My Gentleman Thief

Chapter Four

Chapter FourThalia ate as slowly as she possibly could. If she could make dinner last longer, maybe Rose would forget all about having that “talk” with her. Or maybe it would be too late, and she and Fungy would have to leave before she’d had a chance.

She was being ridiculous of course. Even if Rose didn’t have this “talk” with her this evening, she would be back tomorrow to have it. Thalia was just delaying the inevitable.

Finally, at a glare from Rose, she gave up and put down her fork. With one last gulp of her wine, she nodded to her sister.

Rose stood. “We shall leave you gentlemen to your port then.”

Thalia followed her sister out, resigned now to getting this over with as quickly as possible.

“We won’t be long,” her father said. He must have forgotten about Rose’s earlier threat.

“Take your time,” Rose replied, giving Papa a quick kiss on his cheek.

He gave her a confused smile, but motioned to the footman to pour their drinks as Thalia closed the door behind her.

In the drawing room, she went straight for the Madeira on the side table. “Would you care for some?” she asked Rose.

“No, thank you. And I think you’ve had enough wine as well. Getting drunk won’t change what I’m about to say, you know.”

Thalia sighed. “It may soften the blow,” she said quietly. But she left her half-filled glass on the table anyway and dropped herself onto the sofa. Rose was right, and perhaps she would do better if she was thinking clearly.

“That was very lady-like,” her sister said with a scowl.

Thalia just folded her hands in her lap. She knew what Rose was going to say. “I’m not going to,” Thalia said preemptively.

“You’re not going to what?”

“Make my debut this season. That is what you wanted to discuss with me, isn’t it?”

Rose blinked. “Yes, it is, and yes, you are.”

“No, Rose—”

“Thalia, you are eighteen, nearly nineteen. It’s time you entered society.”

“Why? Why can’t I wait another year?”

“Because your reputation is shaky as it is. Your antics have been shrugged off as childish exuberance for many years, but you are no longer a child. Another year of such behavior and you won’t even be given a chance by society.” Rose never raised her voice like that.

She must be more upset than Thalia had realized. She kept her eyes firmly focused on her hands.

“I know that you did not just run into Yiannis on the street this morning. It is more likely that you ran him over.”

Thalia flinched.

“Ah-ha! I knew it! You did, didn’t you? You were riding in another race! What did both Papa and I tell you about that, Thalia Marie?”

Oh, goodness, she was using her middle name! She really was in trouble.

“It was just a little wager, that’s all,” Thalia said, deliberately keeping her voice quiet as she defended herself.

“A wager? You wagered? Oh, my God! With whom? Who knows about this? Please tell me it wasn’t entered into the books at one of the clubs. Oh, dear—”

“No! It wasn’t. My goodness, Rose, the way you carry on! It’s not the end of the world. It was a private little wager between me and Roddy.”

“Roddy?”

“Rodney Newcumb.”

Rose squinted her eyes a little, thinking about who that might be.

“The Earl of Harkness,” Thalia mumbled, helping her out.

“The Earl… You are riding races with the Earl of Harkness?” Rose exploded.

“He’s a friend!” Thalia shouted back, sitting forward.

“He’s an inveterate gambler! He’s a cardsharp!”

“I suppose you know all about that,” Thalia spat. She was immediately sorry. It was cruel to throw that in her sister’s face after all that she had been through.

Rose’s face turned white as a sheet.

“I didn’t mean that, Rose. Oh, my goodness, I can’t believe that just came out of my mouth. Honestly, I didn’t mean—”

Rose just held up her hand, her lips pinched together while she regained control of herself. “I will forget you said that, and you will stay away from Lord Harkness.”

“He’s—”

“I said to stay away from him! I don’t care if he is a friend of yours. He’s not a good man. You will have absolutely nothing more to do with such people, do you hear me? You are a young woman from a good family. You will do your duty, behave yourself, and make your curtsy to society this spring. I want to hear no more arguments about it. Is that clear?” Rose’s words were clipped and forceful, and yet Thalia still couldn’t hold back.

“I promise to avoid Roddy. I do agree, he is a bit of a shady character, always encouraging me to do things I know I probably shouldn’t—”

“Probably?” Rose interrupted.

Thalia winced. “All right…encouraging me to do things I know I shouldn’t. But truly, Rose, don’t force me to make my debut this year. Give me just one more year of freedom, please?”

“Freedom? Freedom to do what?”

Thalia opened her mouth, but honestly, she didn’t have a good answer. She spent her time running her father’s household, doing some little bit of charity work with Rose, and well, that was it. She didn’t do anything else, really. But truly, the thought of making her debut in society scared her to little bits.

“I don’t know,” Thalia finally admitted. “To live my life.” She gave her sister a pleading look. “Please, Rose, please, don’t make me do this. I hate society. The thought of making my debut terrifies me.”

Rose’s eyebrows knit with concern. “What do you mean? What are you scared of?”

Thalia could only shrug. “People? Men? No, women. Yes, definitely the women scare me a lot more than the men do. Men I understand. The women…” Thalia shook her head.

Rose laughed. “I don’t understand you, Thalia. You go running around like a hellion, riding through the park, making bets with the likes of Lord Harkness, and then you turn around and tell me that women scare you.”

“Not women. The women of society. The ladies.”

Her sister took a deep breath. “Well, I have to agree that some of them are rather terrifying, but once they meet you—if you behave properly—they won’t bother you.”

“But they will because I don’t think I can behave properly. I don’t know that I’ve learned how to behave properly. I mean, just look at whose footsteps I’m following—you, with your unfortunate…” Thalia wasn’t exactly sure how to go on from there. “Um, experience,” she finally finished. She was granted a slight nod of Rose’s head in acknowledgment. “And Laia, who had to be sent to Yorkshire because she kept introducing herself to strange men. You have to admit, I’m not starting with anything close to a clean slate.”

