Read The Clockwork Three for Free Online Page B

help them. You will have the chance to be happy again.”
    “I am happy now,” Hannah insisted.
    Madame Pomeroy smiled. “Hush, child.”
    “I’m happy!”
    “No more lies, Hannah.”
    Hannah stood up. “I’m not lying! What do you know? You’re just a crackpot spiritualist. You don’t know me!”
    “Hannah!” came a shout from behind her.
    Hannah spun around.
    Miss Wool stood in the doorway of the parlor. Yakov loomed behind her, his nose wrinkled as if he smelled something foul. Miss Wool charged into the room. “I should have known better than to send you up here. How dare you speak to a guest in this way!”
    Hannah panicked. “Miss Wool, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Please!”
    “Silence, girl!” Miss Wool turned to Madame Pomeroy. “I sincerely apologize for this maid’s behavior. I assure you she will be dealt with most severely. I can personally guarantee that she will never again show such disrespect to another guest in this hotel.”
    Hannah nearly collapsed to the floor. Her family would be tossed out on the street. What would they do? How would they care for her father? What about her sisters? She felt like sobbing, begging, screaming.
    “It’s quite all right, Miss Wool,” Madame Pomeroy said, her voice lilting. “I’m afraid that I’m to blame for her outburst. You see, I was doing a reading, and I may have nicked her too close to the bone.”
    “There is no need to protect her, Madame. I appreciate your forbearance, but let me assure you that this maid will be dismissed immediately.” Miss Wool stared down at Hannah.
    Madame Pomeroy clicked her tongue. “I think not.”
    Miss Wool stepped back. “Pardon me?”
    “I want to employ her.”
    “Want to employ who? Hannah?”
    “Yes. I am in need of a personal assistant, and I had hoped to ask you for a recommendation. Having met Hannah, I believe she’ll do nicely.”
    “Madame, there are other girls on my staff who would be far superior —”
    “No need. I would like to have Hannah assigned to me henceforth. I want her at my disposal at any hour, day or night. This means she will have no time for other duties, I’m afraid. I assume you can spare her, since you were about to dismiss her.”
    Miss Wool blinked.
    “Then it’s agreed. Yakov, please show Miss Wool out.”
    The Russian swept the speechless woman from the room. On her way out the door, Miss Wool whipped a hateful glare at Hannah. Then she was gone. Hannah slumped into the chair, stunned. She heard the front door open, and a moment later, shut.
    Yakov reentered the room, a fraction of a grin on his face. “I enjoyed that.”
    Madame Pomeroy giggled. “So did I. What an odious woman. Now, Hannah?”
    Hannah stared.
    “Hannah?”
    “Yes?”
    “You understand what just happened? You will work for me now, at least for the length of my stay.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    Madame Pomeroy glanced at the cards still spread out. “I don’t think we need to go any further with the reading. You got the gist of it, anyway.” The woman sat down and scooped up the cards, riffling them back into a deck. She picked up her book and resumed the position of repose in which Hannah had first seen her. “You’ve had a long day, child. Why don’t you go home early this evening. I’m sure your mother could use your help.”
    “Go home early?”
    “You act as though you’ve never heard the words before. Yes, go home early. But mind you I won’t make a habit of this. Far from it. I can be a harsh mistress if your laziness calls for it.”
    Hannah nodded. “Are you sure I can’t be of some help to you now, ma’am?”
    “No, Hannah. But I’ll see you at sunrise tomorrow.”
    Hannah remembered to curtsy, in spite of her shock, and left the parlor. Yakov walked her to the door. “Welcome to the movable court of Madame Pomeroy,” he said. “May your time with us be pleasant.”
    “Th-thank you.”
    He closed the door behind her.
    In a daze, Hannah nearly