“Is something wrong?” he asked.
Damaris crossed her arms over her chest. “Why do you want me to be the constable?” she asked, looking anywhere else but at him.
“So that you will have the necessary authority to investigate your father’s death.”
She turned further still so that her back was to him and he stepped closer.
“You no longer want to investigate?” she asked, her voice sounding odd.
“Of course I do, I just thought… Well, I thought that you might appreciate the gesture. I can’t keep introducing you as my assistant besides which, you are investigating so…”
She wiped at her eyes and he realised that she was crying.
“I’m sorry.” He stepped closer and put his hands on her shoulders. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
She turned to him then, tears still shining in her eyes but a smile on her lips.
“I’m not upset,” she assured him, even as her tears spilled over. “I don’t know why I’m crying, exactly, I’m not usually this irrational, I just… no one except my father has ever shown faith in my abilities before.”
He was beginning to realise that her hard exterior was actually a defence and in reality, she was as brittle as an egg shell. The more he understood about her, the more appreciation he had for her and at this moment, with mere inches separating them, Nathaniel had never wanted someone as badly as he wanted this woman right now.
His hands balled into fists at his sides to keep him from acting on his desire; now was neither the time nor the place, so he was understandably shocked when she put her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss.
Chapter Thirteen
Nathaniel tried to resist, not wanting to take advantage of Damaris but after a few moments, he couldn’t help himself. His arms went around her waist, pulling her against him and he deepened the kiss.
He had never felt this way before, as if he had come home after years away, yet at the same time, as if he was perched on a precipice and at any moment, might lose his footing and plunge into the abyss. It was a thrilling and heady combination, and it soon drove any thoughts of decorum or propriety from his mind.
She responded with enthusiasm and he wondered if she felt as good in his arms, as he felt in hers.
He felt as if he had been kissing her for hours, when voices in the bar reminded him that he was here for a reason, and that reason had nothing to do with kissing a beautiful woman.
From what he could hear of the conversation, he realised that the wagon had arrived to remove the body and reluctantly, he ended the kiss, although he didn’t move away.
“Mari-”
“Ssh,” she soothed, although he was pleased to see that she looked as affected by their encounter as he felt. “I think we should question the patrons.”
“Yes, quite.” He nodded his agreement, although neither of them made any move to separate. “I do think that might be easier if you released your hold on my neck,” he teased.
“You first,” she answered, and the teasing lilt to her voice surprised him.
He tightened his grip on her waist, pulling her even closer against him. “I don’t appear to be able to.”
“Well, that is a bit of a problem then. I don’t think we can really question people while in such an intimate position.”
“Could we call out questions through the door, do you think?”
She looked to the thin pine door. “Possibly.”
He was about to steal another quick kiss, when the latch on the door lifted and they jumped apart.
“The body’s loaded, so I’ll be on my way now,” Dr Worthington said, poking his head into the room.
“Yes, of course,” Nathaniel answered, stepping forward. “Thank you for coming so quickly.” He shook hands with him and saw him out of the tavern.
***
Damaris touched her fingers to her lips as she watched him go.
She had worried that his making her constable meant that he was passing the investigation over to her, unwilling to work with her any longer. She didn’t normally care what most people thought of her and after such a short acquaintance, she shouldn’t be bothered by his interest, or lack thereof.
The fact that’s she was bothered, especially after such a short amount of time, was unusual but not unwelcome.
And never in her 25 years of living, had she experienced anything like that kiss. Such pleasure; exhilaration and desire, wrapped up in a playful, light sort of feeling. She felt as if she wanted to start skipping, like she had done as a girl, and her present dim and dirty surroundings did nothing to lessen that impulse.
Her husband, William, had been a very caring and considerate lover and she had enjoyed kissing him, showing him how much she appreciated and respected him. That hadn’t factored into this kiss though, all she had wanted was to show Nathaniel how much she desired him; he had awoken a passion that she had heretofore never known.
The playfulness she was familiar with, for she remembered being willing to do almost anything, even make a fool of herself, just to hear Thomas laugh. She thought his laugh was one of the loveliest sounds in the world.
When he had passed however, she thought that she would never experience that sensation again and the fact that she had, troubled her, almost as if she was betraying his memory by being joyful.
Disliking the direction that her thoughts were taking, she shook off the stupor that seemed to have enveloped her, smoothed her features and strode back into the bar area. She didn’t stop to consider who to talk to first, but sat at the first table she came to.
“What are your names?” she asked the two women opposite. They were clutching each other’s hands, as if comforting one another.
“S- S- Sarah,” the younger one stuttered.
“Polly,” answered the other. She was older and looked weary, as though life had ground her down.
“And how long have you worked here?”
“Two years,” answered Polly. Sarah seemed unable to speak so Polly answered for her. “Sarah’s been ‘ere about seven months.”
“And what was your relationship to Mr O’Grady?”
“Relationship?” Polly asked.
“Did either of you share his bed?”
