“Where do I dump the bodies?” he asked, looking directly at Sparks.

“My place is in Marylebone,” she said. “Mrs. Bainbridge is—”

“We know where you live,” he said, opening the rear door. “Get in.”

“One moment,” said the other man, reaching in and grabbing the whisky and tumblers. “Right. In you go. Good night, ladies.”

They were silent on the ride home. When they reached Sparks’s flat, she took off Millie’s shoes and gave them to Mrs. Bainbridge.

“Tell her thanks, and make sure I get mine back,” said Sparks. “Oi, you!”

“What?” asked the driver, who was opening the door for her.

“She doesn’t call me the minute she gets home, I phone Scotland Yard. I know your face, and I know your plates. Understood?”

“Go to bed, Lollipop,” he said. “She’s safer with me than with you.”

“That may actually be true,” conceded Sparks as she got out. “Good night, Gwen. You danced with a king and a spy tonight.”

“Just another Monday,” said Gwen. “See you at the shop in the morning. The world must be peopled!”

“The word must be peopled,” echoed Iris.

She went inside, climbing the stairs in her stocking feet, then stared at her telephone until it rang, fifteen minutes later. She grabbed it immediately.

“Safely home,” said Gwen.

“Thank goodness,” said Iris.

“Were you worried something might happen?”

“I didn’t think it likely, but I didn’t think it wholly impossible, either. One more thing before I let you go.”

“Don’t you want to talk about tonight?”

“I do, but we shouldn’t speak on this line. It wasn’t tapped as of last night, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was now. Yours may be as well.”

“How exciting! If only I knew some obscenities, I could entertain our monitors.”

“I’ll teach you some after your fight training.”

“Goody. Maybe we could go terrorise some sailors after. Iris?”

“Yes?”

“It was strangely fun tonight.”

“It was, wasn’t it? Best of luck with the hangover.”

“You, too.”

Gwen walked up the stairs to the servants’ rooms and tapped lightly on Millie’s door. Millie opened it, saw her, and smiled.

“How was your date?”

“Interesting,” said Gwen. “Here are your uniform and shoes. Miss Sparks sends her thanks. How was your date?”

“Oh, he was wonderful,” sighed Millie as she took them. “A real gentleman.”

“I’m glad one of us went out with a gentleman tonight,” said Gwen.

“Yours tried to get fresh?”

“He did. There won’t be a second date.”

“Oh dear. Did you get to dance with anyone special?”

“Two older gentlemen. One was very nice, the other less so, but he tangoed well.”

“Sounds lovely.”

“Not as nice an evening as yours,” said Gwen. “Let me get Miss Sparks’s shoes before I forget. There’ll be hell to pay if I don’t.”

“Here they are,” said Millie, fetching them. “Tell her they did the trick.”

“I doubt you needed any help, Millie,” said Gwen. “Oh, I need you to do something for me.”