Charlotte House Affair 01 - My Particular Friend

And you, my dear, really should pay more attention to shopkeepers if you plan to turn to a life of crime. Despite your healthy complection, I do not think transportation would suit you.’ #
    I felt my face flush red and to my shame, rather than explain myself or plead forgiveness, I asked, ‘How did you know?’
    She smiled and said, ‘You entered wearing very threadbare gloves and I see you trying to leave wearing new gloves. Oh, I’ll credit you with enough sense to chuse an almost identical pair. But come, let’s have a dish of tea, rather than loiter outside the
locus delicti
.’ #
    She attempted to move me again but this time I held firm.
    ‘I cannot thank you enough, Miss …’
    ‘Miss House. And you, I believe, are Miss Woodsen.’ We curtseyed, or rather she seemed to regally accept my existence while I clumsily tripped on my skirts.
    ‘You have me at a disadvantage, Miss House. I apologize that I was unaware that we are acquainted.’
    ‘Again, let’s not stand forever in front of Mr Bruce’s door,’ Miss House said. ‘Walk with me, please.’
    I agreed and together we walked down the street, slowly, for the rains had made the street muddy and because Miss House had to stop several times to acknowledge friends. And each time she kindly introduced me to her friends as if I were her equal.
    ‘And it’s not your fault, Miss Woodsen,’ she said, as we paused to allow a street sweeper to clean our path. ‘We were introduced many years ago, here in Bath, although I have not seen you since. So your lapse is excused, although I must admit to chagrin. Once met, I am not easily forgotten.’ #
    I smiled and had to agree. She was easily as tall as any man I knew and with her golden hair and deep, blue eyes very striking. And now that my fear of arrest had waned, I found it hard not to observe her.
    ‘I’m sorry, Miss House. There is much about my last visit to Bath I have tried to forget. I regret I lost my memory of you as well. But again, I really cannot thank …’
    ‘Tut. Think no more of it. It is my fault really because I allowed you to be in that position. I could see Mr Bruce watching you the whole time and it amused me to let the scene play out. I am afraid he’s suffered from a very persistent thief lately. Why only yesterday someone took a very pretty scarf practically from under his nose.’
    ‘But how would you know that?’ I asked.
    ‘It’s simple. I am his thief. Oh here we are.’ She stopped us outside Molland’s and said, ‘Come, Miss Woodsen, it’s my treat.’ #
    But I could not move. ‘You … you …’
    ‘Yes, I. Now let us go inside. I think tea will do you good.’ She led me inside to a table and while settling on tea, scones and jam, I awaited a chance to question her further.
    Once alone, I asked in a hushed voice: ‘How could … why would … why would you’—I lowered my voice even further—‘steal?’
    ‘Like any skill, thievery needs practicing. Besides, it’s a small enough repayment for all the times Mr Bruce has “put something on my account” without my request. By the by, these gloves would look much better on you.’ She then produced a pair of gloves from her muff. I had seen them in the milliners but hadn’t dared take them because they were of so much better quality than my own gloves.
    I must have appeared stunned because I heard a voice asking Miss House: ‘Is your friend all right, Miss House? She looks unwell. I do hope nothing is wrong.’
    ‘Nothing is ever wrong here,’ Charlotte said. ‘It’s just the exertion of the walk. No doubt something to eat will set her right.’ The woman was obviously anxious to please her guest.
    ‘Oh where is the girl?’ the woman said. ‘Oh here she is. Please see to Miss House and her friend. It’s always a pleasure to see you, Miss House,’ she added, as she backed away from our table, almost colliding with the girl. The image of the woman backing away brought a rush of memory.
    ‘I do remember you at the ball. You were so kind to me and my mother. And everyone was so deferential to you. I really am most ashamed that I …’
    Miss House reached across to me. ‘Please, if you apologize or thank me one more time, I shall begin to find you tiresome. Now, take the gloves and put them away. I don’t want them and I can hardly take them back. And then we can address what is obviously on your mind. You are thinking, “Who is this extraordinary woman? And why is she being so kind to me?”