Wicked Intentions (Maiden Lane #1)(11)

The object of her ire was a thin woman who might’ve been pretty had it not been for her blackened teeth and an open sore on one cheek.

The pitiful creature cringed and held up her arms as if to ward off a blow. “I’ll gi’ ye a penny an’ a ha’penny tomorrow. Just gi’ me the gin tonight.”

“Go an’ earn yer pennies,” Mother Heart’s-Ease said, and shoved the unhappy woman into the alley. She turned and propped her large, red-knuckled fists on her hips, looking Lord Caire up and down with greedy eyes. “Now, then, what’re ye doin’ here, Mrs. Dews? I don’t reckon this’s yer part of St. Giles.”

“I wasn’t aware St. Giles was divided into territories,” Temperance replied stiffly.

Mother Heart’s-Ease flicked beady eyes at her. “Weren’t you?”

Temperance cleared her throat. “My friend would like to ask you some questions.”

Mother Heart’s-Ease grinned at Lord Caire, revealing missing front teeth. “Best come inside, ’adn’t you, then?”

She didn’t glance at Temperance again, her avarice obviously focused on Lord Caire. Nevertheless, he stood back to allow Temperance entrance first. She ducked inside the door and descended the steep wooden steps leading to a cellar.

The front room was low, long, and dark, lit only by a fire roaring in the rear. Above, the rafters were blackened by smoke. To one side, a warped board was thrown over two barrels to make a counter. Behind it stood a one-eyed girl, the only barmaid. Here Mother Heart’s-Ease sold her namesake: gin, a penny and a half a cup. A score of soldiers in tall meter hats were laughing drunkenly at a table in the corner. Beside them, two shady-looking fellows hunched their shoulders as if trying to become invisible. One wore a triangular leather patch to hide a missing nose. Across the room, a quarrel had broken out between three sailors playing cards, while nearby, a solitary man in a too-large wig smoked serenely. A man and a woman sat together against the wall on the bare dirt floor, their small tin cup cradled in their hands. They might sleep the night here—if they each paid Mother Heart’s-Ease another five pence for the privilege.

“Now, then, ’ow can I ’elp a fine-lookin’ gent like yerself?” Mother Heart’s-Ease shouted over the din of the arguing sailors. She rubbed her fingers together suggestively.

Lord Caire took a purse from beneath his cloak and opened it. He smiled as he extracted a half crown and placed it in the woman’s hand. “I’m interested in the murder of a woman in St. Giles. Her name was Marie Hume.”

Mother Heart’s-Ease had lost her smile, her lips pursing thoughtfully. “That kind o’ information will cost ye just a bit more, m’lord.”

Did she know Lord Caire, or was the woman merely flattering a potential money source?

Lord Caire raised his eyebrows at the demand but silently fished another half crown from his purse. He tossed the coin to Mother Heart’s-Ease, and it disappeared along with its mate down the top of her stays.

“’Ave a seat, m’lord.” Mother Heart’s-Ease gestured to an empty chair, a rickety wooden thing. “It’s a murdered woman, you say?”

Lord Caire ignored the attempt at hospitality. “She was thirty years or so, blond hair, fair of face and form but with a red birthmark the size of a penny just here.” He tapped the outer corner of his right eye. “Do you know her?”

“Well, now, there’re quite a lot of pretty wenches about, and a birthmark might be hidden,” the woman said. “Anything else particular about her?”

“She was gutted,” Lord Caire said.

Temperance inhaled sharply, all of Nell’s warnings flooding back. Dear God.

Even Mother Heart’s-Ease blinked at the blunt choice of words. “Gutted like a pig,” she muttered. “That one I remember. Fancy sort, wasn’t she? Found in a bare little room in a house in Tanner’s Court, the flies abuzzin’ in her black blood.”

If Mother Heart’s-Ease’s words were meant to shock Lord Caire, they failed. His expression remained curious, amused, even, as he cocked his head. “Yes. That’s the one.”

Mother Heart’s-Ease shook her head in mock sorrow. “I can’t help you with that, then, m’lord. I didn’t know the wench.”

Lord Caire held out his hand. “Give me back my coins.”

“Hold up there, m’lord,” the woman said hastily. “I don’t know about the murder, but I know who might.”

Lord Caire stilled, his eyes narrowing slightly as if he’d sighted prey. “Who?”

“Martha Swan.” Mother Heart’s-Ease smiled a twisted, evil smile and crooned, “The last woman to see her alive.”

THE WIND TOOK away her breath as Temperance climbed back up Mother Heart’s-Ease’s outer steps. Lord Caire was behind her, eerily silent. Who was the murdered woman? And why was he asking about her murder? She shuddered, remembering the way he’d described the woman as “gutted.” Dear Lord, what had she involved herself in?

“You are unusually quiet, Mrs. Dews,” Lord Caire observed in his deep voice.

“How would you know what is usual with me, my lord?” she asked. “You hardly know me.”

He breathed a soft chuckle behind her. “And yet I sense that you are a loquacious woman when you are with those you are comfortable with.”