Page 45 of A Baby to Seal the Duke’s Fate

“Yes.” Honora forced herself to keep her voice calm. “The position has already been filled.”

The woman’s mouth parted slightly. “But the letter…”

“I know,” Honora said quickly. “I am sorry. There must have been an error in the agency’s records. They ought not to have sent you.”

The other woman looked down at the letter in her hand and then back up again, clearly deciding whether she was being lied to, and if so, whether it mattered enough to insist on the truth.

Honora reached into her pocket.

It was not much, only what remained of her own wages, but she had no choice now. She drew out the money and held it out.

“This should cover your return trip,” she said.

The woman stared at the coins, then at Honora.

Honora kept her hand steady.

After a moment, the woman took the money, though not without surprise. “I suppose that will do.”

Honora nodded once. “I am very sorry.”

The woman slid the coins into her reticule. “I should think the agency ought to be sorry, not you.”

Honora did not answer.

The woman looked at her once more, then gave a small shrug of resignation. “Well. There is little to be done for it.”

“Yes.”

She turned, walked back down the path, and was gone before Honora could think of anything else to say.

Honora stood where she was for a second too long, the air cold on her face.

Then she went back inside and shut the door.

Martha found her in the kitchen not long after.

Honora had just set down the empty cup she had been holding without tasting the tea in it when Martha came in carrying a towel over one shoulder and looked at her with a long, unnerving gaze. Honora’s heart sank. Had she seen the woman at the door? Had she heard the conversation through the wall?

Martha set the towel down, crossed to the stove, and filled another cup from the pot without speaking.

Honora waited.

“Have you written to anyone since you arrived?” Martha asked.

Honora blinked. “Pardon me?” She winced immediately. The question was quite random. But her incredulous tone was completely unnecessary. If Martha did not know something had happened earlier, she would right then.

“Family,” Martha said after a moment. “A friend. Anyone.”

Honora looked at her. “No.”

Martha turned with the second cup and set it on the table in front of her.

Honora stared at it. For a moment, she could not tell if Martha had seen anything at all. If she had, she gave no sign. Her face was unreadable, her manner calm, and the cup beside Honora’s looked like an ordinary gesture.

If Martha had seen the woman at the entrance, she had chosen not to mention it. If she had heard the exchange through the wall, it was not her business.

Honora was not sure which possibility was more unsettling. Or perhaps, the cup of tea had been a warning, and Martha was trying to tell her that she was onto Honora. She wrapped both hands around her cup and sat very still while the kitchen settled around her. She could not tell the difference.