Hall of Infamy Read Online Free PDF Page B

consciousness.
    She came back to earth on the floor to find Jamie still entwined about her. His strong arms around her felt wonderful, and the gentle way he kissed her neck made the plump maid purr with pleasure.
    â€˜Very nice.’ He stroked her cheek gently. ‘You fuck like butter, Betsy. Only—’ Betsy stiffened at the word, her warm glow dispersing, ‘—I was wondering. When, exactly, did I give you leave to frig yourself?’
A Stable Relationship
    â€˜Oh dear, oh dear, Amelia. What are we going to do with you?’ Jamie sighed theatrically. ‘Mr Catchpole has come all the way from Hatherby to perform his office, and Mrs Pritchard tells me that all the servant girls have already been done. Yet you persist in this obstinate refusal. Tsk, tsk – you really do seem determined to make life difficult for yourself!’
    Amelia glared at the young man, who had emerged from his room as immaculately dressed as ever, this morning sporting an emerald cravat and an embroidered silk waistcoat of gold thread on dark green. She and Clara had been roused a full two hours earlier by Betsy. Once again dressed in the costume of the previous evening, they had been set various demeaning tasks while he idled in his bed. It was not boot-cleaning that had provoked Amelia’s rebellion, however.
    â€˜I won’t, I won’t, I simply won’t let that man—’ she shook her head vigorously, as if unable to say the word, ‘—do that to my…’ Again, her words tailed off.
    â€˜Amelia, do be careful. Your face has gone quite purple.’ Jamie turned to the housekeeper, who was standing stiffly at the door. ‘Mrs Pritchard, would you mind explaining what happens to the maids on those occasions they miss the barber’s visits?’ he said pleasantly.
    â€˜I – am – not – a – servant!’ Amelia said through gritted teeth. All the same, something about his calm tone chilled her. She glanced at the housekeeper and was mortified to see her sour smile.
    â€˜Why, in that case they have to be sent into Hatherby, Master Jamie. To be shorn in Mr Catchpole’s special barber’s chair. He has straps and what have you, so that uncooperative “customers” can be secured, for their own safety. He says the razors are too sharp to work on anyone who might thrash around.’
    â€˜Good lord,’ said Jamie, ‘and is that expedient often resorted to?’
    â€˜Oh, no, sir. The maids all try to avoid it most diligently. The barber’s shop is on the high street and, well, when a girl is being shaved… Well, some of the commoner people tend to congregate and stare.’
    â€˜Oh yes, he has a fine shop front window, I recall, but what about the blinds?’
    â€˜Mr Catchpole says he can’t draw them, for want of light, sir. That’s why, when he comes to us, he works in the Whippery—’
    â€˜All right, all right,’ Amelia broke in bitterly, her resolve having been dissolved by this discussion. ‘If I must endure this outrage, I suppose I must. What purpose this indecent procedure serves eludes me, but I will not be gawked at by the collected labourers of Hatherby.’
    â€˜I’m so glad you have changed your mind, Amelia. Mrs Pritchard, would you be so kind as to escort Amelia and Clara to the Whippery? Perhaps you might explain to them why we have to have the lower orders shaved this way.’
    â€˜With pleasure, sir.’ Mrs Pritchard gave Jamie a brief nod and opened the door for the cousins. Amelia followed Clara out of the parlour miserably.
    â€˜We shave our girls strictly for hygienic reasons,’ the black-clad woman said as the two girls preceded her down the nursery stairs. Amelia clenched her fists in impotent fury as the woman continued conversationally, ‘It’s particularly efficacious in preventing pubic lice, which can be a problem amongst the commoner sort