Page 105 of The King's Man
The door stood open, and Kit could see Bess the scullion sitting on a stool beside the great open fireplace, her head in her hands, weeping. He scanned the room but could see no sign of the odious Mag. He crept up to the open door.
‘Bess!’ he hissed.
She looked up. Her eyes, wide and terrified, darted around the kitchen. Kit stepped into the light of the doorway so she couldsee him and, putting his finger to his lips, he beckoned to her. She came to the doorway.
‘Cap’n Lovell,’ she whispered. ‘Oh, there’s terrible doings upstairs. Mag won’t let me out of the kitchen. Says I’m not safe.’
Mag went up in Kit’s estimation.
‘What terrible doings?’
‘It’s that Colonel Morton,’ Bess said. ‘He’s been here the last few days, in a terrible temper. He and the mistress have been yelling at each other fit to burst. Then today he goes out and comes back with a girl.’
‘Are they upstairs now?’
She nodded.
‘Where’s Mag?’
‘Up there with them. She won’t let the mistress alone with him.’
Kit beckoned for Jem, who stepped out of the shadows. Kit looked at the girl’s pale, spotty face.
‘Leave this house, Bess and don’t ever come back.’
‘Why?’
‘Because Mag is right, you’re not safe here. Do you have somewhere to go?’ Kit asked.
‘My sister in Blackfriars.’
‘Go there and stay there. And if you need work, this here is Master Marsh, owner of The Ship Inn near the Old Bailey. He’ll help you out.’
She opened her mouth to protest, but saw the grim determination on the men’s faces and thought better of it, running from the kitchen.
‘You know your way around?’ Jem enquired as Kit stepped into the kitchen.
‘I lived here, Jem.’
‘Didn’t think you’d got much beyond the bedroom,’ Jem commented.
‘That’s enough insubordination from you,’ Kit growled.
The stillness of the house was oppressive as if Morton’s presence had descended on it like a black cloud. They crept through the house, traversing the space of the ground floor that had been Martin Talbot’s place of business. Apart from a few remaining barrels it was now empty, dusty and unused. Kit led Jem up the back stairs to the first floor, where the parlour and a small room Talbot had used as a study served as the main rooms of the house. On the floor above there were two bedchambers.
A light shone from beneath the parlour door. The floorboard creaked under Jem’s weight. It sounded like a shot in the gloom but no one stirred from the parlour, so they edged closer to the door, one on each side.
As they stood poised to kick it open, the door opened and Mag came through it.
She didn’t see them until it was too late. Jem brought the pistol butt down on the back of her head and she fell sprawling to the floor. Stepping over Mag’s large, prostrate form, the men burst through the door. Lucy and Morton sat at the table, evidently at their evening meal. Both jumped to their feet as the men entered the room. Lucy screamed and Ambrose Morton reached for a pistol that lay on the table.
‘Don’t move a muscle, Morton,’ Kit said, closing the distance between them, his pistol pointed at Morton’s head.
‘Where’s the girl?’ he demanded
Morton straightened and smiled. Kit’s blood ran cold.
‘Well, well … I underestimated you, Lovell.’
