she thought the room might have been both a cell and a retreat. It was a place Maya could come to that she had done her best to make her own, yet at the same time, an incarceration of sorts in a country that had, in truth, abandoned her. The Paiges had clearly helped the women, who might otherwise have had nowhere to go at all, and Maisie conceded that there were a lot of folk who would love to have a room in a house in Addington Square—but still she felt the discomfort, not least because there was a dark side to the Paiges’ generosity: in control of money, and what grown women were allowed and not allowed to do. Was such a regulated life to the benefit of women alone in a country so different from their own? Perhaps. She could not argue with the fact that the vulnerable were always easy prey, whether women, children, or, indeed, men. But how long would it have taken to afford a passage back to the land of their birth? At the rate of recompense allowed by the Paiges, it would take a very long time.
“Thank you, Mrs. Paige.” Maisie turned away from the room and smiled at the woman, who she thought was nervous. She allowed for the fact that the woman had suffered a difficult day—a second one of her charges found murdered, the invasion of her house by police, and now additional questioning.
“Did the police take much from the room?”
The woman shook her head. “I don’t know that they took anything. She didn’t have much, poor girl.”
“Letters?”
Again, a shaking of the head from Mrs. Paige. “I don’t remember her getting any, even after all these years. I think that’s why she depended upon Miss Pramal so much—Miss Pramal was like family to her. I think she looked up to her, to tell you the truth, and I heard Miss Pramal saying that when she went back, well, she’d take Miss Patel with her.”
“Is that so? Do you think she would have?”
“Oh yes. She wasn’t one who struck you as the sort to make promises she had no intention of keeping, Miss Dobbs.”
Maisie nodded. It seemed there was little more to be revealed by a couple who were reaching the end of their tether.
“I’d better be going now,” said Maisie.
The Paiges stood at the threshold to see Maisie on her way. She thanked them for their time and for accommodating her questions, especially when there was so much to trouble them. As she put on her gloves, she asked a final question.
“I’d like to speak to the Reverend Griffith. Where might I find him?”
Paige pointed across the square. “If you go across there onto the next street, then a couple of houses on the right, you’ll see a blue door with his name on a brass plaque on the wall alongside; that’s where he lives. He might be at the church, or even out visiting parishioners.”
“I’ll take my chances, then.”
“He’ll speak very highly of Miss Pramal, you know,” said Mrs. Paige.
“Did she do a lot for your church, beyond teaching Sunday school?”
“He sometimes asked for her to go with him when he went to see a woman patient who was poorly. He said she brightened up a room, what with her silk saris. He said it made people feel better.”
“And there was no discrimination?” asked Maisie. “After all, you said that people sometimes talked about your offering a place of refuge for the women here.”
“Well, when she was with the vicar it was different. No one would have said anything to him. He had a regard for her, you see.”
Maisie nodded. “Thank you. You’ve been most kind.” She turned to leave, but as the Paiges were about to step into the house, she looked back as if forgetting something. “Oh, one last thing, Mr. Paige. Could you tell me how much longer Miss Pramal would have had to wait until she had enough saved for her passage to Bombay?”
Paige looked at Maisie for more than a few seconds before answering. “She could have sailed three months before she died, Miss Dobbs, but I think she wanted to wait for Miss Patel. She didn’t seem in a hurry to leave, even if she did feel like a mouse with a few crumbs.”
Maisie left Addington Square and walked in the direction of the canal. Though it was far from being the loveliest walk in London, she could imagine Usha Pramal and