account of him being so pretty, she says. Come on. He’s off his head with laudynum, so he won’t know you’re here.”

Kathy hesitated in the doorway, not wanting to disturb the poor man’s misery, but Pike grabbed her hand and yanked her into the room.

Her breath caught. Pretty indeed. The man in the bed was white as death, though two bright spots of colour burned on his high cheekbones. He looked as if he was sculpted from marble or carved in alabaster, his handsome face chiselled by the hand of a master craftsman. His torso was bare, and Kathy stared in fascination, never having seen a naked man before. Even to her innocent eye, this fellow seemed a grand specimen, all long limbs and lean muscle.

“But he’s so young,” she said in horror, for surely he could not be more than twenty years old, and it seemed a travesty that such a handsome, fit young man should die in such a squalid manner.

A sharp intake of breath from behind them had both she and Pike leaping with guilt.