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face, as usual, dreamy with contentment. They puzzled Gideon a little, Kilmartin and Lady Anne Clapham. Gideon typically felt something more… active in Constance’s presence. Admiration, uncertainty… things that kept him alert, tensed the muscles of his stomach.
    “Forgive my distraction, Constance. It’s just that when I saw Kilmartin, I recalled he has a cousin he would like me to meet”
    “A cousin?” Constance sounded almost incredulous. She was usually the first to know and assess any newcomer; no doubt she found it nearly impossible that Kilmartin could have a cousin she knew nothing about.
    “Yes. I cannot quite recall her name…” Gideon’s voice drifted—strategically—along with his gaze. Constance’s fingers tensed in his hand; she was nearly vibrating with curiosity now.
    Gideon returned his gaze to Constance. “But I shall of course miss you while you’re away, Constance.”
    And he would of course buy a town house while she was away, as well.
    The waltz came to an end, and Gideon looked lingeringly into Constance’s eyes, which now held a faint light of uncertainty; he bowed lingeringly over her hand and reluctantly took his leave of her. Take that, Constance. I was a soldier, and now I am a barrister. I know how to win .
     

Chapter Two
     
    Lily was of two minds about portly men: they often made good quarry, because they tended to move more slowly. However, sometimes they strained their clothing, and tight clothing allowed pickpockets scant room to maneuver.
    But the particular portly man Lily had her eye on looked prosperous; the walking stick he clutched in his huge fist sported what appeared to be a genuine gold top, and his clothing, at least his coat and trousers, was beautifully made and generously cut. Most importantly, a chain dangled tantalizingly from his coat pocket. A watch . Splendid! Successfully retrieving this particular watch would make up for yesterday’s failure.
    Her dress had long ago faded to somewhere between gray and brown, and this was a great help when it came to blending into masses of people and disappearing into shadows. She sidled through the crowd, her head lowered, until she was flush with the man and within reaching distance of his pocket. Heart racing, she stretched out her hand. It vanished into his pocket and closed over the delicious smooth metal of the watch; her touch was expert, almost indiscernible; if it was detected at all, it was usually mistaken for a breeze.
    And then…
    Well, it happened so quickly.
    Someone in the crowd stumbled and swore, jostling her quarry, who stumbled and swore in turn, and took an awkward step to right himself, his head turning to watch his feet—
    Just as Lily was extracting her hand from his pocket.
    His hand clamped around Lily’s arm. “ What the bloody hell do you think you ‘re doing ?” He squeezed until she cried out in pain; her fingers splayed open and the lovely watch fell and skittered, winking in the sunlight, across the ground. The man bent forward to sweep it up, dragging her down with him; his grip didn’t slacken. She twisted and kicked out, but it was becoming horribly clear he did not intend to release her.
    Terror sucked the air from her lungs.
    God help me , she prayed. And then, absurdly, Mrs. Smythe, shall I sweep the floor today ?
     
     
    In a mere hour, thanks to Mr. Wesley’s thirty pounds, Gideon would be the owner of a London town house: the one on the corner of Grosvenor Square. He consulted his watch and superstitiously quickened his pace toward the square, as though Jarvis was racing across town to buy it out from beneath him. He’d been assured by the seller’s solicitor that tins was not the case, and yet—
    A sudden barrage of basso bellows and curses stopped him cold. Good God , what an unholy racket. Gideon scanned the crowd for its source: something—or rather, someone—was thrashing in the grip of an enormous man, and this enormous man was doing the