A Broken Vessel by Kate Ross Page A

me.”
    “How inconveniently discreet of him.”
    “Well, have you or haven’t you?”
    “I’m not married.”
    “I knows that ,” she said impatiently. “I mean women—any kind.”
    “As with racehorses, I lose money on them from time to time, but I haven’t one of my own.”
    “You’re enough to make a cat laugh, you are.”
    “A cat? You mean, like the one curiosity killed?”
    She grinned. “All right, Lightning, I get your drift.”
    “Lightning?”
    “That’s what I’ve a mind to call you. ’Coz why, ’coz you’re so flash. You know what ‘flash’ means?”
    “Showy, stylish, having something to do with thieves—”
    She shook her head. “That ain’t what a game gal means when she says ‘flash.’ You see, for us there’s two kinds of coves, ‘flash’ and ‘foolish.’ ‘Foolish’ means a cove as has to pay. ‘Flash’ means you’d give it all to him for nothing.”
    Their eyes met and held.
    All at once there were footsteps on the stairs below. Julian’s landlady, Mrs. Mabbitt, came bustling in, her white hair tucked under a big checked cap, her sleeves pushed up to her elbows. Her cheeks glowed with health and hard work. Mrs. Mabbitt was so full of vigour that sometimes the very sight of her made Julian want to take to his bed for a month. Dipper came in after her, bearing a bundle of clothes in one hand, and a large bonnet with a draggled red plume in the other
    “I ran into Dipper downstairs, sir, and—” Mrs. Mabbitt broke off, staring at Sally’s attire.
    “I’ve just had me very first bath,” Sally announced.
    “And I’ve just come home,” added Julian hastily, “and heard all about it.”
    “As I was saying, sir, I ran into Dipper, and he told me his sister’s come to visit. Now, I’m sure it’s quite all right, seeing as she is his sister—” She looked keenly from Dipper to Sally, verifying the resemblance. “But still, in the strictest sense, it ain’t proper, a young woman staying with two men. You must see that, sir.”
    “Quite, yes.”
    “I’ll tell you what, sir. I have that little back room where the maid sleeps, when I’ve got one.” Mrs. Mabbitt took on maidservants from time to time, but few could live up to her standards of cleanliness for long. Julian suspected she was really much happier doing all the work herself. “How will it be if I let Miss Sally stay there, while she visits her brother and—er—gets her affairs in order?”
    “That’s very kind of you, Mrs. Mabbitt. Of course you’ll make an appropriate adjustment in the rent.”
    “That’s my look-out, sir,” said Dipper.
    “Stuff and nonsense,” said Mrs. Mabbitt cheerfully. “Nobody needn’t pay anything. Miss Sally’s to be my guest. I shall like having her about.”
    “I don’t want to be no trouble,” broke in Sally, not liking this arrangement one bit.
    “You won’t be, my girl. I like to have a visitor now and again. Come with me, and I’ll show you your room. Are those your shoes in there by the fire? Here, put them on at once, we can’t have you catching cold padding about on your poor bare feet. Once you’re settled, we’ll see about getting you some proper clothes.” She clucked her tongue at the red-feather hat. “And you haven’t washed properly behind your ears. You’ve a good deal to learn about bathing, my girl.”
    She got a firm grip on Sally’s hand and led her away. Sally looked back, mutely appealing for rescue. Julian and Dipper smiled and shrugged, in a stunning display of male helplessness.
    After they had gone, Julian said, smiling, “I think Sally may have met her match.” He added, “How much does Queen Mab know about her?”
    “I didn’t tell her much, sir, but I think she dropped down to a good deal on her own. She’s up to snuff, is Mrs. M., and a pinch or two above it. Caught me tracking up the dancers with Sally’s togs, so I had to put down to her that she was here. There wasn’t no hiding this.” He waved the