The Devil's Thief (28 page)

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When
Julianna entered the de Tournay patisserie again that afternoon, with Tessa in
tow, she spotted Mr. Wiley immediately. Her footman had brought him her message
in the morning and Julianna had feared that he wouldn’t show. But she should
have known he would. He was just like that. He looked terribly uncomfortable
sitting at one of the tables.

Miss
de Tournay was frowning at him when Julianna walked in. Her face broke into a
smile. “Miss Harte! Bonjour! Back so soon? More treats for
les bébés
?”

Julianna
shook her head and pointed to Mr. Wiley. “No, thank you, Miss de Tournay. I am
here to meet with Mr. Wiley.” She turned to Tessa. “Please wait for me here,
Tessa.”

Tessa
looked askance at Mr. Wiley, but nodded reluctantly. “Yes, miss.”

Miss
de Tournay’s expression matched Tessa’s. “This is perhaps not so wise, Miss
Harte,” she murmured for Julianna’s ears only. “He is not suitable,
non
? And you do not want your Mr. Sharp
to find out.”

Julianna
was taken aback. “My Mr. Sharp?” she exclaimed. How on earth did Miss de
Tournay know that?

She
looked at Julianna and grinned. “
Oui
,
I have eyes, yes? I saw the way he looked at you.” She sighed dramatically. “
Très
bon
, that
man, hmm?” Julianna frowned
and Miss de Tournay laughed. “But he only has eyes for you. Anyone could see
that.” She frowned at Mr. Wiley, who had seen Julianna and was standing now,
frowning right back. “This one, he is no Mr. Sharp.” She shrugged. “He has
something, yes, but he is not right for someone like you.”

“Someone
like me?” Julianna had always liked Miss de Tournay, but between her comments
about Alasdair and her attitude about Mr. Wiley she was quickly changing her
mind.

Miss
de Tournay looked at her with a sad, world-weary expression. “A lady,
non
? This boy is handsome, but he is no
gentleman. Mr. Sharp is a gentleman. He would make your papa proud and happy.
This one? He may make you happy now. But there is no future for you there.”

“He
is more of a gentleman than many men I know who claim the title,” Julianna
said, raising an imperious eyebrow at Miss de Tournay. “But to set your mind at
ease, it is Mr. Sharp we will be discussing.”

Miss
de Tournay surprised her by taking her hand. “I have lived, Miss Harte, through
troubled times. I did not mean to insult your friend. But I also do not want
you to throw away a chance at happiness. Be careful.”

Julianna
squeezed her hand gratefully. “That is just what I am trying not to do, Miss de
Tournay. Mr. Wiley is here to help me find that happiness with Mr. Sharp.” She gave
Mr. Wiley a reassuring smile before turning back to Miss de Tournay. “But
please don’t tell anyone about this, just for now. It will be all right in the
end, I promise.”

After
giving her a searching look, Miss de Tournay nodded. “
Oui
, I keep your secret for now.” She ushered Julianna away from
Mr. Wiley. “But you cannot sit in the middle of the shop with him. This would
be noted by too many. Come.” She took Julianna through a curtain in the back,
into an empty room with a few tables scattered here and there. “I will bring
him here. And some pastries,
non
?”
She smiled wickedly. “You cannot plot to seduce your Mr. Sharp without pastry.”

Julianna
did not correct her. Miss de Tournay did not need to know her real purpose. She
removed her bonnet, and a minute later Mr. Wiley came stumbling into the room
through a discreet door at the back of the room. He did not look happy. “Here?”
he said angrily. “What’s with the Frenchie? I don’t like being shoved about,
and what’s all this havey-cavey business?” He was holding his hat and he threw
it down on the table as he confronted her. “You know you shouldn’t be sending
me notes, and meeting me here. Is someone going to die?”

Julianna
was surprised by Mr. Wiley’s attitude, and his last question completely baffled
her. “No, no one is going to die, at least not that I know of,” she offered hopefully.

“Well,
I will if Sharp and his friends find me. A Bow Street runner asking around
after me! Thank you for that, by the way.” He grabbed his hat and shoved it on
his head. “Right then, good-bye, miss,” he said flatly, then turned and started
walking toward the door. It took Julianna a moment to realize he was leaving.

