Lady Lightfingers Read Online Free PDF Page A

then enjoy the fresh country air in your old age. You know she’d enjoy having you to fuss over.’
    â€˜My dear James, I don’t want to be fussed over, even by my sister. Also, you haven’t lived long enough to advise me on what I should, or should not, be doing. As for marriage, may I remind you that it’s eluded you so far . . . or you have eluded it.’
    James laughed. ‘My apology, Uncle. At the age of thirty-three I should know better than imagine I’ve gained any wisdom from living.’
    â€˜Apology accepted. And please don’t pat me as though I’m the family dog, something I find intensely irritating. Besides, you’re forgetting I have my book to write.’
    â€˜You could write just as easily in Dorset; you must have finished researching it by now.’
    Thomas grinned. ‘Not at all; London changes all the time. Besides, I have a rival. I’ve recently run into someone who intends to do exactly the same thing. The odds of running into someone in London with exactly the same idea for a book as I have, must be almost nil. The girl looks to be all of fifteen years old, and she has learned to spell and write, and she understands the meaning of every word in the dictionary, or so she told me.’
    â€˜Really? How interesting. It must be the daughter of a friend of yours, no doubt. Will you make her your protégée?’
    â€˜But no, James, she is not someone I know. The child is a beggar I befriended.’
    â€˜Ah . . .’ James said, and he began to laugh. ‘That’s typical of you. And you wonder where your watch has gone. This girl of yours . . . Is she about this high?’ He placed his flattened hand at the height of his armpit. ‘And does she wear a ragged grey cape, and have striking blue eyes?’
    â€˜It sounds as though you’ve met her.’
    â€˜Just as I turned the corner she came from the opposite direction as if her feet were on fire. Is it possible that you saw your beggar girl leaving your house? She may have robbed you of the watch earlier, using the key to let herself in with. It’s possible she intended to rob the house as well.’
    â€˜But nothing is missing as far as I can see.’
    â€˜Perhaps because you came home earlier than usual and disturbed her.’
    They were standing in the hall. Into the sudden, reflective silence, the sound of chiming suddenly intruded. Thomas gave a broad and satisfied smile. ‘There, you see, James, my boy, she didn’t take my watch. It’s simply that I mislaid it. How odd. It’s two minutes ahead of the clock, when it usually keeps good time.’
    The sound was coming from the library, where he spent most of his time. The fifth chime died away just as they entered. It was James who found the watch dangling from the statuette of Diana, the huntress. He handed it to his uncle then set a match to the kindling. As he straightened up he saw the book on the chair and picked it up. ‘ Robinson Crusoe . . . I thought you’d read this.’
    â€˜I have. Mrs Packer must have taken the book out and forgotten to put it back.’ Thomas slid the book back into its slot. ‘I expect she found my watch somewhere and put it where I could find it, too.’
    Thomas didn’t really believe his own explanation. It was too much of a coincidence that the girl had mentioned Robinson Crusoe . But he didn’t want to blame the girl. She was a treasure of a child, like a flower growing in the wilderness, delicate but tough enough to survive. Her mind was fresh and fertile, and open to teaching because she was eager to learn. It was such a shame to allow it to go to waste.
    It had struck him also that somebody must have kept his watch wound up. As for the glimpse of someone leaving . . . well, it could have been the beggar girl. But had she, distracted by the book, come to return the watch, or had she simply forgotten to take it with her when