My Lady Scandal by Kate Harper

branches obligingly close to a window. Agile as monkeys, Nell and Perry climbed upwards, heading for that window and the grand finale of their careers as thieves.
     
    ‘Sir!’ The private skated to a stop in front of Frame, whipping off a salute. ‘We got a couple of likely ones on Brunton Place.’
    Captain Frame was all attention. ‘You saw somebody?’
    ‘Two people. Sneakin’ into a nob’s ‘ouse. Saw ‘em with me own eyes.’
    Frame nodded, ignoring the slang. Half of the recruits had been hired off the streets and were uneducated ruffians; but at least they knew those streets intimately.
    He had told his raw recruits to hold back and keep their eyes peeled. They were to report to him if they saw anything untoward. The Captain wanted to catch these men red handed so that all the lords and ladies would be reassured that they were, once again, perfectly safe.
    ‘Stanley!’ His second in command saluted smartly. ‘Bring twenty men. We might just have something.’
    ‘Yessir!’
    Turning his horse’s head, Frame hoped that they did have something. Trying to guard every house in the greater district of London was an impossible task, but it was expected of him, never the less. Could he really be so lucky as to catch the thieves behind the two robberies on his first night in command of the newly formed patrols?
    He certainly hoped so. The prospect of his superior’s displeasure, along with long, frustrating weeks trying to track down ghosts was not a happy one. But perhaps, God willing, he could solve this problem tonight and then get back to the far more pleasurable pastime of romancing Miss. Viola Durham.
     
    They had not been in the house for more than ten minutes when there came the sound of horses – many horses – from outside, along with the raised voices of men. Perry and Nell exchanged a glance before hastily pushing the large leather case - one of many - back into the drawer and closing it silently. Perry hurried across to the window and glanced out. What he saw made him curse and Nell felt her heart drop.
    Carlisle had been right; they should have stopped while they were ahead.
    ‘How many?’ she whispered.
    ‘Enough. We will be seen if we go out the window.’
    Both of them looked around the room. They could hide, but if whoever was outside knew they were here, they could not hide for long. ‘The roof?’ Nell suggested.
    Perry nodded slowly. ‘Unless we can find another way out.’
    Easing open the door, they listened to the sound of raised voices below. The servants were excited; demanding to know what was going on while a calm, deep voice reassured them everything was all right, but that they needed to search the house.
    Nell’s heart sank at the sound of that voice. Captain Frame; unflappable, efficient Captain Frame. There might have been something ironic about being arrested by an acquaintance, but for the life of her, Nell wished it was a stranger, for Viola could not help but be distressed by this turn of events.
    Slipping out onto the landing, they waited, listening to Frame’s calm, measured tone.
    ‘All we wish to do is make a thorough search of the house. Have any of you heard anything untoward? Where is the bedroom of your mistress?’
    Nell winced as Perry immediately moved, looking for the secondary staircase that led up to the servant’s rooms in the attic as Frame started up the stairs. She knew they were only postponing the inevitable; Frame would make a thorough search of all the rooms in the house. Capture was only minutes away and with it the shame, the disgrace, the end of the Marriotts quest for respectability.
    Oddly enough, the thing that Nell found the most painful was the knowledge that Perry would not have the wife and family she so desperately wanted for him. And that she would no longer have the company of the Viscount.
    Not that there would be much time for regrets. They would, quite probably, hang within the week.
    They were half way up the narrow wooden