outrage began in earnest and pandemonium ensued. Max turned back to Phoebe.
“Come quickly,” he said.
She nodded, and they made their way back through the crowds and down the stairs, hurrying towards the front door. On the way, they heard the story spread through the crowd ahead of them.
The painting… stolen… a tryst… Ellisborough and Montagu’s daughter… Alvanly a thief… In on it together? Surely not!
Max shut his ears against the gossip, all too aware of how a story could spread and grow and morph into something else. He concentrated on Phoebe’s hand in his, guiding her through the crowd until they burst outside into the cool evening air. They hurried on, down the road to the waiting carriages until Phoebe spotted her driver. The fellow had always given Max the urge to check his pockets, and he’d never understood why Montagu had kept such an obviously villainous fellow in his employ. He looked more likely to hold a carriage up than drive one, especially with the big ruby glinting in his ear. So, when Phoebe let go of his hand and ran to the man, flinging herself into the old rogue’s arms, Max was momentarily bereft of speech.
“Oh, Jack, Jack,” she cried, sobbing against the big devil’s chest.
“Princess? What is it?” he demanded, his eyes narrowing upon Max. “Did this bastard hurt you? ’Cause if he did, I’ll tear his bloody head off!”
Max stilled, quite convinced this was no idle threat.
“Oh, no…. Don’t be silly, Jack, Max would never hurt me. It’s my fault, as usual. Oh, but this time I’ve really done the most awful thing and I’m in such a fix!”
Jack gave Max one last suspicious glance before turning his attention to Phoebe.
“Spill it,” he commanded. “I can’t fix nowt if I dunno what the problem is.”
“It’s Baron Alvanly. He tricked me into picking a lock for him, and now he’s stolen a painting from Mrs Manning and it’s worth a fortune. The wretch tied me up, but Max came and found me, but then everyone came in and saw us, and Max lied to save me. He said he’d proposed and now the p-poor man must marry me, and you know I’ll make him miserable, Jack, and…. Oh, you must help me sort it all out!” she wailed. “We must go after him, at once, and get that wretched painting back, and then I can tell everyone the truth, and it won’t be so bad.”
Jack sent Max a curious look before getting back to the matter at hand.
“Where does he live, this Alvanly cove?”
“Ryder Street.”
Jack nodded. “That’s just a few minutes away. Jump in, then,” he said, gesturing to the carriage. “Doubt he’ll be there, but we might figure out where he’s scuttled off to and catch him up.”
Phoebe lost no time in doing as he bade her, and Max got in behind them.
“Who is he, exactly?” Max asked, wanting desperately to demand why it was she had said poor Max, and why she thought he’d be miserable if she married him, but sensing this was not the time.
“Who? Oh, Jack?” she asked, turning to look at him. “Did Papa never tell you?”
Max shook his head and Phoebe smiled. “Flash Jack was sent to murder my father by my Great Uncle Theodore. Jack was a highwayman then and dreadfully wicked, but Papa persuaded Jack he’d be better off working for him instead of Uncle Theodore, and so he switched sides. He’s been with us ever since.”
Max stared at her. “Your father hired the man who was sent to kill him?”
Good God. He’d known Lucian could be as cold as ice when the situation demanded it, but that… that was….
“Oh, Jack’s a sweetheart really,” Phoebe said, making Max feel as if his eyes were out on stalks. The huge villain who had threatened to rip his head off was a sweetheart? “You know what they say about a poacher turned game keeper? Well, that’s Jack. He’d lay down his life for Papa, I know he would. And for me,” she added softly.
Max considered this. “And the fact that you can pick a lock?”
Phoebe bit her lip, her hands gripped tightly together in her lap, mortification glinting in her eyes. “Yes, Jack taught me, but you must not blame him. He only did it in case I was ever in trouble, and I was never supposed to use it for such a thing as this. Really, it’s not his fault, Max, it’s all mine. Oh, well you know that,