Anne Perry - Buckingham Palace Gardens

“A prostitute was knifed to death,” Narraway continued. “And her body was left in the linen cupboard in the guest wing, where there are presently eight people staying. They are on extremely important business with His Royal Highness.”

“An’ Mr. Pitt’s gonna find out ’oo killed ’er,” Gracie finished for him. “Don’t worry, sir. We can take care of things ’ere.”

“I’m sure you could, Miss Phipps.” Narraway nodded very slightly, the briefest possible flash of humor in his eyes. “However, that is not what your country requires of you.”

Charlotte let out her breath with a sigh.

Narraway colored faintly, but he did not turn to look at her.

“Wot d’yer mean, ‘my country’?” Gracie asked, completely bewildered. “In’t nothing I can do.”

“I suggest you get to the point, Mr. Narraway,” Charlotte cut in at last. “If I may say so, you are wasting time, and it is late.”

Narraway looked uncomfortable. There had been a distinct edge to Charlotte’s voice, and Gracie was sorry for him. Her awe of him vanished. She had heard it said that no man was a hero to his valet.

Perhaps he wasn’t to any servant who could read emotions in him that were so oddly vulnerable.

“Wot is it yer’d like me to do, sir?” she asked gently.

A flash of gratitude crossed Narraway’s face for an instant, then vanished. “I would like you to take temporary employment at Buckingham Palace, Miss Phipps. The position is already secured for you, as a general between-stairs maid. No one will know that you are really working for Special Branch, assisting Mr. Pitt, except Mr. Tyndale, who is in charge of the servants in that wing. It is a difficult job, and possibly dangerous. One of the guests there is a murderer. We need someone whose skill and discretion we can trust absolutely, and I have no man at all who could pass himself off as a servant. He would be found out in half an hour. You would not. Pitt says you are observant and trustworthy. It will be for only a few days at the most. We have to solve this crime before Her Majesty returns from Osborne.”

He looked at her very steadily. “If this becomes public, the scandal will be appalling. Will you do it? You will report to Mr. Pitt and do whatever he tells you, to the letter.”

“You don’t have to, Gracie,” Charlotte interrupted quickly. “It’s dangerous. This man has already killed a prostitute, by cutting her throat. You are quite free to say no, and no one will think less of you.”

Gracie’s voice trembled. “That in’t true, ma’am. We’ll all think less o’ me. Specially I will. I got ter go an’ ’elp Mr. Pitt.”

“And Her Majesty,” Narraway added.

Gracie squared her shoulders and stretched to her full height of almost five feet. “An’ that poor cow wot were killed. ’Oo’s gonna get justice for ’er if we don’t, eh?”

Narraway swallowed and cleared his throat. There was only the slightest trace of a smile on his face. “No one, Miss Phipps. We are greatly obliged to you. Will you be so good as to pack a bag with whatever you require? Uniforms will be provided for you. I shall wait and take you tonight. The sooner you begin, the better.”

Gracie turned at last to look at Charlotte fully, to try to make certain from her eyes rather than her words that she really wished her to go.

“Please look after yourself, Gracie,” Charlotte said softly. “We shall miss you, but it won’t be for long.”

“What about the laundry then?” Gracie said anxiously in a last grasp for safety.

“I’ll get Mrs. Claypole to come in an extra day,” Charlotte replied. “Don’t worry. Go and help Mr. Pitt. I think he may need you far more than I do, just at the moment.”

“Yes. O’ course I will,” Gracie agreed, her heart beating suddenly high in her throat. “Observant and trustworthy,” he had said. That burned like a flame inside her.

An hour later Gracie was in Buckingham Palace being introduced by Pitt to Mr. Tyndale. They were in the housekeeper’s room, but Mrs. Newsome herself was absent. She was not to know Gracie’s purpose here. Only Mr. Tyndale was to be aware of it, and that delicately balanced situation was going to require some skill to maintain.

At the moment Mr. Tyndale was explaining Gracie’s duties to her, and the basic rules of behavior to be followed by servants.

“This will be entirely different from any other post you may have held,” Mr. Tyndale said carefully, seeing her ramrod-straight back and figure so small that all dresses had had to be taken up to prevent her from tripping over the skirts. It obviously took him some effort to conceal most of his disbelief that she could really be here on behalf of Special Branch.

“Yes, sir.” She had no intention of telling him that she had come to the Pitts when she was thirteen and had never worked for anyone else. He was not so very big himself, and he too squared his shoulders and walked an inch or two taller than he really was.

“You will not speak to any of the guests unless they first speak to you, do you understand?” he continued gravely.

“Yes, sir.”

“And in no circumstance at all will you speak in the presence of His Royal Highness, or, if she should come through to dine with the guests, the Princess of Wales, or to any other member of the household. And that includes ladies- or gentlemen-in-waiting.”

“No, sir.”

“You will perform ordinary household duties such as sweeping, dusting and polishing, fetching and carrying as you are asked. You will wear your cap and apron at all times. You will speak to the menservants only as necessitated by your duties, and there will be no giggling, flirting, or generally making a nuisance of yourself-”

“Miss Phipps is here from Special Branch, Mr. Tyndale,” Pitt cut across him coolly. “She needs instruction regarding Palace etiquette, not in how to conduct herself with dignity. You might remember, sir, that you require her assistance in this unfortunate matter, and she requires and has a right to expect your protection as she helps me to learn the truth as rapidly and discreetly as possible.”

Tyndale colored. “You may count on me, Inspector,” he said stiffly. “If I offended you, Miss Phipps, I apologize. Ada will show you to your room. I have seen to it that you do not have to share. I imagine that might have made your task more difficult.”

“Thank you, Mr. Tyndale.” She was indeed very grateful. It was going to be hard enough to take orders all day without having to share a bedroom as well. She realized with a jolt how accustomed she had become to doing her duties as she pleased. It seemed like a very long time ago that she had first come to the Pitt house, a scruffy and awkward child needing to be taught almost everything. Now fully in charge, able to read and write, and engaged to be married, she was on the brink of becoming a thoroughly respectable woman.

She turned to Pitt. “ ’Ow do I tell yer if I larnt summink, sir?”

“I’ll find you,” Pitt promised. “And. . thank you, Gracie.”

She gave him a huge smile, then, aware of how inappropriate it was, she turned on her heel and went out into the passage to wait for Ada, who would show her up to bed.

Ada proved to be a pretty girl with flaxen blond hair and clear, fresh skin. She regarded Gracie with only a mild interest. The look on her face suggested that she thought anyone so small and thin was not going to prove a threat to her place in the hierarchy, nor was she likely to be a companion of much fun.

“Come on, then,” she said briskly, in one phrase establishing her superiority in the order of things.

The narrow bedroom, actually designed to accommodate two people, was right at the top of the stairs. It was quite well appointed, and the window looked out over a vista of treetops toward the distant roofs of the city. Gracie thanked Ada, and as soon as the door was closed behind her, unpacked her meager belongings to put away in the chest at the bottom of the bed. She was barely finished when there was a knock on the door again. A different maid, who introduced herself as Norah, brought a dark uniform dress, which looked to be the right size, and a freshly starched cap and apron, handsomely trimmed in lace.