Free The Palace Guard by Charlotte MacLeod Page B

me up. Would Wednesday be good for you? That’s Mrs. Sorpende’s afternoon off.”
    Bittersohn raised an eyebrow. “Mrs. Sorpende’s getting awfully indispensable around here all of a sudden. You wouldn’t have been cutting her rent by any chance?”
    “How clever of you! But she’s such a darling and she’s led such a rotten life and she makes so little at that tea shop and she does love it here. And if I let her go, Professor Ormsby would probably leave, too.”
    “Ormsby will be leaving in any case. He’s a visiting professor, his year at MIT will be up in May, and he’s got a wife and five kids in Michigan.”
    “Good heavens! Should I drop a hint to Mrs. Sorpende, do you think.”
    “If she doesn’t already know, she’d better get out of the tea leaf business. Don’t worry, Mrs. Sorpende’s been taking care of herself a lot longer than you have. He hasn’t been having an affair with her or anything, has he?”
    “Not around here he hasn’t. As far as I know he just sits and stares.”
    “Can’t hang a man for that, can you? So you’ll fix it up with Palmerston for Wednesday afternoon, right?”
    “Will you promise faithfully to be here if he comes?”
    “That’s the object of the exercise. Not to put too fine a point on it, I want to shock him into hiring me to find out who’s been pinching all the Madam’s paintings. Then I’ll also have a good excuse to keep an eye on your cousin Brooks.”
    “Oh, then of course I’ll call him this minute.”
    Sarah had at last consented to Bittersohn’s repeated urgings that she have an extension phone in her own room. She called from there and received such a fulsome response that she began to wonder if Lydia Ouspenska had, after all, known whereof she spoke regarding Palmerston and women. Bittersohn then went off on one of his mysterious bits of business and Sarah went downstairs to see if Mrs. Sorpende was still in the library and amenable to helping her entertain Brooks’s new boss.
    “I shall be delighted to do anything I can to further Mr. Brooks Kelling’s career,” the lady replied graciously. “He is a most knowledgeable man and a delightful conversationalist. His observations on the water ouzel and the ruby-crowned kinglet were highly educational, didn’t you think? Perhaps you might allow me to make the sandwiches for tea? I do have professional experience in that line, you know, and I did so enjoy my little adventure in the kitchen on Sunday.”
    “We all enjoyed the results, and you certainly may. You’d better make plenty, though. Mr. Palmerston eats like a pig. And,” Sarah added reflectively, “perhaps it might be a good idea to add a little ground glass to the fillings.”

Chapter 9
    U NDER DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES SARAH would have gone to considerable lengths to avoid having tea with C. Edwald Palmerston. Even as it was, she felt the need of some fresh air to brace herself for the ordeal. Around four o’clock, while Mrs. Sorpende was puttering happily around the kitchen and Mariposa was downstairs donning her jazzy orange uniform with new yellow and orange checked ribbons on the cap, Sarah put on her coat and strolled down to Charles Street.
    Charles Street, the thoroughfare that runs through the bottom of Beacon Hill on the river side before you get to Storrow Drive and the Esplanade, is noted for its shops: florists’ shops, food shops, boutiques of many sorts, and especially for its antique shops. One of these had a collection of china pug dogs in its window, all of whom appeared to be snarling. Sarah paused to snarl back. As she did, a movement inside the shop caught her eye.
    What she’d seen were the exquisite little hands of Bill Jones, flying as they’d done at her own dinner table. She peeked in furtively, as she felt Bill would expect her to. His head was close to the antique dealer’s ear. His lips were barely moving. Sarah had seen plenty of sign language while Aunt Caroline was still alive, though, and those