Page 71 of Honor Unbound

Mrs. McKendrick leaned her elbows on the high desk that took up most of the narrow foyer, her bosom straining against her bodice. “Peg will only have ten minutes between patrons. Not much time to talk, unless you want to pay for a full session with her.”

“Ten minutes will be fine.” Marie’s smile was brittle and she pressed closer to his side.

Brett leaned down and put his lips next to her ear. “I thought nothing shocked you after growing up in the country. That you were well-acquainted with things that would make other young misses blush.” He thought about Marie’s blushes, and how far down her neck they spread, and shifted his weight uncomfortably.

She gave him a reproachful look, one that made the edges of his lips twitch. “I’m not shocked. It doesn’t mean I have to enjoy visiting such a place.”

A man sashayed down the stairs, adjusting the buttons of his waistcoat. The doorman for the establishment followed after him.

“See you next week, Mrs. McKendrick,” the customer said. He shot Marie a curious look, Brett a disapproving one, then slipped out the door.

Brett’s shoulders drew back. Taking Marie to such an establishment probably wasn’t proper, but he didn’t think the man had call to look down on him, considering the activity he had just been engaged in.

“Show them up to Peg, Bosko.” Mrs. McKendrick shut a ledger that rested on the desk. “Then come down to the kitchen. I’m making some tea.”

Bosko didn’t answer, but dutifully led them up the stairs and to a room halfway down the hallway. He knocked and the door swung inward. “Some people here to talk to you. Mrs. McKendrick said it was all right.”

It had only beenall rightbecause Brett had passed a sizeable note to Mrs. McKendrick when making the request. If that had only bought him ten minutes, he didn’t want to think what a full session cost.

“You again?” Peg asked when the doorman had left. “I don’t do couples.”

Marie started coughing, and Brett tapped her back. “As the doorman said, we’re here to talk. Have you heard about what happened to Fenton Hicks?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Who?”

Marie cleared her throat. “Fenton Hicks. The manager of Mr. Trent’s factory. We know you knew him.”

“Oh. Him.” Peg shrugged, and her silky wrapper slid down her shoulder, exposing an expanse of skin.

Marie’s body tensed next to his. Brett rested his hand on her lower back, trying to communicate he wanted to see no woman’s bare shoulder but hers.

“What happened to him?” Peg asked. “He finally lose his placement?”

“He was killed.” Brett examined her face, looking for surprise. “Stabbed, just like his employer.”

Her lips formed a pout. “How sad for him.”

“Sadder for his wife,” Marie grated out.

Peg chuckled. “Perhaps not. Vanessa entertained her husband once and told me all about it. She’s better off.”

Brett ground his teeth. “You don’t seem disturbed by another man of your acquaintance being murdered. These men didn’t die peacefully.”

“What of it?” She pushed up from her bed and stalked to her tiny dressing table. “What does it have to do with me?”

Marie tilted her head, one of her crimson curls kissing against her shoulder. “That depends on where you were last night. You didn’t have an alibi for Trent’s murder. Do you have one for Hicks’s?”

Peg gripped a silver-handled hairbrush, her knuckles going white. “Get out.”

“We will leave you be forever if you just tell us where you were, and if anyone can verify that,” Brett said.

Peg raised the hairbrush, cocking her arm back.

Brett grabbed Marie and bundled her out the door. “If you ever want to talk—”

Peg slammed the door in his face.

A door down the hall opened and a young woman peeked out. Too young. She disappeared back into her room.