Jane, please write back as soon as possible. I ache to hear about the escapades you are having in Maryland. Is it as refined as all of the papers would have us believe?
I wake to Katherine yelling.
“Jane McKeene, did you tell Mr. Gideon that I have been sent here because of a man’s jealous wife?”
“Shh, there’s no need to yell.” I groan and attempt to get up, forgetting the trauma to my back until agony explodes across my skin. Firm hands push me back down.
“Just lie there, there’s no need to move right now,” Katherine says, her words gentle but her tone still sharp. I settle back onto my stomach and Katherine climbs onto the bed next to me. She smells of lavender water, and it reminds me of my mother so much that I nearly hug her.
“Jane,” Katherine says after a moment. She measures her words, trying not to lose her temper with me. “Why did you tell Mr. Gideon my secret? After I expressly forbade you to tell anyone?” Her words are still too loud, and I worry that someone might overhear.
I open my mouth to explain and then pause. “What?”
Katherine leans in close. “Jane McKeene, we have been acquainted long enough for me to know one of your plots when it comes knocking. There are about four of the Duchess’s girls pressed up against the door right now, listening in. Even now they’re memorizing all this to tell their customers later tonight. And no one gossips like men.”
I grit my teeth. “You’re a lady, Miss Katherine. You shouldn’t even be here,” I say loud enough to be heard.
“Feh. The sheriff is out of town on some business, and the preacher is giving his nightly sermon to the sinners of Summerland.” Her lips twist when she mentions Pastor Snyder, and she lowers her voice. “Anyway, I figured sneaking in here was worth the risk. What’s your plan?”
“What makes you think I have a plan?” I ask.
She gives me a bit of side-eye and I sigh. I shift and sit up, even though it hurts something fierce. “I don’t know what’s beyond the walls of Summerland, but it can’t be worse than what’s inside them. If we’re going to get out of here, we need to get rid of the sheriff. He has eyes everywhere, and not just his men, but folks on the patrol like Cora, too, and who knows who else—there’s no way we’re getting free while he’s in charge. Which means we have to get close to him, compromise him. And he’s much too careful for anyone else to do it, so . . . it’s up to you. We need him to fall in love with you.”
“Absolutely not! I will not compromise myself for that man.”
Under the indignant anger, I can tell Katherine is close to tears. These last few weeks must have been just as hard on her as they were on me. It’s clear from her voice what she thought I was asking of her, and I swallow hard. Katherine ain’t got no reason to believe that I wouldn’t ask such a thing of her, and it makes me feel ugly to know that she thinks I would. I haven’t always been the best to Katherine, and being trapped in this awful place reminds me of that. I reach out and take her hand, squeezing it. “I ain’t asking you to give yourself to him, Kate. I might be coarse, but I ain’t a monster.”
Katherine says nothing for a long time, and when she finally does speak her words are choked with emotion. “Good. Because I won’t barter my body for your freedom, Jane, nor mine.”
“No, and you won’t have to. You just need to get close to him, drug him, and leave the rest to me. Then we’ll liberate ourselves and hightail it out of here.”
“What about everyone else?”
“What about them?”
“We cannot just hightail it out of here and leave everyone to that man’s nonexistent mercy, Jane!” Katherine is whispering much too loud, and I shush her. This is most definitely not part of her act. I could tell her there won’t be a sheriff left when I’m done, but I doubt she’d go along with the plan if she thought it was predicated on unsavory business.
“Keep your voice down! Like you said, walls have ears and all. I already figured we’d take whoever wanted to go with us. That’s the best I can offer.”
“That’s not good enough,” Katherine says, her voice low. “What about Lily and the Spencers? What about Jackson?”
“Jackson is dead,” I say, my voice flat.
Katherine jerks as though she’s been slapped. “Well, when were you going to share that little revelation?” Her voice is hollow, and I hate her for feeling anything for Jackson at all. Even with him gone, I still think of him as mine. What a stupid, selfish girl I am.
“I just didn’t think to share it. I’m sorry. I know you fancied him.”
“I did not fancy him,” she says. “I don’t fancy anyone. But he was a good person, and his passing is unfortunate. In the future you need to tell me these things instead of suffering the truth in silence.” Katherine’s tone is haughty, even as she whispers. “And if I’m meant to get close to the sheriff and get his guard down, I ain’t doing it alone.” She jumps off the bed, and I notice she’s wearing a lovely blue silk day dress, akin to what the ladies of Baltimore used to wear. “I appreciate your dedication, Jane, but I’ll not have you injured so badly again,” she says, loud enough for anyone to hear. Her tone is polished, befitting a lady of her supposed station. “As soon as you’ve mended enough to be useful you will return to your Attendant’s duties. Understood?”
“Of course, Miss Katherine,” I say, slipping into the characteristic speech patterns of an uneducated serving girl. “I’ll try to get better lickety-split. Don’t you worry none about me. I’m a real fast healer.”
Katherine shoots me one of her too-familiar dirty looks, an expression I haven’t seen in a while, and I smile as she slips out the door.
I feel better than I have in weeks, even with my mangled back. I’m confident that I will be en route to Rose Hill and my momma soon. If it means playing lady’s maid to Katherine in the meantime, so be it.
How bad can it be?