Montmorency
London England, 1875. The story begins with Montmorency falling through a glass roof while fleeing from the police, onto a grinding machine below. He would have died if not for the interference of Doctor Robert Farcett. Farcett hoped to prove himself an accomplished doctor by working on Montmorency's complex wounds, and continued to work on the thief after he was imprisoned and given the temporary name "Prisoner 493".
During his sentence Montmorency had become a chief exhibit at The Scientific Society (as its name suggests, The Society was a place for medical and scientific gatherings). It's at one of these gatherings that Montmorency came across Sir Joseph Bazalgette, who is the planner and supervisor of the ongoing London sewer project. From that moment on, this new system would make a drastic change in Montmorency's life.
Montmorency realizes that the sewers are the perfect escape route for his daring robberies. However, Montmorency also had high hopes for living as a gentlemen, mainly by selling the expensive items he could steal via the sewers. Since rich people don't normally smell like sewer water or go about in ratty clothes, he found himself in need of an accomplice-a fellow thief with knowledge, capability, and secrecy to accomplish any given tasks. He formulated a genius idea of having two different yet coequal identities-Scarper and Montmorency. That way no one will discover the true identity of the thief. Scarper, the thief, would pose as a servant to the extravagant and wealthy Montmorency.
After three long years of waiting in prison, Montmorency was released from jail. It's notable at this point that all communications between Dr. Farcett and Montmorency ceased after his release from jail.
Scarper accomplished many robberies under the name 'Scarper'(including burgaling Doctor Farcett), and was never caught. During this time, Scarper rented a room in the slums to stash the particularly valuable goods. The place he stays is run by Vi Evans(who would later become one of Montmorency's close friends). Meanwhile, Montmorency rents a room out at The Marimion Hotel for his wealthier self.
The robberies committed by Scarper made the papers. Eventually they picked up a man named "Freakshow", a friend of Montmorency's from his prison days, and pinned Scarper's thievery on him. He was hanged for Scarpers crimes, and became a great source of guilt for Montmorency from then on.
Montmorency saved a man by the name of Fox-Selwyn from a carriage accident outside the Marimion. He and Fox-Selwyn hit it off immediately and they became friends, and after a bet forces him to put all of his criminal skills to good use breaking into the Mauramanian Embassy to spy for information - "I bet you I could get in!" Turning it into a gambling matter had finally gotten his companions attention., Fox-Selwyn gives Montmorency a job as a spy for the British government. His first assignment was to break in to the Mauramanian embassy and listen for information that could prevent European war, which earned him a permanent position in the British government.
Eventually he frees himself from Scarper and returns all the stolen goods that remain in his possession, resolving to be an honest man.
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