was Grade's concentration. 'Gracie, I do not want you to tell anyone else where I am, or why I have gone there. I am merely out visiting, do you understand? If the master should ask you, I have gone calling upon my family. That is the truth and you have no need to fear saying it.'
'Oh, no, ma'am!' Gracie breathed out. 'You're just gone calling! I won't say a word! It's secret with me. But do be careful, ma'am! Them murderers and the like can be terrible dangerous! What on earth should we all do if anything 'appened to you!'
Charlotte kept a perfectly sober face.
'I shall be very careful, Gracie, I promise you,' she answered. 'And I shall take care not to be alone with anyone in the least questionable. I am only going to inquire a little, see if I can learn rather more about a few people.'
'Ooh-I shan't say a thing, ma'am. I'll look after everything 'ere, I swear. Don't you worry one bit.'
'Thank you, Gracie.' Charlotte smiled as charmingly as she could, then swept out and left Gracie, mouth agape from fearful thoughts, standing in the middle of the parlor.
Emily's maid received her with surprise well concealed by years of training. There was nothing more than a slight lift of her eyebrows beneath the starched cap. The black dress and lace-trimmed apron were immaculate. Charlotte wished for a fleeting moment she could afford to dress Gracie that way, but it would be terribly impractical. Gracie had more to do than answer the door, even if anyone called. She had to scrub floors, sweep and beat carpets, clean out the grates and black them, wash dishes.
Parlormaids were part of another life, one Charlotte only regretted in silly, light-headed moments when she first walked into houses like this, before she remembered all the things about that life that were boring, the suffocating rituals she had not been able to keep with any skill when she herself was part of it.
'Good morning, Mrs. Pitt,' the maid said smoothly. 'Her Ladyship is not receiving yet. If you will sit in the morning
172
room, the fire is lit, and I will ask if you may join Her Ladyship for breakfast, if you care to?'
'Thank you.' Charlotte tilted her chin a little to show she was perfectly at ease, whatever the hour or its inconvenience. She had not broken convention; she was superior to it, and therefore not bound by such restrictions. The maid must understand that. 'Will you please tell Her Ladyship it is a matter of the utmost urgency-a scandalous matter in which I need her assistance to prevent a great injustice from being enacted.' That should bring Emily even if she was in bed!
The maid's eyes opened wide and bright. That gem of information would certainly find its way back to the servants' hall; and everyone who had the courage to listen at keyholes would most certainly do so, and relay with relish everything gleaned. Perhaps she had overdone it? They might be plagued with unnecessary messages all morning, and superfluous offers of tea.
'Yes, ma'am,' the maid said a little breathlessly. 'I shall inform Her Ladyship immediately!' She left, closing the door behind her very quietly. Then her heels clicked at so fast a pace along the passage she must have sent her skirts flying.
She reappeared in about four minutes.
'If you would care to join Her Ladyship in the breakfast room, ma'am?' She left no allowance for refusal, even if one had been contemplated.
'Thank you,' Charlotte accepted and walked past her; it was nice to have doors held for one. She knew where the breakfast room was, and did not need to be shown.
Emily was sitting at the table, her fair hair already exquisitely dressed for the day; she wore a morning gown of water-green taffeta that made her look delicate and expensive. Charlotte was instantly conscious of her own drabness; she felt like a damp winter leaf next to a flower in bloom. The excitement drained out of her and she sat down heavily in the chair opposite Emily. Visions of a hot, perfumed bath floated across her mind, then a flattering maid to dress her in brilliant, soft-falling silks, like butterflies.
'Well?' Emily demanded, crashing through her thoughts 173
with reality. 'What is it? What has happened? Don't just sit there keeping me in suspense! I haven't heard a decent scandal in months. All I get is endless love affairs
