Chapter 8. Room 301
Summer dragged Liri around the hotel, explaining everything at a brisk pace.
“You’ll take the laundry from the guest rooms, get it washed, and return it to where it belongs. Easy, right?”
Liri diligently jotted everything down in her notebook.
“Most of the time we refuse calls late at night — we need sleep too, you know? Oh, and jewelry isn’t allowed.”
Summer pointed at the locket hanging from Liri’s neck as she said it.
On the wall of the underground passage hung a series of numbered chime bells, each connected by a string that led somewhere out of sight.
“When someone pulls the cord in their room, the bell rings. You’ll go through this passage to reach the main hotel.”
The hotel she saw while working was different from the one she had admired from outside.
The glittering chandeliers, the murals depicting ancient Roman gardens, and the beautiful carpets weren’t the whole of it.
Behind that splendor was a humble, tight-knit community of servants, living far removed from anything noble or aristocratic.
“I’ll show you your quarters too. You can use the bed Bennett used to have.”
The room was nearly bare, not even furnished properly.
Liri sat down on a small feather-stuffed bed left alone in the corner.
She knew she’d be worked to exhaustion like every maid, but for now, she was simply grateful to have a place to lay her head.
[To Sister Bolina]
Sister, I’ve been too busy to write until now.
I’ve found work at the Belmore Hotel (please cross yourself when you read this).It’s been an awfully nerve-wracking week.
It’s frustrating, but everyone here seems to adore Mr. Belmore — even though they’ve never seen his face.
I suppose that’s because he pays so well.
Liri paused for a moment before continuing.
Everyone else graduated from maid schools, while I’m the only one who came from a convent.
But I’m working hard, so I won’t fall behind them. I haven’t made any major mistakes yet.When I get my first month’s pay, I’ll visit the convent.
And don’t worry — the mural is safe.
I still visit Sister Brigida’s grave now and then…
“Elisabeth, writing a love letter or something? If not, lights out now.”
Summer grumbled from her bed.
Liri slipped the letter between the pages of a book and blew out the light.
A month passed.
One morning, before work began, Summer called out to her.
“Elisabeth, from today you’ll be working alone.”
“By myself? What if I make a mistake?”
Summer, distracted by the mirror, replied lazily.
“Better to make mistakes while you’re still a trainee. You’ll be in charge of the third-floor laundry now.”
The third floor.
At once, Liri thought of the man in Room 301 — the one she had tried so hard to forget.
She hadn’t seen him since fleeing that room.
Summer misunderstood her silence.
“There are more rooms to handle up there since they’re smaller, but that’s not a bad thing.”
Liri nodded quietly. She couldn’t possibly tell Summer about the man from Highbrom.
“Let’s go.”
Liri adjusted her bonnet in front of the mirror.
Gone was the girl in the checkered navy dress — the reflection showed a proper maid in a black uniform and white apron.
She prayed briefly that she’d perform her work as neatly as her appearance suggested.
Christopher enjoyed his quiet evenings after a long day’s work.
Sinking deep into the plush sofa, he sipped his whiskey and reflected on the day.
“We searched all of Highbrom, but no one’s seen a woman like that.”
Good. As long as she didn’t show up again.
A nun leaving East Longfellow had told him something peculiar:
“Everything will go as God wills it, so don’t be too proud.”
That might have been true for some, but not for Belmore.
The convent had moved exactly as Belmore planned — not God.
As for the woman… once he found her, he’d simply send her far away.
Christopher rang the bell to summon a maid — he needed clothes prepared for his meeting with Cecil tomorrow.
Moments later, a maid entered after knocking politely.
He wouldn’t have even glanced at her under normal circumstances —
but something about her back looked strangely familiar.
“Shall I take all of these clothes away, sir?”
Hearing her voice as she packed the garments, he set his glass down with a sharp clink.
Startled by the sound, the maid turned around.
He met her eyes directly — and spoke.
“So this is where you were hiding.”
The lighthouse never lights its own base, they said — and now he understood why no one in Highbrom had found her.
Christopher was the first to speak again, and the maid — Liri — finally lifted her head to meet his gaze.
“Care to explain why you’re working here?”
His cold stare made her shoulders tremble slightly.
His entire body radiated displeasure.
“I didn’t know you were still staying here, sir.”
“That’s not the answer I asked for.”
“I’m not the kind of woman you think I am. That night…”
She didn’t get to finish.
