by Abigail Agar
Chapter 10
Embarrassed by the arguing, and not having quite the skill for such an activity, Hamish was relieved to be back to observing.
His eyes moved back and forth between Miss Reid and Miss Smithfield. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. They simply took in one another’s faces.
Miss Reid appeared to be shocked. Miss Smithfield, on the other hand, had a blend of shock and shame upon her face. It was clear that she had not expected anyone to come looking for her here. It was clear that she was embarrassed by her actions, but believed them to have been the right thing.
Still, Hamish wondered what had happened. He wondered why Miss Smithfield was being so strange. Why she still had not spoken and why she had vanished in the first place.
“Miss Smithfield?” he asked, confirming that she was the very woman he believed her to be.
“Yes. Who are you?” she asked, cautiously and with wide eyes full of horror.
“I am Inspector Brock. Your friend Miss Reid, she asked me to look into your disappearance,” he said.
“Why are you here?” she asked, looking between him and Miss Reid.
“Rachel, I was so scared for you. We didn’t know what had happened to you. We went to speak with your family, to see if they knew where you vanished to. I was so scared,” Miss Reid said.
“My family? You spoke with my family? What did they say?” she asked.
“They told us nothing,” Hamish said.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
“They understand the gravity of my situation then. I was frightened you would say that they told you everything and you were not on your way to snatch me up,” she said.
Hamish didn’t understand and he knew that he had to find out what was behind all of this. Even if his case was, technically, settled, he was curious to know what deeper questions there were.
“What exactly is your situation, Miss Smithfield?” he asked.
She looked terrified. Miss Smithfield was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of speaking to them. It bothered Hamish, but he could only stand there and try to encourage her. He was not much of a speaker for the most part, he preferred to listen and watch. But as he waited for Miss Smithfield to give him an answer, he could see that she was terrified to do so.
“Please, Miss Smithfield. There is no reason to fret. We simply want to make sure that all is at peace with you. How may we help you? What is it that haunts you?” he asked.
“A faceless threat,” she said, shrugging from beneath her blanket.
“A faceless threat? That is terribly ominous. What do you mean by that?” he asked.
“Inspector…Brock, is it?” she asked.
“Yes. Inspector Brock,” he confirmed.
“Inspector Brock, I understand that it is your duty to question me like this, but I cannot be sharing all of this with you on the street,” she said.
“No, no, of course not,” he replied.
“And if I agree to tell you what I know—little though it may be—you must promise me that you will keep my secret,” she said.
“Your secret?” Miss Reid asked, as if she, too, was anxious to hear what was going on.
“The secret as to my whereabouts, I mean. I need you to stay quiet about having found me. I don’t want the wrong person hearing that you learned where I was at and then I went and spoke with you,” Miss Smithfield said.
“We shan’t tell a soul,” Miss Reid said. “Right, Inspector?”
Hamish nodded. It was better. The last place they should be discussing this was on the street.
These were the very streets of London that he knew to be so dangerous, so cruel. There was no reason for them to have the conversation with her there.
It was better if they return to the precinct. That way they would have the privacy that was necessary for her to come out and be comfortable with what had happened.
“Come. You are correct in that we must get away from the prying eyes of the street,” he said.
Hamish led the two young women away from where they were, heading in the direction of the precinct and looking for a coach to take them. When finally, he found one, he helped the young women inside and then followed behind.
In the coach, he saw the care that Miss Smithfield was being given.
“I was so worried for you. I didn’t know what had happened and I feared that someone dreadful had come for you,” Miss Reid said, allowing Miss Smithfield to rest her head upon Miss Reid’s shoulder in a sisterly fashion.
“I am all right. It was awful, but I am all right,” Miss Smithfield said.
“And you are perfectly safe now. I have seen Inspector Brock much in these last few days. He has a way about him,” she said, whispering to her friend.
Miss Reid looked up at him and smiled, well aware that he could hear every word, but still trying to bring peace to Miss Smithfield.
“A way about him?” Miss Smithfield asked, glancing at him with amusement. “I have not often heard Miss Reid speak like that.”
