Luck in the Shadows

There's also less chance that anyone will expect to know a common acquaintance. Thus Sir Alec's background is at once suitably genteel and safely obscure."
    "The fact that he's neither Skalan nor Aurлnfaie would make him a tempting target for any Leran hoping to get at Lord Seregil," added Micum.
    "A jilt!" said Alec.
    "A what?" laughed Seregil.
    "A jilt, the bait," he explained. "If you want to trap something big, like a bear or mountain cat, you stake out a kid and wait for your beast to show up."
    "All right, then. You'd be our jilt. If any bears do show up, just be your sweet, innocent self, feed them everything we want them to know, and report everything they say back to me."
    "But how would they get to me?" asked Alec.
    "That won't be difficult. Lord Seregil's a social sort. His house in the Noble Quarter has already been opened and word's getting around. I'm sure the news will reach the right ears sooner or later. In a few days we'll throw a big party to introduce you to society."
    Micum favored his friend with an affectionate grin.
    "You scheming bastard! So what else did you get up to while we were gone?"
    "Well, it's taken until today, but I think I've found our forger. You recall Master Alben?"
    "That blackmailing apothecary you burgled a few years back during that business for Lady Mina?"
    "That's the one. He's moved his shop to Hind Street since then."
    "How'd you find him?"
    "I was pretty certain Ghemella was our seal forger. Since she also buys stolen papers, I planted some of mine with her and last night she led me straight to him. It's only a matter now of finding his cache to see if there's anything useful to be had. If he is the one who forged the letter from me, then my guess is he's probably made a copy or two for himself just to hedge his bets. And if we can get our hands on those we can squeeze him for names."
    "Is that the job tonight?" asked Alec, an eager gleam in his eye. "The sooner we clear your name, the better."
    Seregil smiled. "Your concern for my tattered honor is deeply appreciated, Sir Alec, but we'll need another day or so to prepare for that one. Don't fret, now. Everything's under control.In the meantime, however, I think you'll find tonight's little exercise worthy of your new skills."
    Wheel Street, a quiet, respectable boulevard of modest back garden villas, lay on the fringe of the Noble Quarter. Well dressed so as to attract no attention, Alec strolled along beside Seregil and Micum just after dark-three gentlemen out enjoying the night air.
    The narrow houses were decorated Skalan style with mosaics and carvings. The ground level of some had been converted into shops; in the dimness Alec made out the signs of a tailor, a hat maker, and a gem dealer. The street ended in a small circular court in front of a public stable.
    Riders and carriages bustled in all directions; the sounds of entertainment could be heard here and there as they walked past.
    "That's ours, the one with the grapevine pattern over the door," whispered Seregil, indicating a brightly lit house across the way. "Belongs to a minor lord with some connection to shipping. No family, three servants: the old manservant, a cook, and the maid."
    Several horses were tethered in front and they could hear the noise of pipes and fiddles being tuned.
    "Sounds like he's having a party," whispered Micum. "Suppose he's engaged extra servants for the evening?"
    "Those can be the worst sort, forever bumbling into places the regular staff can be counted on not to go," Seregil warned Alec. "And guests, too! Keep your ears open and remember, all we're after is a correspondence case. In and out, nothing fancy. According to my information, he keeps the case in a desk in his study, that room there at the left corner of the second floor, overlooking the street."
    More carriages rumbled by, destined for houses up and down the cobbled street. "It's too busy out here," said Alec. "Is there a back way in?"
    Seregil nodded. "The house backs onto a walled garden, and a common beyond. This way."
    Crossing the street a few houses down, they went through a narrow alley into the little common. Such areas had been left open throughout the city to assure pasturage in time of siege. At the moment it was occupied by a flock of sleeping geese and a few pigs.
    Creeping softly along, they counted gates until they found the one leading into the back garden of the house in question. The wall was high, the gate stoutly barred from within.
    "Looks