Both women looked embarrassed and were blushing furiously. Neither seemed inclined to answer.
She felt rather than saw when Nathaniel joined them and when he rested his hand on her shoulder, she felt herself relax.
“Please excuse Mrs Wellesley,” he said, emphasising the ‘Mrs’. “She’s rather direct and not at all what one might expect of such a fine Lady. She means no disrespect and let me assure you, neither of us will be shocked or offended by what you tell us.”
He took a seat beside her.
“I can see that this has upset you both,” he said kindly. “Did you care for O’Grady?”
“I suppose,” Polly answered. “He were no angel but there’s a lot worse than ‘im out there. Least he didn’t hit us hard enough to leave marks. Made sure our punters never ‘armed us too.”
“He protected you?” Nate asked.
“Aye. Said we were his merchandise and he wouldn’t take no one hurting us, any more than he’d let a customer get away with smashin’ a glass.”
Damaris wondered what it would feel like to be considered merchandise.
“That can't have made him very popular with some, did he have any enemies?”
“Mick? ‘E ‘ad hundreds! He ran a bar, a brothel and fights. Most everyone in this part of town owed him money, and he wasn’t afraid to knock a few heads together to get what he was owed. You’ll not find many who mourn his passing.”
“Had anyone threatened him recently?” Nathaniel asked.
“Every night. Someone always had a bit too much and would start rantin’ and ravin’, and if they weren’t rantin’ at Mick to start, they was by time he threw ‘em out.”
“And what about Mick, had he been acting differently recently?”
“But you’re a sensible woman, experienced in the ways of men, surely you could tell, even if he didn’t say anything?”
He was flirting with her, just a little, and Damaris felt her blood boil. After what they had shared in the kitchen, now he was flirting with this lady-bird!
“Well, he has been a bid odd over t’ last few days.”
“Odd how?” Nathaniel asked.
Polly leaned forward and spoke in a low voice, as if she was afraid someone would overhear them. “Normally once this place is open, he don’t go nowhere, but the last few days, he’s been goin’ out at odd times, leavin’ Willy in charge.”
“Willy?”
Polly pointed to a boy of perhaps 15. “He’s the barman.”
O’Grady had been a well-built man, the kind who could intimidate rowdy customers but while Willy was a tall lad, he was too scrawny to frighten anyone. He wasn’t the type of person who could be trusted to control a bar full of rowdy patrons, so leaving him in charge must have been a necessity.
Nathaniel leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner. “Do you know why he left or where he went?”
Polly shook her head. “But one time, he were real angry when ‘e got back. He stormed through the bar, grabbed one of the girls and all we heard for the next hour was… well, you know.”
Damaris didn’t know, but she could guess from Polly’s blushes that it probably had something to do with sex.
“Last night in particular, did he go out?” Nate asked.
“Aye, he did, and ‘e were gone for three hours too.”
“That was unusual?”
“Aye, an hour was most ‘e was usually gone, if that.”
“What time did he get back, can you remember?”
“Dunno,” she frowned. “Between nine and ten, maybe.”
“And when he returned, how did he seem?”
“I dunno, a bit odd maybe, but not angry. If anything, he looked sad, but only for a little while.”
“What cheered him up?”
“New girl.” Polly rolled her eyes at the simplicity of men. “I suppose you could say she was auditionin’ for ‘im. She came in last night and draped herself all over ‘im, waiting on ‘im hand, foot and finger, gettin’ all ‘is drinks and food.”
Damaris looked to Nathaniel and she could see that he too had noticed that a stranger had poured all his drinks last night.
“And did he spend the night with her?” Nate asked Polly, turning back to face her.
“He went upstairs with her but I didn’t see her this morning. They were right loud though, he were groaning and moaning the likes of which I’ve never heard from him before. She were quiet though, which is unusual. Mick likes us to let customers know how much we… enjoy their company, if you know what I mean.”
“I think I do,” Nate charmed her with an easy smile. “Do you know who this woman was? Her name or how she came to be here?”
“Said her name was Jasmine,” Polly scoffed. “If you believe that, you’ll believe anythin’.”
“Thank you, Polly, you’ve been very helpful.”
Polly smiled, pleased by the praise.
“I just have one more question, if I may. It’s of a rather delicate nature.”
Polly looked worried but gave a small nod of agreement.
“Thank you. Now, what I need to know is, if a woman here found herself in trouble, where might she go?”
“Trouble as in…?”
“The family way.”
Polly averted her gaze and kept it on the table top. “I wouldn’t know, Sir.”
Nathaniel reached across and took her hand, forcing her to look at him briefly.
“Please, Polly, we need your help. I promise that no one here will be prosecuted.”
“And what about… our friend?”
“As long as she didn’t kill O’Grady, I promise that she won’t be charged in connection with helping you ladies either.”
Polly nodded but was silent for a long moment.
“There’s two,” she finally admitted. “Mrs Murray offers it but she’s hit and miss.”
“And the other one?” Nathaniel prompted.
