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Surreptitiously, you look down at the pile, to see if he has disturbed it … but as far as you can tell, it is the same as it was. Taking advantage of his turned back, you fish the Strange Incendiary out of the pile, and then once you have gathered up another arm-load of shopping you head straight back down stairs, moving with more haste than propriety. You then look over the pile on the cart to make sure no one has moved <span class="mu-i">that</span> either, and once you are satisfied as you possibly can be, you unload your burden, tucking the Strange Incendiary into the center of the pile, and burying it deeper with sundries and stockings. Once you are done – this time, thinking to take a moment to remember how the pile looks – you return upstairs again, and again, the Master is still standing in front of the window, though this time, his undivided attention is on the contents of one of the room's bookcases.
You grab some more shopping and rush back down, further burying your contraband on the hand-cart. But when you return upstairs to fetch the next load, you find yourself unexpectedly alone in the room. After desperately checking and ultimately confirming that nothing inside the bundles of your dresses was taken, it occurs to you that he might be down at the cart, looking through it. Swearing under your breath, you grab something – you are not even sure what – and rush right back downstairs. You are not exactly sure what you will do if you find the Master of the house poking through your things on the cart … but those fears turn out to be a mule. You are just starting to feel a bit foolish, when it occurs to you that he might have been hiding upstairs, to watch you check on the dress – to see where you had been hiding your swag and Witchwork.
So you bolt right back upstairs, panicking all over again, berating yourself for being so stupid, and so obvious with your hiding spot … only to find that you are still alone in the room. Only once you try to steady yourself, does it finally occur to you how ridiculous you are being. When you left the hand-cart in his care, he had the opportunity to rob you blind – but he didn't. So why would he now? What could possibly possess someone to wait until their mark <span class="mu-i">returned</span> to rob them? Nothing, because no one is that stupid. Except of course, you, because you seriously thought that it was possibility. Or that he was spying on you – from where? Inside the fraying walls? You really, really need to get a grip.
And while it seems odd that someone would just wander off at a time like this, leaving a who-body alone in a private area of a house … well, on this point, you have to agree with that bastard Ambrose; his father is rather oblivious.
