Page 29 of Speculations in Sin

Mrs. Redfern opened the door at the top just as I reached it. “Mrs. Holloway.” She cordially stepped back into the main floor to let me pass. “Did you have a good afternoon out?”

I usually was happy to answer the question, but not tonight.“Mrs. Redfern, will you tell Mrs. Bywater that I would like to speak with her about something?”

Mrs. Redfern’s welcoming smile died on her lips. “Is anything the matter?”

“It is nothing that will interfere with my cooking, I assure you,” I said. “Please tell her the same.”

“Very well.” Mrs. Redfern’s chain of keys jingled as she strode along the main floor toward the rear of the house.

I scurried to the next set of back stairs and continued my climb to my chamber. Once there, I removed my good dress and hat, brushed them as clean of rain and mud as I could, and put them carefully away. Before I closed the wardrobe, I dug out the cloth that wrapped my savings and carried it to the bed.

The collection of coins and banknotes looked pitifully small in the candlelight. I didn’t have much by Mayfair standards, but I was only a cook looking to retire. I’d not be able to buy the shop I envisioned with this, but I could help Joanna with what she needed.

I wrapped up the money again and hid the bundle under the loose board at the bottom of the wardrobe. My two spare pairs of boots went firmly atop the hiding place.

In front of my tiny mirror, I smoothed my hair and pinned on my cap, a cook once more. Descending through the house, I paused in the main hall to await Mrs. Bywater.

Mr. Davis shot through the green baize door with the decanters as I reached the main floor, sending me a disapproving look as he skimmed into the dining room.

Mrs. Bywater strode out of the back sitting room at the same time Mr. Davis entered the dining room, she as annoyed as Mr. Davis at the sight of me above stairs.

“Mrs. Holloway.” Mrs. Bywater stopped before me, the two of us standing in the exact center of the hall. Mrs. Bywater wasan angular woman who wore plain, narrow-skirted gowns that did not disguise her thinness. Her hair, as usual, was dressed in a simple knot. She eschewed any sort of primping and made certain everyone knew her views on overly ornate ensembles. “You should have waited for me in the kitchen.”

I hadn’t wanted to announce my business to the rest of the staff, which was why I’d wished to speak to her in private upstairs. At least here we were away from the rushing maids and footmen, but Mr. Davis and Mrs. Redfern, who’d moved into the sitting room, were well within earshot.

“I would like to stay with a friend tonight, ma’am,” I explained. “After supper is finished, of course. I will return in time to prepare breakfast in the morning.”

“With a friend?” Mrs. Bywater stressed the last word, as though amazed I actually had a friend.

“Yes, ma’am.” I kept my tone deferential. “She is poorly, and I would like to make certain she is all right tonight.”

“I see.” Mrs. Bywater’s skepticism rang out. “I am sorry, Mrs. Holloway, but not every member of staff can suddenly have ill friends. My husband told me Mr. Davis went off to tend one, and now your friend is ill as well.”

I sensed Mr. Davis listening as he pretended to straighten things on the dining room’s sideboard. Likewise, Mrs. Redfern hovered near the sitting room’s open doorway.

My ire rose. “I assure you, ma’am, that this is not a ruse. She needs me.”

“I am certain any number of friends need you,” Mrs. Bywater said crisply. “That does not mean you can rush about London in the night to visit them all. Your place is here, and here is where you will stay.”

“The supper and breakfast will be on the table on time,” I tried.

Mrs. Bywater raised a thin hand. “Do not presume to argue with me, Mrs. Holloway. That is my decision. If all the staff rushed off to their sick friends, where would we be?”

Her pale hazel eyes held no sympathy, and the stubborn set to her lips told me I’d waste time trying to win her to my side. I could only drop a curtsy and quiet my voice.

“Yes, ma’am.”

I bowed my head and moved sedately to the door to the back stairs, though I was seething with anger and frustration.

Mr. Davis studiously did not look at me as I passed the dining room. I heard Mrs. Redfern’s keys as she bustled about the sitting room as though she had great need to tidy things there.

Mrs. Bywater made a huff of finality and mounted the stairs, feet thumping on the carpet as though punctuating her annoyance.

I sped through the door to the back stairs and just stopped myself slamming it behind me. I did, however, let myself curse between my teeth as I stomped down the stairs.

Joanna needed help tonight. I would send word to Daniel through James—if I could lay my hands on James—to keep an eye on her house, though she needed comfort and reassurance as well as protection. I fumed as I gained the lower floor and made my angry way along the hall.

“Mrs. Holloway.”

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