Harriet moved from one case of pretty baubles to another and again, peeked over the shoulder of the person ahead of her to see if anything caught her interest. Shopping was not her favourite activity unless it was shopping for clues, which is what she was doing today. That is not to say she despised the activity. Oh, she tolerated it quite well, but it was a whole lot better than tolerable when the mission was not just to acquire a fan or string of pearls or the like but was instead a covert mission.
“May I be of assistance,” asked a gentleman who was dressed a bit better than the other clerks behind the cases. “We are quite busy today, and I would be very much saddened to see a lady of quality such as yourself leave my shop without being waited upon.”
His shop? Did he mean that he was the proprietor and not just an employee?
“It is a lovely establishment that you have set up for yourself.” She watched his features for how he would respond to this. As she had hoped, he smiled and inclined his head while his chest puffed a bit at the complement.
“I am most pleased to hear you say so. Now, is there anything with which I might assist you? Was there something in particular that you were looking for?”
She opened her reticule and withdrew a hair comb that had been her mothers and was far too lovely to wear as an everyday accessory. As she did so, she made certain that the few pounds she carried were visible. “My father had a pocket watch that matched this in its design. The flowers and leaves that is. It did not sparkle as this does for who needs a watch to shine when it is tucked in one’s pocket?”
The shop owner nodded his head, looking quite attentive, as she spoke.
“My sister’s husband has a birthday in just a month, and she has commissioned me to find him a watch as a surprise. He has always admired my brother’s watch – which as you might have guessed used to be my father’s watch. Would you have anything that would come close to this?” She turned the hair comb this way and that as if admiring it. It truly was a pretty piece of jewelry.
“I have a few watches in a box in the back.” He glanced around the store. “They are not new,” he said softly. “They were accepted on tick, if you understand my meaning.”
“They are not pilfered goods, are they?” She asked the question in a whisper.
“Oh, goodness, no!” The shop owner assured her. “They are simply a means for someone to pay a bill.”
She made a show of blowing out a soft breath in relief. “In that case, I would be happy to examine them.”
“If you will follow me, we can look at them in my office.”
Harriet motioned to Jimmy who was standing near the door, and then, they both followed the man into his office where he proceeded to withdraw a box from inside a small mahogany chiffonier. Inside the box were four watches, all neatly displayed and cleaned. There was not a speck of dust on them.
“Oh,” she said as her eyes fell on the very watch for which she was looking. “They are quite lovely. I am sure that whoever had to part with them was quite sad to do so.” She put out a hand. “May I touch them?”
“To be sure. Pick them up and feel their quality. Inspect their design. We never accept any items, from any source, which are not of the highest workmanship.”
First, she examined the gold watch next to her brother’s stolen silver one. She put her hair comb next to the engraving on the back and made a small tsking noise when it clearly did not match.
“That is a fine watch. Your sister’s husband would be proud to use it,” the shop owner encouraged. “But the one next to it might be closer to what you are looking for.” He lifted it out of the box and handed it to her.
Harriet ran a finger of the glass and then closed the front protective metal face over it. It clicked closed just as it should.
“Oh, it is covered in vines!” she cried in delight. “It is not just the same as this comb, but my does it not come close?” She looked up at the shopkeeper as she turned it over. “Is this the maker’s mark?” She asked when she saw the small G.P., which stood for Giles Philips – her father’s name, on the back.
“It must be,” the man said. “Although it is not one with which I am familiar.”
“He is very good whoever he is,” Harriet said. “Is it terribly expensive?”
“I am afraid I cannot part with it for less than fifty pounds for I must cover what I purchased it for and make a little to pay for housing it.”
Harriet sighed and turned it over in her hands. “My sister was hoping to spend no more than thirty, but I must say this one is exquisite and I do have a few pounds of my own. Are you certain you cannot take forty-five? I just that much in my reticule. The transaction could be complete this instant.”
That lit a gleam in the man’s eyes. “Forty-five, you say?”
Harriet nodded and held her breath.
“This is a private sale,” the man said with a pointed look. “I am no pawnbroker.”
“Oh, I understand. I will not say a word to anyone about where I found this, except for my sister, of course. She will need to know.”
The man’s head bobbed up and down slowly for a moment before he sat forward in his chair and smiled. “I think we have an agreement. Shall I wrap this for you?”
“Oh, no, there is no need. I have come prepared.” She took her money out of her reticule and then, pulled out a small blue velvet pouch. “My sister gave me this so that it would be easy for me to pass it to her without causing any suspicion since it is the bag she uses when she lends me earbobs and broaches.”
“That is very clever,” the man said as he accepted her money.
“Oh, it is, but then, my sister is far cleverer than I. I am sure I never would have thought of it. The things she came up with for us to do when we were young that had I been in charge of the planning we would have been in trouble for sure, but not with her.” She added a laugh at her own expense here.
“There is always one in any lot of siblings, or so my wife says.”
“Indeed, I fear your wife has the right of it from what I have heard,” she agreed as she placed the watch inside her reticule, and then handed the whole thing to Jimmy. “Thank you so much, sir. You have made both me and my sister very happy.” She dipped a curtsey and took her leave.
Would not Edmund be surprised when he found this on his desk tomorrow? Now, if only she could discover whom it was who had sold it to the owner of this shop.
