and saw Hugh's aunt Augusta standing at the top of the stairs in a black silk peignoir, staring at her. In the flickering gaslight she looked like a voluptuous ghost.
There was a strange look in Augusta's eyes. At first Maisie could not read her expression; then, after a moment, she understood, and she was frightened.
It was a look of triumph.
Section 5
AS SOON AS AUGUSTA SAW THE NAKED GIRL she sensed that this was her chance to get rid of Hugh once and for all.
She recognized her immediately. This was the trollop who had insulted her in the park, the one they called the Lioness. The thought had crossed her mind even then that this little minx might one day get Hugh into serious trouble: there was something arrogant and uncompromising in the set of her head and the light in her eyes. Even now, when she ought to be mortified by shame, she stood there, stark naked, and stared back at Augusta coolly. She had a magnificent body, small but shapely, with plump white breasts and a riot of sand-colored hair at her groin. Her look was so haughty that she almost made Augusta feel like the intruder. But she would be the downfall of Hugh.
The outlines of a plan were forming in Augusta's mind when suddenly she saw Edward lying on the floor with blood all over his face.
All her old fears rose up in force, and she was taken back twenty-three years, to when he had nearly died as a baby. Blind panic swamped her. 'Teddy!' she screamed. 'What's happened to Teddy!' She fell to her knees beside him. 'Speak to me, speak to me!' she yelled. She was possessed by an unbearable dread, just as she had been when her baby kept getting thinner and thinner every day and the doctors could not understand why.
Edward sat up and groaned.
'Say something!' she pleaded.
'Don't call me Teddy,' he said.
Her terror eased a fraction. He was conscious and could speak. But his voice was thick and his nose looked out of shape. 'What happened?' she said.
'I caught Hugh with his whore, and he just went mad!' Edward said.
Forcing down her rage and fear, she reached out gently and touched Edward's nose. He gave a loud yelp, but permitted her to press delicately. There was nothing broken, she thought; it was just swelling up.
She heard her husband's voice say: 'What the deuce is going on?'
She stood up. 'Hugh has attacked Edward,' she said.
'Is the boy all right?'
'I think so.'
Joseph turned to Hugh. 'Damnation, sir, what do you mean by it?'
'The silly fool asked for it,' Hugh said defiantly.
That's right, Hugh, make it worse, Augusta thought. Whatever you do, don't apologize. I want your uncle to stay angry with you.
However, Joseph's attention was torn between the boys and the woman, and his eyes kept switching to her naked body. Augusta felt a stab of jealousy.
That made her calmer. There was nothing much wrong with Edward. She began to think rapidly. How could she best exploit this situation? Hugh was totally vulnerable now: she could do anything to him. She thought immediately of her conversation with Micky Miranda. Hugh had to be silenced, for he knew too much about the death of Peter Middleton. Now was the moment to strike.
First she had to separate him from the girl.
Some servants had appeared in their nightclothes and were hovering in the doorway that led to the back stairs, looking aghast but fascinated by the scene on the landing. Augusta saw her butler, Hastead, in a yellow silk dressing gown that Joseph had discarded some years ago, and Williams, a footman, in a striped nightshirt. 'Hastead and Williams, help Mr. Edward to his bed, will you?' The two men bustled forward and got Teddy to his feet.
Next Augusta spoke to her housekeeper. 'Mrs. Merton, cover this girl with a sheet, or something, and take her to my room and get her dressed.' Mrs. Merton took off her own dressing gown and draped it around the girl's shoulders. She pulled it closed over her nakedness but made no move to leave.
Augusta said: 'Hugh, run to Dr. Humbold's house in Church Street: he'd better have a look at poor Edward's nose.'
'I'm not leaving Maisie,' Hugh said.
Augusta said sharply: 'Since you've done the damage, it's the least you can do to fetch a doctor!'
Maisie said: 'I'll be all right, Hugh. Fetch the doctor. I'll be here when you get back.'
Still Hugh stood his ground.
Mrs. Merton said: 'This way, please,' and indicated the back stairs.
Maisie said: 'Oh, I think we'll use the main staircase.' Then, walking like a queen, she crossed the landing and went down the stairs. Mrs. Merton followed.
Augusta said: 'Hugh?'
He was still reluctant to go, she could see, but on the other hand he could think of no good reason to refuse. After a moment he said: 'I'll put my boots on.'
Augusta concealed her relief. She had separated them. Now, if her luck held, she would be able to seal Hugh's fate. She turned to her husband. 'Come. Let's go to your room and discuss this.'
They went down the stairs and entered his bedroom. As soon as the door was closed Joseph took her in his arms and kissed her. She realized he wanted to make love.
That was unusual. They made love once or twice a week, but she was always the initiator: she would go to his room and get into his bed. She saw it as part of her wifely duty to keep him satisfied, but she liked to be in control, so she discouraged him from coming to her room. When they were first married he had been harder to restrain. He had insisted on taking her whenever he wanted, and for a while she had been obliged to let him have his way; but eventually he had come round to her way of thinking. Then, for a while, he had bothered her with unseemly suggestions, such as that they should make love with the light on, that she should lie on top of him, and even that she should do unspeakable things to him with her mouth. But she had firmly resisted and he had long ago ceased to express such ideas.
Now, however, he was breaking the pattern. She knew why. He had been inflamed by the sight of Maisie's naked body, those firm young breasts and that bush of sandy hair. The thought left a bad taste in her mouth, and she pushed him away.
He looked resentful. She wanted him angry with Hugh, not with her, so she touched his arm in a conciliatory gesture. 'Later,' she said. 'I'll come to you later.'
He accepted that. 'There's bad blood in Hugh,' he said. 'He gets it from my brother.'
'He can't continue to live here after this,' Augusta said in a tone that did not invite discussion.
Joseph was not disposed to argue that point. 'Indeed not.'
'You must discharge him from the bank,' she went on.
Joseph looked mulish. 'I beg you not to make announcements about what should
