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“That mean old constable. He’s just sore because I popped him with my slingshot. I would have had another go at him, if it had been in my pocket,” said Michel fiercely.
“We shouldn’t have let her go,” said Adele.
“It must all be a terrible misunderstanding,” said Mrs. Fairfield.
“That’s exactly what this is,” Edgar said, his mind immediately rejecting any other possibility. “A terrible misunderstanding.”
“Father?” Adele pulled on his hand.
“Yes, love?”
“She took her cloth bag, and her umbrella, and P.L. Rabbit. That means...” Her lip wobbled. “That means she’s never coming back.”
“Hush.” He tilted up Adele’s chin. “Of course she’s coming back.”
He reached out his hand and Robertson handed him his hat.
“Go and fetch her back, Your Grace,” said Robertson. “We’re all relying on you.”
“There’s nothing to worry about,” said Edgar. “I promise you I’ll bring her back.”
“This person misrepresented herself to a duke,” said Mrs. Trilby. “She claimed to be from my agency. It’s libel and slander and she ought to be locked away. Surely there’s a law against it, sir.”
Mari had followed Mrs. Trilby and the constable to a nearby police station. It was better to have everything out in the open, though she hoped Edgar didn’t find any of this out until she had a chance to tell him herself.
She’d been going to tell him the truth, directly after her meeting with Mr. Shadwell today.
“There’s no law against lying, madam,” said the chief constable. “If it harms no one.”
“His Grace will vouch for my service being exemplary,” Mari said.
“Oh I’m sure he will, you wicked, wanton creature.” Mrs. Trilby rounded on the constable, her shoulders shaking with outrage. “When the Earl of Haddock informed me that one of my governesses had... hadseduceda duke and was living with him in flagrant sin, in front of his children. Well! It’s my reputation that suffers, sir. And she isn’t one of my governesses. I took one look at her and knew the truth. She’s soiled and... and not superior in the least.”
Haddock. She should have known. He’d found a way to hurt her after all.
“No law against tupping a duke, madam,” the constable said in an exasperated tone. “Now, I do have other, more pressing matters to attend to.” He turned to Mari. “Miss Perkins, you’re free to leave now. Apologies for your trouble.”
“This is an outrage!” said Mrs. Trilby. “The good name of my agency sullied in such a manner. Of course the duke won’t prosecute her. She has ensorcelled him with her favors.”
She’d been branded a scarlet woman now, in front of a constable, and she hadn’t even been able to muster the will to deny it, because it was true.
“Mrs. Trilby, I do apologize for misrepresenting myself to the duke, but you did promise me a position, and I was desperate. I had nowhere else to go, no one else to turn to, and no money. You threw me out onto the street.”
“Do not speak to me, you shameless girl. Mrs. Crowley must be turning over in her grave. To think a pupil from her school, one of her girls, behaved in such a manner. It’s unthinkable.”
“Mrs. Crowley hated me and would no doubt feel vindicated by this turn of events.”
“There, you see?” said Mrs. Trilby to the constable. “She doesn’t even dispute that she’s living in sin with that devil of a duke.”
The constable sighed. “Mrs. Trilby, it seems to me that the only way anyone will know if one of your governesses might be, shall we say, intimate with her employer, will be if you tell them. So I suggest you keep your mouth closed, and all will be well.”
Mari was beginning to like this constable.
“I came here willingly,” Mari said, “so that you might hear my side of the story. But I really must be going now. I have an appointment with a lawyer.”
“You can’t just let her leave, sir!” insisted Mrs. Trilby. “I demand that you charge her with defamation and fraudulent misrepresentation.”
There was the sound of raised voices from the outer room. The constable perked up instantly. “Do you hear that, ladies? I’ve got to go. Important goings-on. Come along now, both of you, Mrs. Trilby. Miss Perkins.”
