Ana had never been caught making a repossession, though it had been a near-run thing a couple of times. That she’d been found out was unnerving enough. That the one who’d caught her had been none other than Hollis Darby had left her utterly upended.
Had he recognized her? Had she given herself away?
He would condemn her for certain. If he told Elizabeth, Ana would be fired. He wouldn’t permit her to continue tutoring his niece. The characters in Mr. King’s latest story might have been able to find common ground between a gentleman with Society connections and a woman suspected of thievery, but she had no hope that such a thing was actually possible.
When Thursday visiting hours arrived at Thurloe, Ana found herself too distracted and worried to engage in any of the conversations or enjoy their usual visitors.
As if her anxieties had summoned him, Hollis arrived, dressed to the nines in a finely fashioned, green driving coat and matching gloves. He cut quite the figure; there was no denying that. And she was terrified to see him; there was no denying that either.
“Might I convince you to abandon your calling hours and join me for a drive through Hyde Park?” His eyes sparkled with charm. Was that sincere, or was he playing a part for the sake of the onlookers?
“I have not driven out during the fashionable hour in years,” she said.
“I suspected as much.” He held out his hand to her. “I think it is time you made a return trip.”
She could feel the other teachers around her silently urging her to accept. Elizabeth’s subtle nod held a note of emphasis. There would be no way of refusing without raising suspicions.
“I believe you are correct.” She set her hand in his and allowed him to pull her to her feet, praying he couldn’t tell she was shaking. “Do you mind waiting while I put on my coat?”
“My dear Miss Newport,” he said, “I would wait a lifetime for you.”
No one in the room could have missed her blush. She dipped a quick curtsey and hurried up to her room. She hadn’t a proper driving coat, but her serviceable brown one would do. If she was about to endure a dressing down, being unfashionable was the least of her worries.
When she returned to the sitting room, he rose and offered his arm. They walked together from the sitting room into the entryway.
“I haven’t had a caller ask me to drive at the fashionable hour,” she said. “I admit I’m a little nervous.”
Hollis paused on the front walk and turned to face her directly. “If you would rather not, I will understand. But I do think it would be an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon. And we would be afforded a rare opportunity for some privacy.”
She suspected she knew what he wanted to discuss in private. At least he was doing her that courtesy, rather than revealing what he knew in front of her colleagues and friends. She allowed a slow breath. “A ride sounds lovely.”
He motioned to the open-top carriage waiting for them. It was not the staid and sedate enclosed carriage that belonged to his brother. They would cut quite a dash in this vehicle.
He handed her up, then assumed his place in the driver’s seat. She adjusted her skirts, smoothing and straightening them. Heavens, she was nervous. More than that, she was afraid. Some legendary sneak thief she was, trembling at the prospect of a conversation.
With a flick, he set the horse to a leisurely walk. They weren’t far from Hyde Park, and there was no need to hurry.
“Have you forgiven me yet for Saturday?” Hollis asked. “I am beyond upset with myself for not realizing I’d left you at my brother’s home with no explanation of my departure. I was upset with him—our conversation didn’t go well—and I left without thinking.”
That was the least of her concerns. “I assumed as much. No harm done, I assure you.”
He smiled, and they continued on. Hollis didn’t seem upset or disapproving. He didn’t even look like he had anything serious to discuss with her. Had he not realized she was the Phantom Fox? Was it possible she’d escaped detection?
They reached the crush of the park. Plenty of other fine carriages and smartly dressed people wound their way around the large green. After a few minutes with nothing but innocuous conversation, she began to relax and let herself enjoy yet another unexpected step back into the world she’d once known.
“Is something the matter?” Hollis asked.
She tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, as was customary. “I was only thinking how very long it’s been since I did anything like this. Money gave my family entry into this world of fine carriages and high-class people, but it proved a feeble connection.”
“I have experienced Society’s fickleness like a dagger at times.”
“Then why do you continue being part of it?” She hoped he didn’t read any accusation into her words; she didn’t intend for there to be any.
“Because I love Eloise and Addison too much to take away their choices in life. Our family’s hold on this world is more precarious than anyone realizes. If their odd Uncle Hollis turns his back on it entirely, that might very well sever that hold.”
She hadn’t expected that answer. “But if they weren’t a consideration? If you could choose the life you wanted based on nothing more than your heart?”
An almost sly smile spread across his face. “I’d do what I do now when Society isn’t watching.”
Nervousness pulsed in her chest. “And what is that?” The question emerged in a whisper.
