The Kindred of Darkness by Barbara Hambly

Author:Barbara Hambly [Hambly, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy, Urban
ISBN: 9780727883421
Google: 7sBjngEACAAJ
Publisher: Severn House Publishers, Limited
Published: 2013-12-14T18:30:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

In Lydia’s experience, maids – her own, her family’s, and those of her friends – could mostly be bribed.

Since the time that Valentina Maninghurst had married Lydia’s father, Lydia had heard her exclaim repeatedly on how loyal her maid, Cubitt, was. ‘She’s like one of those Biblical servants, faithful unto death …’ and, ‘There’s nothing Cubitt wouldn’t do for me …’ Despite the fact that Cubitt was accepting a regular stipend from Aunt Lavinnia, to keep Lavinnia informed about Valentina’s behavior, finances, lovers and movements, this was a view of personal maids widely held among Lydia’s acquaintances.

Aunt Louise, before she’d moved to Paris, had paid the servants of a number of her social rivals (and of her own sisters and sister-in-law) a few shillings a month, just to keep them on her side. (Heaven only knows what she’s doing along those lines in Paris society!) Valentina had one of Aunt Harriet’s housemaids in her pay, only Lydia was aware that Aunt Lavinnia had ‘turned’ the woman – in Jamie’s expression – with a small rise in salary, and so could feed Valentina misinformation as necessary.

Across the table from Lydia, Hellice Spills gave her a dazzling smile as she slipped the two guineas Lydia had handed her into her bag. ‘Don’t you worry, ma’am, I know exactly where Clagg keeps the account books and I’ll have what you need to know ’bout those houses his Lordship’s bought by the end of the week.’ Evidently Ysidro had been correct – Hellice Spills either did not recall meeting Lydia in the upstairs hall of Wycliffe House on Monday night at all, or didn’t recognize her. Or, just possibly, didn’t care. She clearly no more needed to know the reason for the request than Messrs Teazle and McClennan did, and there wasn’t the least necessity of mentioning Lord Mulcaster’s footman.

And why not? Lydia reflected. She knew for a fact that the faithful-unto-death Cubitt was paid, per year, about half what Valentina spent on a pair of shoes. Why shouldn’t she steal a feather here and there to render her own nest fluffy and warm against cold nights to come?

‘Is this something the servants all know about?’ she asked, in the voice of one fascinated by the facts of below-stairs life. ‘About Lord Colwich buying property for – well – his friend.’

‘Lordy, ma’am, servants know everything.’ The girl looked wise, and took a sip of the coffee Lydia had bought her – surprisingly good, despite the unprepossessing air of Lady Sydenham’s Parlour on Finsbury Circus. ‘Back when we went down to South America with Mr Armistead to see his wife’s family, I remember thinking everything would be different in a different country. But it’s pretty much the same. If somebody finds something out, it’s all over the Room before dark.’

‘Even if it’s about someone else’s family?’

‘Especially if it’s about the family Miss Cece’s going to marry into. I hear tell from Mr Gervase – that’s Lord Colwich’s man – that His Lordship the Earl was fit to be tied when he heard about his son buying these places for gentlemen he’d met in Europe.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.