The man’s eyes seemed in imminent danger of popping out of his head. “Th—there’s no need to get wisty, guv’nor! Oiye didn’t mean nothin’—”

Harry shoved the man from him. The would-be thief stumbled backwards, then fell. He quickly regained his footing and skittered off, disappearing down an alleyway after one last frightened look. Harry secreted his knife back in an inner pocket. It would take three baths just to get the stench of this place from his nose.

He hated coming to this part of town, but there were resources here that no one could fathom. Resources he needed.

For the last week, he had been noising it about town that Chase St. John had given him a promissory note, then disappeared—a shocking breach of honor. Soon, Chase’s name-conscious brothers would rush in and offer to pay the forged note just to silence Harry’s assault on the beloved family name. The problem was that they were being ridiculously stiff-necked about the whole thing. And each day that passed, Harry feared something might go amiss.

He desperately needed the assurance that Chase St. John would not come sauntering back into town and ruin all. Once the St. Johns paid the note, their pride would keep them silent about his trickery. No St. John would publicly admit to being bested. But if Harry was caught beforehand and Chase was present to denounce the forgery…Harry decided not to think about that unpleasant scenario. He simply would not allow that to happen. This money was the key to all of his problems; it would set his future and establish the Annesley name.

At this very moment across town, in a pink-and-green-papered sitting room within one of Mayfair’s largest residences, sat Miss Letitia Johnson-Smythe. Cousin to an earl, her father had amassed a fortune in shipping, which left Miss Johnson-Smythe with that rare combination of good breeding and money. Shy, quiet, and painfully plain, she suited Harry’s purpose perfectly.

He had been slyly working his magic on her, attending every event at which she was present, whispering in her ear about her beautiful eyes, writing secret love notes to her, and bribing her maid to allow him to meet them in the park. He was beginning to see some signs that she was smitten. With some funds in the bank to prove to Papa that he was not a fortune hunter, and with Letitia’s own bleating to be allowed to be with her Dearest Harry, the future was looking bright indeed.

The only hurdle thus far had been with Chase’s brothers. They seemed to believe that their beloved brother would turn up at any moment. That was a false hope that already should have been dashed to the ground since Chase had said that, the moment he reached his destination, he would send his brothers word that he was never returning.

Harry was somewhat perplexed. He’d been carefully watching the St. John establishments, and there had been no flurry of visits, no long, serious talks as were wont to happen in a family emergency. Every time Harry met with one of the St. Johns, he looked for signs of distress or disturbance, but none was forthcoming.