Page 15 of Of Fate and Phantoms
"Go and change then meet me in the parlor. I want to discuss advertising for a housekeeper and maids."
I sighed. "I suppose it's time. We can't go on as we have. Poor Doyle is run off his feet all day, and Bella, too."
"A good attitude," Lady Vickers said, nodding. "You might as well join us, Alice."
"Me?" Alice blinked. "Oh, I don't think so. It's not my place."
"Do you have anything better to do?"
"I…I haven't made plans."
"She was going to take a walk with me," Seth said.
"It's raining," his mother said.
"A walk inside the house. Along the corridors, around the ballroom…" He crooked his arm for Alice to take.
She hesitated then took it with a cautious glance at Lady Vickers. Lady Vickers scowled and marched out of the ballroom. I had a feeling Seth would be getting another lecture from her later. Ever since Alice had arrived and Seth had shown an interest in her, mother and son had been at loggerheads. She did not approve of a poor girl from the merchant classes for her one and only child.
I changed quickly then headed down to the parlor at the front of the house. Lady Vickers sat reading correspondence by the rain-slicked window. I looked out at the low gray sky and sighed. There would be no quiet walks in the wintry garden with Lincoln today.
A dark object moved on the drive. I squinted through the window and tried to make out the shape. "I think we have a visitor," I said as the shape became a coach pulled by a matching pair of grays.
"In this weather?" Lady Vickers lowered her correspondence to her lap. "Well, well, someone must have made quite an impression last night. Where's Seth?"
I rubbed the window pane to clear the fog. "The poor coachman and footman. They have umbrellas but they're not offering much shelter in this weather."
"Can you see who it is?"
"No. They aren't getting out."
"Can't blame them for that, but how are we supposed to entertain them if they won't come in? Perhaps they are in need of another umbrella. Can you see the escutcheon on the door?"
"The rain is too heavy. The coachman and footman are wearing red and gold livery. It's very striking. Do you know anyone—"
"Red and gold!" She shot to her feet and nudged me aside. "Good lord. I don't believe it."
I frowned at her then at the footman now approaching up the front steps. "Who is it?"
She turned to me, one hand pressed to her stomach, the other at her throat. "Don't panic, Charlie."
"I'm not. Who is it?"
She clasped my shoulders and sucked in a breath that swelled her chest. "Oh Charlie, this is a monumentally important day in your life. Mark it in your diary. This is the day royalty came to Lichfield Towers."
Chapter 3
Ihurriedto the entrance hall where Doyle received the drenched footman.
"I'll await Mr. Fitzroy's reply," the footman said, handing Doyle a note.
Doyle went to take it upstairs when Lincoln appeared on the landing. He must have seen the coach arrive too. He accepted the note and read it.
"Doyle, an umbrella, please." There was no hint on his face as to the contents of the note.
Doyle handed him an umbrella and Lincoln headed outside, the footman at his heels. We shut the door to keep out the driving rain.
"Do you think it's the Prince of Wales?" Lady Vickers asked. "Or the queen herself?"
