Before the Midnight Bells (Once Upon a Romance Book 1) by Jessica Woodard

Author:Jessica Woodard [Woodard, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Fantasy, Historical, historical romance, Regency
Amazon: B005QBH3KS
Published: 2011-09-26T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Max had been playing detective all morning. He’d sent a footman off to make a list of all the pawn shops in the vicinity of Low Street, and the poor fellow had finally finished a few hours before the ball. It was quite an extensive list—apparently pawn brokers did a brisk trade in the city.

Luckily for Max, in the fourth store—a tidy little place crammed full of curiosities and whatnots—he found what he was looking for.

“That mirror, the one with the silver filigree, where did you get it?” The proprietor peered at the mirror Max was examining.

“Hand crafted by Gnomes from the far north, that is. Ought to grace one of the high and mighty’s walls, maybe even in the palace, but here it is in my shop. Amazing how these things work out, isn’t it?”

“Indeed,” Max spoke wryly, aware that he was being given a sales pitch, “but how did you come by it?”

“Bought it from a fairy lass, for the price of one night together. That was back in my younger days, of course.” The shopkeeper waggled his heavy grey eyebrows suggestively.

“My good man, I will let you in on a secret.”

“Tell away, my lord, tell away.”

“I am looking for a mirror.”

“Well, you couldn’t find a finer one if you searched the whole city. One hundred Regalis and it’s yours.”

“Ah, but you see, I am looking for a particular mirror, one that was sold to a pawnshop some two weeks ago.”

“Oh.”

“Indeed. Oh. If you wish to sell me this mirror, you will kindly stop telling me tall tales, and give me the information I seek. From whom did you purchase this?”

The pawn broker dropped his overly friendly demeanor. “That depends, my lord. You go on and tell me why you want the young lady’s mirror, and I’ll think about telling you what you want to know.”

“I only want to return it to her. She seems to miss it.”

“You know Miss Ella?” The shop keeper gave a friendly smile, this one real, rather than faked. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place? I hated to take it from her, but she went on and on, said how she needed fabrics and buttons and notions and things. I gave her ten Regalis for it; hand over the ten and it’s yours.” Bemused at the sudden drop in price, Max did just that. Then he flipped the man another two Regalis. “If she comes in here to sell something again, hold it for me, would you?”

“I think I can do that, my lord. Now let me just wrap up that mirror for you. Wish I could see the look on her face when she opens it.”

***

Ella was exhausted. Convincing Beatrice to leave the card table last night had been difficult, but prying Prudence out of the arms of her red-headed swain had been nigh on impossible. In the end, Millicent had agreed to allow Mister Binkley to escort them home, as long as it let her get Beatrice away from the gentlemen before she took them for every cent they owned.

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