“Indeed, nor have I. More often than not, her speech contains far too many syllables at far too high a volume,” he said, teasing her.
Miss Reid even laughed, despite the joke being at her own expense.
“See, Rachel? He is even strong enough to stand up to me. He is very much the sort of gentleman you want fighting in your corner. You mustn’t fret any longer. Everything is going to be perfectly all right,” she said, softly.
Hamish was astonished by Miss Reid all over again. He found her tenderness to be so kind. How was it that only moments before she had been pushing and pushing, nearly screaming at him in the middle of things? She had been immature and brash, obnoxious and brazen.
Now, suddenly, she was calm and peaceful. She was making every effort to help her friend to relax.
She was the same beautiful woman, but with an utterly different intention behind her words. All of this had been about finding Miss Smithfield. Now that they had found her, now that there was a chance for peace, it appeared that Miss Reid had nothing more to worry about.
Hamish gathered that all of her annoying behaviours had simply been an outburst in her desperation to see her friend returned home. In some ways, it was admirable.
Ironic. He had not expected to admire her for the very characteristics that he found so deplorable.
Miss Reid was interesting. Fascinating.
Hamish could not help but watch the two of them interact, wondering why it was that she cared so much about a maid from her home.
“Now, when you do return to your home, you must take a bath. Not the sort where you get clean, but a long soak in the basin where you might be able to relax,” Miss Reid was saying to her as he continued to watch them interact.
“Is it really relaxing?” Miss Smithfield asked.
“There are two key points to making it relaxing,” Miss Reid said. “The first is that the water must be as warm as you can stand for it to be. The second is what I may help you with. Here.”
She went digging around in her reticule and pulled out a coin which she pressed into Miss Smithfield’s hand.
“What is this for?” Miss Smithfield asked.
“You must buy flowers on your way back after this. Whichever have the loveliest smell you can find. Put the petals in the bath water with you,” she said.
“Thank you, Georgiana. You are so kind. You always look out for me,” Miss Smithfield said.
“You have been such a loyal friend. I can hardly deny you this small thing,” Miss Reid said to her in reply.
It was clear from the responses that Miss Smithfield was giving that this was not unusual. Miss Reid’s care was genuine.
That was what impressed him the most.
She was not the spoiled little girl that he had believed she was. He was taken aback that she was something else entirely.
“Here we are, it would seem,” Hamish announced once they had reached the station house.
“Are you ready, Rachel?” Miss
Reid asked.
Miss Smithfield nodded, although she still looked worried and she still clutched the blanket around her face.
As they sat down in the station house, Hamish was ready to ask his questions. He looked at Miss Smithfield and waited for her to give him the approval to begin the questioning.
Finally, she looked at him and nodded her head.
“Now, Miss Smithfield, would you be willing to tell us what happened the morning of your departure?” Hamish asked.
She took a deep breath.
“Yes, Inspector. I shall tell you,” she said.
“Please. Go on,” he said.
“That morning, just after I finished helping Miss Georgiana, I was popping into the kitchen to take my breakfast. You see, the family was soon to eat and Sarah would be readying herself to serve them. I wished to get my breakfast quickly before they all sat to dine so that I could use the rest of the time to ready myself for later in the day,” she said.
“Why is that?” Hamish asked.
“Miss Reid had a particularly demanding afternoon planned as there was a ball. I wished to be prepared to assist her,” she said.
“That is very good of you,” he said.
“She is a kind employer. I would not want anything less,” Miss Smithfield said.
“So, what happened then?” he asked.
“I was in the pantry, taking a bit of bread. From behind, someone grasped hold of me. I did not see who it was. Only, I heard a strange voice. As though the speaker was making every effort to conceal their true identity,” she said.
“And what did they say? What did this voice tell you that urged you to flee?” Hamish asked.
“The voice told me that I must leave at once. They said they knew well that I would bring the house down, the entire family. I could not bear to be the cause of any hurt. There was nothing for me to do but run as they instructed,” she said.
“But…what sort of hurt?” Miss Reid asked, clearly upset that this had happened in her home.
