Earls Just Want to Have Fun Read Free

stepped between the two. “Off you go. I want a good haul. I’ll meet you at the fencing ken.” Gideon handed Marlowe a large burlap sack, and the four cronies stepped outside.
    Seven Dials came alive at night. In daylight, it sometimes appeared the sole haunt of the lowest prostitutes and invalids who stooped in every doorway. The bawdy houses and taverns were shuttered and dark, though the gin shops were always open and filled with drunks. In the weak daylight, children and maimed soldiers who were out and about slinked by or crouched in corners, forgotten and forlorn, with their hands out. But darkness had descended now, and with it every man, woman, or child who thrived in the shadows. The streets were crowded, with men and women spilling out of brightly lit public houses. Marlowe watched gentlemen from Mayfair stumble about drunkenly. They would be easy pickings.
    â€œWe’ll make more on the better-racket,” Gideon said, tucking the bess under his coat. He’d use the tool to force the house’s door open. He walked beside her, almost protectively. She drew more attention in the dress than she liked. She nodded at the truth of his statement. Besides, she was in no hurry to encounter any more gentlemen tonight. She hadn’t forgotten her run-in with the man who called himself Sir Brook. Now she found herself studying every swell they passed, worried it might be he. But he’d said she could come to him. He’d told her where his office was located. Actually, he’d tried to give her his card. Was the man a fool? She couldn’t take his card. What if Satin found it?
    â€œYou know how this works,” Gideon said now as they moved toward the sundial, marking the entrance to Seven Dials. It also marked their exit. Marlowe focused on Gideon’s words, rather than think about the events of the afternoon. She couldn’t afford to be distracted.
    â€œMarlowe will knock on the door and spill her tale.” He handed her a sheet of parchment. She opened it and sighed. She could pick out a few words and saw this was the shipwreck cock-and-bull. She’d used it a hundred times. The paper was a forged passport for Theodosia Buckley. She’d show it to make her story seem more credible. She’d ask for money so she could take the post back home to Shropshire. She probably wouldn’t get much blunt, if any, but that wasn’t the point. While she detained the owners of the house, Gideon, Stub, and Tiny would gut the place. Joe would stand guard in case the Watch or a carriage passed by. The boys would check all clear before they climbed back out the windows, and when she heard Joe’s signal, she’d finish her Banbury tale and meet at the rendezvous.
    â€œWhere is the rendezvous?” she asked when Gideon had finished going over the boys’ jobs. They all knew what to do, but Gideon liked to make sure everyone was prepared.
    â€œThe house is in Cheapside, near a bookstore,” Gideon told her. “We meet there. I’ll point it out when we pass.”
    They passed out of Seven Dials, and Gideon suggested they split into two or three groups. A gang of five might look suspicious. Marlowe moved toward Tiny. Usually she walked with the smallest boy because people often thought they were mother and son, but Gideon put his hand on her arm. “Walk with me.” He tucked her arm in his, and the two strolled ahead as though they were lovers out for a walk. When they’d left the boys behind, Gideon said, “What’s wrong?”
    â€œNothing,” she said quickly.
    â€œMarlowe, I know you. What’s wrong?”
    She bit the pad of her thumb. Of course she hadn’t been able to hide anything from Gideon. “Gap and I were doing a dive on Piccadilly. Gap picked a bubble, and when I bumped into the game, he grabbed me and called me Elizabeth.” She whispered the name, though she knew no one could hear her.
    â€œYou looked