The Third Uncle

Chapter Four: Honour Among Thieves (and all that)

Chapter Four: Honour Among Thieves (and all that)

    Gaspard Épéé du Bois was not afraid, he was never afraid, which was probably his biggest fault ... next to egotism, vanity and a never ending appetite. But not being afraid was what made him so good. He was, he thought, probably the best and youngest thief on both sides of the Seine. 

    At this moment, as he was silently pressed up against the wall of a damp alley, the proof of his skill was unfolding there in front of his eyes. The Royal Guards were turning the market upside down in their search for him and the very nice purse he had just liberated from a rather boorish Lieutenant in a moment of sheer acrobatic genius. Chuckling to himself he quietly turned and made his way away from the discordant Place and melted into the crowd. The night was still young, and he was still hungry. 

    He looked left and right. The hardest part was choosing a target worthy of his skills. Gaspard could easily pick the pockets of complacent gentlemen out for an evening on the town, and he could always charm a lady into believing he really was the best boy to carry her parcels for her, before disappearing into the side-streets, quickly selling them off to the highest bidder.

   Gaspard was not a seedy thief, not by any means. He dressed well, in a plain dark suit with ankle-length trousers and soft leather boots, and he was always careful to keep his blonde hair out of his eyes so that it never hindered him in his profession. He was, or rather, he thought himself, a gentleman, or perhaps more accurately, a gentlemanly thief. He liked music and architecture, and he sometimes attended lectures on the continuation of Parisian neo-classical edifices. He was, he smiled to himself, above all, a lover of art!  

    As Gaspard happily devoured a sandwich he had just lifted from a passing pastry cart, he made his way to the Louvre through Napoleon’s Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and past the Palace of the Tuileries. There was to be a Romanticism exhibition, and Ingres was to exhibit some new works at the Grand Salon. 

    He glanced up at the Arch as he strolled by. He loved this small Arch with its depiction of Napoleon’s great victories better than the larger and more ostentatious Arc de Triomphe. He believed the three small arches surmounted by the famous horses of S. Marco suited his artistic sensibilities more. He sat down beneath a tree and allowed himself to digest. Today was going to be a great day, he thought. Why, with Ingres and the stuffy patrons with their fat purses, he might just pocket enough valuables for a weekend at the seaside! He stretched out, and placed his hands beneath his head and watched the clouds drift by. The seaside ... fresh air, fresh food and fresher pockets to pick! He smiled, and after some minutes of quiet contemplation upon the grass, he rose and casually mixed with the Parisians finding their way to the entrance of the exhibition, just as a reasonably large queue was beginning to assemble.

    This evening he had a specific mission. At the gate he saw his reason to start mixing business with pleasure before even entering the exhibit - two gentlemen dressed ... well, colourfully, idly making their way to the Salon. Gaspard smoothed down his jacket, and brushed off his boots. Perhaps these gents will be so good as to provide me with a fine dinner at the salon! He grinned. He often grinned at his own jokes. 

    Carefully negotiating the crowd, he floated around his prey like a piranha in a small pool. The younger, taller and more athletic of the two men was delighting in irritating his companion by grabbing his hat and holding it just out of reach, causing him to hop up and down and curse up a storm. These two, thought Gaspard, have more money than brains. It’s a wonder we don’t have revolutions more often! How on Earth they share the same blood as Leo, is beyond me.

    He rolled his eyes. Tonight was to be a great show of art, and Gaspard had no intention of missing the exhibition, nor the lucrative possibilities it contained. He shadowed the brothers for a short while to see if they would notice him, and, when he was sure they were oblivious, he stepped up right behind them, and laughed as if he had just heard something one of the two said hilarious. As they entered the Grand Salon seemingly together, he passed by the guards at the door with a nod and a smile.