attempt to find your
dog
and be certain it isn’t rabid. In the meanwhile, I will see that your needs and comforts are met at Whitebriar Abbey. I have rung for . . . one of my staff to take you below to freshen up and take nourishment, while I prepare your charge for your arrival. She believes you dead. I would not shock her unnecessarily by having you suddenly appear without first breaking the news gently.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, visibly disappointed.
“You have no idea what has become of the others in that coach?”
“N-no sir, like I said, they was gone when I come to.”
“You were on your way to Gretna Green?”
“Y-yes, sir.”
“In such a storm?”
“It wasn’t stormin’ so when we left the manor, sir,” said the abigail.
“Hmmm. What was the press?”
“Oh, I couldn’t carry tales, sir,” she said, spine stiffening until the wing chair creaked beneath her. “The particulars would be up to young miss ta tell.”
“I wish my servants were so disciplined. I did not mean to pry. If I was mistaken about you, I might alsohave been mistaken about your traveling companions. I do not like surprises, Lyda. If such is the case, and they, too, turn up on my doorstep, I need to know something of the situation, since I do not believe your charge was at all comfortable with it.”
“Still, you’ll have to have it from young miss, sir,” said Lyda unequivocally. “It isn’t my place to carry tales. Besides . . . if I did, and they do come, I would have ta answer for it, wouldn’t I.”
She was afraid. That was obvious. Joss wouldn’t press her. He had too many other situations to deal with at present. One of them, Rodgers, the footman, appeared in the study doorway.
“This is Lyda, Rodgers,” Joss said. “Take her below, introduce her to the others, and see that she is refreshed and fed and that accommodations are made ready for her.” He turned to the abigail. “Cook is a gifted herbalist,” he said. “She will make preparations for your wound, but I must insist that you tend it yourself . . . in case of infection, since she handles the food. Now then, you are dismissed. Run on with Rodgers here, and stay below stairs until I summon you.”
Lyda sketched a curtsy, but Joss’s voice boomed through the study, arresting the footman before she reached the threshold. “Not you, Rodgers, he called out. “I would speak with you here in half an hour. Do be punctual. Carry on.”
Three urgent interviews ahead and the morning was wearing on. It was going to be a long day.
C HAPTER E IGHT
Parker was busy hanging some of Joss’s things in the armoire when Joss entered the yellow suite; the man was never lazing idle. The valet left the chore, shuffled into the sitting room and took a seat on the lounge as Joss directed. Would that all his servants behaved with such obedience.
“Parker, now that Bates has left us, I’m going to have to . . . expand your duties, at least until I can hire another butler.”
“Yes, sir.”
Joss cleared his voice and began to pace, his hands clasped behind him. “Not just your physical duties, old boy,” he went on. “Bates was privy to certain . . . situations that no one else had knowledge of, situations that I find I must now entrust to you.”
“Yes, sir.”
“First of all, I have to swear you to secrecy,” Joss said. “What I am about to tell you must not go beyond these rooms or we will have a panic. It is not a new situation. It has existed since the year before I was born, so you mayrest assured that you are in no danger. If you were going to come to harm from it, you would have done long since. That is not to say that there is no danger, which is why I must make you aware. If you know what we are facing, there will be less chance of you blundering into what could well be a life-threatening situation—just as poor Bates has done, and he
was
aware.”
“I beg your pardon, sir,” said the valet, “but I believe I already know much of
dog
and be certain it isn’t rabid. In the meanwhile, I will see that your needs and comforts are met at Whitebriar Abbey. I have rung for . . . one of my staff to take you below to freshen up and take nourishment, while I prepare your charge for your arrival. She believes you dead. I would not shock her unnecessarily by having you suddenly appear without first breaking the news gently.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, visibly disappointed.
“You have no idea what has become of the others in that coach?”
“N-no sir, like I said, they was gone when I come to.”
“You were on your way to Gretna Green?”
“Y-yes, sir.”
“In such a storm?”
“It wasn’t stormin’ so when we left the manor, sir,” said the abigail.
“Hmmm. What was the press?”
“Oh, I couldn’t carry tales, sir,” she said, spine stiffening until the wing chair creaked beneath her. “The particulars would be up to young miss ta tell.”
“I wish my servants were so disciplined. I did not mean to pry. If I was mistaken about you, I might alsohave been mistaken about your traveling companions. I do not like surprises, Lyda. If such is the case, and they, too, turn up on my doorstep, I need to know something of the situation, since I do not believe your charge was at all comfortable with it.”
“Still, you’ll have to have it from young miss, sir,” said Lyda unequivocally. “It isn’t my place to carry tales. Besides . . . if I did, and they do come, I would have ta answer for it, wouldn’t I.”
She was afraid. That was obvious. Joss wouldn’t press her. He had too many other situations to deal with at present. One of them, Rodgers, the footman, appeared in the study doorway.
“This is Lyda, Rodgers,” Joss said. “Take her below, introduce her to the others, and see that she is refreshed and fed and that accommodations are made ready for her.” He turned to the abigail. “Cook is a gifted herbalist,” he said. “She will make preparations for your wound, but I must insist that you tend it yourself . . . in case of infection, since she handles the food. Now then, you are dismissed. Run on with Rodgers here, and stay below stairs until I summon you.”
Lyda sketched a curtsy, but Joss’s voice boomed through the study, arresting the footman before she reached the threshold. “Not you, Rodgers, he called out. “I would speak with you here in half an hour. Do be punctual. Carry on.”
Three urgent interviews ahead and the morning was wearing on. It was going to be a long day.
C HAPTER E IGHT
Parker was busy hanging some of Joss’s things in the armoire when Joss entered the yellow suite; the man was never lazing idle. The valet left the chore, shuffled into the sitting room and took a seat on the lounge as Joss directed. Would that all his servants behaved with such obedience.
“Parker, now that Bates has left us, I’m going to have to . . . expand your duties, at least until I can hire another butler.”
“Yes, sir.”
Joss cleared his voice and began to pace, his hands clasped behind him. “Not just your physical duties, old boy,” he went on. “Bates was privy to certain . . . situations that no one else had knowledge of, situations that I find I must now entrust to you.”
“Yes, sir.”
“First of all, I have to swear you to secrecy,” Joss said. “What I am about to tell you must not go beyond these rooms or we will have a panic. It is not a new situation. It has existed since the year before I was born, so you mayrest assured that you are in no danger. If you were going to come to harm from it, you would have done long since. That is not to say that there is no danger, which is why I must make you aware. If you know what we are facing, there will be less chance of you blundering into what could well be a life-threatening situation—just as poor Bates has done, and he
was
aware.”
“I beg your pardon, sir,” said the valet, “but I believe I already know much of
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