Quick, Amanda Read Online Free PDF Page B

on earth would she do such a thing?" misses Gatten thinks it
    was on account of Miss Kent went and made a fool of herself with the master. Let him under her skirts,
    she did. And then they quarreled somethin" fierce." What did they quarrel about?" Emma asked. No one
    knows. Happened late one night a few days after Lady Ware died. Next morning she was gone along
    with all of her things." Oh dear," Emma whispered. Real strange it was, if ye ask me." Polly was clearly
    warming to her tale. But she'd been acting odd since that night." Odd?" Letty looked briefly interested.
    Whatever do you mean, gel?" I was the one who found her, ye see. Lady Ware, that is." Polly's voice
    dropped to a confiding tone. I was takin" a tray o" tea to her chamber, this chamber, it was" Letty's eyes
    widened. Good Lord. Do you mean to say that this was Lady Ware's personal bed chamber? The one in
    which she died?" Polly nodded vigorously. Aye. Anyway, as I was sayin', I was bringin" her some tea.
    As I was comin" down the hall, I saw Mister Ware comin" out o" this room. He looked real serious.
    When he saw me he said that Lady Ware had just died in her sleep. Said he was goin" to make
    arrangements and notify the household." Well, it was not as if her death was not expected," Letty said
    philosophically. No, ma'am," Polly agreed. We all wondered how she'd hung on as long as she had.
    Anyhow, I came on in here. I was pullin" the sheet up over Lady Ware's face when the odd thing
    happened." Well?" Letty prompted. What was this odd thing?" Miss Kent comes flyin" out o" the
    dressing room." Polly angled her chin toward the door that separated the smaller chamber from the main
    portion of the bed chamber. Real upset, she was. She looked like she'd just seen a ghost." Perhaps she
    had," Letty said. Lady Ware's." Emma frowned at her. Surely you don't believe in specters, Letty."
    Letty shrugged. When you get to be my age, you learn that there are all sorts of strange things in the
    world, gel." Emma ignored that. She turned back to Polly. Mayhap Miss Kent was simply upset by Lady
    Ware's death." What was she doin" in the dressin'room?" Polly asked in what was obviously meant to be
    a rhetorical question. Know what I think?" I'm sure you're about to tell us," Emma said. Polly winked. I
    think her and the master were havin" themselves a bit o" sport back there in the dressin" room when Lady
    Ware died. Expect it gave Miss Kent a nasty turn when she came out and saw that Lady Ware had
    passed on." Letty looked amused. Poor woman. Discovering that her employer had died while she
    herself was having a tumble in the adjoining room was no doubt disconcerting." Not to mention the shock
    of learning that she was suddenly unem ployed," Emma muttered. Like I said, a few days later, she was
    gone." Polly's expression turned suitably serious again. misses Gatten told me that Miss Kent would likely
    never get another post. Respectable ladies wouldn't think of hirin" a companion who hasn't got a decent
    reference from her last post, she said." There were ways around that problem, Emma thought. But she
    decided it would be best not to mention them in front of her current employer. Letty shook her head with
    an air of worldly regret. A young woman must take proper care of her assets. Got to invest em with an
    eye to the future. Any gel who'd throw away her virtue and her reputation on a brief affair must expect to
    come to a bad end." Still, it was a pity," Polly said from the door. Miss Kent was good to Lady Ware.
    Used to sit with her for hours even though the mistress was not in her right mind most of the time on
    account o" the opium she took for the pain. Miss Kent just sat beside her and worked on her
    embroidery. A great one for needlework, was Miss Kent." A short silence fell after the door closed
    behind Polly. Emma used it to contemplate the risks of the career she had chosen. A common enough
    tale, I'm afraid," Letty said eventually. Not
    Generated by ABC Amber LIT