The
Gentleman’s
Thief
Resurrectionist #2
Isobel Starling
www.decentfellowspress.com
Copyright © 2020 Isobel Starling
ISBN: 9798649090612
ASIN: B089665XVZ
First Edition:
All rights reserved worldwide. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author, except for the purposes of reviews. The reviewer may quote brief passages for the review to be printed in a newspaper, magazine, or journal.
The characters and events described in this book are fictional. Any resemblance between characters and any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
The use of real-life locations is for fictional purposes. The plot, actions, and characters in this work are fictional and in no way reflect real-life occurrences at these establishments.
The Gentleman Thief, Copyright © 2020 Isobel Starling
Cover Art Design by Isobel Starling
Many thanks to my family for their love and support
Praise for Isobel Starling
“Oh my gosh, this was a hyperintense erotic read. It's highly seductive. The eroticism dripped everywhere. It crackled with sensual electricity. But damn it made me cry and I never wanted it to end. This is what I call 'intense and sensual'” Review for “Silken” by Truus on Amazon
****
“It has heat and sweetness, danger and anger, and a bad guy you can really scowl at. Hard. And mean. And then simper with joy at the lovebirds he detests. Ha! This is the type of series that has you back talking the characters. Out loud. And only being embarrassed that they ignored you. It fills you up until you're bubbly with the feels it pulls from within you.” Review of Shatterproof Bond Series Boxset by Paisley Rowan on Amazon
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“I found myself simply mesmerized by the exchange of words as Sam and Declan make the true depth of their feelings known. You can’t help but be moved by it, and I felt like my heart would just explode with the power of Sam and Declan’s love and devotion. I can’t wait for the next adventure; this series really has me hooked!” Review of “Return to Zero” by Carra, Making it Happen Book blog
****
Contents
Chapter 1 The Unexpected Guest
Chapter 2 The Book
Chapter 3 The Assignment
Chapter 4 Coincidences
Chapter 5 The Athenaeum
Chapter 6 Behind Closed Doors
Chapter 7 The Silver Fish
Chapter 8 Esoteric Occurrences
Chapter 9 The Growler
Chapter 10 Fratres Seminis
Chapter 11 Gentleman’s Relish
Chapter 12 The Vessel
Chapter 13 Confessions of a Thief
Chapter 14 An Invitation
Chapter 15 Exeter Hall
Chapter 16 Cavendish Ball
Chapter 17 Observations of a Thief
Chapter 18 Scandalous Behaviour
Chapter 19 The Vanishing
Chapter 20 Domesticity
Chapter 21 The Betrayer
Chapter 22 Duplicity
Chapter 23 Paramour
Chapter 24 Darkest Secrets
About the Author
The Unexpected Guest
Tuesday 28th December 1897
There was a beggar on my doorstep. He wore a seaman’s felt cap and sported a thick grey beard. One eye appeared to be blackened as if it had recently met a fist. Two lines of brass buttons shone on his black moth-eaten greatcoat, and I noted three spaces where buttons were absent. The coat was made for a man much taller because it near touched the slushy pavement. The beggar held a timber crutch under one arm on which he leaned heavily, and looking down I saw that he appeared to be missing half of his left leg and wore just one single boot. The boot on his right foot was separating from the sole and it was clear that the melting seasonal snow had leaked in as he’d hobbled through the square to my doorstep.
Clarence carriages and hansom cabs passed by, the horses trotting warily and wheels crunching in the frozen slush on the road outside my house at number twenty-six Bedford Square, Fitzrovia, London. Residents in their seasonal finery took the winter air as they walked cautiously in the once verdant garden opposite my house. The larger trees had lost their leaves and appeared skeletal and yet the garden designer had ensured that evergreen shrubs and smaller trees gave year-round colour to the communal space.
No one who passed by my house paid much attention to the beggar at my door. But I did. I most certainly did! My stomach turned somersaults and my heart thundered, not with anger, like my housekeeper Mrs. Twigg, who moments before had opened the front door to discover the beggar and proceeded to batter him with her broom. I had relieved her of that broom, requested tea, and a plate of her exceptional sweet mince pies to be rid of her, and allow me to deal with this situation alone.
I looked at the actor before me and could not believe the effervescent giddy pleasure swirling in my gut. I was bemused that Sebastian Cavell, master-thief and, I blush to think of it; my secret lover was on my stoop dressed in the guise of Josiah, a beggar who I’d befriended months before I knew his true identity.
It was six days since our first tryst in a Glasgow hotel room. I’d found myself snowbound after a disastrous journey to a Scottish Estate sale that I discovered, all too late, I was barred from bidding at. I remained vexed that I had been lured to Dunecht Hall as a ruse to assist my ex-paramour Lord Euan Ardmillan with schemes to not only defraud buyers of art and antiquities, but Euan had also wanted me to perform a sex ritual with him to restore his flagging virility.
I was warned of Euan’s true intentions by a mysterious stranger. I believed this man to be a German collector named Artur Engles, as he was the man I’d dined with that very evening, but after the man lured me to the chilly attic to speak with me in private, he
