Page 1 of Murder on Harley Street
Chapter1
London, October 1900
Just when I thought my cousin Floyd had matured, he did something to remind me he was still a feckless youth who’d rather risk his father’s wrath than do any actual work. He’d stumbled home at first light on the day he was supposed to begin organizing an important event. The Mayfair Hotel had been hired as the venue for a presentation by a member of the Pharmaceutical Society. Usually presentations were held at the society’s offices in Bloomsbury Square, but a last-minute change had become necessary after a burst pipe caused considerable damage. The presentation was scheduled for Saturday, leaving very little time to prepare. Tasked with overseeing the organization by his father—my Uncle Ronald—Floyd ought to be spending as much time as possible making sure it was a success, but instead he was sleeping the day away.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. It wasn’t long ago that a wayward Floyd had needed rescuing from a ruthless fellow after getting himself into debt. What surprised me more than Floyd’s lackadaisical attitude to work was that his assistant, Harmony Cotton, would rather he stay in bed.
“He’s more useful when he’s asleep,” she told me outside my uncle’s office on the hotel’s fourth floor. I’d just left my suite further along the corridor when she’d emerged after a meeting with my uncle and the hotel’s senior staff. I’d waited for them to disperse before signaling to her that I wanted a word.
“How can he be useful while asleep?” I asked.
“Fewer interruptions allow me to get on with it.” Harmony’s smile may have been a mere wisp of a curve of her lips, but it reassured me that she was indeed satisfied with this arrangement. As one of the hotel maids, Harmony had proved to be an excellent assistant to Floyd when an important guest’s wedding had been held at the hotel two months ago. This medical presentation wasn’t quite on the same scale, but it was still imperative that it ran smoothly. It was Uncle Ronald’s hope that the Mayfair would be the chosen venue for larger conferences if word spread about the success of Mr. Lombardi’s event. For Harmony, it was a step closer to a new career that would hopefully see her permanently move away from being a maid.
I indicated my uncle’s office door. “Was he upset that Floyd wasn’t there for the meeting?”
“I informed Sir Ronald that Mr. Bainbridge was feeling unwell and that I would update him with everything he needed to know when he felt better.” She leaned a little closer and lowered her voice. “I’m not sure Sir Ronald believed me, but he didn’t seem angry.”
“You’re too good to Floyd.”
Harmony’s dark eyes flashed. “Making him eternally grateful to me.”
“You run the risk of my uncle finding out that you’re covering for Floyd. He could direct some of his anger at you.”
“Or he’ll be grateful that someone capable is assisting his son and heir.”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
“Mr. Bainbridge will inherit all this one day, whether he deserves it or not. I intend to make myself indispensable to him by ensuring the events he’s tasked with managing are a success. He already realizes how helpful I am, but I plan to make him see hownecessaryI am, so when the time comes for him to step into Sir Ronald’s shoes, he’ll employ me as his permanent assistant. In the meantime, Sir Ronald will be grateful that someone capable is making his son look good to stakeholders, so he’ll not be too concerned that I do more than an assistant should while his son sleeps off the effects of a full social calendar.”
Not only did she look like a businesswoman in her sensible navy-blue skirt and matching waistcoat over a crisp white blouse, with her black hair scraped into a tight arrangement, she was sounding like one, too. “Have you become more devious, or am I simply just noticing it now?”
“I prefer to think of it as clever.” She jutted her chin at the closed door to Floyd’s suite, her smile no longer in evidence. “Should you check to see if he’s all right?”
“It’s too early. He’ll sleep well into the afternoon.”
She tucked the clipboard she’d been holding under her arm and removed the watch Floyd had loaned her from her waistcoat pocket. “It’s a quarter to eleven. The day is half over for some.”
“Perhaps weshouldrouse him. There are things he needs to do. I have a few minutes before collecting Aunt Lilian for her appointment.”
Harmony pocketed the watch. “Not ‘we’, Cleo.Youcheck on him alone. I’m merely an employee. He wouldn’t want me seeing him in a state of…” She wrinkled her nose in the direction of Floyd’s door. “Whatever state he’s currently in.”
“Floyd wouldn’t care.”
“Besides, I’m busy.”
“As his future permanent assistant, I’m quite sure you’ll have to drag him out of bed from time to time to perform his duties.”
“Until that time comes, I’ll let his favorite cousin deal with him.” Her gaze drilled into me. “Unless that cousin plans to move out of the hotel soon.”
“I told you I have no such plans, Harmony.”
“Plans change.”
“Not in two weeks they don’t. Well, not in this instance anyway. Harry and I are content the way things are.”
Her lips flattened into a firm line, letting me know that she thought I was deluded if I expected Harry to be content to keep our relationship a secret from my family for much longer. Ever since I’d given in to my feelings for him, Harry Armitage and I had decided it was best to wait to make an announcement. As a former employee of the hotel, my family considered him beneath me. Introducing him as the man I wanted a future with would require delicate diplomacy and careful timing. Harmony was convinced that I alone had made the decision to wait, despite me telling her numerous times that Harry wanted it, too.
“As you and Victor are also content with your relationship,” I added with more glee in my tone than was polite.
