You give Gambit the benefit of the doubt a lot more than I do - and I tend to give Steed more leeway than you, it seems. Gambit's straightforwardness sometimes translates into a lack of tact, even failing to consider the consequences of his actions - Steed is regularly annoyed with either him or Purdey for killing an operative rather than succeeding in actually capturing them (The Midas Touch bears that out). Gambit seems to kick a door down first, rather than consider if maybe things might be more effective if he just knocked. Steed, meanwhile, is both sneakier and more contemplative - he tries to choose the path of least resistance, and seems to consider all the angles more. Without being too prejudiced against him, I think it can be safely stated that Gambit's just a bit hot-headed and quick on the trigger.Timeless A-Peel wrote:I don't recall any specific instance of Gambit having trouble trusting Steed. He walks into a gun on Steed's say so, despite not knowing that it's not loaded. He trusts that Steed himself isn't a double sending him on a wild goose chase. He's willing to follow tenuous leads to prove Steed's innocence when everything else points to him being guilty. They practice a good deal of "telepathy", as Purdey calls it, and come to the same conclusions at the same time. The only instance I can think of is Hostage, but Steed is lying to Gambit in that one, so he has reason to think there's something funny going on. And really, it was a bad call for Steed to not bring Gambit in on the situation. If the first thing the hostage people tell you is don't tell Gambit, then they must have a reason to worry about having Gambit involved. That means Steed should have been straight with him from the start.
I think what you might be perceiving as lack of trust is actually Gambit's straight-forwardness as opposed to Steed's tendency to sometimes manipulate rather than outright tell people what's going on to get them outside. I think if you're straight with Gambit, he appreciates that--he doesn't like being manipulated (does anyone?). I think Steed has learned that about him, and therefore doesn't try it much, but the few times he does, Gambit can sense it, and it annoys him because he'll quite literally do whatever's needed if you're honest with him about it. He's also not afraid to call Steed on it, while at the same time he's more than willing to express his admiration, loyalty, and concern for him as a friend, too.
And there's always a bit of good old-fashioned male rivalry in there, too. But for the most part I see them as good friends and partners. Aspects of their relationship aren't even duplicated between each of them and Purdey. Even she can sense that.
Given what we know about Gambit's mentality, then, it seems that Steed decides not to tell him about Purdey's capture because he's afraid that Gambit will try to take the direct approach, rather than reasoning it out. And when Steed does tell him, he's so far into the idea that his superior is a traitor that he won't believe it - and gets himself knocked out as a result. (He's also, in that episode, apparently convinced that he can take Steed without any difficulty - so much so that he lets Steed get too close to him.)