The Shadow Palace by Jane Steen

Author:Jane Steen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aspidistra Press

25

Go-between

Working at Gambarelli’s naturally meant that I hadn’t seen Elizabeth Parnell. I had written to her, of course, letting her know we were well settled in at Aldine Square, and had received several letters from her in return. When I was at home on Sunday afternoons, I tried to find time to write back, claiming to be busy settling in to our new life. I hadn’t always succeeded, and some of her letters had gone unanswered. Since our friendship was of recent date, I wondered if she would interpret my sporadic responses as a sign that my interest in her was cooling. There was little I could do about that, and perhaps our friendship would be one of the sacrifices I’d have to make for Martin’s sake.

I knew she didn’t like Gambarelli’s all that much and felt safe from discovery. So my dismay was all the greater when, a couple of days after my meeting with Crabb, I heard her voice behind me.

“I’d like to try this on, Miss.”

I turned to find my friend pointing at a light blue hat with the peaked brim I’d suggested to Mr. Gorton. It was trimmed with white feathers and sprays of cornflowers. Although not of the best quality, it was an attractive enough article. Elizabeth was staring at me, indeed through me, as if she didn’t know me at all.

“Of course, Madam.” I smiled brightly and removed the hat from its wire support, waiting until Elizabeth had unpinned her own hat. “It’s a perfect match for your eyes, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

I positioned the blue hat atop Elizabeth’s abundant hair and fetched a mirror so she could see it. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Miss Sweeny and Miss Green were busy with other customers.

“Just how angry are you?” I said in an undertone while smoothing the large, curly white feathers so that they hung at the correct angle.

Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “My dear,” she said just as quietly, “I’m not angry at all. I was a little annoyed that you seemed to be putting me off in your letters, especially after you’d been at Aldine Square for three weeks. It’s a pretty little place, isn’t it?”

“You’ve been there?”

“Of course. I really need to talk to you, otherwise I wouldn’t have intruded.”

“Perhaps you’d like to try this one as well,” I said in a louder tone. I took down a similar model, of a darker blue trimmed with white silk roses and pheasant’s feathers. “If you don’t like the feathers, we can alter it for you.”

“Clearly, this is no time for a conversation,” Elizabeth said. “Do they let you out of this cage occasionally?”

“I could get outside at six,” I said. “Say ten minutes past. Are you at the hotel?”

Elizabeth’s pretty pink lips tightened into a straight line. “I am, for the moment,” she said. “But I’ll tell you more later. I’ll be waiting for you.”

At ten minutes past six, I walked into the Palmer House, feeling oddly out of place.

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