It was very hard to keep a straight and serious face whilst a horse clopped its way out through the pantry but Jenny managed it.

"So…so you wanted me ma'am? I mean you mentioned business? Is it a case?" she felt her hands wringing her apron and mentally cursed the nervous habit.

"No. Not as such. This is Mr Beecham. He is a solicitor. There are some matters to discuss and some papers that you will need to sign."

A tingle of dread made its way up Jenny's spine and she unconsciously hunched her shoulders as she followed Vastra into the dining room. It wasn't ever used as a dining room, Jenny ate in the kitchen and Vastra ate wherever it was she ate. But there was a beautiful octagonal table which Vastra had bought and was one of the few pieces of furniture in the house that Jenny liked to polish; it had such a beautiful sheen to it.

"Sit." Vastra gestured.

Jenny slid into the chair she'd indicated, setting the angel down on the table and watched as the solicitor pulled some papers out of his case and laid them out in front of her. Vastra sat down stiffly in the chair next to her. Jenny's eyes flicked to the solicitor, who had retreated a little ways off and was now staring fixedly out the window.

"You have been in my service for quite some time now, Miss Flint and your loyalty is something I would not wish to see go unrewarded. Nor, in the event of my death, for you to have to search and scramble for another position. Therefore I wish to set up a bank account at my bank, into which I will deposit some small sum of money, and afterwards of course, your wages. It requires a form to be filled out, and your signature. Mr Beecham and I will act as character references." Vastra held out a pen.

Jenny took a deep breath, after realising she hadn't been breathing for the latter half of that speech, since the word "death". "Wot?" was the only word that ended up coming out.

"A bank account. In your name. With money. Your money."

"But…wot?"

Vastra rolled her eyes. "Mr Beecham. Would you mind giving us a moment? I fear my maid does not understand me correctly."

He bowed and left, presumably to stare out of another window.

Vastra traced a line in the table, not quite catching Jenny's eye. "It has come to my attention that everything…the house, the belongings, the bank account. They are all in my name."

"Well they gotta be ain't they? Be suspicious if they was in mine. People'd start arskin' questions. A maid ownin' stuff. Prob'ly think I'd nicked it. Which in truth…"

"That does not mean you cannot have your own account." Vastra interrupted her. "Once set up, half the money we own will be deposited into it. Equal sums. And any money we earn from our adventures, half of that too."

Jenny gaped. She knew there was still a great deal of money. The idea of half of it being officially hers was rendering her temporarily speechless.

"But you need to fill out this form." Vastra tapped the paper a little testily. "It is basic information."

Still in silence, Jenny took the pen and carefully wrote out her name and details. Her handwriting looked untidy on the official printed document, her scrawl of a signature even more so. But it was real? It was going to be hers?

"Mr Beecham!"

"Yes Madame?"

"It is sorted. We will visit the bank this afternoon to finalise the account."

"Certainly Madame. Now about the other matter. You wish, I believe, for your maid to own half the house, legally."

"Yes."

"I must impress upon you again that this is highly unusual…"

"I am a highly unusual person Mr Beecham."

"That traditionally…"

"We do not hold tradition in high esteem in this household."

"And that I have never even heard of such a situation between..."

"You have now."

"And that…"

"You informed me it was possible."

"It would be possible, with both of your agreements and signatures to become joint tenants. In equity of course, half each but yes." Mr Beecham sighed wearily. Jenny got the distinct impression Vastra had been arguing with him. Arguing with Vastra could be difficult if you didn't know how to do it, or if you didn't have the stamina. "The document of joint ownership is simple enough; all it would require is both your signatures."

"And you brought it with you?"

"As you requested Madame." He gestured to one of the other pieces of paper in front of Jenny.

Jenny stopped flicking her eyes between the two of them and looked down again. Without hesitation Vastra leant over her, grabbed the pen and signed with a flourish where there were two spaces after elaborate script.

Jenny was slightly more wary and tried to read it but the wording confused her.

"I don' understand wot it sez."

"Miss ah…Flint? I believe? This document is a standard joint ownership agreement. That is, if you add your signature to it, you will then become joint tenant of this house. Half of it will be yours." Mr Beecham said slowly. "See? The address is already filled in."

"Which 'alf?" Jenny said caustically as she took the proffered pen and signed her name once more. She didn't appreciate being spoken to as if she were stupid.

"Legally. Not literally."

"I'll take the downstairs, s'got the kitchen." She heard Vastra stifle a snort of laughter with a cough.

"And upon my death, my half of the house will go to Miss Flint?"

"Automatically, under the terms of the agreement." Mr Beecham nodded.

"And finally, my will." The Silurian tugged the pen gently out of Jenny's grasp and signed the third piece of paper. "Upon my death all of my property, savings and belongings will become that of Miss Jenny Flint."

"Exactly as we drew it up in my office, Madame, yes." Mr Beecham walked up. "And I am now officially witnessing, along with your maid, the signing of the Will."

Well that would explain the dour face, Jenny thought, biting her lip. Mr Beecham probably hadn't been prepared for a determined Silurian coming into his office. And Vastra seemed very determined about this.

"Excellent! How wonderful to get it all sorted before lunch." Vastra collected the documents off the table.

"Ah. Madame Vastra, it may be that it is better for me to keep hold of your will, in the event of accidents, and the tenancy agreement too, as your newly employed solicitor."

Jenny saw Vastra's eyes narrow but she nodded her head and stood up to hand them over before picking up the final piece of paper.

"And this reference should satisfy the bank as to Miss Flint's character?"

"Certainly." Mr Beecham sniffed, affronted. "I can assure you, Madame Vastra, I am a well-respected solicitor."

"Indeed. Well that is all I require you for today. Thank you for your assistance." She waved her hand to dismiss him.

He sniffed again, inclined his head and walked out.

Jenny watched, slightly dumbfounded still, as Vastra walked agitatedly around the table, ripping off her veil and discarding her cloak over the back of a chair as she did so. Vastra stalked out into the hallway and Jenny looked down at the form she'd filled out, and the character reference. This was slightly more legible than the joint tenant agreement had been and she snorted in amusement at the description of herself. Vastra stalked back in.

"What were you doing with the horse anyway? And why are there ridiculous bundles of plants hanging in every door way? I thought you were going to decorate the house?"

"Thought you liked plants." Jenny replied, standing up and collecting the pieces of paper together.

Vastra blinked in astonishment.

"And the horse? I wouldn't expect anything better from you or the urchins…"

"Thank you."

"But Parker?"

"It was Parker's idea. None of us was tall enough to put the angel on the top of the tree."

"Angel?"

Jenny nodded towards the small glass angel on the table. Vastra stalked over and picked it up, turning it every which way to examine it.

"An ape with wings?"

"An angel. They're part of 'eaven an' god an' the like."

"And it sits on the top of the tree."

"Yes."

Jenny followed as Vastra swept from the room and watched from the living room doorway in amazement as the tall Silurian reached up and delicately balanced it on the topmost pointed branch.

"Like so?" she asked over her shoulder, standing back to examine the tree.

"Yeah. Like that." Jenny smiled happily from the doorway.

An: researching Victorian property law to see whether two independent women can co-own a house together resulted in trawling and reading several property acts to determine about joint ownership but as far as I can tell, whereas this would be a highly unusual situation? legally I can't find squat in any law says that they couldn't co-own the house in the Victorian era at that time, considering the property acts that came into law in the late 1800s. The legal jargon I had to read though…delightful.