"I spoke to her yesterday afternoon," Anne said to Gilbert the next morning right after they finished breakfast and prepared for their day. "I ran into Mrs. McNairy during my sight-seeing. She was very concerned about her health."
Out of habit, Anne lowered her voice. It wasn't polite to talk about certain matters. Gilbert wouldn't care how she talked now, though.
"She was very concerned about her urine. I guess the smell or color of it, or something turned her off. She thought that she had maple sugar urine disease."
"Perhaps she did, Anne-girl. Or perhaps she had diabetes. Diabetes is more common. Sadly, there's just no way to treat these things. Not that it matters now, poor woman."
Gilbert shook his head. Then he smiled.
"Tell me, Anne-girl, did she ask you if I had to drink my own urine in medical school?"
"She did!" said Anne.
"And what did you tell her?" asked Gilbert.
"I left her in suspense about that," said Anne.
"That's my girl, Anne-girl," said Gilbert.
Gilbert and Anne left their room and proceeded to the foyer. They passed Frontenac's coat of arms and the Cross of Malta, both tributes to the French nobleman who once governed the city.
Wojciech watched Mrs. Blythe leave the hotel with a gentleman who must be her husband. That man was obviously Beau Blythe, the railroad heir. Although, he wasn't dressed in the manner that Woj expected a railroad heir to dress. The man dressed like a middle-class professional man, like a businessman or a professor or a doctor. And he carried a rather large bag with him. Woj expected that a railroad heir would have staff – a secretary, perhaps – to carry his bags. Oh, well. This was all fine with Woj. Just as long as Beau Blythe had the means to pay for his wife's ransom when Woj abducted his wife, Mr. Blythe could dress however he liked and carry whatever he liked.
Woj was done with Quebec City. The native English speakers here treated him like crap because he was of Roman Catholic faith. They mocked the way that he spoke English with an accent. The French speakers treated him like crap because he wasn't Le Quebecois. Even Marie treated him this way. Back in Chicago, when he first fell in love with Marie, she laughed whenever she spoke to him in French, and he answered in English or Polish. Now it just pissed her off when he did this. Last Sunday, she told him not to escort her to Mass at Notre-Dame de Quebec.
Also, this damned hotel was haunted. Immensely haunted. The Lady in White pushed over stacks of luggage. She let him take the blame. She knocked his hat off his head, and then smacked him on the butt when he bent to retrieve it. Once, she ambushed him and screamed in his face.
Also, Woj heard bagpipe music playing in this hotel at random hours of the day and night. He never found the source, though.
Woj had told Marie that he intended to return to Poland. However, even if Woj could afford the passage back to Poland (he couldn't), there was no place to which he could return in Poland. The Russian Tsar controlled everything there. Woj refused to live someplace that the Tsar controlled. Even if Nicholas II died, even if his frail son Alexei died, a Romanov would still control Poland. The Romanovs would most likely be in control for the next hundred or thousand years. So, no, Woj couldn't return to Poland.
Tonight, Woj thought. Tonight, I will hold Mrs. Blythe hostage for the ransom that I need to create a new life for myself.
Later that day . . .
"Oh, Gilbert," said Anne. "You outdid yourself with this trip. We're going to go broke, the way that you splurged on this room. I mean, this room is twice as expensive as the others."
"Anne-girl, I splurged a little bit. This room wasn't twice the price of the others, though. I paid $5.50 a night for this room since it has a private bathroom with marble fixtures. The rooms without a private bathroom are $4.00 a night. So, it was not double the price."
"Still, Gilbert, you outdid yourself."
"Well, Anne-girl, you can thank me when we're naked in the bath."
Anne filled the tub with water. She undressed and climbed into it.
Knock! Knock!
"Doctor! Doctor! My mother needs a doctor!"
"So much for that bath," Gilbert sighed as he grabbed his bag and ran out into the hallway.
Anne sighed. So much for that bath, indeed.
Woj saw Mr. Blythe run out into the hallway and follow a shadowy figure. Mr. Blythe disappeared down the hallway. Woj waited for a few minutes. Mr. Blythe had not returned.
Now, Woj thought to himself. Now is the time to take Mrs. Blythe and hold her for ransom.
Woj knocked on the door.
No answer.
Woj knocked on the door again.
"Room service," he said.
Still no answer.
Woj pulled out his master key and unlocked the door. He stepped inside the room.
The Lady in White stood directly in front of Woj.
The Lady in White screamed in Woj's face.
Woj slammed the door shut.
Somewhere, in the distance, bagpipe music played.
Blessed mother, save me, he screamed in Polish.
Woj ran to the end of the hallway.
A smartly dressed woman stood in the hallway.
"Pardon me," the woman said.
"Pardon me, Madam," he said. "The offense is all mine."
"Did you just yell in Polish?" the woman said.
"Please, Madam, I beg your forgiveness," said Woj. This was it. He was going to get fired.
The woman said, "Do you speak Polish? Fluently?"
Woj said, "Yes, indeed. I do speak Polish."
The woman held out her hand.
"I am Katherine Brooke. I am the personal secretary to a globe-trotting Member of Parliament. We need to hire a staffer who is fluent in Polish. Would you like to come work for us?"
Anne bathed, then waited for Gilbert to return.
"I did it, Anne-girl," he said. "I saved that woman's life."
"Oh, thank the Lord," said Anne. "How fortunate that her daughter knew how to find you."
"Well, that's the oddest thing," said Gilbert. "The woman told me that she had no daughter. She was at this hotel by herself. She has no idea who summoned me."
Somewhere in the distance, Anne and Gilbert heard bagpipes.