Page 74 of Murder at Hambledon Hall
I was about to tell him it was a task I had to do my own, but changed my mind. The thought of having his support was very appealing. “Thank you, Harry. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
The hotel staffwere in a grim mood. I detected it the moment I entered the foyer. Frank wasn’t at his usual position at the door, and his replacement said he was taking a short break in the staff parlor. I went there directly and discovered Frank along with Goliath, Peter and Harmony. They sat in morose silence, cradling cups of tea.
“What’s happened?” I asked. “Has someone died?”
“Mary and her beau, one of the footmen, were dismissed today,” Peter said. “Mrs. Short caught him passing a note to Mary when she was supposed to be working.”
I flopped down onto one of the chairs, suddenly exhausted. The last two days had felt inordinately long. “I warned her to be careful.”
“We all did,” Harmony said, sounding annoyed. “She only has herself to blame.”
“It’s not their fault,” Frank said. “When were they supposed to meet? They can’t be seen talking at the residence hall because the men can’t go into the women’s area, or vice versa. They can’t talk here because they’re supposed to be working. So tell me, when?”
“Some people manage,” she shot back.
“Not everyone has Victor’s skill with secrecy.”
She bristled. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing,” he muttered.
Peter pointed at each of them in turn. “That’s enough, both of you.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Frank growled.
“I am your superior.”
Frank rolled his eyes.
Goliath leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. “Is there anything you can do, Miss Fox?”
“I doubt it,” I said. “But I’ll try to speak to Mrs. Short.”
Goliath gave me a flat smile of thanks then stood. “I have to get back to work.”
Peter and Frank followed him out of the parlor, while I remained with Harmony. I poured myself a cup of tea from the kettle and sat beside her.
“How did your visit to St. Michael’s go?” I asked.
She shook her head. “It was a waste of time. There was no record of Susannah Shepherd’s baptism in 1834.”
“We found it in the register at Morcombe. I’m sorry, Harmony. It seems I sent you on a wild goose chase. Although somethingdidsend Esmond Shepherd to St. Michael’s after he’d been to the Morcombe church.” I sipped my tea, trying to think what it could be.
“I checked other years either side of 1834,” she said. “Just in case. There were a large number of entries but I managed to cover seven years’ worth.”
“Did you see any references to the Wentworth family at all, or the Kershaw title? It was their local parish when they came to London, until the previous earl sold their townhouse.”
“No. Nothing.”
We both sighed into our cups of tea. We’d been so sure the registers would yield results. They might still, but without narrowing down a year, we were searching in the dark.
Mrs. Short’sreaction upon seeing me enter her office was similar to that of every suspect I’d interrogated in the past week, excepthergroan was audible. “I know what this is about, and no, I will not change my mind, Miss Fox. Mary and her beau broke not one rule, but two. Their fraternizing broke my new rule, and they also did it when she was supposed to be working. That rule has been long-standing here at the hotel, I believe, and it has nothing to do with me.”
“They only broke that rule because the new one made it so difficult for them to even talk at home.” I sat down, not prepared to give up without seeing where digging in got me. “They are young and in love, Mrs. Short. Can you not overlook it this one time?”
“I overlooked it the last time, at your request.” She pointed her pen at me. “In fact, if you’d let me dismiss Mary then, we wouldn’t be in this predicament now where I had to dismiss both. The footman could have been saved if you didn’t interfere.”
Her accusation stung. Not because it was hurtful, but because it was true. I was partly to blame. It meant I had even more reason to try and help the hapless couple now. “What harm is there in passing a note?”