She
stood quickly, her chair scraping the floor. “Wait! Mr. Wiley! Don’t go!”

He
spun back to face her. “There’s no Mr. Wiley. Just Wiley. My father wasn’t even
Mr. Wiley, whoever the hell he was, beggin’ your pardon, miss.” He heaved an
aggrieved sigh and stood there with his hands on his hips. “If no one’s dying,
then there’s no need for you to be contacting me. Are we clear?” He threw his
hands up in the air. “God almighty! Can you imagine if someone saw you with the
likes of me? And this here place ain’t exactly secret, if you know what I
mean.” He pointed a finger at her angrily. “I thought you were in love with
your Mr. Sharp. I don’t need another skirt chasing my tail, you hear? I’ve got
enough of them. I know I told you to let me know if you changed your mind about
wanting a man, but now I’ve changed mine, see? And I’ll have none of it.” He
crossed his arms in a belligerent stance. “I don’t need to be consoling a woman
who’s in love with another man. I got plenty who are in love with me, see?”

Julianna
had been biting her lip, but she stopped and let her laughter out. He looked
utterly shocked for a moment and then he turned bright red. “What are you
laughing about?” he demanded.

Julianna
walked over and took his hands in hers. He eyed her suspiciously and gently
tried to pull his hands free.

“Mr.
. . .” She stopped at his look. “Wiley,” she tried again, “I am laughing
because you are so sweet, trying to preserve my reputation.” He pulled his
hands free and hurriedly took two steps back.

“Hold
on,” he said disapprovingly.

“No,
no, Wiley. I’m sorry,” Julianna said, shaking her head. “That is not why I
contacted you. And I’m sorry about Alasdair and his friends, too. But I’ve
refused to tell him how to find you.”

“Which
I’m sure he took very well,” Wiley replied sarcastically. “Why I’ll bet they’ve
already stopped looking for me.” He pursed his lips and blew out a breath. “All
right. So why am I here?”

“Come
on.” She grabbed his arm, pulling him back to the far table. She sat down and
indicated the chair opposite her, looking furtively about. Wiley’s expression
was suspicious but curious, and he slowly sat down, removing his hat again.

“What
are you up to, miss?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

Julianna
grinned at him mischievously. “I need you to help me steal the pearl back from
Blackman, Wiley,” she told him, and he fell off his chair.

“Are
you mad?” he whispered from the floor, looking up at her as if she were indeed
headed for Bedlam. He stood up and slid into his chair, scooting it closer to
her. “If Blackman catches you, he’ll kill you.”

Julianna
sat back and regarded him intently. “Then we’ll just have to make sure he
doesn’t catch me, won’t we?” she said with more confidence than she felt.

“ ‘We?’
”
he
asked, shaking his head. “Oh, no.
There’s
no we. Do I look mad?” He splayed a hand across his chest.
“I’ve got children who depend on me. I can’t be risking my life like that.”

Julianna
felt a pang of unease. It was true. She had no right to ask this of him. She
chewed her lip and Wiley watched her uncertainty with satisfaction. “I see you
know I’m right,” he said smugly. “It’s best you let go of this mad scheme, miss,”
he lectured. “We’ll just forget about the whole thing.” He started to stand up
and Julianna grabbed his arm.

“Oh,
no, Wiley,” she said with renewed determination. “I mean to do it, with or
without your help. You needn’t come with me, but any information you can give
me about Blackman’s habits, and the comings and goings at the Black Horse, the
better.” He looked properly horrified. “Don’t give me that look, Wiley,” she
told him sternly. “My entire future depends on getting that pearl back.”

He
gave her a sarcastic look. “Well, your entire life depends on you leaving it
the hell alone.”

“Without
Alasdair I have no life,” she declared, and Wiley rolled his eyes. She cleared
her throat, a little embarrassed at her dramatics. “Oh, all right, but still. I
have to get the pearl back for him or he’ll never forgive me, and if he doesn’t
forgive me, he’ll never truly love me. The other alternative is for him to try
on his own. Then Blackman will kill him, and all will be lost. Don’t you see?”

