Damian Seeker 04 - The Bear Pit by S.G. MacLean

Author:S.G. MacLean [MacLean, S.G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2019-07-10T16:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

An Evening at Lady Ranelagh’s

‘Fetching, I must say. Have to keep your wits about you though, wearing those red ones, especially down around Bankside.’

Lawrence stepped back from his intense examination of the side panel of the haberdasher’s window, himself crimson with embarrassment at being caught lurking in the doorway, apparently fixated by the pair of red women’s drawers on display. He wasn’t able to step back very far, for the excited proximity of Seeker’s dog made it almost impossible for him to move. Lawrence flicked his hair to the side and pushed back his shoulders in an attempt to recover his dignity. ‘I, eh, was just . . .’

But Seeker was enjoying himself far too much to let him wriggle out of his mortification just yet. ‘Of course, you’d need to be careful about the stays, that you got a set to match. Very fetching, all the same.’

‘All right,’ said Lawrence, conceding defeat. ‘You were looking for me, I take it?’

‘No,’ said Seeker, casting the lurid drawers a last glance of distaste, and making a note to have a word with the constable of the ward. ‘But you’ll do for now. Come on.’

The dog loped on ahead of them, turning at Seeker’s whistle down an alley that led to a small abandoned garden at Austen Friars.

‘It’s a wonder they haven’t built on this,’ said Lawrence, casting his eye around the precious patch of open space, half-enclosed by crumbling walls, that had slowly been encroached upon by nature.

‘They’ll try, I’ve no doubt. Anyway, tell me about your trip south of the river.’

Lawrence settled more comfortably on the large slab he’d sat down on, and leaned back against what remained of the wall behind it. ‘Right. You’ve seen the dog? The one Sir Thomas and I brought back.’

‘Oh, I’ve seen it, all right. Nearly had the arm of the kennel master’s boy up at the Mews. It’ll be a good long time before that thing’s allowed anywhere near Oliver.’

Lawrence’s eyes took on a misty look Seeker had seldom seen there. ‘Oh, but it’s a beauty,’ he said. ‘Just needs proper handling and it’ll be fit for a king.’

‘Only if the brute’s having him for supper,’ said Seeker. ‘That’s the only use we have for kings nowadays.’

Lawrence swallowed and carried on. ‘Aye, well. It’s a good dog, but it was bred and being kept for baiting, and for people prepared to pay high prices to see it. The sort of people that wouldn’t like it noised about, how they really spend their leisure hours. All the same, the dealer did look surprised, when he finally understood what we were really asking about. But the more Sir Thomas got me to wave his purse at him, the less surprised he got.’

‘And you’re convinced this dealer’s telling the truth?’

Lawrence nodded. ‘I’ve dealt with a trickster or two in my time on the Pullans’ business, but that man was definitely telling the truth. He knows where there’s a bear to be found; I’m just not entirely sure yet that he knows exactly how he’s going to lay hands on it, that’s all.

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