Good God, it was bad enough that he barely spoke. Even worse when he hodge-podged conversations in such an eccentric fashion. ‘He said it was too dark to be sure.’
Sam smiled. Then he padded over the beam onto the next roof.
The gambler in me found all of this exhilarating – slipping across rooftops through the deadliest part of the city. Was this not life? Was this not something to make the heart beat faster? A quieter voice counselled that such risks may be exhilarating, but were not conducive to a long life. Oh, and for God’s sake – don’t look down.
Sam was a few paces ahead of me, perched at the edge of the roof, staring down at a courtyard below. The houses huddled together to create a tiny, secret square in the middle. Sam rolled his shoulders. Stepped on to the ledge. And jumped.
I gave a shout of alarm and scrambled to the edge. Beneath me, about ten feet down, Sam had landed neatly on the balcony of a modest wooden house built in the heart of the square. Being two stories shorter than the houses surrounding it, there was no way of seeing it until you leaned right over the roof.
‘What am I to do?’ I called down.
Sam tipped back his hat. Crooked his finger.
‘Don’t jump for fuck’s sake,’ a voice growled through a window. A moment later, Sam’s father swung out onto the balcony. A short, strong man, he was dressed in a plain shirt and waistcoat, sleeves rolled. His head was bare, scalp dark with bristle. ‘You’ll break your neck. Or tear a hole in my roof. Then I’ll break your neck.’ He grinned and pushed a ladder out until it lodged firmly against the roof where I stood.
I tested it anxiously with my foot. ‘Will it take my weight?’
‘Takes mine.’
I considered the iron muscles of his arms and chest. He was a head shorter than me, but still at least a stone heavier. I took a deep breath and climbed down slowly, conscious that I was crossing the threshold arse first. Now there’s a way to make a man feel vulnerable. Intentional, no doubt.
Fleet’s den was the most curious place I had ever visited – so unlike a normal home that at first I could make no sense of it. The rooms at the top of the house had been knocked into one – or had been built that way. This one large, square room stretched right up to the pitched roof, with beams left open to crack your head upon. The balcony wrapped all the way around this top floor. From here one could throw a ladder onto any roof in the square or clamber down to the street by rope. It was a building designed for escape.
I presumed that this room served as a well-guarded meeting place for Fleet’s gang, but there were also hammocks slung from the beams and a grate in one corner with a leg of mutton roasting on a spit. My mouth watered at the smell of it.
Sam dropped his hat on a hammock and pushed a hand through his curls, watching his father from the corner of his eyes. Something unspoken hung in the air between them – a question or a threat. But then Fleet chuckled, and pulled Sam into a brief hug. He kissed the top of his son’s head, then shoved him away.
‘Gah! You smell like a whore. What do they wash you with, fucking rose water?’
‘Lavender,’ Sam replied, glaring at me as if I had spent the last month flogging him with razors.
I turned up my palms. ‘You wish your son to pass for a gentleman. That includes smelling like one.’
‘True enough,’ Fleet conceded. He gave Sam a friendly shove. ‘Run and see your mother.’
Sam hesitated. ‘Pa-’ He caught his father’s sharp look and left at once, scrambling out onto the balcony and climbing down a rope to the next floor rather than use the stairs.
Fleet waved me over to a seat by the fire. The smell of roast meat was almost too good to bear, but I knew better than to ask for a slice. It was not wise to be indebted to James Fleet – not even for a bite of mutton. I lit a pipe to stave off the hunger while he poured us both a mug of beer and settled down in the chair opposite. He was a handsome bull of a man, with a wide forehead and a sharp jaw line. He had the same striking black eyes as his son, but Sam’s features were almost delicate, set in a lean face with high cheekbones. There was nothing delicate about James Fleet. His face and hands were traced with scars – a map of old battles fought and won.
‘How’s Kitty?’ he asked, taking a swig of beer.
‘She’s well.’ My voice sounded thin.
He chuckled over his beer. ‘Don’t look so worried, Hawkins. I’m not going to eat her.’
I forced a smile. ‘You have a proposal for me?’
He wasn’t ready to discuss business. This conversation would play at his pace, not mine. ‘So. What progress with my boy?’
‘Good. Save for the incessant chatter.’
He snorted back a laugh. ‘How long will it take?’
‘To turn him into a gentleman?’ I shrugged. A thousand years?
‘No, no, no. To pass as one. You turn my son into a real gent and I’ll wring your fucking neck.’
‘Ah, well. That’s the secret. There’s no such thing as a real gent.’ I was not speaking entirely in jest. If a man wore the right clothes and spoke in an easy, confident manner, there was a good chance he would be allowed into the court. The nobility was such a strange collection of eccentrics, fools, and fops that even the most unlikely fellow could pass.
Fleet waved his hand, dismissing the notion. This sort of subtle distinction bored him. ‘There are places I can’t go. Opportunities I can’t seize. Sam knows this world – my world. I need him to understand yours too.’
I thought of Sam, sullen and silent behind the shop counter. ‘I will do my best.’
Fleet held my gaze, just long enough for me to understand what would happen if my best did not meet his expectations. ‘Well then,’ he said, as the sweat trickled down my back, ‘can’t ask fairer than that.’
I took a sip of beer. ‘We had a visit from Mr Gonson today.’
‘Hah. Society of Fucking Manners.’
‘Our neighbour accused Sam of breaking into his house.’ I paused. ‘Is that possible?’
‘Anything stolen?’
‘No.’
‘Anyone murdered?’
‘Good God – no!’
Fleet settled back, satisfied. ‘Shall we discuss business?’
I had already decided as I climbed over the rooftops of St Giles that whatever James Fleet wanted of me, I must find a way to refuse.‘Mr Fleet,’ I assembled my most regretful expression, ‘I fear I may not be able to help on this occasion-’
He stopped me with his hand. ‘For pity’s sake, Hawkins – stop clenching your petticoat. A proposition, nothing more. Chance to make some money.’ He fixed me with a look. ‘Your own money.’
Oh, that stung, I admit. It was true I had been living off Kitty’s fortune these past few months. A fortune she had inherited from Fleet’s half-brother.
‘I’ve had word from an acquaintance at court. A gentlewoman has asked for my help. Needs to be done secret. Quiet. I want you to meet her tonight. Find out what she wants.’
I narrowed my eyes, suspicious. That was all – truly? Nothing more? Perhaps I could, just this once… Best not to refuse Fleet over such a trifling request. And would it not be encouraging, to earn a little spare coin of my own? ‘How much?’
Fleet shrugged. ‘If I can help her I’ll pay you a tenth of the fee.’
‘Half.’
A hacking laugh. ‘One meeting with a fucking courtier? Let me consider.’ He scratched his jaw. ‘One-tenth.’
I took a slow pull on my pipe. This was Fleet’s world – he could slit my throat in here and never swing for it. But if I did not bargain with him now I would appear weak. ‘If it’s so easy, why not send one of your men? Why not go yourself?’