Page 10 of The Art of Theft
“Hardly surprising.”
After all, their goal was to dissuade him from this courtship, not to make it easier for him to see Livia.
He grinned, undaunted. He was young, his family—with their kind but firm opposition—had left the country, and he was about to see the object of his affections again. He would probably still grin even if he stepped out of Mrs. Watson’s house and was drenched by the splash from a speeding carriage. “Anyway, Miss Olivia has passed along a short note that my mother wrote to Lady Holmes. She also composed the missive that she wants you to copy.”
Charlotte at last opened the envelope. There was a letter from Livia, confirming what Mr. Marbleton had said. There was the handwriting sample. And there was the text to be forged.
She handed the last to Mr. Marbleton. “Does the tone strike you as sufficiently similar to your mother’s?”
Mr. Marbleton glanced down. “Ah, I see what you mean. It lacks a certain imperiousness. May I make some changes?”
She showed him to the desk at the window, where he proceeded to redraft the note, deleting any words or phrases that conveyed any measure of deference.
“Is my sister overawed by Mrs. Marbleton?” Charlotte asked mildly.
Livia had always been easily intimidated by authoritative women—perhaps from having lived in the shadow of their high-handed eldest sister, Henrietta. But Henrietta was nothing and no one next to Mrs. Marbleton.
“At the present, yes.” Mr. Marbleton thought for a moment. “But if I have to worry about her getting along with anyone in the family, it would be my sister.”
“She did say to me that she didn’t think Miss Olivia would last a week in the kind of life you lead.”
“That would be an exaggeration. We’ve had many uneventful weeks.”
And the rest?Charlotte thought but didn’t ask.
“Frances means well, but she can be overbearing at times.” He shook his head. “But Miss Olivia need not worry about Frances. Now that she’s left the country, chances are slim that they will see each other again, let alone—”
He shrugged.
Let alone become related?
She changed the subject. This was something Livia had taught her.When you don’t know what to say, or if you aren’t sure you won’t say something wrong, start a different topic.“When did you and your family call on mine to take your leave?”
“Yesterday evening.” He seemed glad to move away from the impossibility of any real future with Livia.
“In that case it wouldn’t seem overly hasty for a letter purportedly from Mrs. Openshaw to reach my parents tomorrow, on the evening post.”
As if Mrs. Openshaw, waking up on her second morning in London, had the idea drop into her head and decided to give in to her impulse.
“Excellent!” enthused Mr. Marbleton. “Will you perform the forgery yourself?”
The front bell rang. They both looked up, Mr. Marbleton with a trace of alarm in his eyes. Charlotte rose and moved to the parlor’s door and listened as Mr. Mears spoke to the caller below.
Then she returned to her seat, took a deep breath, and said, “No, Mr. Marbleton, I will not forge the letter myself.”
?Even before Mr. Mears announced him, Lord Ingram’s gaze already fell on Holmes.
She looked up, and Lord Ingram could almost swear that she smiled at him with her eyes. His heart skipped a beat. But the nextmoment her expression assumed the same slight aloofness she had worn years ago as she regarded the artifacts he had unearthed from the ruins of a Roman villa on his uncle’s property—as if they were mere curiosities, and not precious keys to a long-lost era.
She rose. “My lord, how do you do?”
“Miss Charlotte.”
The man in the blue padded chair across from hers also rose. Lord Ingram regarded him for a moment. “Ah. Mr. Marbleton, is it not?”
They had never met, but Lord Ingram had seen Stephen Marbleton, both in person, if rather briefly, and in a number of photographs. In his current disguise Mr. Marbleton didn’t look very much like himself, but Lord Ingram couldn’t think of that many men who would call on Holmes not at 18 Upper Baker Street, but at Mrs. Watson’s house.
The two men shook hands. Lord Ingram thanked Mr. Marbleton for the help he had given Holmes, when she was working to clear Lord Ingram’s name.
