The Care and Management of Lies (27 page)

She listened for the footfall of her men to diminish in the distance, then looked out of the window once more, waiting for Frederick to take up his place by the gate. She was doing this, preparing the meal and setting the table, because Tom and Thea—and especially the sister of her heart, her brave, beloved Thea—would say it was the right thing to do. This was her ritual to honor a time before the war.

Kezia turned her attention to the table, remembering—but not quite—something else she had seen in the book Thea gave her. She went to the shelf next to the fireplace and took down
The Woman’s Book
from its place next to her mother-in-law’s recipe books, and began turning the pages until she found the paragraph she was seeking. And she so wanted to laugh when she imagined Thea reading the instructions aloud—mimicking Camden’s Miss Hartley perhaps, while rolling her eyes as if she was above such housewifery:

No matter how simple a meal may be, it should be put neatly on the table and made attractive to the eye. There are certain table requirements which are within the reach of the very humblest; they may not be essentials, but they are beyond doubt among the ameliorating influences of life, which help to cultivate the mind and improve the manners.

Kezia returned the book to its place and, still smiling as if Thea were with her, brought out her fine linen cloth, her wedding silver and white wedding napkins. She carried a vase of flowers from the parlor and set it on the table, then put plates in the warming oven and opened the kitchen door. Frederick was waiting by the gate, his hair slicked back by a fine late-afternoon drizzle.

“Frederick! Frederick, come here, please,” she called.

The German looked around, as if there were another of the same name behind him. He glanced along the road—he would not want to miss Constable Ashling, though there were times when he’d had to wait long enough for the policeman—then walked to the farmhouse door and bowed.

Kezia smiled. “Come in, Frederick. Sit down.”

“I beg your pardon, Mrs. Brissenden?”

“Come into the kitchen, Frederick, and sit down, please. At the table—sit there.” Kezia pointed to the chair that was usually hers. “I know you don’t get enough to eat, do you?”

The fragrant aromas of rosemary and plum, of onion and roast chicken, filled the kitchen. Kezia watched as Frederick breathed in deeply, then turned to her with tears in his eyes.

“Are you sure, Mrs. Brissenden?”

“Of course. You’ve time. I will talk to the constable when he comes. There will be no argument. And you can take some more when you go. I’ll fill a bowl for you. Now then, wash your hands first. There’s soap and a clean towel for you on the draining board.”

Kezia watched as Frederick took up the soap and scrubbed his hands, using his thumbnails to scrape deep into his skin before rinsing. She watched as he picked up the white linen towel, bringing it to his nose as if to savor the moment.

The German boy took his seat, and Kezia returned to the stove, where she spooned chicken with plum and herb stuffing, three vegetables, and sherry-laced gravy onto her best china. She came back to the table and set one plate in front of Frederick and one in front of Tom’s seat at the head of the table. Then she pulled out Tom’s chair and sat down, though she did not touch the knife and fork. Instead, she folded her arms on the table to watch.

“Eat, Frederick,” said Kezia Brissenden. “Please. I want you to eat.”

Author’s Note

The Woman’s Book
(subtitled “Contains Everything a Woman Ought to Know”), edited by Florence B. Jack, was first published in London in 1911. It not only covered household management but also had comprehensive sections on cookery, children, home doctor, business, dress, society, careers, and citizenship.

Acknowledgments

T
he collection of early twentieth-century women’s journals and magazines (or “books” as they were called by women of the era) held by the Women’s Library—now located at the London School of Economics—proved to be an invaluable resource, along with the archive of documents pertaining to the suffrage movement in early twentieth-century Britain. Thanks must go to the very professional and always helpful staff at the library.

I am so very fortunate to have a wonderful editor in Jennifer Barth at HarperCollins—thank you, Jennifer, for your enthusiasm from the moment you saw my brief description of
The Care and Management of Lies
, and for your wise counsel, always. Thanks must also go to the amazing Katherine Beitner, to Stephanie Cooper, and to Josh Marwell and his first-class team of publishing pros at HarperCollins. To the enormously accomplished Andrew Davidson, and creative wizard Archie Ferguson—thank you for the brilliant (in my humble opinion) covers for my novels.

To be blessed with an agent who believes in your work, who is honest and supportive beyond measure, must be the dream of every author—if that is so, then I am filled with gratitude to have literary agent Amy Rennert at my right hand. Thank you, Amy, for really believing in
The Care and Management of Lies
, and for helping make my dream come true.

And last, but never least, to John Morell—thank you for reminding me to celebrate each milestone on the road to publication day.

About the Author

Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the
New York Times
best sellers
Leaving Everything Most Loved
,
Elegy for Eddie
,
A Lesson in Secrets
,
The Mapping of Love and Death
,
Among the Mad
, and
An Incomplete Revenge
, as well as four other national best-selling Maisie Dobbs novels. She has received numerous honors for her work, including the Agatha, Alex, and Macavity Awards for the first book in the series,
Maisie Dobbs
, which was also nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel and was a
New York Times
Notable Book. Originally from the United Kingdom, she now lives in California.

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Also by Jacqueline Winspear

Maisie Dobbs

Birds of a Feather

Pardonable Lies

Messenger of Truth

An Incomplete Revenge

Among the Mad

The Mapping of Love and Death

A Lesson in Secrets

Elegy for Eddie

Leaving Everything Most Loved

Copyright

THE CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF LIES
Copyright © 2014 by Jacqueline Winspear. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

ISBN: 978-0-06-222050-9

EPUB Edition MAY 2014 ISBN 9780062220523

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