Chapter 2
My hopes of convincing Mr. Armitage that I should become his partner in his new enterprise were dashed upon arriving at the address his uncle had given me.
It was not Mr. Armitage’s home, but his place of business, and ARMITAGE AND ASSOCIATES: PRIVATE DETECTIVES had already been painted on the door.
I wondered how difficult it would be to change it to ARMITAGE AND FOX.
Probably as difficult as it would be convincing him he needed a partner.
Wedged between a barber shop and a café, the door was easily missed.
While both shops sported clean windows and seemed respectable, there was a hint of the foreign origins of their owners in the translations below the English.
I recognized the Italian words on the café window but not those painted on the barber’s.
Soho was the poor relation of neighboring Mayfair, and up until a decade ago it had been a slum.
Its Bohemian heart and close proximity to the wealthy meant it was the ideal location for the theaters and assorted restaurants and cafés that sprang up on the main streets.
There was an energy about Soho that was not present in Mayfair.
It was as if the area looked forward to the possibilities of the new century, while Mayfair was too busy looking back at past glories to notice that the world had moved on.
Mr. Armitage’s office was not located on one of the busy Soho thoroughfares.
The narrow street looked as though it was still struggling to leave its slum roots behind.
The buildings’ paintwork was either fading or peeling away, and rubbish blew down the street whenever the wind picked up.
Yet despite the muck-filled gutters and lack of street lamps, the stoops were swept clean.
I pushed open the door to Armitage and Associates and climbed the stairs to the first floor landing where another door was painted with the sign for Mr. Armitage’s business. The paint smelled fresh.
I hesitated a moment before knocking. The door was immediately opened by a smiling Mr. Armitage. The smile vanished upon seeing me.
“It’s you,” he said flatly.
“I’m sorry to disappoint.”
“I hoped it was a potential client.”
“Perhaps I am.”
Mr. Armitage’s gaze narrowed, clearly not believing me.
He stepped aside, however, and invited me in.
I brushed past him, very aware of his closeness.
Harmony had been right when she said I found him handsome.
I did. With dark hair and chiseled features, coupled with his height and broad shoulders, he was an impressive man.
A physical attraction was as far as my interest went, however.
The small office was as masculine as the man himself with its half-wall paneling and bulky furniture.
He must have bought the desk and armchair secondhand.
Both bore scratches and the leather of the armchair had faded to a mid-brown.
Except for a clock, the walls were completely bare.
There wasn’t even a bookshelf, although a filing cabinet stood behind the desk.
“You ought to put up a picture of your parents,” I said. “It’ll make the place a little more friendly. And get a bookshelf and stock it with books. A few knick-knacks wouldn’t go astray too, but don’t clutter the place.”
He slammed the door, making my nerves jangle. “Did you come here to give me decorating advice?”
“I’m simply trying to help. If you want clients to feel comfortable, you should add some small touches.
You don’t want to intimidate the clients, but you do want to create an air of competence.
Your choice of furniture makes it seem as though you’ve been in business a while, which will be good for establishing your authenticity.
” I ran my hand over the back of the armchair. “This is nice. It’s very homely.”
His gaze narrowed further. “Are you angling for a commission?”
“Pardon?”
“I’ve heard of ladies offering their services as decorators.”
“Good lord, no. That would involve shopping, and I’m not terribly good at that. Flossy would enjoy it, but she’d ignore your budget and shop at the high-end stores. Not that she’d be allowed to start such a business venture.”
“Of course. Bainbridge women don’t work.”
The way he said it, I suspected he was lumping me in with Flossy.
I’d long suspected he and everyone else thought I was wealthy.
It was an easy mistake to make, considering my mother and Aunt Lilian were the only children of a wealthy businessman.
Few people knew that Aunt Lilian inherited everything after my grandfather cut my mother out of his will when she married my father.
My father, an academic at Cambridge University, had not been the sort of man my grandparents wanted their daughter to marry.
At first, I wondered why everyone here in London didn’t realize I was quite poor, when I had to move in with my uncle and aunt, but in time I learned they simply assumed I wanted companionship.
