Page 228 of Once an Angel
"I haven't the faintest idea where the girl is. She ran away months ago."
Blood roared through Justin's ears. The room went dark, then red. Then he was moving forward, only dimly aware of hands tugging at him and a woman's terrified keening.
"Your Grace!" It was Chalmers's imperturbable voice, shaken to near hysteria, that finally reached him.
The room slowly lightened. Chalmers held his arm while the sullen lad with the big ears clung to his leg. Justin shook the boy off like a mongrel pup. The young teacher had pressed a handkerchief to her mouth to muffle a scream, her complexion as chalky as her mistress's. The maid was a vague white shape, open-mouthed and wide-eyed at the hearth.
Only Amelia Winters stood unmoving, almost as if she expected his blow, even welcomed it. Stricken to his soul, Justin lowered his arm.
Wringing her hands, the old woman began to babble. "I did everything in my power, but the child was always headstrong and wicked. I could not control her. I tried to guide her by the Christian principles of discipline and self-restraint, but she remained unrepentant and hopelessly ill behaved."
Justin gripped the spine of a rosewood armchair, sickened by how close he had come to striking this woman. He bowed his head. He was too late. The child was gone. He had come this close only to lose her, perhaps forever. His own cowardice had cost him the girl. What right did he have to berate this pathetic old woman?
Her voice soared on a note of hysteria. "Even with my limited means I gave her the best care and education I could afford. Why, I treated her like my very own child!"
"She's lying!"
The words burst out like a breath of wind in the stale air of the parlor. Justin jerked his head up. The
coal bucket clattered to the hearth in a cloud of ashes. The young maid marched toward him, wiping her hands on her apron.
"Shut yer trap, Tansy, or I'll shut it for ya," the boy snarled, starting for her.
With one smooth motion Justin grabbed Chalmers's cane and slammed it down across a table, neatly blocking the boy's path. He ducked his head and shot Justin a glare of pure hatred.
Even in his agitation Justin couldn't help but notice how startlingly pretty the maid was. Silky tendrils of black hair escaped her drooping mobcap. Her drab, stained apron couldn't hide the bold curves beneath the limp ruffles.
Her brilliant blue eyes brimmed with angry tears. "The old witch is lyin'. She treated the girl like a bloody
slave. Made 'er 'aul coal and work in the kitchens dawn to dusk. Made 'er teach the little ones so she wouldn't 'ave to pay no one else to do it. Fed er scraps just like she does me. Always throwin' it up in
'er proud little face she'd be on the streets fendin' fer 'erself if it weren't fer Miss Amelia Winters's
bloody Christian charity."
She grabbed his hand, painting streaks of coal dust between his fingers. "The girl weren't wicked, sir. I swear she weren't. High-spirited maybe, but not truly wicked." She nodded toward Barney and Doreen. "Not like them there. Why, before 'er da died, she was a regular angel, and even after that she was the best mate I ever 'ad."
A fresh pain jolted Justin's heart. The girl tried to withdraw her hand as if shamed by her own boldness, but he held it fast. She gazed up at him, awestruck. She must have known so little kindness in her short life, he thought, but was kind enough herself to befriend an orphaned child.
"Did she leave any clue as to where she might be going?" he asked. "A letter? A note? Anything?"
The maid ducked her head. "I couldn't 'ave read it if she 'ad. She just up and disappeared one night
when the wind was 'owling 'round the attic." Her accusing gaze flicked to Doreen. "About the same
time those two—"
"Tansy!" Barney barked.
Justin thought he might have seen a flash of genuine fear in the girl's eyes. "Show me where she slept,"
he said gently but firmly. He was determined to find some clue as to why the maid's confession was making them all fidget.
"Take one step, Tansy, and you'll be dismissed." The headmistress's voice rang out like a steel bell, then softened to a wheedling tone. "Just think of all I've done for you."
The girl wavered for only an instant before lifting her round little chin in proud defiance. "I am, Miss Winters. By gawd, I am."
With a regal swish of her stained skirt she gestured for Justin to follow. Chalmers took two steps, but Justin stayed him with his hand. There were some things he would have to do alone.
