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“There are believed to be 126 Hobart watches in existence. Each one is numbered.” Lloyd would soon know which one Mr Gilbert owned. The numbers were always etched on the balance wheel. He carefully removed the balance wheel, turning it over to read the number.

“Seventy-nine.” He did a quick calculation. “Which means it was sold at auction around 1785. How old are you?”

“Why is that relevant?”

“The watch is twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old. You appear to be of a similar vintage. Perhaps it was a birthright?"

Mr Gilbert tilted his head. “Do you mean to tell me that I’ve been carrying around 60 guineas worth of watch for years?”

“Yes.” Lloyd began to clean the mechanism. It was slow fiddly work but would be worthwhile to have the Hobart running in perfect condition. As he worked, he realised that Mr Gilbert hadn’t disclosed how he acquired the watch or why he didn’t know how rare it was.

“When did you get this watch?”

“The first time or the second?”

Lloyd nearly dropped his tools, carefully placing them and the pieces of the watch on the cloth with a slight tremor in his fingers. Had he stolen it? “What do you mean?”

“It is no secret in society that I am a graduate of the Duke Street Orphanage. My surname was given to me by a Mr Gilbert who donated funds to the orphanage.”

Lloyd frowned. “I don’t follow how that answers my question.” Sometimes people were so illogical.

“I was left on the doorstep of the orphanage wrapped in a blanket with this watch. That was the first time I acquired the watch. The second was on my sixteenth birthday when I was told to leave the orphanage and get a job. I was given a box containing the things that had been with me when I arrived.”

“The watch. Had the orphanage simply kept it in a box for sixteen years? Did you know about it?”

Mr Gilbert shook his head slowly, his dark brown hair sliding over his pale skin. He had a freckle just below his hairline that peeked out from between locks of hair occasionally. “The orphanage has many such boxes, one for every child who is left there. I didn’t know the contents of my box, didn’t know the watch existed until the day of my ‘graduation’.” Mr Gilbert said that last part with a snide tone, as if he didn’t approve of the way the orphanage had treated his watch. It was a fair thing to be upset about given the condition of it.

“I assumed it belonged to the person who abandoned me and I couldn’t decide if I wanted to keep it or throw it away, but it worked, so I figured I may as well keep it.”

Lloyd got the distinct impression that Mr Gilbert was trying to be more casual about this than he really felt, but he couldn’t be sure. He’d never been great at reading people’s feelings.

“You must be glad you kept it, now that you know what it is?”

Mr Gilbert scrunched up his nose. “Am I? Doesn’t it create more questions? If I was important enough to be given an expensive watch, then why abandon me? Why not sell the watch and keep me?”

Lloyd grimaced. Those were logical questions and difficult ones too. Was he a bad person for assuming that everyone had loving parents like he had? It had never occurred to him to ask such questions. “I do not know.”

“I’m not sure I want to know the answers.” Mr Gilbert’s face was twisted, as if he were in pain. Perhaps he was, although not the type of pain that could be fixed with a drop of laudanum or willow bark powder.

“If you don’t want to know, I can simply clean and maintain the watch, so it will work.” Lloyd bent his head and returned to his task. Neither of them spoke for a long time, and Lloyd was glad that he had something to do. The work was satisfying; he’d always enjoyed the precision of a well-made watch mechanism.

“And if I do want to know? What next?”

Lloyd finished putting the case back together, tightening the final screw before he glanced up. “Sotheby’s will have the auction records. We can find out who purchased the watch in 1785.”

“And you think whoever owned the watch for three years before they left it with me will be someone connected to me?”

It seemed logical to Lloyd, but of course, it may have been bought by an agent. Either way, there’d be a clue in the provenance of the watch. “Hopefully.” He finished by polishing the outer case and then wound the mechanism, listening carefully with a pleasing satisfaction as it kept perfect time.

“Here is your watch, Mr Gilbert.”

Mr Gilbert held out his hand and Lloyd placed the watch into his palm. Their fingers touched, only for an instant, but it was enough to send a shiver up his arm, leaving gooseflesh trailing.

“I can barely recognise it.”

“All I did was clean it.” He was rather pleased with the outcome. It truly looked like a Hobart now. The quality of the make was obvious, and the unique engraving technique picked up the light in a very clever way. “Shall we head to Sotheby’s?”

“Not yet.”

He’d forgotten that Mr Gilbert was not dressed for the day. How could he possibly have forgotten such a thing when he sat opposite with his nightshirt open at the neck? His chest hair was dark like the hair on his head, peeking out from his nightshirt. With a little sigh, Lloyd knew exactly how he’d forgotten. As soon as he’d been allowed to maintain the Hobart, all his attention had been focused there. He’d always been like that with a good mechanism.

“Lawndry.”

“Yes?”

“Did you hear what I said?”

“No. Sorry.” Should he admit he was thinking about the Hobart again?

“I said that you owe me.” Mr Gilbert’s cheeks were flushed again.

“I do?” He held his breath, uncertain about what Mr Gilbert meant.

Mr Gilbert leaned over the table, his face close enough to kiss. Did Lloyd want to kiss him? Yes. He gulped.

“You said you’d get on your knees for me, for the chance to touch the watch. Now you’ve touched the watch, it’s time for you to pay up.” Mr Gilbert’s nostrils flared and then his gaze dropped to Lloyd’s mouth. Lloyd was about to protest that Mr Gilbert had said that he should touch the watch while on his knees, before his brain caught up to what Mr Gilbert wasn’t saying. Life would be a lot easier if people just said what they meant. He breathed out slowly.

“Are you saying that you want me to suck your cockstand?”