at The Merry Harlot. They made batch after batch of the crescent meat pies that Edna called pasties. They dressed and tidied all the bedrooms on the first floor and Mina polished windows and mirrors until they gleamed. They did not get any arrivals until early evening when Mina looked up from her simple meal of pie and mash to see a smart carriage had pulled into the yard. Nye hurried out from the stable to greet the new arrivals.
“Do you recognize who that gentleman is, Edna?” Mina asked as she rose from the table to take the empty plates to the sink. A dapper looking gentleman of middling height was climbing out of the carriage to grasp Nye’s hand.
“Jones, I think his name is,” Edna said, glancing outside without much interest. “He arranges the matches, so I believe. Nasty business,” she concluded sourly.
Mina noted his handlebar moustache, bright blue coat, and rather garish yellow waistcoat with interest. “He’s certainly a very natty dresser,” she observed lightly.
“Not the word I’d use for it,” Edna replied.
Mr. Jones turned and reached up to the carriage, helping down a lady dressed in purple silk with a matching fringed parasol, despite the fact it was an evening in early April. Her black curls were piled exceedingly high on her head and topped with a hat covered in purple butterflies. She was not exactly pretty or in the first flush of youth, but she certainly drew the eye. On her left rouged cheek was a large beauty spot which somehow seemed to add to her attraction, rather than detract. “Is that his wife with him?” she asked.
Edna sniffed. “Calls her his ‘business partner’, he does.” She lowered her voice. “But they share the same bedroom and that’s a fact. You go on and take your wash, Mrs. Nye,” Edna urged her. “I can finish up in here. There’s water just boiling on the range for you to use. You don’t want to be running into any of these folks if you can help it.”
Mina tarried a moment, to see how Nye would greet the purple-clad lady, but other than a nod he barely seemed to acknowledge her. Feeling too tired for an excess of curiosity, she had a wash and took herself off to bed. Nye did not come up to join her until midnight, but when he did, he curled around her and fell into a deep sleep almost immediately and Mina joined him.
Wednesday dawned with a very blue sky and bright sunshine despite the bite in the air. Mina hurried down to breakfast informally in the kitchen and immediately noticed unfamiliar faces milling about the yard outside the window.
“Folks have started arriving,” Edna confirmed, following the direction of Mina’s gaze. “We’ve had two coaches already before eight.”
“Good gracious,” Mina observed, raising her teacup to her lips.
“Soon as it’s noon they’ll start swilling ale,” Edna said bitterly. “You just see if they don’t.”
“I’ll get started on the vegetables for the roast dinner as soon as I’ve finished my toast,” Mina reassured her.
Edna nodded. “The mutton’s already in the oven, roasting with rosemary and garlic for the evening meals. If you do the veg, then we’re as prepped as can be expected.”
Mina moved to take charge of the piles of carrots, beets, and turnips and commenced duties there.
Once they were peeled and chopped and set into pans of cold water, she moved them to the side where they could be placed on the range when needed.
New arrivals kept sweeping into the yard and making their way through to the public bar and even sitting in the sunshine outside on a low wall with their tankards.
Edna was forced to run in and out of the kitchen, trying to cover her many duties. She had only just started bearing the stacked platters of hot pasties into the barroom when she was called away again to show another couple up to the bedchamber they had paid for.
“Mrs. Nye,” she said with an agonized glance at the piping hot pastries. “I knows as how you’re supposed to stay out of sight, but I don’t suppose—”
“Never fear, Edna. I am sure I can carry the last of these through without catching anyone’s attention.”
The harried maid smiled at her and darted out into the hallway. Mina’s prediction proved true for the first two platters which she carried through without comment. For the third and final platter however, she was not so lucky.
Mina set the laden dish down on the nearest table