Lady Lightfingers by Janet Woods

walking into the lion’s den.’
    â€˜Oh, Ma, you can’t blame all men for what happened in your past. Think about it. We’ll get something nice to eat, and the bread and broth we were going to eat today will then last us until tomorrow.’
    â€˜There’s that.’ There was also the thought that she wouldn’t have to find some man to give her the price of a meal for her favours. Celia didn’t mention it, but Alice knew that her eldest daughter was well aware of the way of things. She was sure that’s why Celia had taken up dipping . . . to earn more money for them all. Alice was ashamed of herself and hated what she was forced to do to survive. She definitely didn’t want her daughter to sell herself. It was demeaning.
    â€˜Cheer up, Ma. You haven’t had a cup of tea to drink for months, and now you’ll get more than one,’ Celia teased.
    â€˜That will be wonderful. I’m really looking forward to it. Perhaps there will be muffins and cake, and little sandwiches.’
    Celia grinned. ‘And four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie, perhaps.’
    Alice laughed and placed a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. They moved forward at a slower pace and turned the corner into Bedford Square. Celia knocked at a door with ornate glass panels.
    A thin streak of a woman opened it and gazed down her nose at them. She was wearing a silver-framed lorgnette on a cord around her neck. ‘Yes?’
    â€˜We’re here to see Professor Hambert.’
    â€˜For what reason, may I ask?’
    Thomas Hambert called out, ‘Are those my guests, Mrs Packer? Let them in.’
    â€˜I don’t think so, sir. They look more like beggars to me.’
    The blood rose to Alice’s face and she bit back a retort. She couldn’t blame the woman for thinking that, though, and began to wish they hadn’t come.
    Her daughter called out, ‘It’s me, Mr Hambert . . . Celia Laws, with my mother and sister.’
    He bustled forward, a smile on his face. ‘Celia my dear . . . and Mrs Laws. How lovely to see you again. Don’t stand out there in the cold.’ He drew them inside. ‘Hello, Lottie dear, what a dear, sweet child you are. Shut the door if you please, Mrs Packer, you’re allowing the cold in. May I relieve you of your capes, ladies?’
    The door closed with a thud to signify the housekeeper’s displeasure, and, as she went stomping off towards the back of the house, Mr Hambert called out to her retreating back, ‘Serve tea in fifteen minutes please, Mrs Packer. And use the best china for our guests. The child will have milk.’
    â€˜Can I be of help, Mrs Packer?’ Celia offered.
    The woman turned and gave her that tight-lipped look of hers. ‘I can manage.’
    A word of thanks wouldn’t have gone amiss, Alice thought. Brought up in a house with servants, she was now being scorned by one. It would have been a different attitude if she’d turned up in a satin gown.
    When Mr Hambert chucked Lottie under the chin she put her hands up to her eyes and peered through her fingers at him. She giggled when he said, ‘Boo!’
    There was a faint smell of lavender in the room and a fire burned brightly. A woman gazed down at them from a frame. The late Mrs Hambert, Alice supposed. She looked rather serious, but there was a soft curve to her mouth and the beginnings of a twinkle in her eyes, as though her expression disguised a nature that was both frivolous and mischievous.
    A man rose to his feet. He had a natural, easy smile and eyes that displayed an intelligence that had not yet been satisfied.
    â€˜This is my nephew, James Kent. He has cut his teeth at the Old Bailey, and is shortly to join a legal practice in the country, where he will eventually take up the post of magistrate. He’s a clever young man who should go far.’
    â€˜Now, now, Uncle, your pride is showing.’
    James kissed