“I do not know, Miss Georgiana. I have no idea what it was that they believe me to know. If I thought that I had a reason to bring your family to the ground, I would never use it. But, as it is, I cannot think what they believe I know,” she said.
“Nothing? You know nothing at all about my family that could hurt us?” Miss Reid asked, sounding unconvinced.
“Well…I did not say that, Miss Georgiana. I said that I am not sure what it is that this person believed I might use to destroy your family. And what I do know…I cannot say that it would necessarily destroy you all. Just that it would make life…difficult,” she said.
Hamish could see that Miss Smithfield was struggling to say exactly what she wanted, but she was pushing to get through.
“What exactly did the voice say?” Hamish asked.
Miss Smithfield thought for a moment before reciting the works.
“It said that I must leave at once. It said that they knew I could bring about the family’s ruin, that I might be the end of them. And it told me to leave within the hour and without goodbyes,” she said.
Someone wanted her to leave. There was no way that he could know the reason behind it, not if even Miss Smithfield did not know.
But Hamish was determined to find out. If there was someone in the house that could not trust her, the reason was out there. One way or another, they would learn the truth.
Chapter 11
“Please, Rachel, you must tell him everything,” Georgiana said.
But Rachel glanced away, looking uncomfortable. It was clear that she still did not know what to say, that she did not know how best to handle the situation.
Georgiana put a comforting hand on Rachel’s back. She didn’t want her friend being nervous, worrying about whether or not she could tell the truth. Still, the way that Rachel looked at her, she could sense that there was something making her uneasy.
“May I go and call my Sergeant?” Inspector Brock asked.
Rachel nodded, nervously. With that, inspector Brock left the room.
Georgiana gave Rachel a comforting look, trying to encourage her to be at ease.
“Everything is going to be fine. You will be all right and they need to hear the truth. I am certain that whatever it is that you need to say, they will understand,” Georgiana said.
She could see that that did not appease Rachel. There was something else that left her hesitant.
But, soon enough, Inspector Brock and Sergeant Miller came into the room.
“All right, now, what is it that you need to say? Please, anything helps. We know that this cannot be easy for you, but you must tell us everything that you know. It is the only way that we are going to find out what it was that lead to your being sent away,” he said.
“Yes, I understand that. But, you must also understand that this is a very complicated issue for me,” she said.
"Complicated how?” Inspector Brock asked.
She looked at Georgiana once more with that hesitation.
“What is it Rachel? You can tell them,” Georgiana said.
“I am a maid, Georgiana,” Rachel said.
“I know that. Why does it matter?” Georgiana asked.
“It matters because I am talking about your family. It matters because you love them and you are their blood. If I say something that makes you unhappy, I do not know what that will do to our friendship or how it will affect me in the future,” Rachel said.
Suddenly, Georgiana was very nervous. She didn’t like thinking about the fact that her family could be at fault in anything. She also didn’t like the fact that she was soon to learn about their secrets.
She had to think for a moment, had to think whether or not she wanted to be involved in this. Could she really listen as Rachel condemned them?
“I mean it, Georgiana. Some of this information might get them into trouble. And I cannot imagine that you really want to hear everything,” she said.
But the truth was close at hand. Whatever it was, it had to come out. Rachel could not be left to suffer her banishment from the home without learning the reason for it.
Georgiana swallowed and nodded.
“You must continue. There is no other choice,” Georgiana said.
Rachel took a deep breath, sucking in air as if she didn’t want that answer.
Georgiana very nearly did the same. She wondered how she might handle learning the brutal truth behind her family.
If it was as bad as Rachel seemed to think it was, she thought she might struggle to accept it.
“Well, it began when I was in the cellar. I was very busy, trying to gather things for breakfast. But I also had a lot on my mind. I was not really paying attention when I heard footsteps coming from behind me,” she said.
“I just assumed it was the kitchen maid,” Rachel added, looking at Georgiana.
“But, as I was pulling out what I needed, someone grasped me from behind. I never saw the face. With the voice that I did not recognise, perhaps one that they distorted, I was told to leave if I knew what was good for me. To leave right away, as I said, without goodbyes,” she said.
