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He frowned at the thought He’d never before seen anything particularly wrong with fashionable es of that sort The ones in which the interested parties produced an heir or two and then went their separate ways socially and sexually It was the type of e that was ale he hiht of amore seemedcold And rather unpleasant, actually

Jasper shook his head Perhaps ht explain these odd thoughts He stood and set the glass by the decanter on a side table His rooe as his neife’s But that fact only ht Shadows loo bed

He disrobed and washed himself in the chilly water already in his rooms He could’ve sent down for fresh, ater, but he didn’t like anyone entering his rooms after dark Even Pynch’s presencethat up, he took it into his dressing rooht use Pynch, however, had other rooms, and this bed was never used Beside the bed, in the corner against the far wall, was a rather wretched pallet

Jasper set the candle on the floor near the pallet and checked, as he did every night, that everything was here There was a bundled pack with a change of clothes, water in a tin canteen, and some bread Pynch refreshed the loaf and water every couple of days or so, even though Jasper had never discussed his pack with his valet Beside the pae’sBeside ck was a small knife and a steel and flint He knelt and wrapped the one blanket about his naked shoulders before lying down on the thin pallet, his back to the wall He stared for a ainst the ceiling, and then he closed his eyes

Chapter Four

By and by, Jack ca by the side of the road

"Have you aught to give reeable voice

Jack set down his pack and took out soobbled it down Jack brought out a loaf of bread The old man ate the entire loaf and then held out his hands forto the very bottom of his pack to find an apple

The old man devoured the apple and said, "Is this rubbish all that you can offer?"

And finally Jack’s patience broke "For pity’s sake, man! You’ve eaten the last of my food and not a word of thanks in return I’ll be on my way and damn you for my trouble!"

--frorandest place Sally Suchlike had ever seen, and she was still a bit in awe Cor! Pink and black s looked hardly more than toothpicks, and fancy embroidered silks and brocades and velvets everywhere, yards and yards of them, much more than was needed to cover aor chair, all just draped for the finery of it Oh, Mr Fle in His Majesty’s own palace; it was so beautiful Indeed it was!

And wasn’t it an a step up from the Seven Dials area where she’d been born and had lived? If you could call living working every day fro shit and any other shit to be found and sold again for just a scrap of bread and a tiny piece of gristly e of twelve, which hen her pa had talked aboutShe’d seen a life full of shit and sorrow if shein the sahborhood she’d been born in

Sally had run away that very night to seek her fortune as a kitchen wench She’d been clever and quick, and when the cook had found a better house--Mr Fle with her And Sally had worked--hard She’d made sure not to find herself alone with any footet herself with child All along, she’d kept herself neat and her ears open She’d listened to how the Fleht in her narrow bed next to Alice, the downstairs maid, who snored like an old man, she’d whisper the words and the inflections over and over until her speech was nearly as good as Miss Fle’s

When the time came--when Bob the footman had run into the kitchens, breathless with the news that Miss Fleht herself a viscount--Sally had been ready She’d folded theand quietly crept fro

And here she was! The lady’s maid of a viscountess! Now, if only she could learn all the passages and floors and doors in this great, grand house, everything would be perfect Sally straightened her apron as she pushed open a door in the servant’s passage If she’d calculated correctly, she would enter into the hallway outside the e, with dark wood-paneled walls and a long red and black carpet Unfortunately, it looked quite a bit like all the other halls in the house until she turned her head to the right and saw the scandalous little blacka naked lady She’d noticed the figures before--well, they were hard to miss--and she knew they stood outside the door of the viscount’s room Sally nodded and shut the concealed panel door behind her before pausing to exaures were naked, and the lady didn’t look all that worried In fact, she had a dientleentleoatlike flanks, and on his head were stumpy little horns Actually, now that she peered closer, it occurred to her that the nasty stone man looked quite a bit like the viscount’s man, Mr Pynch--if Mr Pynch had hair and horns and furry flanks Which entle--

A man cleared his throat behind her

Sally shrieked and spun around Mr Pynch stood directly behind her, as if suhts He had one eyebrow raised, and his bald head shone dully in the dim hallway

She could feel a hot flush rise up her neck She planted both fists on her hips "Cor! Was you trying to give me a start? Don’t you know you can kill a person that way? I knew a lady once, got killed by a lad sneaking up behind her and yelling, ‘Boo!’ Istiff and dead on the carpet this very one and killed ? Fine fix you’d be in then"

Mr Pynch cleared his throat again, a sound like rocks being rolled around in a tin pail "Perhaps if you had not been so engrossed in your examination of that statue, Miss Suchlike--"

Sally blew out a snort, which was quite unladylike but fitting at theat this statue, Mr Pynch?"

Both of the valet’s eyebrows rose "I simply--"

"I’ll have you know that I wasfor dust on that statue"

"Dust?"

"Dust" Sally jerked her head in a single sharp nod "My lady can’t abide dust"

"I see," Mr Pynch said in lofty tones "I shall keep that in mind"