Finding their temporary mistress congenial, the girls did not hesitate to chatter and gossip together, and after an hour they were directing several friendly remarks to Mrs. Grayshott as well. They began by a comparison to how the kitchens at the Hall were kept-all was above reproach, and almost above their most exalted praise from what the mistress could gather. The words “his lordship” were introduced freely, and though Delsie realized full well she ought not to gossip, she kept her ears open and allowed the servants to do so. The girls’ conversation with herself was of an unexceptionable sort-about the Cottage, her plans for it, and also about the school. Nell had a brother there whose progress could be reported on.
“He doesn’t like Mr. Perkins half as much as he liked you,” Nell told her, “though he says he’s better than Mr. Umpton.”
At one o’clock, Delsie went to wash up for lunch, a tray with cold meat and bread in the study, and as she was finishing this, her knocker sounded. Expecting a creditor, she put on her most dignified expression, which rapidly changed to a smile of infinite relief when it was Lady Jane who stood at the door.
“I’m a ninnyhammer!” the dame declared. “Knocking at your door, when I know perfectly well the Bristcombes have left. I ought to have just walked in. I am all agog to hear about it, my dear,” she continued, stepping in. “DeVigne has been with me this hour and is in the boughs that you won’t leave. When did they shab off on you?”
“This morning.”
“Good riddance. I am happy to see the back of that slovenly pair. And where the deuce can they be hiding the brandy? Vanished, Max says. Bah-it cannot be invisible, and we must find it.”
“You are welcome to try your hand, milady. I have been over the orchard and vicinity with a fine-tooth comb, and cannot find a trace of it. I even looked up in the branches to see if they were possibly hiding it up there, but they aren’t.”
“We’ll be on the lookout when they come to take it away. Very proper of you to insist upon staying here, though you cannot stay alone, of course. I mean to come to bear you company, and bring a brace of good stout footmen with me.”
These words were music to the widow’s ears. Somehow, it seemed impossible that harm would come to her with Lady Jane standing imperiously at her side. She was also happy for moral support from such a worthy source. DeVigne could not think her the fool she was beginning to feel herself, when Lady Jane supported her.
The day she so dreaded in anticipation soon took on the merry glow of a party. Lady Jane hiked up her skirts and went over the orchard inch by inch, even sniffing the ground and declaring at intervals that she could smell the stuff, but demmed if she could see a trace of it. She refused to leave even to pack her bag for the night. She sent Nell over to the Dower House with instructions to have her woman pack her bag and come herself to add to the reinforcements. The footmen came, bearing ancient guns from Sir Harold’s gun cupboard, antiques actually, but in working order. The meals served were in the nature of a snack, but were enjoyed heartily. As darkness settled in, the two ladies took up a seat in the saloon and had a blazing fire lit to dissipate the cold and gloom from that room. With a decanter of sherry between them and a dozen candles burning brightly, it seemed impossible that danger lurked anywhere nearby, and they both remained in high spirits.
“I am surprised that no creditors have come to pester me,” Delsie mentioned. “Andrew cannot have drawn a single penny from the annual income, for it is still in the bank. I was sure he would have staggering bills throughout the village.”
“He must have paid cash from his smuggling money,” Jane opined. “So much the better for you. You’ll have need of the whole of it to spruce this house up. New draperies are wanted in here, and Max tells me the place has been stripped of linen. That is the sort of low cunning I despise. One expects the servants to drink up the wine and run out the back door with a leg of mutton occasionally, but when they take to stripping the beds, it has gone too far. We’ll count the silver tomorrow. Not that it will do any good. I have no idea what Louise had, and doubt if Max has either.”
“Still, I’ll take an inventory so that I can keep check from now on.”
“A very good idea. And the knickknacks too. Louise had a nice collection of vases and ornamental pottery- statuettes and things. Just the sort of thing that is easily lifted and carried off without being missed. I wonder how soon we might expect the smugglers to come.”
“They usually come late, about twelve-thirty or one.”
“I’ll never stay awake,” Jane said, stifling a yawn. “Might be best if I have a nap and let you awaken me when they get here.”
“I have had the room across the hall from mine made up for you.”
“I wonder what Max is up to tonight. Lurking about the orchard somewhere, I expect. My, he was angry you didn’t buckle under to him. The first time anyone has said no to him since he was old enough to shave.”
“He was very angry,” she agreed with some satisfaction.
“My dear, you have no need to tell me! Pacing the room like a caged lion. It is a sure sign he is furious. Max cannot sit still when he’s mad. I gave him a good piece of my mind, gudgeon. ‘If you had any gumption you’d be standing beside Delsie with a pistol in your hand, instead of trying to frighten the wits out of her with foolish stories of atrocities committed by the smugglers,’ I told him. All nonsense, the lot of it. They are not at all vicious nowadays. They were used to be years ago. Miss Marjoram-you wouldn’t remember him, I daresay. Led quite a rapacious crew, not above killing anyone who got in their way, but it is no such a thing now. A tap on the head is the worst you may expect, and it is worth that to find out where the devil Andrew has been stashing the stuff. My cook’s husband is in on it-Darby Gibbs-but not one word could I pry out of her. They have to keep it mum, of course. Only natural. Max thinks the reason no rumors of this business have reached us is that half our own servants are in on it. I expect he is quite right. He usually is. And it would be so very convenient for Andrew, to have recruited his team so close to home. I have done everything but compose a song in honor of the gentlemen to try to get one of my servants to confess the whole to me. No luck, however. It is well enough for servants to dabble a little in the business, but it was too bad of Andrew to involve himself. Well, he never was quite the thing.”
“Do you really think deVigne will be on watch outside?” Delsie asked, finding this fact of more interest than the dame’s views on smuggling.
“He is not the spineless creature his behavior in this case might lead you to believe. Certainly he won’t miss out on the fun. He was only trying to bully you into leaving for your own safety. The men like to keep all the excitement to themselves, but we fooled them this time. Harold, now, he doesn’t care a hoot for excitement. He gets his fun from his books. You’ll never guess what he is doing tonight, while we have a visit from smugglers to look forward to. He is reading the letters of Pliny the Younger, whoever that may be. He sounds a goosecap like Harold. What must he do while Mount Vesuvius was erupting but sit in his garden reading a book. I daresay he didn’t even bother looking up to see the lava pouring down on all those people across the bay. There is no accounting for human nature.”
“Sir Harold is very bookish. Was he always so?”
“Forever. He was born with a book in his hands, as some are born with a silver spoon in their mouths. You must wonder I ever married him, or he me, for that matter. It was arranged, of course, as most marriages were in those days. It was arranged in the same way for my sister to marry Pierre. You recall I mentioned Max’s father, Pierre? A very dictator. Had he been alive, Louise would have married where she was told.”