122 Chapter 122

Splendor's heart hammered so hard from alarm that when she managed back through Topaz's bedroom door and half way along the landing, she could hardly walk further. But she needed to keep going at all costs.

"Jesus, Splen, watch me bloody foot. Bleedin' broken in' it?"

"I thought that was your leg?"

"Well, it's one of 'em. Anyway, whot does we got ter go fer? Whot's wrong wif this place? Look, I never nicked nothin' if that's whot yer think? Anythng whot's gone missin' yer can bleedin' well blame on Ferret."

"Are you going somewhere, me lady?"

Splendor's careful coif, already loosened by lugging Topaz along the landing, stood up from her head. Ferret, resplendent in her white gown and mob cap and carrying a candle, stood framed in the doorway to the servants' quarters.

"Me? I ... I ... "

"I would have helped you pack if you'd asked. But now-"