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“Certainly.”Mary Trimble?A wild goose chase?Or a dead-on shot?
He handed off the glass and sat at his desk again.She swallowed it all in two gulps.“That’s fine spirits.Watcha need me for?”she asked.
“I was given your name by a man named Bobby Eggers.I think you knew Bobby’s mother, Beatrice.”
“Yeah, I knew her some.A long time ago.”Matthew could see that she’d lived a hard life since leaving Welliver’s estate.The broken, dirty nails.The stains on her bodice.The grey hair pulled back using only her fingers for a brush and messily braided.No hint of happiness.
“At one of Welliver’s estates?”Matthew asked.
“Watcha want to know about that for?I forgot all about it myself.”
“You forgot or you don’t want to remember?”
She pushed to her feet.“Who are you?”
“I get asked that a lot.Sit down, please.I will make it worth your while.”
She melted into the seat again and toyed with the edge of a worn shawl wrapped around her shoulders.“Why were you lookin’ for me?You ain’t said yet.”
“Why did you leave Welliver’s service?There’s no need to twist the tale.I just want the truth.”
“You already know.Why pretend you don’t.”
“Was it Welliver’s child or did it belong to one of the footmen?”
“Don’t insult me just ’cause I’m a poor circumstance.”
“I need to know for certain and you are the only one who can confirm that.Did you have one of Welliver’s children?”
“’Course I did.”
“What is his name?”
“Was.He died four years ago in a fight.Weren’t no accident.Over money.”
Matthew took a deep breath and leaned back, closing his eyes.“I am very sorry to hear that.”
“You’re one of his bastards too, ain’t ya?”
“I am.My mother is Jezebel Hardy.”
“Ah, the mistress.Did my son have other brothers?”
“Aside from the four Welliver’s legal wife had, I’ve found two others: Archibald and Robert.”
“My son’s name was Levi.Levi Trimble.All I have left are his daughters.Two of them.They are my sunshine since Levi’s gone.You look like Levi.Are your brothers the same?”
“Yes, we all resemble Welliver.Where do you and your granddaughters live?”
“Seven Dials.”
“And do you labor?”He had to ask, even though he suspected she lived like most poor in London.
“I clean.Do some laundry and sewin’ now and again.”
“But everyone still goes to bed hungry?”
She nodded.
