“I can’t do that,” said Elinor.
“Of course you can. Miss Lucinda does it all the time. Just wait until no one’s looking and then—”
“That’s not what I meant!” Elinor was breathing hard, the meal before her forgotten. She barely even noticed Sir Jessamyn nosing forward onto the dinner tray, golden eyes glinting with excitement, to attack the jellies on her plate. “Iwill notsteal something myself and then plant it in her reticule. That would be wrong! It would be—”
“It would be exactly what she did to my sister!” Sally crossed her arms. “Sheplanted all that jewelry in Daisy’s room and ruined her life just to keep herself safe. Do you really think she doesn’t deserve the same treatment? Just because she’s a lady and we’re—”
“She might deserve it,” said Elinor, “but I cannot do it to her. Not without behaving just as cruelly and dishonestly as she did to your sister.”
Sally’s cheeks flushed with colour. For a long moment she looked at Elinor in a silence so ominous that even Sir Jessamyn stopped eating to look up questioningly.
Then she said, “Dishonest, is it? Well. If you’re so worried about honesty, maybe I should go to Sir John or Miss Penelope right now. Maybe you want me to tell them exactly who you are. Because we’re all just so terribly worried abouthonestynow, aren’t we?”
Elinor swallowed. “If I can help Daisy in any other way—”
“You can’t,” Sally said flatly. “She will never get another respectable position until Miss Lucinda is revealed. And if you’re too dainty to get your ladylike hands dirty, then it’s never going to happen.”
“There has to be another way,” Elinor said. “Something that doesn’t force us to sink to her level. If we—”
“You can spend the whole time you’re here fretting your heart out about what’sproper,” Sally said, “but I don’t have that liberty,ma’am. All I have is a little sister who’s lost everything, and I’m watching all my hopes for her future thrown away to salve your pretty conscience!”
“Sally…”
“No!” Sally stood up and slapped down her skirts. “I’m going to Sir John right now. And I’m going to tell him—”
“What?” Elinor demanded. “What exactly are you going to tell him?”
It was the last of too many crises in one day. She couldn’t even bring herself to be frightened. Not anymore. “You just told me that no one would take Lucinda’s word against the great Mrs. De Lacey. Do you really think that Sir John will take your word against mine?”
Sally blinked rapidly. “Well, maybe not Sir John, but when I tell Miss Penelope—”
“My cousin has never had a real conversation with a servant in her life,” said Elinor. “She thought thatIwas too low to be her equal, only because my parents lost our money. Do you think she’ll take you any more seriously than my uncle would?”
“If they find out the truth, no matter who brings it—”
“And what evidence of it will you offer them?” Elinor asked. She turned to let Sir Jessamyn slide off her lap…and her gaze fell on the mutilated newspaper that still lay on top of the pile beside her bed. Her muscles went taut; all her momentary calm evaporated. She had to force herself to meet Sally’s gaze once more, even as she realized that her own words were pure bluff: “There is no way to prove it to them.”
Sally must have seen the change in Elinor’s expression. Her shoulders relaxed. Her lips curved into an unpleasant smile. “Oh, there’s always a way,” she said. “Isn’t that what you just told me, Miss Elinor, when you were dismissing my Daisy’s problems as unimportant compared to being kind to the gentryfolk?”
“I am not dismissing them,” Elinor said. “I’m only saying—”
“I thinkyou’vesaid quite enough, thank you.” Sally leaned over to scoop up the pile of newspapers. Before she could stop herself, Elinor gave a jerk of alarm. She couldn’t tell whether Sally had noticed it…but there was a glint of satisfaction in the maid’s eyes as she straightened.
“I’ll find that evidence of yours,” she said, “and I promise you, I’ll find it before the week is up. So you’d better find thatbetter wayyou’re hoping for to expose Miss Lucinda…or else you’ll be the one who gets caught out in front of the whole company by the time Miss Penelope’s début ball is over...and won’t that make it easy for Sir John to arrest you just as he wanted to in the first place!”
She snatched the soiled gown off the chair and stalked out of the room, leaving Elinor with an empty wineglass and a dinner tray picked perfectly clean.
Sir Jessamyn looked up at Elinor and belched.
“Oh, yes,” she said fervently. “It is definitely time for bed.”
* * *
She had just blownout her candle and closed her eyes, with Sir Jessamyn curled warmly on the pillow beside her, when a soft knock sounded on the door.
Sir Jessamyn looked up alertly. His golden eyes gleamed in the shadows.
“Ignore it,” Elinor whispered, and pulled her covers more tightly around herself. She didn’t care who it was, or what they wanted. Allshewanted now…