Polly let out a long sigh. “The midwife, Mrs Stephens. She’s pricey but she’s worth it.”
Nathaniel squeezed the hand he still held. “Thank you, Polly, you’ve been a big help.”
The rest of the day passed in a similar fashion, speaking to the girls of the Cock and Bull, the few customers who had remained overnight and the staff, Willy the barman and Arthur, the bookie who ran the baiting and fights. He lived over the stables and hadn’t seen or heard anything last night.
Although they disagreed on many small pieces of information, such as the time O’Grady returned, each person told a similar story to Polly’s. Some described Jasmine as young, willowy and black haired, others as lithe, brunette and not as pretty as she thought she was. Some said he brought the woman back with him, while others said she came to the bar to ‘audition’ for a job.
One thing that seemed constant, was that Jasmine served O’Grady his drinks all evening, and that she was with him when he began groaning in the middle of the night. There was little doubt in Damaris’ mind that Jasmine had poisoned O’Grady. They also collected the names of anyone who was in the bar last night. Since the stories they had been told were so similar, Damaris didn’t anticipate that they needed to talk to all of them but it was a good idea to take the names before memories became mixed up.
With that done, they searched O’Grady’s room, the bar and outbuildings, and didn’t finish until early evening. They had found little of interest and so they headed to the carriage.
“You were quiet in there,” Nate noted as the carriage pulled away.
“Why did you call me Mrs?” she asked, which seemed to surprise him.
“I wanted to emphasise that you were a wife and so were not innocent of relations between men and women, and I thought that using your title of Lady would make them a little more reticent with us.”
She nodded, although she seemed distracted.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Damaris didn’t answer because she didn’t know. She felt bewildered by her feelings at the moment, and not at all able to verbalise how she felt, so she simply stared out of the window.
“I’m sorry,” he apologised, although she still didn’t respond. “I shouldn’t have kissed you like that, it was wrong of me.”
“You didn’t enjoy it?” she asked, doing her best to keep her voice even. She didn’t really understand the desire she had to cry; it had just been a kiss, after all.
“On the contrary, I enjoyed it very much but you are a respectable woman and I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you.”
She felt a little better at those words, but still confused by the myriad of feelings which he seemed to have awoken in her.
“You didn’t,” she assured him.
“I’d feel better if you could look at me as you said that.”
She did look at him and her heart skipped a beat at the warm expression on his face, so she quickly looked away and an uncomfortable silence reigned for a time.
“What will become of those women?” she wondered idly.
“Most will move onto another brothel,” he said, sounding sad.
“But it’s such a wretched existence.”
“It is,” he agreed. “I have a friend who has a home for ladies of the night; he rehabilitates them, teaches them skills and tries to find them new employment, but few women seem interested. I’ll write to him nonetheless, perhaps he can do something for these women.”
She lapsed into silence again after that, until they arrived at the doctor’s house. Mrs Hyde showed them in and they found the doctor washing blood off his hands in the sink.
“Your timing couldn’t be better,” he greeted them as he dried his hands. “I could find
no other cause for O’Grady’s excessive bleeding so for the moment, poisoning with pennyroyal seems the most logical cause of death, as unlikely as it may seem.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Nate said.
“Assuming no one else dies overnight, I should be able to complete my examination of Smyth tomorrow. Would you like to come by for my results?”
“That won’t be necessary, just send your findings to my home by messenger, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“Not at all. I suspect my findings won’t be earthshattering.”
It had been a long day for all of them so they thanked the doctor and left.
When they got home, Nathaniel’s mother and sister were in their rooms, getting ready for dinner. Damaris didn’t normally worry too much about dressing for dinner but since she was in someone else’s house, she would change her dress as a sign of respect. She would keep her simple bun however, as she viewed the elaborate hairstyles most women sported as a waste of time.
Once in her room, she took a seat by the fire and stared into its depths, even although there was no fire lit at the moment. She was disturbed after a few minutes by a servant bringing her tea and cake.
“Master said you hadn’t eaten since breakfast,” the housemaid explained. “He thought you might want something to tide you over.”
His thoughtful gesture cheered her but she still couldn’t fathom how to feel about recent events. After drinking her tea and eating just a little of the cake as she didn’t want to spoil her dinner, she picked up her sketch pad and began a pencil drawing.
***
Nathaniel was thoroughly confused by Damaris and her attitude. The kiss that they had shared in the kitchen had been filled with affection and passion but ever since then, she had been cold and withdrawn, almost as if she was angry with him.
She hadn’t seemed angry at the time, in fact she seemed to welcome his attentions, so this about-face was puzzling. Just as he thought that he understood her, she did something new to perplex him.
It seemed clear to him that his feelings for her went far beyond friendship and each minute that he shared with her, those feelings grew. He had always thought that falling in love would be a good thing, something to be welcomed and encouraged. Falling for a woman like Damaris however, felt like a sure way to get his heart broken.
Her Saving Grace Page 14