“I saw you in Highbrom. Don’t pretend I don’t know what kind of place that is.”
His tone was like an interrogation.
“Please, just ignore me this once.”
“Says who? Who hired you?”
Liri bowed her head in desperation.
If it had been anyone else, that night would have been nothing but a foolish, secret memory.
“All maids here are employed by Lord Belmore.”
It was the most authoritative name she could think of — but it carried no weight with him.
“Belmore hired you? What on earth did he see?”
The mockery in his voice made her fall silent.
“You’re an orphan. You’ve had no real education and no proper work experience, have you?”
He tore away every scrap of dignity she had.
“And if he knew you once tainted this hotel’s reputation, he wouldn’t have hired you.”
“That… that was nothing, as long as the guest kept quiet.”
“And why should I keep quiet?”
Liri clenched her fists.
“Once I’ve earned enough money, I’ll quit right away. Until then—”
“You really think people are that easy to trust?”
She added a soft, “Please,” but he gave no reply.
The silence felt humiliating — as if he were enjoying her discomfort.
“It’s not that I trust guests either,” Liri said quietly.
“But a true gentleman doesn’t gossip.”
Her words hit him like a spark.
He took a step toward her.
Liri instinctively stepped back, but he advanced until she was trapped between him and the wall.
“Do you truly not know who I am — or are you pretending not to?”
Liri blinked, her mind racing. His question made no sense, yet she stammered out:
“I… I know.”
“You know who I am, yet you’re still talking about Belmore hiring you?”
“Why not? You’re just another guest, aren’t you?”
Christopher sighed. He had expected her to shrink away in fear — instead, she stood her ground.
And she didn’t even recognize her own employer…
“A laundry maid with improper attire and jewelry on the job, no less.”
He gripped the chain of her necklace and gave it a small tug, pulling her close until their faces were nearly touching.
“Leave Londinium. Go somewhere no one knows what kind of woman you are — it’d be better for you.”
His voice softened, almost coaxing.
She could feel the warmth of his breath, but she didn’t waver.
She wasn’t that kind of woman, and if she were going to give up easily, she would’ve left East Longfellow long ago.
“I’m not leaving. You only see me that way because you’re the kind of man who buys women in Highbrom, aren’t you?”
Liri clutched the taut necklace string between them.
“Threaten me all you want — I won’t take your money.”
“You won’t take it?”
He released the pendant abruptly.
The chain fell against her chest with a small thud, the cold metal brushing her collarbone and making her flinch.
“You don’t have anything else to ask or demand, do you? I’m talking about the laundry, sir — don’t misunderstand.”
She pulled his shirt from the laundry basket as she spoke.
“I’m saying this for your sake. It’s not too late to leave.”
From her very first day working alone, her luck had run out.
He looked at her with the pity one might reserve for a stray dog — cheap pity, worse than any insult.
“If Lord Belmore believes you, I’ll lose my job,” Liri said, her voice rising.
“But I will never walk out of here on my own! Ever!”
She shouted the final words and bolted from the room.
After that incident, Liri was bedridden for two days, burning with fever.
Summer placed a cold towel on her forehead and asked gently:
“Liri, did something happen?”
Seeing her expression, Summer pressed for an answer, but Liri stayed silent.
If she spoke, she’d have to bring up Highbrom — and she wasn’t sure anyone would believe an orphan’s word.
When Liri refused to answer, Summer sighed.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but if it’s about a guest, don’t tell anyone. That’s how Bennett got fired.”
She whispered as if the walls had ears.
“Guests leave eventually, but if rumors spread, it’s us who suffer.”
“What did Bennett say?”
Liri asked, anxiety flickering in her eyes.
“She blabbed that a certain guest brought a woman from Highbrom to the hotel — said she was told to help the woman change clothes. Guess she felt humiliated serving someone like that.”
Summer went on rambling about Bennett, but Liri’s thoughts had already drifted far away.
So… that man didn’t do anything to her?
Then who exactly is he?
A normal man would’ve paid for her body and been done with it —
but he’d offered money only to order her out of the hotel.
Liri sat up and began brushing her hair.
Her face had grown pale, dark circles hollowing her eyes.
She pressed her fingertips against her lids, then changed from her nightclothes into her maid’s uniform.
“Why are you up? Rest another day,” Summer protested.
“It’s fine. We don’t get vacations anyway — I’d feel guilty lying around.”
To work hard, quietly, and faithfully —
that would be her proof of innocence.
