The Secret Adversary - Agatha Christie [30]
‘Through a friend who knows the lift boy here. He thought the place might suit me.’
Again that basilisk glance seemed to pierce her through.
‘You speak like an educated girl?’
Glibly enough, Tuppence ran through her imaginary career on the lines suggested by Mr Carter. It seemed to her, as she did so, that the tension of Mrs Vandemeyer’s attitude relaxed.
‘I see,’ she remarked at length. ‘Is there anyone I can write to for a reference?’
‘I lived last with a Miss Dufferin, The Parsonage, Llanelly. I was with her two years.’
‘And then you thought you would get more money by coming to London, I suppose? Well, it doesn’t matter to me. I will give you £50-£60–whatever you want. You can come at once?’
‘Yes, ma’am. Today, if you like. My box is at Paddington.’
‘Go and fetch it by taxi, then. It’s an easy place. I am out a good deal. By the way, what’s your name?’
‘Prudence Cooper, ma’am.’
‘Very well, Prudence. Go away and fetch your box. I shall be out to lunch. The cook will show you where everything is.’
‘Thank you, ma’am.’
Tuppence withdrew. The smart Annie was not in evidence. In the hall below a magnificent hall porter had relegated Albert to the background. Tuppence did not even glance at him as she passed meekly out.
The adventure had begun, but she felt less elated than she had done earlier in the morning. It crossed her mind that if the unknown Jane Finn had fallen into the hands of Mrs Vandemeyer, it was likely to have gone hard with her.
Chapter 10
Enter Sir James Peel Edgerton
Tuppence betrayed no awkwardness in her new duties. The daughters of the archdeacon were well grounded in household tasks. They were also experts in training a ‘raw girl,’ the inevitable result being that the raw girl, once trained, departed somewhere where her newly-acquired knowledge commanded a more substantial remuneration than the archdeacon’s meagre purse allowed.
Tuppence had therefore very little fear of proving inefficient. Mrs Vandemeyer’s cook puzzled her. She evidently went in deadly terror of her mistress. The girl thought it probable that the other woman had some hold over her. For the rest, she cooked like a chef, as Tuppence had an opportunity of judging that evening. Mrs Vandemeyer was expecting a guest to dinner, and Tuppence accordingly laid the beautifully polished table for two. She was a little exercised in her own mind as to this visitor. It was highly possible that it might prove to be Whittington. Although she felt fairly confident that he would not recognize her, yet she would have been better pleased had the guest proved to be a total stranger. However, there was nothing for it but to hope for the best.
At a few minutes past eight the front door bell rang, and Tuppence went to answer it with some inward trepidation. She was relieved to see that the visitor was the second of the two men whom Tommy had taken upon himself to follow.
He gave his name as Count Stepanov. Tuppence announced him, and Mrs Vandemeyer rose from her seat on a low divan with a quick murmur of pleasure.
‘It is delightful to see you, Boris Ivanovitch,’ she said.
‘And you, madame!’ He bowed low over her hand.
Tuppence returned to the kitchen.
‘Count Stepanov, or some such,’ she remarked, and affecting a frank and unvarnished curiosity: ‘Who’s he?’
‘A Russian gentleman, I believe.’
‘Come here much?’
‘Once in a while. What d’you want to know for?’
‘Fancied he might be sweet on the missus, that’s all,’ explained the girl, adding with an appearance of sulkiness: ‘How you do take one up!’
‘I’m not quite easy in my mind about the soufflé,’ explained the other.
‘You know something,’ thought Tuppence to herself, but aloud she only said: ‘Going to dish up now? Right-o.’
Whilst waiting at table, Tuppence listened closely to all that was said. She remembered that this was one of the men Tommy was shadowing when she had last seen him. Already, although she would hardly admit it, she was becoming uneasy about her partner. Where was he? Why had no word of any kind come from him? She had arranged before leaving the Ritz to have