Page 78 of Never a Duke
Catherine shuffled her half of the deck, her movements deft. “I know that the last time the house was full up, all the other women were sent somewhere else the next day. I heard something about the count having to match, and that’s when they told me to go back upstairs. Hiram said I wasn’t the kind to give them any trouble, just my luck.”
Hiram was watching them, his gaze brooding. He generally regarded Catherine with frustrated longing, but this morning, his homely face was sad. Pitying, even.
“You think they’re getting ready to ship us off?”
“This is not a charitable institution, Franny. They are getting ready to do something.”
The windows were never open in this godforsaken dump, but Francine heard boots on the walkway below.
“Stay where you are, ladies,” Hiram said, going to the window and peering down. “Nobody so much as twitches until I tell you to.”
The front door creaked open one floor below, and masculine voices drifted up. Three men, at least. Francine’s meager rations threatened to rebel.
“I’m scared, Kitty.”
“No point being scared, Franny. Don’t fight them, and they eventually leave you in peace.”
Catherine sounded composed, but she’d stopped dealing her cards, and she was watching Hiram as if he were her last hope of salvation.
“I want to jump out the window,” Francine said. “I have a really, really bad feeling.”
“You’d have a worse feeling with your brains splattered all over the cobbles. If they wanted to hurt us, they’d have done it by now.”
That was not reason. That was desperation trying to sound logical. “They’ve hurt us already,” Francine said. “Lied to us, snatched us away from our posts, forced us to stay here.” Apparently done worse than that to Calliope Henderson.
Boots tromped up the stairway, and Calliope seemed to grow smaller without moving.
Catherine put down her cards and gathered up those that Francine had spread on the table. “For the love of God, shut your mouth, Franny, and keep it shut.”
The men were now at the door to the parlor, and Hiram conferred with them. Francine had the thought that they couldn’t toss her into the Thames in broad daylight.
“Ladies, lend an ear,” Hiram said. “Time to collect your things and bid this palace farewell. You’ll be veiled and bound, but nobody needs to get hurt. Just do as you’re told, and we’ll all get along.”
“I don’t want to do as I’m told,” Francine muttered.
Catherine didn’t answer, but was instead engaged in some visual battle of wills with Hiram. The other women rose and shuffled toward the door, while Francine considered the drop to the cobbles beneath the window.
“Come along, Kitty,” Hiram said. “Time to go. They won’t hurt you if you behave.”
Catherine rose. “Francine is right. We’ve already been hurt, Hiram, and I hope you suffer the nightmares of the damned.”
The first to leave the room was the new girl, Calliope. Tears streamed down her pale cheeks, though she made not a sound. Did she even know she was crying?
“Take the cards with you,” Hiram said. “They’ll help you pass the time.” He gathered up the deck. “Go on with you. Set a good example for the others. They look to you for that.”
He held out the deck of cards, and Catherine took them. “Every time I play a game, Hiram, I will think of you and curse your name.”
He smiled crookedly. “See that you do. Step lively now. You’ve a busy day ahead. A very busy day and a great adventure.”
“Come along, Franny,” Catherine said. “We won’t soon forget the stink of this place.”
Hiram laughed and winked, and Francine all but ran from the room rather than be left alone with him.
***
Rosalind took a breakfast tray in her room rather than risk further annoying Papa.
Or Lindy.