Rose gave her a pitiful look. “Oh, Thalia, I’m so sorry. It can’t be easy being the youngest of three girls—especially in our family. We are anything but ordinary. But you still have to give it a go. With Fungy’s help, you can do this. I know you can.”

“I’m really not cut out for society, you know that, Rose. I’m either going to fall flat on my face or try to take the lead when I dance.”

“You won’t do either of those things. I’m sure you will be all that is graceful. You’re an excellent athlete. I’m sure you’re an excellent dancer,” her sister said, laughing. “You have been taking those lessons I arranged for you?”

“Yes,” Thalia said. She didn’t want to admit that her sister was right. Years of running around, climbing trees, and climbing in and out of archaeological pits had given her a lot of athletic ability and, oddly enough, grace.

“Then you’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure—”

“Thalia, when it comes down to the point,” Rose said, “you are going to do this, whether you want to or not. Please stop arguing. And don’t sabotage yourself.”

“I won’t. But I’m also certain that I won’t find a husband.”

“We’ll worry about that when the time comes. For now, I just want you to behave yourself. A little self-control, please.” Rose looked so hopeful that Thalia could only nod.

Her mind, however, was now beginning to run through absolutely every possible way she could get out of this.

Lord Pemberton-Howe refilled Yiannis’s glass of brandy before picking up his cheroot again. “So, are there any pieces in particular your father is hoping you’ll find?” his lordship asked, exhaling a stream of smoke.

Yiannis sat back, out of the way of his host's cloud. He wasn't overly fond of tobacco. “No. I don’t believe so. If there are, he hasn’t shared that information with me.” He took a sip from his glass. The port, however, was excellent. He rarely got to indulge in such fine liquor. He savored the flavors on his tongue for a moment. “He didn’t say anything in his letter?” he asked, trying to keep the bitterness from his voice. It was clear that his father had shared much more information with his friend than he had his own son.

“No, I…” His host paused as the sound of women’s voices raised in anger reached them.

Lord Pemberton-Howe turned to look at Fungy on his other side, who just shook his head.

“I thought he might have told you directly,” Lord Pemberton-Howe finished as the voices got louder. Yiannis was almost glad of the interruption so he didn’t have to respond to his host’s misconception of his relationship with his father.

“Rose is determined to introduce Thalia into society this season,” Fungy explained to his father-in-law, but the statement just confused Yiannis.

“There is a problem with this?” he asked.

“Thalia doesn’t want to be presented,” Fungy explained as the voices in the other room quieted.

“I’m worried that she doesn’t want to find a husband,” her father added.

“Why would she not?” Yiannis asked. He’d never heard of a young woman not wanting to find a husband.

“She values her freedom,” her father said with a shrug.

The voices coming from the other room got louder again.

“Freedom?” Yiannis asked, still confused. What sort of freedom did a girl have that a married woman didn’t? It seemed to him that she would be freer once she married, but then he didn’t know English laws and customs.

“Freedom to do things like ride hell for leather as she was doing this morning,” Fungy said before taking a sip of his port.

Yiannis narrowed his eyes at the man. “How do you know?”

“I know my sister-in-law,” he said. He gave Yiannis a little smile. “And it is precisely because she does such things that it would be much safer for her to enter society. Perhaps dancing every night will distract her enough that she’ll stop doing things she shouldn’t.”

Lord Pemberton-Howe gave a little chuckle. “Or tire her out so she doesn’t have the energy to engage in such activities.”

Fungy nodded his agreement.

“And what of you, Yiannis? Do you want to be introduced to society?” Fungy asked. “Be happy to help.”

“Thank you. I will try first to find the artifacts among the members of the archaeological society,” Yiannis said. He thought he might enjoy being social and going to parties, but he wasn’t certain whether that would help or hinder his efforts.

Beyond anything else, Yiannis was determined to prove to his father that he could make him proud. Whatever the reason behind his father deciding to send him here, he had been given a job. Yiannis would do absolutely everything in his power to complete it in such a way that his father could only be pleased.

“Good. That will give you time to get some new clothes before I introduce you,” Fungy said.

Yiannis looked down at his brown waistcoat and green coat. He did agree that the breeches he was wearing were a bit out of fashion, but he hadn’t given much thought to his wardrobe while he was studying in Berlin. He’d gone out very little with proper ladies and his male friends didn’t care much what he wore.

“Horribly out of style. Take you to my tailor. He’ll get you fixed up,” Fungy said kindly.

Yiannis wasn’t certain he wanted to be quite as fashionable as Fungy. The two rows of gold buttons on his waistcoat winked in the candlelight, and his neckcloth wound up his neck in such a way that Yiannis wondered how he could even move his head.

The expression on his face must have given his thoughts away because Lord Pemberton-Howe said, “It’s an honor to be taken to Fungy’s tailor. Some men would kill for the opportunity.”

Yiannis turned to his host. “Surely…”

The two men just nodded.

“Well, then. I suppose I will thank you for the opportunity.” It was all he could say. And he desperately hoped that he would be able to tone down the clothes to be closer to his own personal taste—all those gold buttons on top of a waistcoat shot through with metal was just too much for Yiannis.

“Shall we see what the ladies are up to, then?” Lord Pemberton-Howe asked as he stood.

“Yes. Things seem to have quieted down a bit. Good sign,” Fungy agreed.

Yiannis wasn’t at all sure of what his father had gotten him into by sending him here to this strange country and this interesting family. Hopefully, he would figure it out sooner rather than later.