Jacqueline Winspear

Maisie dobbs shuffled the papers on her desk into a neat pile and placed them in a plain manila folder. She took up a green marble-patterned W.H. Smith fountain pen and inscribed the cover with the name of her new clients : Mr. and Mrs. Herbert John-son, who were concerned taht their son's fiancée might have misled them regarding her past. It was the sort of case that was easily attended to, that would provide a useful reference, and that could be closed with presentation of a timely report and accompanying account for her services. But for Maisie the case notes would not be filed away until those whose lives were touched by her investigation had reached a certain peace with her findings, with themselves, and with one another - as far as that might be possible. As she wrote, a tendril of jet black hair tumbled down into her eyes. Sighing, she quickly pushed it back into the chignon at the nape of her neck. Suddenly, Maisie set her pen on the blotting pad, pulled the troublesome wisp of hair free so that it hung down again, and walked to the large mirror hanging on the wall above the fireplace. She unpinned her long hair and tucked it inside the collar of her white silk blouse, pulling out just an inch or so around her chin-line. Would shorter hair suit her?
"Perhaps Lady Rowan is right," said Maisie to her reflection in the mirror. "Perhaps it would look better in a bob."