Acte 1 A Lark
The Questing Knave AFFAIR
From the Memoirs of:
Harley Quinn
The young lady passing by was approaching sweet sixteen if I estimated accurately.
She was clad in a tailored dress of bronze velvet that shone with a rich softness down along her lithe figure. Her long blonde hair tied in back flickered like a horse’s tail. She had come bounding from a ladies’ powder chamber, one of several located at either end of the grand ballroom that where there were set up formal dining rooms.
On a lark, I fell in step behind her, watching as her splendid jewelry bounced merrily as she pranced along like some untried colt, sorry filly.
Her pearls were lovely things, an expensive matched set, double strands all, real diamond clasps, shone gleaming with a pristine whiteness that reminded me of fresh snow.
And I know I estimated that accurately.
The pearls were a sweet lure, of that there was no doubt; but apologies if I am prattling n a bit about them, for after all, what is a jewel thief who fails to notice a ladies jewels?
A starving bugger, that’s who.
Now I have found out during my times here on the earth that I can make quite a profit from burgling the safes of wealthy ladies whilst they slept peacefully within their fancy chambres.
And I was no older than the age of this Lass when I had started out walking my morally tainted chosen path.
A remembrance from when I was 18 flashed through my head. A picture of a young lass of 17, dressed in grey satin and dainty flickering jewels.
So with that thought from so many years ago in my head, I habitually started to follow this meandering youth. I was quite anxious to see where this trail also led.
Though stealing her pearls was only a tantalizer that I was holding in the back of my mind, for I had far too many far more profitable projects under my thumb to risk any of them on a silly whim of breaking into a child’s bedroom to take her pearls.
My current project this evening centered on one particular diamond/sapphire laden Lass in a silky frock that had greatly provoked my attentiveness.
So I just followed this young one while she skirted the ballroom and entered a dining area. There she re-joined, what was quite obviously, her parents.
There were, it appeared, just the three of them, no older jewel laden siblings in sight.
But, speaking of appearances, the Mother certainly presented a rather nice one, and so I stopped to drink it all in before drifting back to business.
The mother/wife was fluidly clad in an all so elegant purple satin number, poured rather snugly along with her still quite lovely figure. Said figure had been made even more eye-catching (especially for me) by being emblazoned with a matching set of jewels, all set with small 1 carat white diamonds, encircling her neck, wrists, and fingers with energetic ripples of fiery colour.
She was with her husband, a distinguished-looking gent in tails who may have passed as a Barrister, for which all I knew he was.
Now Sandwiched in between was their charming young daughter, who was happily chatting away without a care in the world.
Her pristine pearls still dangling, mocking me it would seem, to just make the one exception and attempt to take them home with me.
I just smiled to wickedly to myself, maybe someday I would I promised them, once their young mistress had grown up a bit, then we would see who was mocking whom from the wickets!
But I did not dwell too long on such thoughts, or on the pretty family either, for, as I have revealed, I had other fish frying, and only am mentioning this particular incident because of what would occur in two days hence.
So after a bit, I turned and began wandering off.
I walked away, turning my attention back to relocating a certain lady elegantly wearing a silky frock, displaying those magnificent sapphires. I was watching, waiting for her to leave, in order to follow to her next stop, eventually hoping to be led to her last, having decided to acquire the fair damsel’s collection of jewels en masse!