“Can you keep a secret, Ana?”
She nodded, her fears growing.
A gentleman hailed them as his vehicle approached, then slowed. “Mr. Darby.”
Hollis greeted him in return. “Mr. Lewiston. I’ve not seen you about recently.”
“Perhaps you’ve been looking in the wrong places.” The man clearly meant the observation as something of a lighthearted jest, but there was a heaviness in the bags under his eyes that belied his tone.
“Miss Newport,” Hollis said, “might I make known to you Mr. Lewiston. Lewiston, this is Miss Newport.”
Mr. Lewiston’s bushy brow pulled together and his jowls puffed a moment. “I knew a Newport several years back. He had a daughter who’d likely be about your age now.”
Oh, dear. “That might be my father.”
“Crawford Newport?” Mr. Lewiston guessed.
Ana nodded, then braced herself for the inevitable dismissal or insult.
But Hollis spoke first. “I have had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Newport. Delightful gentleman, nearly as delightful as his daughter.”
Mr. Lewiston’s eyes darted from Hollis to Ana and back again. “Isn’t he the one who—”
“You didn’t tell me where it was I ought to have been looking for you,” Hollis said. “Obviously not at soirees or musicales or the theatre, as those are places I have been and you have not.”
Mr. Lewiston assumed an expression of great secrecy. “Ask your brother. He knows.”
“He might very well.” Hollis offered Mr. Lewiston a brief dip of his head before making a quick farewell and resuming their drive.
“It is likely uncouth of me to say as much,” Ana said, “but there was something very off-putting about him.”
“Agreed. Even more odd, he didn’t used to have that air about him.”
Ana resisted the urge to look over her shoulder at the man. “What did he mean ‘your brother knows’? That sounded unsavory.”
“I believe his comment touches on the topic I was discussing with Randolph on Saturday.”
“A topic so upsetting it made you forget about my very existence?”
With his eyes still on the road, he said, “Forgetting about your existence has proven utterly impossible for months.”
It was not a sentiment he would express if he knew who she really was.
They were hailed several more times as they made their circuit of the park. Only one other of those they spoke with pieced together who she was and who her father was. And, once again, Hollis made it quite clear that she and her family had his approval. To those who hadn’t a history to connect to her, he treated her as one would a lady of full standing in Society. He was gentle and tender, respectful and kind.
Hollis Darby was a comforting person to be with. He set her at ease. He offered her a measure of peace that she desperately needed. If he hadn’t pieced together her secret life as a thief, she couldn’t afford for him to. He would turn on her as everyone else had.
“You never did tell me what it was you would do with your life if you had your choice,” she said.
His expression turned serious. “The first bit is that my grandfather gambled away most of our family’s fortune years ago. My father then made short work of nearly all the rest. Randolph has done a remarkable job of accumulating enough to begin pulling the family out of dangerous financial waters, but the empty family coffers have required that I earn my living.”
“I’ve not heard your name attached to an occupation,” she said.
He smiled at her, the same almost sly smile she’d seen before. “There are things I do when Society is not looking.”
She swallowed. “What—What things?”
He laughed. “Now you are imagining something dangerous and possibly criminal, aren’t you?”
He might have been describing what she did when Society wasn’t looking. Something he didn’t seem to have realized he’d discovered.
“I know you enjoy Mr. King’s work,” he said. “Those stories would make anyone assume criminality lurked in the heart of every nobleman.”
She found she could laugh. “I know you enjoy the works of your friend, Mr. Walker. His books paint a compassionate picture of the little criminals in London.”
“I’ve come to know one of those criminals quite well,” he said.
She swallowed. “You have?”
“Yes. A little urchin by the name of Very Merry. She had been stealing as a matter of survival, but the police, unfortunately, do not always see things that way. She is now living at my house, under the watchful eye of my housekeeper and valet.”
“You’ve taken in an urchin?”
He nodded. “She is an absolute demon. And I adore her.”
“You are a remarkable sort of gentleman, Hollis Darby. I’ve found few of your station are so accepting of those who’ve fallen from grace.”
“I was raised in poverty,” he said. “My family resides within a breath of returning there. That has made my brother fearful, but it has taught me empathy.”
How far could that empathy stretch, though? The secret he’d shared with her was nothing compared to the one she held back from him. Society might look askance if his family’s financial situation were revealed. If her secret were made known, she might very well be hanged.
Even the most remarkable sort of gentleman would draw a line there.