Page 26 of Her Scandalous Pursuit

“Go in when she’s not likely to be in her bedchamber.”

“During the day, in broad daylight, with who knows how many servants walking around?”

“Evening,” Carson said. “It’s dark, but they won’t be in bed. The duchess and her family will either be out at a party or downstairs eating a long and lavish dinner. The servants will be busy downstairs serving or they’ll be in the servants’ hall, enjoying their master’s absence.”

“I must say, you’ve given this a great deal of thought.”

“I’m a quick thinker. And I know the schedule of people like that.” Carson grinned and tapped his temple, his bright blue eyes dancing.

“This just a game for you,” Desmond said in exasperation. “A debate, an intellectual exercise. You have no realization of what the consequences are. To you jail is just an idea, some vague place where common people go. But it’s not. This is serious, Carson.” Desmond’s voice rose. “If you are caught stealing, you’ll be tossed in jail—for many years. Don’t count on them letting you go because you’re the ‘right sort of people.’ The duchess will have all the influence here. You won’t have silk waistcoats and soft beds and good meals. It’s gruel and water and inadequate sanitation.” Desmond caught himself before he blurted out that he knew jails because he’d visited his father there.

Across from him, Carson dropped his amused expression. “I’m sorry, Dez. I shouldn’t tease you. You take everything so seriously. I don’t actually intend to break into the duchess’s sleeping quarters and steal the Eye. I am much too fond of my silk waistcoats for that.” The corner of his mouth quirked.

“Yes, obviously this is hypothetical,” Gordon said heavily. “Mere supposition.”

“What a waste,” Benjamin sighed and shook his head.

One by one they returned to their tasks, but no one seemed able to concentrate. It wasn’t long before the others left. Desmond remained; he wanted to make sure Gordon had given up the mad idea of stealing the Eye. The man had said he accepted it, but the expression on his face was so avid, his bitterness at the duchess’s refusal so apparent, that Desmond feared he might give in to his desire to have the Eye.

Apparently, Gordon was of a similar mind, for after the last student closed the door behind him, he said, “Desmond, I want to talk to you.”

“Good.” He walked over to the other man. “I meant no disrespect earlier.”

“No, no, I understand. You’re the most practical of them all, the steadiest. That’s why I want to ask you—”

“Ask me what? You know I’ll do whatever I can for you.”

“Recover the Eye of Annie Blue.”

“Sir?” Desmond gaped at him. “You said you understood.”

“I do. But I didn’t say I agreed with you.”

“Professor Gordon...” Desmond shook his head, at a loss for words. He had never seen his mentor so blindly stubborn. Yes, the man believed some things that Desmond deemed unlikely, but he had never before been so immune to reason.

“I’d do it myself, but clearly if she discovered the theft, I would be the most likely suspect since I have just written her asking for it.”

Desmond’s mind boggled at the thought of the portly, dignified gentleman climbing through a downstairs window. “Sir...you cannot.”

“They would know nothing of you, however. I could be in public somewhere, have an established alibi while you slip in unbeknownst and take it. Think, Desmond. That woman doesn’t deserve to have the Eye. You’re from Dorset, close to Anne Ballew’s own village. You have more right to it than some aristocrat.”

Could Gordon know his aunt’s wild assertions? “I have no connection with Anne Ballew. I have no more claim to it than anyone.”

“Dorset does. It would have gone to someone in Dorset if Anne Ballew had had a say in the matter.”

“Perhaps so, but that doesn’t make it right to commit robbery. It’s not as if I think the duchess should have it. However she acquired it, it was originally stolen. I really don’t care whether some aristocrat loses a bit of property. But it’s illegal.”

“There’s a larger good here than the law. Don’t you see it? We have the opportunity to make history. Don’t you want to see it? To touch it? To see how it works?”

“Of course I do. I want to examine the thing as much as anyone. I agree that there’s a greater good here and that one stubborn old woman shouldn’t keep it from the rest of the world. It’s disappointing, frustrating...wrong that we cannot study it. I want to see it. But not enough to risk jail.”

“You won’t get caught. You’re clever. You don’t panic. And I’ve seen you run.”

“The same can be said about many men in Newgate. Besides, it’s an impossible task. I don’t know what room it’s in. I don’t know what it looks like. I don’t even know where this woman lives, let alone the floor plan of the place.”

“I know where Broughton House is, and bedchambers are always upstairs,” Gordon said, as if this resolved the matter.

Desmond swung away, throwing out his arms in frustration. “Why me? Why not ask one of the others? Carson seemed especially keen on it.”