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Maria Isabella Boyd had never had a job like this one, though she told herself that detective asn’t really so different fro, wasn’t it? Passing information from the people who concealed it to the people who desired it This was courier work of a dangerous kind, but she was frankly desperate She was nearly forty years old and two husbands down--one dead, one divorced--and the Confederacy had rejected her offers of further service Twenty years of helpful secret-stealing had made her a notorious woe work; and the subsequent acting career hadn’t done anything to lower her profile For that matter, one of her husbands had come from the Union navy--and even her old friend General Jackson confessed that her loyalties appeared questionable
The accusation stung The exhaustion of her ’s inheritance and the infidelity of her second spouse stung also The quiet withdrawal of her nity, and the career prospects for a woe were slim and ency rateful--even if she was none too thrilled about relocating to the shores of Lake Michigan
But inia She accepted the position, h to keep into a small apartment above a laundry, and reported to Allan Pinkerton in his wood-and-glass office on the east side of the city
The elderly Scotslance when she cleared her throat to announce that she stood in his doorway Her eyes were level with the painted glassthat announced his naered on the knob until he told her, "Come in, Mrs…well, I’m not sure what it is, these days How many men’s na my father’s--and that’s the one I was born with If it throws you that much, call me Miss Boyd and don’t worry with the rest Just don’t call me ‘Belle’"
"Only three, and no one calls you Belle I can live with that, unless you’re here to sniff about for a new set of rings"
"You offering?" she asked
"Not on your life I’d sooner sleep in a sack full of snakes"
"Then I’ll cross you off ers under the fluffy, angular muttonchops that franificent in their wildness and voluh lines, which struck Maria as strange She honestly couldn’t iine that the sharp, dour man behind the desk had ever cracked a san
"Yes, that’s what you’ll call otten that squared away, and there are a few other things that need to be out in the open, don’t you think?"
"I do think that ree And I think we can likewise agree that circue indeed to find us under the sa been said, as one forer to another, it’s a bit of a curiosity and even, I’d go so far as to ad here"
"Likewise, I’h he hadn’t yet invited her to take a seat, Maria took one anyway and adjusted her skirts toeasier The size of her dress ize and he didn’t stop talking
"There are two things I want to establish before we talk about your job here, and those two things are as follows: One, I’ for the boys in gray I’s, but I suspect you’re not, and I thought you ured I’d say it and have done with it I’ood And you’re out of that racket, God knows, or you wouldn’t be here sitting in front of me If there was any job on earth that the Rebs would throw your way, you’d have taken it sooner than co here; I’d bet my life on it"
She didn’t want to say it, but she did "You’re right One hundred percent And since you prefer to be so frank about it, yes, I’o If that pleases you, then kindly keep it to yourself If this is some ridiculous show--some theatrical bit ofht low, then you can stick it up your ass and I’ll find ht with you"
His rolling brogue didn’tupanywhere I wouldn’t have asked you here if I didn’t think you orth so to show you off like you’re a doll in a case You’re here to work, and that’s what you’ll do I just want us both to be clear on the mechanics of this In this office, we do a lot of work for the Union whether we like it or not--and mostly, we don’t"
"Why’s that?" she asked, and she asked it fast, in order to fit it in
"Well maybe you haven’t heard or maybe you didn’t know I didn’t like it, but the Union threw us off a job We atching Lincoln, and he was fine Nobody killed hioddao, now he’s injured for good and out of office Grant wouldn’t have us back, so I don’ttheo to hell But they can pay like hell, too, and sometimes ork for them, mostly labor disputes, draft riots, and the like And I need to know that you can keep your own sensibilities out of it"
"You’re questioning ht I’ht, will this be a probles with a loud rustle of fabric "I’h I don’t want to be here, not really; and I don’t want to work for the Union, not at all But I gave the best years of ot tossed aside when they thought h to keep thele" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>