“Let me give you one of our flyers,” said Iris.

“Iris,” warned Gwen.

“A joke. Although I do have a possibility in mind—”

“Iris! Stop!” protested Gwen.

“Still joking,” said Iris. “We wish you the best of luck and all the happiness in the world, ma’am.”

“Thank you,” she said, digging into her handbag. “I wanted to express my gratitude for what you did in a more substantial way. Lady M mentioned that you were still struggling as a new business. I thought I could help.” She pulled out an envelope.

“Ma’am, we couldn’t possibly—” began Gwen. Then she caught Iris’s look. “I mean to say, thank you, ma’am. It is quite generous of you.”

“It’s not as if I’m granting you a royal charter,” she said as Iris came around to accept the proffered envelope. “Consider it an investment in a promising venture.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” said Iris.

“And I must go,” she said, rising to shake hands with each of them. “Best of luck. I don’t know if I want to hear the entire story, but what little I gleaned from Lady M was quite exciting. Someone was murdered, I take it.”

“Yes, unfortunately,” said Iris. “But the men responsible were apprehended.”

“Thanks to you,” she said. “It was lovely to meet the pair of you.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” said Gwen.

She walked out, then turned in the doorway.

“It’s a pleasure to see women running things,” she observed. “It gives one hope.”

Then she left.

The two stared at the doorway for a good long while until the opening and closing of the front door echoed faintly up the stairwell.

“Did that actually happen?” asked Gwen dazedly.

“We have tangible evidence that it did,” said Iris, holding the envelope. “Let’s take a peek.”

She opened it and looked inside. Then a smile spread across her face.

“Let me see!” urged Gwen.

Iris handed it to her, and she looked.

“Hello, Cecil!” she exclaimed, her eyes growing wide.

They collapsed into their respective chairs and stared at each other.

“We should call Mr. Maxwell straightaway and tell him we’re taking the office,” said Gwen, picking up the phone. “Tell me, who were you thinking of fixing her up with?”

“Mr. MacLaren,” said Iris.

“Oh,” said Gwen thoughtfully as she dialed. “Yes. He would have been good.”

Also by Allison Montclair

The Right Sort of Man

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ALLISON MONTCLAIR grew up devouring hand-me-down Agatha Christie paperbacks and James Bond movies. As a result of this deplorable upbringing, Montclair became addicted to tales of crime, intrigue, and espionage. Montclair now spends their spare time poking through the corners, nooks, and crannies of history, searching for the odd mysterious bits and transforming them into novels of their own. Montclair is the author of The Right Sort of Man, the first Sparks & Bainbridge mystery. You can sign up for email updates here.

Thank you for buying this

St. Martin’s Press ebook.

To receive special offers, bonus content,

and info on new releases and other great reads,