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They waited, poised and tense. There was no reaction from below.
“Espero que la hayas matado!” said a voice from inside the room.
“Tranquila!” replied Teresa. At Macklin’s inquiring look, she added, “Sonia hopes I have killed her.” Did she care if she had? She supposed she didn’t wish to kill any person, but this woman had surely deserved a knock on the head.
“Unlock the others while I bind her,” said the earl. He took the ring of keys from the woman’s inert hand and gave them to Teresa, then took out his pocketknife and began rapidly cutting the coverlet from the narrow bed into strips.
Teresa went from door to door, freeing the girls. The opera dancers greeted her with soft cries of gladness. The two strangers were wary at first and then grateful. Teresa would have felt triumphant, had not all of the girls showed signs of violent usage.
She asked the names of the two girls she did not know—Jill and Poppy—and then introduced all the girls to each other. “We must work together as we go.” Teresa stepped back into the bedchamber, where the earl now had the hostess securely bound. She uncurled the woman’s fingers, took the money Macklin had just given her, and distributed it equally among the former captives, knowing this would be a comfort and reassurance. A babble of thanks rose. “We must stay very quiet,” she reminded them.
Lord Macklin emerged. “I will go and call for my curricle,” he said.
“Won’t they ask abouther?” Teresa gestured at the bedchamber where the woman lay.
He assumed a haughty expression. “What has she to do with me? I am profoundly uninterested in their opinions.”
“You do that manner all too well,” said Teresa. She rather wished he did not.
“I have heard it often enough in my life,” he replied.
“We will not all fit in your curricle.”
“We couldn’t think of a way around that problem,” the earl reminded her. “I could not drive a coach myself.”
He hadn’t wanted to bring his coachman here, Teresa knew. He was careful about those who were dependent on him. It was one of the things she most admired about him.
“I will see what vehicles they have in their stables,” he added. “Can you drive?”
“Well enough,” answered Teresa. She had only twice handled the ribbons of a carriage, but she would do what she had to do.
“Then we will steal one,” he replied.
“Yer a right one,” said Poppy. She showed bruises on her face and down her arms that hurt Teresa’s heart, but her blue eyes gleamed with defiance. “I know horses,” she added. “I’ll help ye.”
A moan came from the bedchamber. Lord Macklin went to stand over their captive. The rest of them crowded into the doorway. He pulled down the strip of cloth he’d tied over her mouth. “How many people work in this house?” he asked when she blinked back to consciousness.
She glared at him, Teresa, and the huddle of girls. “Ye’ll rue the day…” she began.
“I shall rue nothing,” Lord Macklin interrupted. “This house will soon be receiving a visit from the local magistrate and his men, which I doubt you will enjoy. It might go easier if you answer my questions. How many people work in this house?”
She writhed in her bonds, but they were secure.
“Let me hit her,” said Poppy. “I’ll make her tell ye.”
“Moi aussi,” said Jeanne. All the girls but Odile crowded forward as if they would be happy to join in. Fists were raised.
“Three,” said the woman. “Two maids and a cook. They stays in the kitchen unless I call for them.”
“Las criadas son muy grandes y crueles,” said Sonia.
“The maids are large and cruel,” Teresa translated. The girls nodded.
“They get their licks in whenever they can,” said Jill, pointing to red finger marks at her wrist.
“What about the gate guards?” the earl asked the proprietress.
“There’s two of them,” she responded sullenly. “One on and one off. They live in the stable with Joe.”
