The Body Thief Read Free

stretching her legs out in front of her. She glanced around at the living room and her mood began to brighten; how different it was to the old house in Grimethorpe, which was a bleak thatched cottage sitting in an overgrown garden of weeds and rotting sunflowers. She did not like to think of how life had been back then, with no money, no joy, and most punishing of all, no beauty.
    Isabella heard the front door closing and the familiar steps of her father coming down the hallway.
    “Hello, princess,” Mr. Winterbottom said with forced good cheer as he bent down and kissed his daughter’s forehead. “What a day! I had a two-hour training session with Ralph in Hyde Park—he says I have the natural athleticism of a twenty-year-old, by the way. Then I met with Mr. Faulkner from the bank. Didn’t go too well, not that I expected it would. Still, it’s only money—you went riding, I see.”
    Isabella nodded.
    “And then to lunch at your friend Amelia Vanderbolt’s house?” he asked, settling into his favorite red leather armchair by the fireplace.
    “That’s right,” said Isabella casually.
    Though he was naturally quite pale, Nathanial Winterbottom was a vain man who spent many dedicated hours browning himself under the hot sun (and in winter, under the tanning bed at the Grosvenor Square Beauty Spa and Rejuvenation Clinic). As a consequence, his skin was a permanent shade of coffee brown and had the texture of a weathered coconut.
    “Was your visit to the Vanderbolts’ fruitful? ”
    “Of course,” Isabella replied sweetly. “Amelia is so kind and the Vanderbolts always make me feel right at home.” She leaned forward and retrieved a small object from inside her left riding boot, placing it on the bureau next to her father. “This must have slipped into my boot while I was admiring Mrs. Vanderbolt’s jewelry box,” she said. “How careless of me.”
    Switching on the table lamp, Nathanial picked up the delicately crafted silver watch and examined it under the light with all the skill of an experienced jeweler. It appeared to be silver. Perhaps a century old. While not a rare piece, it was sure to have some value.
    “Well done, princess! I trust you were careful.”
    “Aren’t I always?”
    Her father nodded approvingly. “Did you plant a decoy?”
    “Of course I did,” snapped Isabella, rather offended that he even had to ask. “The Vanderbolts have a serving maid who looks completely guilty without even trying. I casually mentioned to Amelia that I spotted this particular maid coming out of Mrs. Vanderbolt’s bedroom shortly after lunch. Naturally suspicion will fall to her when Mrs. Vanderbolt realizes her watch is missing.”
    “Good work,” said Mr. Winterbottom, wrapping the watch carefully in a silk handkerchief and locking it inside the hidden compartment of the antique bureau drawer.
    “How much do you think you can get for it?” Isabella asked her father.
    “Hard to say,” said Nathanial. He sighed. “But I doubt it will be enough to satisfy Mr. Faulkner at the bank. Our savings are just about done.”
    “We still have some money left, don’t we?” said Isabella anxiously.
    “We have enough to last the summer but not much thereafter,” he explained. “The truth is, we’ll be out on the street if we don’t get our hands on some quality merchandise and soon . Perhaps you could get yourself invited to that new girl’s house, the one from Zurich. Her father is a banker, I heard.”
    Isabella shook her head. “I don’t know her well enough yet.”
    “We don’t have a lot of time, Isabella,” said Nathanial with some urgency. “Living the way we do costs a great deal of money, you know that.” He sighed again, deflating into the armchair. “If we can’t get our hands on some quality merchandise soon we’ll just have to go back to Grimethorpe.”
    “I won’t go back,” said Isabella firmly, her large eyes clouding over. “No matter what happens, I’ll never go back