Angelina was naturally rather handsome, and on the present occasion was dressed with such remarkably good taste that the casual onlooker might easily mistake her for the lady she was evidently pretending to be.
Her face wore an expression of pleased surprise, and she held out her hand with a warmth of welcome which there was no resisting. There was a handshake, very cordial on the one side, somewhat hesitating on the other, and then I knew what was going on just as well as if I had been within earshot.
Alderman Lanimore was finding it difficult to recognise his impulsive interlocutor, and Angelina was expressing her delight at meeting such an old friend. And in London, too, of all places in the world!
There was a few moments’ smiling repudiation of bygone acquaintanceship on one side, and an apparently regretful realisation of the truth on the other, and then the little comedy ended, the lady bowing ceremoniously, and the gentleman raising his hat politely.
A second later Angelina had vanished in the never-ending crowd which makes the neighbourhood of the Mansion House one of the typical sights of London. Mrs Dyer’s abrupt departure did not trouble me. I knew where to find her if I wanted her again. And I also knew that there would be a further development of this seemingly trivial adventure, for that the lady with the angelic name had had an ulterior motive in accosting the alderman I was certain.
Nor was my conviction long in being verified. Mr Lanimore, followed by myself, walked along Cheapside, with a good-natured smile on his face, until he reached Sir William Bennet’s famous horological establishment. Then it struck him that he had better compare his timepiece with the big clock over the shop, and he mechanically put his hand to his fob to withdraw his costly gold repeater.
It was gone!
I could almost have laughed, aloud at this development of my little comedy, for though I had not been quite sure what form Angelina’s cunning would take, and although in spite of my keen watch I had not seen her take anything, I had no doubt that pocket-picking was the lady’s real game.
Nor did the alderman’s next act surprise me. He hailed an empty passing hansom and almost shouted to the driver, “Bell and White, Holborn, and drive like wildfire.”
That he would invoke our aid had also been one of my foregone conclusions, for we had already transacted business for him in connection with the large firm of which he was the senior partner.