Free Face Down among the Winchester Geese by Kathy Lynn Emerson

The house was very quiet around them as he led the way up a winding stair.
    A narrow corridor ran the length of the upper level. What an extraordinary number of private chambers, Susanna thought as she passed door after door. Only one stood open, at the end. Jennet at her heels, Susanna entered a room any housewife would envy.
    "The proprietor,” their guide announced. He shut them in when he left.
    Susanna could scarce keep the surprise out of her voice. “Why, you are the very one I seek!” The last thing she had expected was to find a woman of no more than four-and-twenty in charge of this place.
    "Who are you and what do you want?” Attired in a nightgown, a loose, wrap-over, floor-length garment made of crimson satin with wide bands of black velvet down the fronts and around the hem, the woman was just breaking her fast with ale and manchet bread. She did not seem alarmed or even irritated by their intrusion, only wary.
    Acting on impulse, Susanna discarded the visor.
    "I am Lady Appleton,” she announced. “I saw you yesterday morning when I came to identify the body of Mistress Diane ... Leigh. She was a woman who looked a good deal like you."
    A sudden stillness was the brothelkeeper's only response.
    "There seems no reason for Diane to have been murdered, since she was not robbed. One possibility is that she was attacked in error.” Susanna met and held the other woman's eyes, dark eyes much like Diane's. “You bear such a close resemblance to her that I cannot help but think she might have been mistaken for you."
    Slowly, deliberately, the brothelkeeper bit into a chunk of bread and chewed. She did not speak until she had swallowed. “Why should I discuss this matter, or any other, with you?"
    "Because it is in your best interest to do so. If someone was trying to kill you, will they not try again?"
    "I am safe.” A wry smile kicked up the sides of her mouth. “For another year, at least."
    Susanna came farther into the room with Jennet trailing reluctantly behind her. “I do not understand you.
    "This particular sort of murder seems only to occur on the twenty-fifth day of April. Today is the twenty-sixth."
    "Do you speak of Mistress Tylney?” she asked. If so, this was unexpected, and a tie to Robert that Susanna could not like.
    With calm, intelligent eyes, the brothelkeeper studied her guests. After a long silence, she seemed to come to a decision. “Sit,” she invited, gesturing toward a cushioned chest. “It seems likely to profit us both if we share what we know."
    Susanna obliged, using the time it took to cross the room for a more detailed survey of her surroundings.
    The level of luxury continued to surprise her. So did the display of good taste. The wainscoting on the walls consisted of small oak panels decorated with roundels showing faces in profile. The plaster ceiling was covered with intricate geometric patterns. The furniture, like that belowstairs, was painted—crimson on the stools and benches, gold for the chests and coffers, bright blue on the tables and cupboards.
    Jennet sniffed disdainfully as she settled herself at her mistress's side. The stony stare she directed at their hostess was full of disapproval, particularly of the nightgown and the woman's long, black hair, which was both unbound and uncovered.
    "I have many questions,” Susanna said.
    "As do I."
    "I will endeavor to answer them, Mistress...?"
    With a faint smile, the woman confirmed Susanna's earlier guess. “I am called Petronella."
    Susanna lifted a brow. “Called?"
    "It is the custom for women in my profession to take names that sound foreign. ‘Tis a popular misconception among our clients that French and Italian women, and even those who are Dutch or Flemish, know more interesting diversions than those who are native born."
    "So the name is deceptive?"
    "Or tells much in itself."
    Susanna nodded. “Yes, I see. My given name is Susanna."
    "The virtuous heroine of Old Testament times."
    "And a popular