Wiley
snorted. “Now, why does that sound like female thinking?”

Julianna
gripped his arm tightly and he frowned at her. “You will help me, Wiley, or I
promise I will do it without your help. What will it be?”

He
cursed, and Julianna’s ears turned red at the shocking words. “Fine,” he
declared angrily. “But when you’re dead instead of Sharp, don’t come haunting
me. All you’ll get is an ‘I told you so.’ ” He regarded her for a moment and
then a calculating look came over his face. “Why don’t you ask Mr. Sharp to
help you get it back?”

Julianna
gasped. “Wiley, you must promise me not to say a word to Alasdair about this.”
At his silence Julianna grabbed his arm again and dug her nails in. Alasdair
had made it abundantly clear he did not want her to go after the pearl. The
last thing she needed was for him to find out that she’d ignored his concerns.

“Ow!”
he cried out, trying to shake her off.

“Promise
me,” she growled.

“I
promise,” he growled right back with a glare.

“If
you break your promise, I really will haunt you,” Julianna said fervently.
“Now, tell me everything I need to know.”

He
raised one eyebrow smugly. “You need to know not to do it because he’ll kill
you.”

“Wiley,”
she said threateningly.

He
sighed dramatically. “Fine. I’ll tell you what I can.”

And
for the next hour he proceeded to do so. When she left the patisserie, Julianna
had a firm plan in place. It couldn’t fail. It simply could not.

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When
Julianna arrived home,
she was greeted by surprise guests
.
Well, not too surprising considering that it was the hour for callers, and it
was obligatory to pay a call on the hostess after attending a function. And
considering that Alasdair was a gentleman who had made passionate love to her
several times he probably felt the need to call, as he should. She smiled
serenely as he rose from the settee when she entered the drawing room.

“Miss
Harte,” he said in that dark, delicious voice of his. Her smile may have been a
bit too enthusiastic, but she couldn’t control it. The answering quirk of his
lips and gleam in his eyes warmed her to her toes.

She
held out her hand to him. “Mr. Sharp, how very good it is to see you again.”
From the corner of her eye she saw her stepmother raise her brow in amusement.
Julianna felt a moment of panic. Did she know what had happened between them?
Good God, Alasdair hadn’t gone and confessed, had he?

“Miss
Harte,” another voice said, and she turned to greet Sir Hilary. She couldn’t stop
the blush that blazed across her face when he took her hand. As hard as she
tried not to think about it, she knew that he knew about her and Alasdair. This
had been true last night, of course, but it seemed somehow more horrifying in
the light of day. He gazed at her curiously, but said nothing as he kissed her
hand and released it. When she glanced at Alasdair, he was fighting a smile.
The cad. He knew exactly why she was blushing.

“My
dear,” Mr. Harte said jovially, “Mr. Sharp and Sir Hilary came to call and were
quite disappointed not to find you at home.” He had risen as well and he gave
Julianna a kiss on the cheek, guiding her into a chair next to the settee where
Alasdair was seated.

“Me?”
she asked pleasantly, accepting a cup of tea from her stepmother. “How very
nice of them.”

“You
did not tell us they spent the day squiring you about on your errands earlier
this week, Julianna,” Lady Linville observed too casually. “We were very
grateful, naturally.”

“Did
I not?” Julianna responded thoughtfully. “How silly of me. I cannot imagine how
it slipped my mind. I was very grateful, too.”

“Hmm,”
was
all the
baroness said as she took a sip of tea.

“We
wished to pay our respects, of course,” Sir Hilary said, eyeing her intently,
“but also to see how you were getting on since we saw you last evening.”

Julianna
feigned surprise. “How I was getting on? What a strange notion. I am getting on
fine, of course. Why would I not be? Mr. Sharp stopped my fall, after all.”

He
smiled back, a hint of amusement of his face. “You are right, Miss Harte. Why
would you not be? I’m afraid I phrased that awkwardly. What I meant to ask was
whether anything interesting has happened since we last saw you.”