The Last Drop of Hemlock by Katharine Schellman

Author:Katharine Schellman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

* * *

It was late—after the dinner rush—and Vivian’s hands were wrinkled from hours spent washing dishes when she finally started dressing for work. Florence was already sitting on the room’s only bed, which they would be sharing, her knees drawn close and tucked under her chin. She watched as Vivian shimmied into one of her dancing dresses and rubbed Mrs. Chin’s lotion into her hands to soften them.

“Are you sure it’s safe for you to go to work tonight?” Florence asked quietly, fiddling with the hairbrush that was lying on the bed next to her. “If it’s not safe for us to be home, then shouldn’t … shouldn’t we just stay here?”

“No one’s going to get me at the Nightingale,” Vivian said with more confidence than she felt. “And anyway, I don’t think whoever wrote that letter will be coming after me yet. They want that dress, right? They’ll be waiting for us to hand it over.”

“But the note said tonight,” Florence reminded her. “So after today—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Vivian said quickly, sliding the brush out of her sister’s nervous fingers and using her reflection in the window as a mirror to style her hair. Sliding a pin decorated with feathers and beads into place, she gave Florence a smile, trying to reassure herself as much as her sister. “By tomorrow, Leo should have things in motion for us. And then it should just be a little while until whoever is doing this is either caught or slinks back into the shadows.”

“I’m glad you have a plan,” Florence said, easing herself down onto the pillows, still curled into a tight ball. “I’m still angry with you, by the way. For keeping this from me.”

“I didn’t have a good reason to share it,” Vivian protested.

“I just thought we were telling each other everything now,” Florence said quietly, her words a forlorn accusation that made Vivian flinch. “No more keeping secrets.”

“Are we?” Vivian asked, thinking of the way Danny and Florence had kept sneaking glances at each other as Danny went in and out of the kitchen that night. “Do you tell me everything, Flo?” Her sister didn’t answer, and Vivian sighed as she picked up her shoes. “Anyway, I’ve got work. Danny’s off tonight, so he’ll be sticking around here to keep an eye on things. And no one but Honor knows we’re here, so you don’t need to worry, okay?”

“And you’ll be careful?” Florence asked as Vivian turned to leave.

Vivian gave her a quick smile over her shoulder. It was a pretend smile, the kind that she gave customers who wanted someone to flirt with, a girl with no worries so they could forget about the worries in their own lives, too. She hoped Florence couldn’t tell the difference. “I’m always careful. I’m just not always good.”

Florence shook her head. “That’s not funny.”

Vivian relaxed into a real smile. “Sure it was. Cheer up, Flo. I’m taking care of it. I promise.”

Danny’s parents hadn’t wanted her walking through the

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