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Back The Dazzle of the Light Save as PDF
Chapters (55)
  1. Praise for Georgina Clarke
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. Historical Note
  52. Acknowledgements
  53. Also by Georgina Clarke
  54. About the Author
  55. Copyright

The doorman will not catch her. She is young, quick on her heels and filled with the thrill of escape. And he, as she already knows, will clatter into Maggs, who will innocently lumber into his path as he tries to pass. Maggs won’t be hurt. She’s nearly as broad-shouldered as he is. And she will be prepared.

Ruby starts to laugh as she bobs and weaves her way through the people on the pavement. This is what she lives for. She had forgotten the joy of running away. She hasn’t had to do it for a while.

She has run along three streets, turning twice, before she drops her skirt and slows her pace to a steady trot. No longer a thief, but simply a young woman in a hurry. She begins to take more careful note of her surroundings and assesses where she is.

Slowing her breathing, she recognises the edge of Soho. She might go to the flat, she thinks, rather than straight back to Solly’s. Maggs will be furious, as will Annie, but she can live with their rebukes. She wants to see the jewels – her jewels – in her own place. She wants to hold them next to her better clothes. Her skin. And besides, MacKenzie will expect her to return to the Borough.

Only later will she make her way back over the river, once the sky is dark, and hand over the goods to Solly. When the coppers have been and gone.

The party at the Crown tonight will be a good one. She will be feted.

She is looking forward to standing tall again among the Forties. After weeks of being ostracised, spoken of only with disdain, tonight she will be welcomed back as one of the family. No, she will be more than that. She will be the centre of attention, the star of the show.

The anticipation fills her with more joy than she has known for a long time.

44

44

Saturday morning

The hangover has only now subsided. Ruby has never in her whole life been so floored with gin. She did not have to buy a drink for herself all night and, as a consequence, she drank a lot. Drunk as a wheelbarrow. She spent all of Friday in bed, groaning.

Everyone cheered her. Everyone heard the story of what happened – how Inspector MacKenzie nearly caught her with several hundred pounds worth of diamonds, but how she slipped away and ran like hell. Everyone has heard Maggs tell of how she got her black eye, and how it was worth it for the money it will bring in for the Forties. Maggs is even planning to buy some new jewellery with her share, to commemorate the occasion, she says.