Page 85 of Infamous

It wasn’t the cold that eventually stopped her progress – it was the sound of furious barks and raised voices, a cacophony of shouting coming from somewhere below. Eddie frowned and went to the doorway, straining to listen. It didn’t seem possible that there were enough people left in the house to cause this much noise. The shouting continued, and Eddie followed it down the hall and to the stairs that led to the kitchens and the servants’ quarters. She had never descended into that part of the house, and hesitated for a second – but then she heard something shatter, and her curiosity won out.

The scene that greeted her downstairs was baffling. All the household staff, excepting Mr Morris, were standing in the doorway to the kitchens. Nash was standing opposite them, holding Juno by the scruff, looking ruffled and furious, the silver locket he had taken to wearing clutched in his hand as if it had been violently removed. Henry’s collar was askew, and Mrs Morris the cook looked scarlet in the face and close to tears; there was a bowl of something, most likely some key aspect of the evening’s dinner, shattered on the floor between them, food splattered in every direction. As Eddie approached she saw that Anne was crying; she wiped her eyes on her sleeve when she saw Eddie approaching and then walked quickly away. Juno broke free and followed her.

‘Is everything all right?’ Eddie asked Nash, perplexed.

‘It’s all a lot of fuss about nothing,’ Nash snapped back, smoothing down his hair and attempting to breathe evenly. ‘If you’ll just—’

‘I will not stay here a moment longer,’ said Mrs Morris, drawing herself up and folding her arms. ‘I have served this family for forty years, Mr Nicholson, but this time you truly have crossed a line—’

‘This is ridiculous!’ Nash shouted. He seemed to reconsider, lowering his voice. ‘This is an overreaction, Mrs Morris. Mrs Hall. I was only—’

‘You assaulted the boy,’ said Mrs Hall slowly, her eyes grim. ‘There is no doubt about that.’

‘Yes!’ said Mrs Morris. ‘And I won’t stand for it. Come on, Henry. We shall fetch Mr Morris and then we will be away.’

She and her grandson departed, Henry looking thunderstruck, leaving Eddie staring between Nash and the housekeeper.

‘What on earth happened?’

‘Nothing,’ said Nash bitterly. ‘She hardlymeansit.’

‘She does,’ said Mrs Hall. ‘And .?.?. I am afraid .?.?. Yes. I will take my leave of you too, Mr Nicholson.’

She departed, and he stormed away after her.

Eddie drifted back upstairs to the library for want of anything better to do, but was completely unable to focus on her work. All was quiet until she heard a lot of quick, neat footsteps in the hallway.

She poked her head out of the door and saw all of the servants dressed for travel, carrying trunks that did not seem nearly big enough to hold all of their possessions; Mrs Morris was holding her head high, and she hardly blinked when Nash intercepted them at the entrance hall.

‘Come on,’ Eddie heard Nash plead. ‘Mrs Morris, I am entirely sure we can come to an agreement that would benefit—’

‘I am not interested in making an agreement with you,’ said Mrs Morris, with a sniff of indignation.

‘Mrs Hall,’ Nash said, clearly sensing that Mrs Morris was a lost cause, ‘this is a private matter between young master Henry and me, and you need not drag yourself into it.’

‘I have left my list of local suppliers in the kitchen, Mr Nicholson,’ said Mrs Hall. ‘Good day to you.’

‘Henry!’ Nash shouted, the end of his tether clearly nigh. ‘Are you really happy to be the cause of this? Your grandparents out of work, at this time of year?Saysomething, damn you.’

‘Do not blame this on the boy,’ said Mr Morris. ‘Have some self-respect, man, for goodness’ sake.’

Eddie waited until the coast was clear and then crossed to the front door to watch them go. Nash was still trailing them, shouting something she couldn’t quite hear, although his tone was clear enough; he was back to begging again. Eddie returned to the library rather than be caught spying, and on discovering that the fire had gone out completely, cast around for a tinderbox and came up empty. She removed to the drawing room, where the fire was still just about alive, and gave it a light, hopeful stoking before sitting down to work.

Valentine stalked into the room almost immediately.

‘Why is it so fucking cold? And why did nobody come when I called? Where on earth are all the staff?’

‘Gone,’ said Eddie.

‘What do you mean,gone?’

‘Apparently Nash and Henry had some sort of .?.?. altercation. The maid seemed very upset, I did wonder if it was something to do with her.’

‘Oh, Christ,’ said Valentine, sitting down heavily on the sofa. ‘Is that what he said?Altercation?’

‘Mrs Hall said Nash assaulted him.’

‘Did she now?’ said Valentine, sighing elaborately. ‘Jesus. What the hell are we supposed to do? Fend for ourselves? I cannot so much as boil an egg, can you?’