Ill-Fame (A Detective Harm Queen Novel Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

door and the chambermaid appeared, hands crossed at her waist. She curtsied with a slight stumble, and looked up deferentially. “Madame Clifford would like to see you in her office,” she said.
    “Now?”
    “As quickly as you are able to look presentable, is what the madam says,” replied the girl. “An important visitor is here to see you.”
    “Can you help me, please?” She walked to her wardrobe, Maple following. It could be any of a half dozen men, she thought. She counted as her regular clients two state senators, the owner of a large department store, and a Ramsey County judge, among others. She glanced at her collection of dresses, shirtwaists and gowns. Mostly gowns for work. Nothing too revealing, not like some of the whores in the downtown brothels who left little to the imagination. These were constructed to accentuate the shape, and please the eye. She had more formal clothing, also. An occasional date in a courtroom required respectable wear. She thought for a moment and chose one of her more stylish, elegant dresses, a wool one with blue and black stripes, high collar and fashionable balloon sleeves.
    “Help me take off this gown, and then the dress.”
    “Miss Boyce? Don’t you need a corset, first, for a dress like that?”
    “No, Maple. Just help me fasten it from the back. And when you’re finished, give me a spray of the perfume in the white bottle.”
    There was no point in a corset, when it most likely would be off in twenty minutes. After a moment’s thought, however, she picked out a black silk one and handed it to Maple. She didn’t feel quite herself, as her grandfather was on her mind. The idea of a grind with a client suddenly made her stomach turn.
    Whichever man waited for her below wasn’t going to get a purring vixen today. I want to look like a lady , she decided, and took a deep breath as Maple pulled the corset’s laces tight. The dress went on next. It fit well. Finally, Maple fetched a pair of lace-up boots, and helped her with the slow process of tying them up.
    She went to her dressing table. Putting on cosmetics was taboo in normal ladies’ circles, but she didn’t belong to any of those. She arched her eyebrows with a pencil, darkened her lashes, applied some liquid rouge with a bit of cotton, and made her lips with her grenadine stick. She knew the age-old insinuation. Painted ladies ruled the night. Depravity, wickedness and other nonsense. She didn’t care, however. She enjoyed the way the makeup made her look, and how it highlighted her facial features. She examined herself in the mirror; at her button-shaped, slightly turned nose. Her cheeks were full and her eyes large and blue. She had the look of a Scandinavian; even the yellow hair, which Maple was putting up in a bun. She had been blessed with good looks, and while they financed her fineries now, she also knew that they had been to blame for her abduction. That made her think of her grandfather again, and she felt more nausea. Whoever was downstairs, she thought, had better not expect a roll with her today. It would anger Madame Clifford, but she was resolved. Just like her grandfather, she thought: stubborn, once she’d made her mind up at something. That thought sent a rush of happy warmth through her body, and strengthened her determination.
    You can withstand the reprimand .
    She stood up, ready to face her employer and whoever else demanded her attention.
     
     

CHAPTER 4
     
     
     
    His little bay was deceptively fast. It gave him a mild startle when he took the corner too quickly and felt the gig rise up a little on one wheel. Queen yanked on the rein to slow, and bounced down the dirt lane until he reached a squat frame house. The perfect-sized home, he thought with tenderness, for a bachelor and his sister. Peder Ulland was Queen’s best friend, and quite possibly his only real one. They’d met years back when the detective had done some work for Peder, who made his living as an advocate for