I reached for a second slice of bread. “She’s bound to feel a bit of an outsider, not being a link in your human chain.”
Georges smirked. “The possibility of sparks ignited from an interconnection between the contestants has irresistible appeal. I flatter myself I have set matters up very nicely, but ideas spring eternal. And my most recent one involves you.”
“Me?”
“No need to gape. You’re a nice-looking young woman, but even a beauty with a capital B does not come off well with goggle eyes and a dropped chin. All I require of you is your presence at some of the sessions in which the contestants get together outside the presence of Lord Belfrey. I realized this morning when recording their stilted gibbering that an outsider was needed to nudge the conversation along and keep it from straying too far off course. I only have so much patience when it comes to weeding out the fluff.”
“And how explain my role?”
“You are an interior designer, intent on exploring each of the contestants’ plans to reinvigorate Mucklesfeld. Come, come, Mrs. Haskell, perceive the possibilities of extending your client base. You, along with your husband, will be listed amongst the credits.” Georges eyed me narrowly. “Tell me, do you still want to leave?”
I told him I’d have to think about it, but I knew I’d cave. Leaving Mucklesfeld without watching Here Comes the Bride unfold would be the equivalent of abandoning the drawing room at Merlin’s Court to its own devices in the middle of spring cleaning.
“Your first assignment will be afternoon tea at three today in the library.” He pressed on as I remained silent. “Your husband has promised a fine spread.”
Unfair! my heart cried out. I was ever a slave to cucumber sandwiches with the crusts removed, munchable scones, wafer-thin biscuits, and delectable little cakes, to say nothing of several fragrant cups of Earl Grey.
“Oh, all right, you win,” I was saying when Ben walked in to inform Georges that he hadn’t found the torch, while giving me a look that seemed just a little frosty.
9
I lay on my narrow bed in the room that had once been part of the servants’ quarters, feeling tragically akin to a Victorian parlormaid who had allowed herself to dream of finding favor with the master, only to have him turn curt and dismissive.
“I understand you were anxious to locate the dog’s owners,” Ben had said, when we left the kitchen for the hall, “but couldn’t you have spared a moment to let me know you were taking off and how long you were likely to be gone? I didn’t much appreciate learning from Lord Belfrey that he knew more about your plans than I did.” Before I could tell him he was being petty, he made an unarguable point. “How could I not worry after your being so under the weather last night?”
I apologized but reminded him I had told him before saying anything to Lord Belfrey that I intended to try to find Thumper’s owners.
“So you did, but I assumed you’d wait at least until you’d had breakfast. Rushing off without so much as a slice of toast was asking for trouble, although,” Ben’s mouth tightened and his brows came down in a bar over eyes that flashed all green-no blue-“his lordship seemed to find your rescuing spirit absolutely enchanting.”
The flat pillow did nothing to soften the memory of those words, let alone to cushion my head, but I closed my eyes against the strands of sunshine entering through the high window. If my headache returned, whose fault would that be? Not Lord Belfrey’s. I had sometimes wondered how I would feel if Ben were ever jealous. There had never been any reason… and there wasn’t now. I thought Lord Belfrey remarkably handsome; I might even go so far as to say rivetingly attractive; but that didn’t mean I longed to be swept into his arms and kissed with the passion of Mr. Rochester for Jane Eyre. Really, I felt resentment stir; Ben might have put more focus on my sadness at parting from Thumper. When I had mentioned my reservations about his return to the Dawkinses, Ben had said absolutely the wrong thing. Because it was the truth.
“It says quite a lot about the couple that they are keeping their promise to her father when they aren’t dog people. Something you can understand, Ellie. You’ve never wanted one.”
“Only because bringing another animal into the house would upset Tobias.”
“And that’s more important than the children wanting a dog?”
There had seemed no point in saying I’d promised them one when… the right time came. And I now reminded myself that Ben was understandably irritable, with the cooker not working properly, along with having to contend with diva Georges’s gourmand requirements and produce a luncheon for the contestants, presumably a solitary meal for Lord Belfrey, and yet another feed for the film crew. No problem at all at Abigail’s or even Merlin’s Court, but the kitchen at Mucklesfeld was lacking in what would have been considered rudimentary equipment two centuries back.
We had parted with Ben urging me to get some rest and promising to send something up to me on a tray.
“Just a sandwich and a cup of tea or coffee,” I’d said, knowing he’d provide much better. But not baby frog legs; he’d never do that to me, even had he caught me in a state of déshabille in Lord Belfrey’s bedroom.
The door creaked, and I opened my eyes hoping to see Ben abject with remorse at having been testy with me. But it was Mrs. Malloy who tottered in on her high heels to the accompaniment of a dark taffeta rustle, rouge heightened by exertion, a filled tray clasped in her ringed hands, and the sparkle of her iridescent eye shadow not showing up anywhere else on her face.
It was clear she was in a mood even before she set the tray down with a thump on the foot of the bed. The effect of the crisp salad, eggs mayonnaise, open-faced prawn sandwich, and lemon tartlet was offset by the tea slopped in the saucer and her folded arms.
“Thank you.” I sat up cautiously. If my voice sounded flat, it was nothing to the compression of my lower legs. “It’s quite a climb from the kitchen. I’d think suggesting installing a lift could gain contestant points. How are things going?”
“Nice of you to show some interest, Mrs. H, after bunking off all morning.” She stared coldly down at me. “Where did you go, Hong Kong?”
“That was the plan, but when I arrived at the airport, I realized I didn’t have my passport. And perhaps it was as well, seeing I never did take that seminar on which chopstick goes with what course of the meal.” My hope that an attempt at levity would put a smile on Mrs. Malloy’s purple-glossed mouth was doomed. If anything, she looked crosser than ever. Oh bother, I thought, knowing I was about to hear what she thought of the other contestants. “So?” I prompted.
“I can see I’m not going to get a fair shake with the others.” She heaved a martyred sigh. “A pushy lot, all of them, especially that Judy Nunn you were so fired up about after spending five minutes with her. Why you couldn’t have put the little snippet in your pocket and walked off with her when you disappeared, I don’t know.”
Now it wasn’t only my lower extremities that felt weighted down. “She didn’t strike me as pushy,” I protested mildly.
“Well, you didn’t see her in action when Lord Belfrey had us all together for the welcoming ceremony. She grabbed his attention right off the bat by talking about how she’d just love to get busy with a trowel and cement fixing that opening in the wall out front. Crafty creature, using how upset he was about the accident as a way of making her play for him!” A fierce tightening of Mrs. Malloy’s folded arms pushed her bosom up under her chin. I held my breath waiting for a loud pop, but I doubted that even the air going out of those balloons would have deflated her wrath.