A Thief Before Christmas by Jennifer McGowan Read Free Book Online Page A

his mother, miss. He shouldn’t go to Bedlam for an honest mistake.”
    The crowd burst into applause. The man straightened, flushing first with alarm and then with a slow, embarrassed pleasure, and it was all I could do not to hug him myself.
    Then I was herding Theodore out of the crowd, cooing in his ear words that fell far short of endearments. “What were you thinking ?” I said through clenched teeth. Theodore tensed in my grip.
    â€œâ€™Twas just for a moment! I just wanted to see. . . . It was the grandest stone in the lot!” Theodore whined back. “How was I to know the former owner was so close?”
    â€œBecause you were in the same village as where it was stolen, you imbecile!”
    I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned around smartly, my face wreathed in smiles. I betrayed not a whit of concern, in fact, at the man who presented himself to me. But instantly my heart turned to ash.
    It was yet another magistrate who stood before us now, but this one’s oily face was all too familiar. This was the man Theodore had bought off yesterday, the magistrate paid to look the other way and keep Theodore safe.
    There was safe, however, and then there was safe . And the good magistrate wasn’t about to lose his head for a few shillings and be found out he’d protected a thief, no matter how close to Christmas it was.
    The magistrate’s next words proved me right. “’Tis a good thing you did there, miss, saving your . . . cousin like that,” he said staunchly. “Bedlam is a terrible place, from everything I’ve heard. And the fate of a thief in prison is just as bad, assuming he survived long enough to be locked up.”
    â€œThank you . . . ,” I began, but the magistrate glanced away, as if he wasn’t actually talking to me anymore, though his words hit me just as squarely.
    â€œStill and all, if your cousin does have his wits about him, and he did mean to lift that bauble, it might serve him well to get out of town sooner rather than later, if you take my meaning.” His gaze flicked back to me. “Him an’ all his family. Say, by tomorrow at noon?”
    My smile was radiant, my eyes warm with appreciation. Only Theodore knew of the jolt that passed through me, as I still gripped his arm tight enough to wrench it off. “By all means, good sir,” I said, dipping my head graciously. “If I find that my cousin came so close to bringing our family shame on purpose, we’ll be sure to continue on our journey forthwith.”
    â€œSee that you do.” He touched his forehead and smiled. “G’day, miss. And Merry Christmas to you.”
    â€œMerry Christmas,” I said, only daring to breathe again after the magistrate had rounded the corner.
    Theodore exhaled in relief as well. “I’ll leave before nightfall,” he muttered.
    I nodded, keeping my words equally quiet. “We’ll be off shortly after, I daresay.”
    First, however, I needed to make some magic happen. At the Guild Hall of Leeds, no less, where the good men of the Dobbs family were doubtlessly gathered instead of appearing at church. I suspected Henry would be joining them. I suspected I would as well.
    And for that, I needed a change of costume.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    I arrived at the Guild Hall with my hair tucked under a white cap, a worn mud-colored kirtle over my gown and shift, and an apron over that, my coat plain but sturdy: just another maid, reporting to duty, though it was a Sunday and all the young women that served in the hall of merchants should be home with their families. There was no commerce on a Sunday, no wool to sell, no transactions with weavers to make, no meetings.
    But men of commerce were men first andforemost, and I knew I would not find the hall empty.
    The door to the hall was unlocked. With no transactions today, what was there to steal? So I strode in easily enough and