Free Independent Brake (The Dominion Falls Series) by Sarah Cass Page A

proud of it elsewhere.” Crumbly turned on her heel and slammed the door behind her.
    Kat wanted nothing more than to collapse right there, but she knew nosey girls were peeking out of the curtains. So instead she grabbed the handle of her trunk and her satchel, and started down the street.
    Once she was far enough away to avoid being seen, she hailed a cab. Without anywhere else to go, she gave them Patrick’s address. The red hot heat of embarrassment flamed her cheeks, but she still didn’t cry.
    The whole ride there, she stayed crouched down in the seat. They city passed in a dimming tableau of normality. When the carriage slowed, she sat up straight as possible, and tried to push aside her embarrassment.
    She accepted the driver’s help out of the cab and strolled up the walk to the door. Before the driver had caught up to her, she knocked on the door, and forced a smile as the butler opened the door. “Hello, Loren. I know I’m not expected. Might Mr. Warner be home? I’m afraid I have a favor to ask.”
    “Mr. Warner is out, but has left express word that the Misses Wells and Finney are to be let in at any time.” Loren smiled and held open the door. When the driver appeared with her trunk, to Loren’s credit, he didn’t’ even raise a brow. “Leave the trunk there, I’ll take care of it.”
    Kat paid the driver, but said nothing else until he was gone, or even after.
    “Would you care for tea, Miss Wells?” Loren took her elbow to guide her toward the kitchen. “While you drink, I could have Tillie draw you a bath.”
    “Oh. That sounds lovely.” Kat was more than relieved Patrick had been kind enough to leave word that she and Delphie were welcome at any time. If nothing else, it eased her nerves some to know she’d been welcomed.
    Without another word, Loren had her settled in a chair in the parlor, a steaming cup of tea in her hands. Though he’d disappeared from view, she could hear him giving orders to Tillie and also to Constance, the cook Kat had found for him.
    Kat relaxed more, and smiled. While in most proper households the staff were to be unheard, silent, like magical creatures that did their duty with no one in proper society the wiser to their presence; Patrick had a different view. She imagined his loneliness aided in his tendency to treat his staff a mere level below family. He’d once said if he didn’t have to pay them, even that level below would be ignored in favor of treating them as equals.
    Loren appeared in the doorway again. After a low bow, he gestured to the stairs. “Your supper will be ready after your bath. I’ve put your things in your usual room.”
    “Thank you, Loren. That’s more than you needed to do. I’m afraid I’m just still in shock.” She rose to follow him, and fell into step beside him on the steps. “Miss Crumbly has decided she doesn’t care to have a woman of my ilk in her establishment any longer.”
    “Your ilk? Miss Wells, you are of the highest class of people.”
    “Ah yes, but I consort with Patrick, and rumors of my deviancy have reached her crotchety old ears.”
    “Then it would seem that she does not understand kindness and decency are above all.” Loren held open the door to the washroom. “If Mr. Warner arrives before you’ve completed your bath, I will let him know you’re here.”
    “Thank you.” Kat waited until the door closed before letting go of the façade. Her legs wobbled and she sank to the floor, the first tear falling. Where would she go now? Crumbly might be a bitter old woman, but she had a reach quite wide when it came to spreading word. No other boarding house would take her. While she certainly could afford to live in a hotel, it would drain her savings faster than she could replenish it.
    What was it Patrick had said? ‘Regret and loss are different things; but pain is pain’. She had no regrets, but the loss of a stable roof over her head was a heavy blow. While she didn’t fear the ruin of her