PH02 - Do Not Disturb by Kate Kingsbury Read Free Book Online

slow process of extracting a cigar from the package and handing it to her, which was his way of establishing his extreme disapproval. All of which failed to faze her one tiny bit.
    She leaned forward to accept the light from his match and allowed a puff of smoke to escape from her lips. “Thank you, Baxter.”
    “Yes, madam. I hope you suffer no ill health.”
    “Don’t worry about my health,” Cecily said, leaning back with a sigh of pleasure. “It’s as robust as yours.”
    A faint tinge of pink colored his face as he turned away. “Do you wish me to report back tonight, or can it wait until the morning?”

    “Tonight, if you are not too late. I shall worry until I know. If Mr. Bickley was there last night, it will certainly help to alleviate the suspicion on Madeline.”
    “One would most sincerely hope so.” He paused in the doorway and looked back at her. “I shall not be late, madam.”
    “Thank you, Baxter. I’ll wait up for you.”
    As he closed the door he gave her an odd look that stayed with her throughout the evening.
    “Gawd Almighty,” Gertie said, screwing up her face with disgust, “don’t tell me anybody drinks this for bleeding pleasure.”
    Mrs. Chubb stood looking down at her, arms folded across her heavy bosom. “Drink it down, my girl. You’ve got a few more to go yet if you want it to do the trick.”
    Gertie sat in the steaming tin bath, her knees bent and sticking out of the water like pale twin hills. In her hand she held a tumbler full of gold-tinged liquid, the other gripped the edge of the bathtub in grim determination.
    “If I knew I was going to go through all this, I would’ve told that Ian to keep his bloody hands off me,” she said, scowling at the glass. “I’m going to be blinking sick, that’s what.”
    “Nonsense. You haven’t eaten anything today to bring up, so I don’t know what you’re worried about.” That had been quite a battle, Mrs. Chubb thought, remembering the struggle she’d had to keep food out of Gertie’s hands for the entire day.
    “Yeah, and don’t I know it. My stomach feels like a coal cellar. I hope I can eat when I’ve got this blinking lot down me.” She took another sip of the mixture and shuddered. “No wonder they call it ‘mother’s ruin.’ ”
    Mrs. Chubb edged around the tub and reached for the poker by the fireplace. She jabbed at the coals, encouraging the flames to dance higher. “You’re not going to tell me that’s the first time you’ve tasted gin,” she said, opening the lid of the coal bin.

    “Not with bleeding ginger in it, I haven’t. Tastes like shit, it does.”
    “Gertie!” Mrs. Chubb straightened, a large lump of gleaming coal grasped in the tongs she held. “How many times do I have to tell you not to use that disgusting language? I’ve a good mind to wash your mouth out with soap.”
    “Probably taste better than this muck.” Gertie took another sip. “Bloody ’orrible, it is.”
    “Well, you’re not going to get it down you sipping at it like that. Take a good swallow. It will go down faster.” Mrs. Chubb bent forward and dropped the coal onto the fire. She wasn’t enjoying this any more than Gertie was.
    Her tiny sitting room barely gave her space to move around as it was. With the bathtub in there she had nowhere to put her feet down. Even with her armchair shoved back against the wall, they could only just fit the tub in front of the fireplace.
    Still, she could hardly let Gertie use one of the guest bathrooms, and the maids would be pounding on the door of the servants’ one if Gertie was in there all night.
    This had seemed like a good idea when she’d first formulated her plan, but now Mrs. Chubb wasn’t so sure. She’d heard that the remedy had mixed results; maybe she should have asked Madeline for one of her potions instead.
    But Gertie had been adamant about not telling anyone unless they were really forced into it. Mrs. Chubb watched as Gertie finished the mixture and