‘Absolutely not. East London, I’d say,’ said Thea.
Harriet smiled.
‘Gets you out of wifely duties I suppose.’
‘Thank goodness.’ Thea and Harriet shared a look, but once again didn’t dare elaborate. Thea reflected on the irony that due to the politeness of society, a gardener she had met seven times knew more about her than her best friend.
‘Well, now you’re going to have your own lady in the house,’ said Harriet, as they juddered to a stop. She threw Thea a broad grin and practically pushed her out of the carriage.
Thea rapped on the surgery door, considering that she should make herself known to Herbert or Speckle and not simply walk into the garden as she was tempted to do. Presently, the door opened with a creak of the hinges and a gaunt Doctor Herbert stood tall, his white hair the only counterpoint to his black jacket, shirt and trousers.
‘Good afternoon,’ said Thea, trying to control her excitement. ‘We were passing by and hoped to pick up some ointment for Mrs Henry and a plant or two from Frankie. Would it be possible for us to go round?’ she gestured down the path that led through lush greenery.
He stared at her with hawklike precision, his gaze flicking briefly to Harriet, and then back.
‘You may help yourself if you wish, of course Your Grace,’ he said, flicking a hand towards the yard. ‘But I am afraid Frankie no longer works here.’
‘A note?’ asked Thea, as she stood in Kit Speckle’s front room, still stunned. ‘That said what?’
‘I feel so responsible,’ said Kit, combing his hand through his real hair, as he was currently devoid of a wig. ‘I helped her to do it.’
‘You helped her to lose her job?’ asked Thea, not understanding where this was going.
Jem, the woman who lived with Kit Speckle – platonically, he assured them even though that was highly irregular – brought some tea.
‘Sit, please,’ he said, busily lifting notebooks and medical books from the two chairs in the room. He brushed crumbs off them and stood back. Thea and Harriet sat down. Jem sat in a wooden chair in the corner and Kit paced by the lit fire.
‘What do you mean, Kit?’ asked Thea, desperate to get to the bottom of Frankie’s disappearance.
‘She’s been going to lectures,’ he said, hand going through hair once more. ‘She was interested and clever and that’s how she learns best. By having someone tell her. I thought it would help with the medicinal plants.’
‘And Doctor Herbert found out and didn’t like it?’ Thea guessed.
‘Well,’ Kit stopped pacing and looked at her, and then started again. ‘She was using my suits. Nothing funny, but just to get in. They won’t have women in places like that, not for the serious learning.’ He stopped again and looked at them. ‘Not that Iadies can’t–’
‘We know,’ interrupted Thea, waving away his disquiet. ‘Was that all? He got rid of her because she got into lectures dressed as a man?’
Kit walked to the window, and then back. He looked between them, then to Jem, who nodded to him.
‘The note said other things as well. She was seen down an alley. Doing things she… shouldn’t have been.’ Thea’s blood ran cold, and she froze. What did that mean? Someone had seen them, but from the way Kit was acting, he didn’t know it was her.
‘You saw the note?’ she asked, to check.
He nodded. ‘It was brief, but that was enough for him. Whilst she was kissing a man, she was dressed like… and it looked like…’ His face showed the desperation of trying not to saythings that he needed to impart, but that were not acceptable conversation to have with a duchess in your front room.
‘I see,’ said Thea, her mind racing. Awful for Frankie, but hopefully she had remained anonymous. Who had been watching them?
‘And if anyone had recognised her,’ Kit said. ‘That’s bad enough, but then whoever the rascal was gave her a lift home. She was seen getting out of the carriage right in front of the surgery.’
Thea’s heart thudded. Her livery wasn’t yet on her new carriage but there weren’t many as grand in the city. What if the letter-writer knew it was her? What if they wrote to George, or tried to blackmail her? At least there hadn’t been a letter at Whitehall this morning – surely both would have come together?
‘Bad for the surgery,’ she said, trying to keep the conversation on track and her panic hidden.
‘And Herbert won’t have his reputation tarnished,’ said Kit. ‘At any cost. Physicians must be squeaky clean.’
‘Can’t you help?’ asked Thea. ‘Explain?’
Speckle gave a wry smile. ‘I tried. And now I’m no longer his apprentice either.’ Thea was horrified.
