“Good morning,” Nick said. He rubbed his jaw, testing his morning beard. “All is well upstairs, I take it?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Thank you,” Nick said. He lowered his hand and looked at her with an intent expression. “The Sweetwaters owe you. We always pay our debts.”
“This is ridiculous,” she said, losing patience. “No one owes me a thing. For the last time, Mr. Sweetwater would have recovered on his own.”
“Perhaps,” Nick said. “Perhaps not.”
“I give up,” she said. “I’ll see you both at breakfast.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Matt said meekly.
“Right, then,” Nick said. “Breakfast. Sounds like an excellent notion.”
Virginia went down the hall to the kitchen, mentally bracing herself for the next challenge of what was shaping up to be a difficult morning. The smell of hot coffee greeted her. She swept into the room, electing to go for a straightforward approach. There was no longer any point in pretending that hers would ever be a respectable household.
“Good morning, Mrs. Crofton,” she said.
“Good morning, ma’am.” Mrs. Crofton took a large frying pan down off a wall hook and set it on the stove. “Young Matt and Tony have been awake all night and are no doubt famished. I have a hunch the rest of your guests will wake up soon. What with one thing and another, I decided it would be best to plan an early breakfast. Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“I think I’ve had enough for a while,” Virginia said. “I drank so much during the night that I doubt that I will sleep for a week.”
“Some peppermint tea, then?”
“That sounds very good, thank you.”
Mrs. Crofton disappeared into the pantry. “Mr. Sweetwater has recovered, I take it?”
“Yes, but he’s still asleep. I expect he’ll be down for breakfast.”
“Very good.” Mrs. Crofton reappeared with a small canister in one hand. She opened the container and ladled the herbal tea into a pot.
Virginia sat down on one of the long benches at the large wooden table. “Mrs. Crofton, I realize that the goings-on in this household, especially of late, are not at all what you are accustomed to.”
“No, ma’am.” Mrs. Crofton picked up the steaming kettle and filled the teapot. “This household is most unusual in a number of ways. Certainly not like any I’ve worked in previously.”
“I know that you have been obliged to tolerate certain activities that you find unseemly and no doubt offensive to your high standards.”
“I admit that I was somewhat unsettled by the notion of working for a psychical practitioner at first.” Mrs. Crofton set the kettle aside and carried the pot to the table. “I was very sure that you were a fraud. But I soon changed my mind.”
“You did?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Mrs. Crofton put the teapot on the table and plucked a mug from a rack. She put the mug in front of Virginia. “I know now that you do, indeed, have a true talent. I also know that while some might call it a gift, it is also a burden. I’ve seen how the bad readings affect your nerves. I know that you suffer from poor sleep and nightmares after you’ve read the mirrors and seen things that no decent person should see.”
“Yes, well, as I said, this is not a normal sort of household. I do understand that in the past few days it has become even more bizarre. Last night was no doubt too much for you. Under the circumstances, I cannot blame you if you wish to give notice. Never fear, I will provide you with a good character reference.”
Mrs. Crofton drew herself up proudly. “Are you dismissing me, ma’am?”
“What? Good Lord, no. I just assumed that in view of the odd activities around here of late, you would want to seek a position in a more respectable household.”
“I went into service in a respectable household as a maid of all work at the age of twelve, Miss Dean. In that first post I was obliged to fight off the drunken attentions of the eldest son of the household. The lady of the house discovered us just as the young man was about to rape me. She blamed me and turned me off without a character.”
Virginia frowned. “That was so unfair.”
“It happens all the time. But I was fortunate. I landed on my feet in another respectable household. The husband took no interest in me. He seduced the poor governess instead. Got her pregnant. Needless to say she was let go. We heard later that she drowned herself in the river.”
Virginia sighed. “She was certainly not the first young woman to take that path when she found herself in desperate circumstances.”
“No, she was not. Since that post, I have worked in a number of other respectable households. In all but two of them, the husbands kept mistresses on the side. The sons frequented brothels and gaming halls. The women of the house were obsessed with jewelry, fine clothes, parties and their lovers.”
“I see.”
“The last post I held before I came here was with an elderly widow. I thought it was the perfect position. But toward the end she neglected to pay her staff. She was somewhat senile. Her family ignored her. I was the one who sat by her bedside when she died. She did not make provision for any of the servants in her will, and the family turned off all of us without a penny or a character. As a result, by the time I arrived on your doorstep, I was desperate.”
“I understand,” Virginia said. “You did not have a choice when it came to employers. But you do now, don’t you? I’m assuming that the letter that you received from the Billings Agency the other day is an offer of employment in a more refined household.”
“In her note, Mrs. Billings advised me that there was a position available in the household of Lord and Lady Ainsley. Mrs. Billings thought it might suit me.”
“Lord and Lady Ainsley move in the very best circles. It sounds like an excellent position.”
“I sent a note back to Mrs. Billings informing her that I was not interested.”
Virginia put her mug down with enough force to create a sharp clink. “You did what?”
“This household is an extraordinary one in many ways, Miss Dean, but it is considerably more decent and, yes, more respectable than the majority of the other households in which I have worked. Furthermore, I find it interesting.”
Virginia stared at her, dumbfounded. “Interesting?”
Mrs. Crofton wiped her hands on her apron. “I know very well what is going on around here, ma’am.”
Virginia smiled ruefully. “One cannot conceal secrets from a good housekeeper.”
“That’s true. I know that you and Mr. Sweetwater are hunting a vicious killer, one who preys on women in your line of work. I also know that Mr. Sweetwater was very nearly murdered last night.”
“That’s true.”
“It seems to me, Miss Dean, that you could use some professional assistance.”
“From the police, do you mean? The thing is, we are investigating murders that were committed by paranormal means. There is no hard evidence to give to the police.”
“I was not talking about assistance from the police. I was referring to myself.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“There is something in this case that goes back to the Hollister household, does it not?”
“Yes.”
“That was a large, wealthy household. There would have been staff.”
“Yes,” Virginia said, “but from what I observed, Lord and Lady Hollister employed remarkably few people for a house that size. What employees they did have all seem to have disappeared.”
“Even if the Hollister staff was small, there would have been a housekeeper.”
“Yes, there was. She let me in the day I went to the mansion.”
“The world of those engaged in service in high-ranking households is a small one, ma’am. I spent my entire career in it until I came here. I might be able to find the Hollister housekeeper for you.”
THIRTY-SIX
He awakened from the dark dream to the pale light of a drizzly dawn and a deep awareness of Virginia’s strong, invigorating energy. He opened his eyes and looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling. He was lying on a bed, but he was quite certain it was not his own.