Page 28 of Their Master

“Mr. Brown,” Smith repeated in a flat tone.

“I’m not lying,Mr. Smith.” She cut him a pert, pointed look.

“What did he look like?”

“He was lovely and his clothes were expensive.” Her eyes flickered over Smith. “They were like yours, but not all black.” Her dismissive look told him what she thought about such an affectation.

“What about his face, hair, how tall was he?”

“He was about your height. His hair was such a pale blond it was almost silver and he had the most unusual, brilliant blue eyes. He looked like an angel.” She made a prim face. “But beauty is as beauty does, as my ma used to say.”

“Had you seen him before?”

“No—and I would have remembered. None of the other girls knew him, either.”

“How much did Moira pay you to keep the information about her injuries to yourself?”

Her jaw sagged, but she quickly recovered herself and puffed up, no doubt preparing to defend her honor.

Smith held up the banknote as a reminder.

All the air she’d sucked into her lungs came out in a dispirited sigh. “Fine. She gave me a crown if I kept her secret.”

For the first time, Smith felt genuine dislike for the girl. People who couldn’t keep their word were useless; one’s word was the only thing a person truly owned in this world.

“I think she must have been sick in the head,” Julia said as she examined her cuticles, utterly oblivious to Smith’s annoyance.

“Oh?”

“Cecile wouldn’t have chucked Moira out, she liked her for some reason, and yet she insisted on leaving. It was stupid; she was almost bent in half with pain but she packed her things and left. Not that packing took much effort since she never spent any money on clothes.”

“Anything else you remember?”

“No—wait, yes, there is. When she was packed, she lifted up her mattress and then turned on me like some kind of wild animal, shouting, ‘Where is it? What have you done with it?’”

“What did she think you’d taken?”

“I don’t know—she never said, she just ranted.”

Smith stared.

“I swear I’m telling the truth!” she insisted, and then scowled. “She wrinkled my silk dressing gown so badly I’m not sure the laundress will be able to press it flat.”

“You have no idea where she went?”

“No. We didn’t talk about personal things. We hardly saw each other; that’s the way it is here, we work different shifts. Not that we would have talked if wehadspent time together. She wasn’t the sort I wanted as a friend.”

Smith imagined that went both ways. “Anything else you can remember?”

Julia paused, her brow furrowing, and then she shook her head. “No, that was the last she said, although she rolled around curled up on the bed for half an hour before she left, so she must have hurt herself when she manhandled me. Which only serves her right.”

Smith experienced some very unpleasant feelings looking at her smug, self-righteous face. Although he hated to reward such a venal person, she’d held up her part of the bargain.

“Thank you.” He handed her the banknote, which she quickly snatched.

Smith stood to open the door for her.

Rather than leave, she turned to him. “Did you talk to Nell?”

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