"Perhaps he's being haunted," George said.
I choked but managed to turn it into a cough. Jacob patted my back and I continued to cough although the need had gone. I simply liked his touch. A lot.
"Are you all right, Emily?" George asked, shifting along the sofa towards me.
Mrs. White stood. "I'll get some water."
I stopped coughing and Jacob stopped patting. "I'm fine, thank you." I refrained from looking at him for about two seconds then couldn't help myself. Unfortunately he had his back to me, striding towards the door. Avoiding me again. He was making quite a habit of it.
Mrs. White sat down. "How is Lucy getting along?"
"Very well," I said. "I think she's a little perturbed to be working in the house of someone who can see ghosts, but she doesn't seem too afraid." She'd got through the night at least, which was more than I could say for one of our previous maids.
"Good, good. And how is Maree?" she asked George.
"Ah," he said. "She is the reason we've come here. She's disappeared-."
"Disappeared!" Mrs. White shook her head. "No, no, no, not Maree. She's such a good girl. We never had any problems with her here."
"She also stole a book from me."
Mrs. White stifled a gasp with her hand. "Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. Are you sure?"
"Quite sure." George told her about our interview with Maree Finch and the reasons for our suspicions. "The odd thing is," he said in finishing, "is that she can't read. So why steal a book of all things?"
"A very good question," Mrs. White said. She frowned and shook her head slowly. "I simply can't believe Maree would do such a thing. And a book too when she can't read, as you say. What was it about?"
"Demonology," George said before I could deflect the question. I thought it was one we should avoid answering truthfully. I didn't want to alarm the lady.
But Mrs. White didn't seem as disturbed as I thought she would be. I'd expected a vehement denial of Maree's interest in demonology, or a little gasp or some show of distress over the book's subject matter. As it was, she simply paled. It was a considerable paling but nevertheless it wasn't a fierce reaction. "I see. Well, that's an...interesting topic for a young girl."
"Particularly for a young girl who can't read," Jacob said. "It's not the sort of book that will help her learn."
I agreed wholeheartedly. "We think she might have stolen it for someone else," I said.
"For her brother," George added.