The woman’s lips trembled.
“Oh dear Lord…” she whispered, glancing at the children the way people look at a house already on fire.
“What is it?” Owen asked sharply before Evelyn could stop him.
The woman hesitated, then wrung her hands together.
“I’m Martha Bell,” she said. “I keep the boarding house. I… I was the one who told Mr. Keene how to place the ad.”
Evelyn felt a flicker of hope.
“Then you know him,” she said. “Is he expecting us?”
Martha didn’t answer right away. Her eyes kept drifting past Evelyn’s shoulder, toward the far end of the street.
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