Color flooded her face, and she shrugged. “Happened to be strolling by.”
“I see. You happened to stroll out of the East End all the way to Upper Brook Street, did ye? What was the idea, to see what other pickings I had? To bring your friends here and show them the choicest bits? They’ll be disappointed. I make a good living, but I’m not a duke. No priceless paintings or silver plate in my house.”
The young woman’s flush deepened. “I’m not a robber, Mr. Bloody Arrogant McBride.”
“Yes, you are. You picked my pocket then led me straight into the arms of thugs ready to beat me down and steal everything you hadn’t already.”
She twined her hands together. “I know, but . . .”
Sinclair stepped to her, standing right in front of her, his best courtroom sternness in his voice. She didn’t back down but stared up at him, nervous though not afraid.
“What am I to think?” Sinclair asked. “I see a pickpocket in my house, with my children, for God’s sake, when I don’t remember giving her my address. And she’s never given me her name.”
“It’s Bertie.” More flushing. “I mean, Roberta. Frasier. Miss. I ain’t married.”
“Bertie.” The name was pert, like her. It went with her laughing eyes, tip-tilted nose, and wide mouth better than the more dignified Roberta.
“That’s me,” Bertie said. “And I didn’t come to rob you. I’m inside by accident.”
“Oh, ye tripped and found yourself falling through my front door, did ye?”
“Mr. Macaulay told me I’d better stay. And when I tried to leave, your kids . . . whew, they can make a noise, can’t they? They’ve taken a shine to me, but I must seem funny after that stuffed goose, Miss Evans. She couldn’t enjoy herself if someone tied her down and tickled her with a dozen feathers.”
This depiction of Miss Evans, the prim and proper governess from the best agency in London, made Sinclair want to burst out laughing.
What was the matter with him? She was a pickpocket, with a father who beat her when she didn’t steal and ruffian friends to deal with those who tried to catch her. Sinclair faced women like her in the dock all the time. Most were driven to thieving and prostitution—they didn’t know any other way, couldn’t even imagine it. Bertie wasn’t a game girl, but she was a thief. A charming one, but a thief all the same.
“I know you don’t believe me,” she was saying. “I wouldn’t, if I was you. But someone needed to watch your son and daughter at that moment. Those two can get themselves in a right lot of trouble, can’t they? Now they’re asleep, as I say, so I’ll be going home. If you just step aside so I can get around you, you’ll see the back of me forever. Promise.”
Sinclair couldn’t move. “Don’t be stupid,” he heard himself say. “You can’t go now. It’s too late for you to be waltzing through the streets alone.”
Bertie blinked in surprise. “What are you talking about? I walk around at night all the time. But if you’re so worried, you can call up that fancy carriage of yours. I wouldn’t mind riding back to Whitechapel like a princess.”
Sinclair shook his head. “My coachman’s gone to bed. You’ll stay here tonight and go in the morning. No wait—you’ll go when I’ve found another blasted governess. If Cat and Andrew like you, then you can watch them until I bring home the next victim.”
Bertie raised her brows at the word victim, but Sinclair wouldn’t take it back. That was exactly what these poor women were. Sinclair couldn’t handle his own children, and everyone knew it.
“And how long will that be?” she asked.
“Damn it all, I don’t know. Macaulay will go to the agency tomorrow. I can’t. Too many cases to review.” Sinclair glanced at his desk piled high with paper.
“Make up your mind,” Bertie said, planting her hands on her hips. “You think I came here to rob you, so you want me out. When I say, fine, I’ll go, you say, no, stay and look after me children. I will tell you something Mr. Basher McBride.” She moved closer to him, her finger lifted in admonishment. “I don’t work for nothing. I get paid an honest wage when I do an honest job. I’ll stay and make sure the mites are all right, but you have to make it worth me while. A crown I’ll have for it. And you won’t charge me for breakfast.”
“A crown—?”
She looked uncertain. “Too much, you think? All right, a half crown then, but nothing less.”
“Good God.”
What the hell was he doing? Sinclair should wake up Richards, never mind the coachman’s sleep, and tell him to haul this young woman back to the gutter from whence she came.
But something told him to do anything to keep her around, to keep her smiling like this at him. Her presence was a warmth in the coldness, light breaking through the ponderous dark.
She was speaking again. “If you hold looking after your children so cheaply, it’s not a wonder you got a governess who ran away at the first sign of trouble.”
“What are you talking about, woman? I pay my governesses fifty pounds a year. Do you want the position or not?”
Bertie’s mouth dropped open, her eyes round. “Fifty pounds? Good Lord, I’d put up with the devil himself for that much. Miss Evans is a perfect fool.” She blinked again. “A moment, are you offering me a job?”