They weren’t to know that my only income came from the allowance Uncle Ronald paid every month.
Part of me wanted to set Mr. Armitage straight, but only a small part. My financial situation was my business, not his or anyone else’s.
Mr. Armitage offered me the guest chair then sat behind the desk. “You said you have a case for me.”
“No, I said perhaps I’m a potential client.”
He tilted his head to the side. “So…you’re not?”
“No.”
He heaved a sigh. “Then why are you here, Miss Fox? Please be brief. I’m a busy man.”
“Oh? You have a case already?” Perhaps it was a little cruel, considering he’d clearly just opened for business, but his brusque manner grated me the wrong way.
I never thought I’d miss the charming assistant manager I’d first met on my arrival at the Mayfair Hotel, but today I did.
As false as that charm might have been, it calmed my fractious nerves.
“I do, as it happens.” He smiled one of his winning smiles when my face fell.
I quickly rallied, however. This could work in my favor. “That’s marvelous. You’ll need a partner to help with the case load.”
“It’s hardly a load yet, but hopefully it will lead to more clients.”
“I’m sure it will. You ought to prepare for that eventuality now.”
“By having a partner?” He shook his head. “I’ll learn to walk before I run. Besides, I don’t want a partner.”
“You will when the right partner comes along.”
He leaned back in the chair and regarded me. “Miss Fox, do you have someone in mind?”
“I do, as it happens.”
“Please inform him I’m not looking for a partner. If I find I need help as I get more cases, I’ll contact you for his details and I’ll interview him. I can’t promise anything, however, since I don’t know his qualifications.”
“She’s very qualified. She solved a murder.”
“She?” He laughed, but it quickly faded. “Are you putting yourself forward as an employee?”
“No. As a partner.”
He laughed again, then stopped, then barked another laugh for good measure. I shifted in my chair, willing my face not to flame. Unfortunately it betrayed me.
I gathered my wits about me and forged ahead. I was here now, and it was too late to turn back. “Why do you find it so amusing? You can’t possibly know anyone more qualified than me who is willing to work with you for no pay until the client settles the account.”
He tilted his head to the side and studied me. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Would I subject myself to your humiliating reaction if I weren’t?”
He gave the smallest wince and put up his hands.
“I’m sorry. My reaction was uncalled for.
” It was nice to see that he could still act the gentleman in my presence.
He did spoil it somewhat when his lips twitched as he tried not to smile.
“Please allow me to explain why I can’t accept you as a partner, even if I were looking for one. First of all, we don’t get along.”
“We could if you forgave me for getting you dismissed from the hotel.”
“I have forgiven you for that. I have not forgiven you for putting my uncle through the distress of losing a job that’s very dear to his heart.”
It was my turn to wince. I regretted every moment of the meeting in my uncle’s office when he’d dismissed both Mr. Hobart and Mr. Armitage for keeping the secret of Mr. Armitage’s arrest. “I helped get him re-employed by putting in a good word with my uncle.” It sounded pathetic. I swallowed and looked down at my lap.
Mr. Armitage sighed. “And for another thing, your family would not approve.”
I lifted my gaze to his. “That’s for me to worry about.”
“I don’t want my fledgling business blacklisted by a man as powerful as Sir Ronald Bainbridge. Not when I plan to use his hotel as a source for my clients, at least initially. And finally, I will never have a partner.”
“Then let me be an associate.”
“No.”
“But you already have ‘Associates’ painted on the door. Why put it there if you don’t plan to hire staff?”
“I do plan on it, just not yet. There isn’t enough work. And may I point out again, that I wouldn’t hire you.”
I chose to ignore the latter part of that statement and latch onto the former. “There will be enough work when I tell you about a potential case for a paying client. That will mean two cases. You can’t possibly work them both at the same time.”
He simply smiled, but there was a brightness to his warm eyes now that hadn’t been there before. I’d piqued his interest. “What’s the case?” he asked.
“I’m not telling you unless you hire me.”
“Blackmail, Miss Fox?” He clicked his tongue. “What would your family say?”
“My uncle would congratulate me on sticking to the course I’ve mapped out. He is a businessman, after all.”