Page 61 of Lies in Little Sutherland
Christopher cleared his throat, clearly as uncomfortable as I was.“We just wanted to ask the chambermaids whether any of the guests or family were in their rooms during the time between breakfast and luncheon.”He glanced around the table.
One of the younger women giggled and blushed when their eyes met, and Christopher looked horrified.Mrs.Mason fixed the poor girl—she couldn’t have been much over eighteen—with a basilisk-cold stare.“Do you have something to say, Mabel?”
Mabel did her best equivalent of a seated curtsey.“Just that Lord Geoffrey Marsden spent the time between breakfast and lunch in his room, Mrs.Mason.”
“Alone?”
Mabel flushed again.“Yes, Miss Darling.He…” She shot Mrs.Mason a look.“Well, he…”
“Flirted,” I said bluntly.
She nodded.“Yes, Miss Darling.He tried to tell me that I didn’t have to tidy the room, but that I could stay and keep him company.”
Mrs.Mason became, if possible, even more wooden.“You said no, Mabel.Did you not?”
Mabel looked terrified.“Yes, Mrs.Mason.His lordship told us about Lord Geoffrey’s trouble in Dorset, and he warned all of us to stay away from Lord Geoffrey.”
A couple of the other young women nodded.
Christopher cleared his throat.“So Geoffrey was in his room between breakfast and lunch.Anyone else?”
Mabel nodded.“Miss Constance.She was packing her bag because they—you—were supposed to leave for Beckwith Place.And your mother and father.”
“And Francis, I suppose,” I said.“Anyone else?”
But Mabel shook her head.“I don’t know about Master Francis, Miss Darling.I’m responsible for the rooms in the west wing.”
She glanced at one of the other maids, who cleared her throat.“I saw Master Francis.He was also packing to leave.I didn’t see anyone else on the upper floor.”
That left the older Marsdens as well as His Grace and Crispin unaccounted for, then, as well as Laetitia.
“What about the lower floor?Did anyone see anyone there between breakfast and luncheon?”
Sadie, the parlor maid, spoke up.“His Grace worked in the study this morning.Master Crispin took his fiancée to the hedge maze after breakfast.”She hesitated.“Or perhaps she took him.”
More likely that, I thought, although that might have been my biases.“How long did they stay there?”
“Long enough,” Sadie said with a saucy smirk that disappeared as soon as Mrs.Mason glanced her way.She added sullenly, “I don’t know, do I?I had work.”
“What about the Marsdens?”
“The Earl and Countess of Marsden,” Hugh the footman said, “stayed in the breakfast room when His Grace went to the study.After that, they were in the library for part of the morning.Or perhaps she was in the library while he was in the game room.She had a letter to write, she said.”
I exchanged a glance with Christopher.That was everyone accounted for, then, and for the most part, they didn’t have an alibi among them.Uncle Harold had been alone in the study, and could have left without anyone noticing.The earl and countess had been separated, and one of them could have left without the other noticing.Geoffrey had been alone in his room, and no one would have noticed if he had made himself scarce for a while.And as for Laetitia and Crispin, even they may not have been together the entire time.They certainly hadn’t spent all of it outside in the hedge maze.Not in this weather.
“Thank you,” I said politely.“We’re sorry for keeping you from your tea.”
“Yes,” Christopher nodded.“You’ve been very helpful.As you were.”
He stepped backwards to the door and fumbled for the knob.We ducked through the door and out of sight.
Outside in the hallway we faced one another and breathed out.
“Awkward,” Christopher opined.
I nodded.“Couldn’t have picked a worse time for it, either.Just standing there watching as their tea got cold.”
“Oh, I’m certain we could have done.”He turned me around and nudged me down the hallway.“What did we learn?”
