from the ship straight to Devonwood House, didn’t I? He ain’t put his nose out of doors since.”
“I don’t know why you couldn’t have relieved him of the item while you were still shipboard.”
“With him and his daughter traveling first class courtesy of the earl’s brother and me stuck in steerage? Not bloody likely,” O’Malley said. “They don’t let us salt-of-the-earth types mingle with the hoity-toity so free, ye know.”
His lordship’s aquiline nose crinkled a bit as if he wished such stringent rules applied everywhere. Between rancid wool and the unwashed bodies beneath it, even O’Malley had to admit a number of the pub’s patrons were pretty ripe.
“Beastly rotten luck that chap in Cairo made such a mistake in the first place.”
“Never ye fear, milord. He paid for it.” O’Malley had seen to that, strangling the skinny Egyptian with his beefy bare hands. How the poor bloke had confused an American for the Irishman he was expecting still had O’Malley scratching his head.
This was supposed to be such a simple job. He only had to travel to Cairo, go to a certain shop in the bazaar, and pick up the item for His Nibs. Whatever the blasted thing was, it had already been paid for, but the item wasn’t the sort of article a body put in a crate and shipped in some rat-infested ship’s hold. It required hand delivery, his lordship had said. But when O’Malley had arrived in Cairo, the bloody thing was already gone—given by mistake to that Farnsworth fellow. Now, his lordship wasn’t making so free with the ready coin till O’Malley corrected the error.
“Whist, don’t ye be frettin’ yourself, your lordship,” O’Malley said. It was unfair that he should be blamed for something which was clearly no fault of his, but them what got the chinks got to make the rules. “I’ll have the item for ye before ye know it.”
The gentleman’s fingers closed over O’Malley’s wrist in a surprisingly painful grip. “Do not presume to tell me what to do.”
“No, no, o’ course not.” O’Malley’s fingers curled inward from the pressure being exerted on his wrist. The bones ground together beneath his tough skin with a series of soft clicks. Agony made him clench his teeth. He had no idea the gentleman was so strong. “I think—”
“I’m not paying you to think,” his lordship snapped. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with. You’re not equipped for thinking. I pay you to obey me.”
He released O’Malley’s wrist and turned his attention back to his pint as if nothing had happened. O’Malley narrowly resisted the urge to cradle his injured paw.
“What d’ye want me to do, then?”
“First, hope that Farnsworth is as blithely ignorant of what he has as you are of what you’ve lost,” his lordship said. “Now that the American has come under the Earl of Devonwood’s protection, our course is more difficult, but not impossible. I want you to simply watch for now.”
“Watch?”
“Keep track of Farnsworth’s comings and goings. Find out what social events Lord Devonwood and any of his party will be attending,” the gentleman explained with an annoyed scowl. “I’d hoped not to involve myself in this, but there seems to be no help for it.”
His lordship’s eyes had gone quite as dark and hard as obsidian. For the first time, O’Malley realized that beneath the silks and jewels the gentleman usually wore, he was a man to be reckoned with.
And feared.
O’Malley gulped. “And when we see the main chance to retrieve the item—”
“Then I may allow you to earn your over-large retainer, Mr. O’Malley.” His lordship stood and looked down his noble nose at him. The chill in his eyes froze O’Malley’s soul. “If by that time you’ve proven to me you are still worth my trouble, of course. Pray for your sake that you do.”
C HAPTER 6
E mmaline strongly contemplated begging off on supper that night.
It wasn’t because she didn’t have
“I don’t know why you couldn’t have relieved him of the item while you were still shipboard.”
“With him and his daughter traveling first class courtesy of the earl’s brother and me stuck in steerage? Not bloody likely,” O’Malley said. “They don’t let us salt-of-the-earth types mingle with the hoity-toity so free, ye know.”
His lordship’s aquiline nose crinkled a bit as if he wished such stringent rules applied everywhere. Between rancid wool and the unwashed bodies beneath it, even O’Malley had to admit a number of the pub’s patrons were pretty ripe.
“Beastly rotten luck that chap in Cairo made such a mistake in the first place.”
“Never ye fear, milord. He paid for it.” O’Malley had seen to that, strangling the skinny Egyptian with his beefy bare hands. How the poor bloke had confused an American for the Irishman he was expecting still had O’Malley scratching his head.
This was supposed to be such a simple job. He only had to travel to Cairo, go to a certain shop in the bazaar, and pick up the item for His Nibs. Whatever the blasted thing was, it had already been paid for, but the item wasn’t the sort of article a body put in a crate and shipped in some rat-infested ship’s hold. It required hand delivery, his lordship had said. But when O’Malley had arrived in Cairo, the bloody thing was already gone—given by mistake to that Farnsworth fellow. Now, his lordship wasn’t making so free with the ready coin till O’Malley corrected the error.
“Whist, don’t ye be frettin’ yourself, your lordship,” O’Malley said. It was unfair that he should be blamed for something which was clearly no fault of his, but them what got the chinks got to make the rules. “I’ll have the item for ye before ye know it.”
The gentleman’s fingers closed over O’Malley’s wrist in a surprisingly painful grip. “Do not presume to tell me what to do.”
“No, no, o’ course not.” O’Malley’s fingers curled inward from the pressure being exerted on his wrist. The bones ground together beneath his tough skin with a series of soft clicks. Agony made him clench his teeth. He had no idea the gentleman was so strong. “I think—”
“I’m not paying you to think,” his lordship snapped. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with. You’re not equipped for thinking. I pay you to obey me.”
He released O’Malley’s wrist and turned his attention back to his pint as if nothing had happened. O’Malley narrowly resisted the urge to cradle his injured paw.
“What d’ye want me to do, then?”
“First, hope that Farnsworth is as blithely ignorant of what he has as you are of what you’ve lost,” his lordship said. “Now that the American has come under the Earl of Devonwood’s protection, our course is more difficult, but not impossible. I want you to simply watch for now.”
“Watch?”
“Keep track of Farnsworth’s comings and goings. Find out what social events Lord Devonwood and any of his party will be attending,” the gentleman explained with an annoyed scowl. “I’d hoped not to involve myself in this, but there seems to be no help for it.”
His lordship’s eyes had gone quite as dark and hard as obsidian. For the first time, O’Malley realized that beneath the silks and jewels the gentleman usually wore, he was a man to be reckoned with.
And feared.
O’Malley gulped. “And when we see the main chance to retrieve the item—”
“Then I may allow you to earn your over-large retainer, Mr. O’Malley.” His lordship stood and looked down his noble nose at him. The chill in his eyes froze O’Malley’s soul. “If by that time you’ve proven to me you are still worth my trouble, of course. Pray for your sake that you do.”
C HAPTER 6
E mmaline strongly contemplated begging off on supper that night.
It wasn’t because she didn’t have
Similar Books
