Prologue
September 1824 ~ London, England
“The play was fabulous, Wendel,” Katie Latham enthused as her fiancé, Mr. Wendel Colborne, ushered her from the Drury Lane Theatre. “It’s been a perfect evening. When we are married, promise me we will make time for monthly outings—no matter how many children we have.”
Wendel gave a good-natured chuckle. “Anything for you, my dear,” he said. Craning his neck at the line of carriages, he tugged her hand, leading them towards the street corner.
“Is something wrong?” she asked in concern. Wendel suddenly seemed anxious—something her usually even-tempered betrothed rarely showed.
“Not at all,” he murmured, his neck stretching left and right. “Our carriage must be farther up, towards the front of the line. I specifically instructed Timmons to be out front early, but he must have misunderstood and thought I meant the front of the line of carriages.”
“No matter. The walk will do us good. Perhaps Frankie and Thomas will have time to catch up with us. I saw them stop ahead of us to chat with some acquaintances.” Katie couldn’t help but hear the frustration in her fiancé’s voice and see the taut lines deepening around his mouth. “Wendel, I can tell when something is wrong. And something is wrong. What is it?”
“Nothing, my sweet.” He smiled tightly and pointed toward the front of the line. “Timmons must be up ahead. We should hurry.” He glanced up at the sky. “Those heavy clouds overhead bode rain, and I want to get you home before the deluge hits,” he said, guiding her with gentle pressure on her back.
Looking around, Katie noticed the crowd and carriages had thinned out. No doubt most of the theatergoers were on their way home by now. Why had she not insisted they ride in Thomas and Frankie’s carriage? Her brother and sister-in-law had offered several times, but Wendel had wanted to take his conveyance. “I can hardly see a thing, it’s so dark,” Katie said, beginning to feel unsettled.
“Looks like the streetlamps on the corner might be out, but our carriage should be there.”
Katie knew Wendel preferred to leave before the crowds departed the theater. Had she not stopped to speak to a friend, they would have been out sooner. The closer they got to the darkened street corner, the more unsettled she felt.
Arriving at the corner, Katie realized that not only was their carriage not there, but the area seemed completely deserted. A sense of dread twisted in her chest at the sound of footsteps approaching. In the dark, she couldn’t tell which direction they were coming from.
In an instant, three shadowy figures surrounded them. Wendel drew Katie closer to his side. “Keep quiet, I’ll handle this,” he whispered in her ear.
“Well, looky ’ere! Just like ye told us, boss,” a lanky young man said in a nasally cockney voice. “Breaking that streetlamp did the trick, it did.”
“Shut yer gob, or I’ll shut it for ye,” a deep raspy voice snapped back. A hulking brute dressed in a ragged, dark-brown coat and black trousers stepped forward to stand menacingly in front of them. Clearly the leader of the rag-tag trio, he flashed a long, jagged blade.
“Katie, stay behind me,” Wendel whispered, pushing Katie behind him.
“We’ll ’ave all yer coin, guvnor,” the leader continued. “Just hand it over to Doogan, ’ere.”
“Aw! Why’d ye use m’name fer?” the nasally young man moaned.
“Just do yer job. And do it quickly,” the leader retorted sharply.
Doogan grumbled as he moved to stand before Katie and Wendel, holding his tattered hat out.
Beside him, a short, squat man in a frayed black coat broke into a squeal of laughter.
“Shut up, Gummy.” Doogan scowled at his partner in crime. “Or I’ll knock out the only rotten tooth ye got left.”
“Yer coin, guv,” the leader repeated, taking a threatening step forward.
Wendel withdrew a small leather purse from his pocket and emptied it into Doogan’s outstretched hat. “That’s all I have,” he said in a clipped voice.
Gummy stuck his hand in the hat, sifted through the contents, and began counting the money.
Disregarding Wendel’s order, Katie moved to stand beside him.
“What are you doing?” Wendel said in a low voice. “I told you to stand behind me.”
“There are three of them and only two of us,” she whispered. “At the very least I can help keep an eye on them in case one of them makes a move to attack.”
Wendel’s jaw clenched, and Katie could see the flare of anger in his eyes. Wendel never got angry. But she refused to budge.
“Just a few quid, boss,” Gummy said.
