“I’ve been discharged,” Matthew answered, and then wished he hadn’t because instantly the printmaster’s gaze sharpened and he leaned closer over the table.
“What’s happened? Was Powers fired?”
“No. I might as well tell you that the magistrate is leaving New York. He has an offer for a better job in the Carolina colony. Working with his brother on Lord Kent’s tobacco plantation.” Matthew knew the shine in Grigsby’s eyes behind those spectacles meant an item of news was being born for the next Earwig. “Now listen, Marmy, that’s not to be printed. I mean it.” If an Earwig could get to the asylum in Westerwicke, one could also find its way to Professor Fell. “It’s important that you understand, the information is confidential.”
“And why is it so confidential, then?” Grigsby watched him carefully. Absentmindedly, the printmaster reached over to a bowl of walnuts and removed one. “It’s a change of residence and position, yes? Or is it something more?”
“It’s just confidential, that’s all. I expect you to refrain from printing it.”
“Refrain.” Grigsby grimaced. “Now that’s a strong word, isn’t it? Particularly to a man in my profession.” The hand with the walnut in it flew up against his forehead. There was a pistol-shot crack and with no ill effect whatsoever Grigsby separated nut from broken shell. “You know, with the Masker not killing anyone since the decree began, I have to take the news as it comes. It’s my duty to report the facts, so to have to refrain can be difficult.” He paused in his chewing of the walnut to sip at his tea with a slurping noise and then looked at Matthew over the cup’s rim. “What do you honestly think of Berry?”
“I have no thoughts.”
“Surely you do.” He chose a second nut from the bowl. “She made you a little angry last night, didn’t she?”
Matthew shrugged.
“She did. She has that way about her. Speaks her mind. All that malarkey about the bad luck. I’m not sure if she really believes it or not. But you may be right.” Crack! shattered the shell.
“About what?” Matthew busied himself with finishing the eggs. How did the man do that? And not a mark on his forehead. The skull must be made of iron, the flesh of leather.
“Her creating a dark cloud to hide under. I think it’s because she likes her freedom. She doesn’t want to give it up to anyone. Particularly a husband, though she came close to the altar with that young man who broke out in the blotches. Also I think she doesn’t want to be hurt. That could be a reason for creating a dark cloud, couldn’t it?”
“Yes, it could be,” Matthew agreed.
“You know,” Grigsby said, chewing, “you have the damnedest way of pretending not to pay attention when you’re taking everything in. It’s infuriating.”
“Oh, is it? I’m sorry.”
“Well, I don’t want her to be hurt,” Grigsby went on. “You know what I mean. Berry’s not exactly a clothes- horse, nor does she give a fig about the latest fads. She couldn’t care less about those French hairstyles and the new dances, which seem to consume the minds of almost every girl her age in this town.”
“The ones who aren’t married, at least,” Matthew said.
“Yes, and that’s another thing.” A third nut was selected, forehead-cracked, and eaten. “The young men around here are not to be trusted. Listen, I could tell you stories that would curl your hair about what some of these young gents get up to with the girls on Saturday nights!”
“Told to you by the widow Sherwyn, I presume?”
“Yes, and others as well. These young men are like ravenous wolves, eager to snap up whatever innocent morsel they can find! I think it must be something in the water.”
“Spoken like a true grandfather.” Matthew tipped his teacup to the man.
Grigsby sat back. He pushed his spectacles up onto his forehead and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Ah, me,” he said. “Seeing Berry again…it takes me back, Matthew. She reminds me so much of Deborah. The red hair, the fresh face, the glorious youth. I wasn’t so squat and ugly in my own younger days that I couldn’t attract a pretty girl. It also helped that my father’s printshop did very well and we lived in a nice house. But I wasn’t the landcrab you see before you now, Matthew. Far from it. You know they say a man’s ears, nose, and feet grow larger all his life. True in my case, very true. Unfortunately many other parts grew smaller. Oh, don’t look at me like that!”
“I wasn’t,” said Matthew.
“Here’s the rub.” Grigsby returned his spectacles to his eyes, blinked heavily once, and then focused on his guest. “I’d like you to move into the dairyhouse for a while, so you can watch Berry. Keep her out of trouble and away from those young serpents I’ve mentioned. You know who they are, those youngsters of Golden Hill who tear through the taverns and end their evenings on Polly Blossom’s pillows.”
“Indeed,” Matthew said, though this was news to him.
“I can’t keep up with her. And she certainly doesn’t want me tagging along. So I thought you might introduce her to some people more her age. Pave the way for her, so to speak.”
Matthew was slow in answering, as he was still taking in the I’d like you to move into the dairyhouse. “If you haven’t already noticed,” he said, “I’m not at the center of the social whirl. The last time I looked, clerks were not being invited to join the Young New Yorkers, the Bombasters, or the Cavaliers.” Naming three of the social clubs that held dances and parties throughout the year. “I am not one for loud gatherings and so-called merriment.”
“Yes, I know that. You’re steady and dependable, and that’s why I want you to be an example for Berry.”
“You mean her guardian.”
“Well, you might learn something from each other,” Grigsby suggested, with a twitch of his eyebrows. “She to be more responsible, and you to be more…merry-making.”
“Move into the dairyhouse?” Matthew decided to steer toward a firmer shore. “It’s a dungeon in there!”
“It’s a cool, cozy summerhouse. Think of it that way.”
“Summerhouses usually have floors and at least one window. There’s not even a latch on the other side of the door. I could be murdered in my sleep.”
“A latch is no problem. I could easily have one put on the door.” Grigsby then pounced on Matthew’s silence. “You can live there free of charge, as long as you please. Eat your meals here, if you like. And I also could use your help with the printing, so I’d pay you a shilling or two per job.”
“I already have a job. Hopefully it will turn into a profession.” He saw that Grigsby was all ears. “Do you know that notice I had you place? For the Herrald Agency? I’ve joined them.”
“That’s well and good, but what do they do?”
For the next while, Matthew explained to the printmaster his meeting with Katherine Herrald and the agency’s purpose. “She thinks I can be of service, and I’m eager to get started. I understand she and her associate, Mr. Greathouse, are close to renting office space.”
“Problem solving?” Grigsby shrugged. “I suppose it might go over. Especially if the agency hired out to City Hall to help with criminal cases. I’m not sure what Bynes or Lillehorne would think of it, but there’s the possibility.” He cast a sharp eye at Matthew. “Ah ha! You’re working on finding the Masker, aren’t you? Has the city already given that over?”
“No. I am working on finding the Masker for Mrs. Deverick, though. As a private concern. I’m waiting for her to respond to some questions I sent her in a letter. The agency has some other things going on, as well.” He dared not mention the Queen of Bedlam, for he wished that to remain his own business. Neither did he want to speak the name of Professor Fell. “So you see, I do have a future.” He quickly corrected himself. “A job, I mean.”
“I never doubted that you had a future.” Grigsby finished his tea before he spoke again. “I still would like for you to move into the dairyhouse and keep watch…I mean keep company with Berry. Whatever you wish to do with the dairyhouse as far as making it more comfortable, I am at your service. And I do have some money saved up to work with.”
“I appreciate the gesture, but I expect I can find a room somewhere. That’s not to say I wouldn’t be willing to help you with the print jobs, if time allows it.”
“Very kind of you, very kind.” Grigsby stared at a pineknot on the table. “But you know, Matthew, it would be difficult for me to refrain from printing a certain item concerning Magistrate Powers if you weren’t…say…living on the premises.”
Matthew’s mouth fell open. “Tell me,” he said quietly, “that you didn’t just stoop to what I think you stooped
