That Would Be a Fairy Tale - By Amanda Grange Page 0,50

sitting in the drawing-room discussing their failed attempt to catch Goss.

‘I know.’

‘It was my fault. I should have checked to see that Gladys hadn’t come back into the room before I raised the alarm,’ she said.

‘That wasn’t your job,’ said Roddy morosely. ‘It was my job to make sure there were no maids present, so that Goss couldn’t frame another innocent young girl, and then give you a sign so that you could cry thief. And that’s what you did.’

‘It was no one’s fault,’ said Alex. ‘We couldn’t have foreseen that Gladys would slip back into the room at such a critical moment.’

‘Why did she return?’ asked Roddy curiously. ‘Have you asked her?’

Alex nodded. ‘It was because she found Mrs Godiver’s handkerchief. Mrs Godiver had dropped it in the hallway and Gladys recognised it, so she was going to return it.’

‘Unluckily for us,’ said Eugenie. ‘Because Goss took advantage of the situation and put the necklace in her apron pocket. He’s an even more accomplished thief than we thought.’

‘I wish we could have caught him,’ sighed Roddy.

‘But we didn’t,’ said Eugenie despondently.

‘We will,’ said Alex. ‘We’ll just have to come up with a better plan - one in which he will have no opportunity to slip the stolen article into the pocket of an innocent maid.’

‘It’s no good,’ said Roddy, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets and scowling at the carpet. ‘He won’t come here again.’

‘Cheer up.’ Alex did his best to sound confident, although he was far from feeling it. ‘We’ll think of something. But we’ll do it better after a good night’s sleep.’

‘You’re right,’ said Eugenie, standing up. ‘There is one good thing. We might not have caught Goss, but at least we didn’t lose the necklace. It would have been the last straw if he’d managed to evade capture and get away with the jewels as well.’

‘Although — ‘ Although then we would have had a chance of catching him when he tried to dispose of them, Alex had been about to say. But he thought better of it. Eugenie’s remark had lifted both hers and Roddy’s spirits, and Alex did not want to cast them down again.

Roddy looked at him enquiringly.

Alex shook his head. ‘Oh, nothing,’ he said. ‘It’s late. We’re all tired. I suggest we leave any further discussion until the morning.’

Eugenie and Roddy, worn out from the night’s events, agreed.

‘Time for bed,’ said Eugenie, yawning. She stood up. ‘Good night, Alex.’

Alex bade her and Roddy goodnight, but when they went upstairs he did not go with them. Instead, he lingered in the drawing-room. It was no use him going to bed, he knew he would not sleep, because Cicely was engaged to Lord Chuffington. Try as he might to get it out of his head he couldn’t do it. It was on his mind the whole time. Despite all rational thoughts to the contrary, he still could not believe it. But why not? As Chuffington said, she was used to living in a manor house. No more living in a Lodge. No more faulty ranges. And no more having to work as a secretary in order to make ends meet.

But it seemed so unlike Cicely.

Fool! he told himself angrily as he strode over to the fireplace and stood looking down into the empty grate. You’re doing it again. Investing her with qualities she doesn’t have. First you convinced yourself she was an upper-class termagant who would have dismissed Katie for something she didn’t do, which was completely wide of the mark. Now you’re trying to convince yourself she wouldn’t marry for a position in society, and again you’re completely wrong.

What was it about Cicely that provoked such strong reactions in him? Why should he care if she married? Or who she married? He had never been interested in young women before - in a casual way, yes, or in a brotherly way, like with Katie, or a friendly way, like with Eugenie, but never in this distracted way, seeing things that simply weren’t there. If she wanted to marry Chuffington, why should it bother him? And not just bother him, cut him into little pieces?

He strode across the room and stood looking out over the lawns. What Cicely did with her life was up to her. There was nothing between them but an electric physical attraction - and yet in all honesty he had to acknowledge that for him it was more than that. The feelings which had been churning round in him