Miss Titmus had been silent through all this, but was now suddenly alert.
‘Actually,’ she said, ‘I think it will do rather nicely. Miss Buffrey, would you like a job? You see, I’ve recently been persuaded that I’m very much in need of a lady’s maid. And, well, there’s a rumour going round that you might be in need of a new position.’
‘Oh,’ I said, ‘that was easy. Betty?’
‘I . . . er . . . I don’t know what to say,’ said Betty.
‘You say, “Thank you, Miss Titmus, that would be wonderful,”’ I said. ‘Then you shake hands and agree to work out the details later.’
‘Thank you,’ said Betty. ‘That would be rather wonderful.’
‘Well, that’s all splendid,’ said Lady Hardcastle.
‘And so much easier than I imagined,’ I said. ‘I thought it would take much longer than that to get them both to realize what a good idea it was.’
‘Your ideas are always marvellous, dear,’ said Lady Hardcastle. ‘They were always bound to get there in the end.’
‘Do you know anything about photography?’ said Miss Titmus.
‘Only what I see in the magazines,’ said Betty. ‘And the pictures you show Mrs Beddows. But it’s fascinating.’
‘Even splendider,’ said Miss Titmus. ‘I shall have a lady’s maid and an assistant in my new business venture. You can be Titmus Photographic Services Limited’s very first employee.’
‘And your first commission will be to photograph our house,’ said Lady Hardcastle. ‘Or the motor car. Or The Grange, where my dear friends the Farley-Strouds live. Or anything at all we can find in the village. You must capture the village in all its glory. And change the name, dear; it’s a bit cumbersome.’
‘You’re on,’ said Miss Titmus. ‘I was a little down in the dumps earlier, but this has rather cheered me. In celebration, Buffrey, I give you the afternoon off. Take your ease, do as you will. I shall see you after breakfast tomorrow, and we can discuss terms and duties.’
‘That’s very kind, miss,’ said Betty, whose sniffles had finally ceased.
‘And if you bump into Roz, you have my permission to thumb your nose at her.’
‘Oh my,’ said Betty. ‘I don’t think I could do that.’
‘No,’ said Miss Titmus, ‘nor me. Frightens the life out of me, that woman. Always has. But take comfort in daydreaming it, and then we shall start afresh tomorrow.’
‘Thank you, miss,’ said Betty, and she left the library a much cheerier woman than she had arrived.
Lady Hardcastle was examining the photograph again.
‘She doesn’t look at all troubled here,’ she said.
‘Who, dear?’ asked Miss Titmus.
‘Young Katy Burkinshaw. She’s so pretty, too.’
‘May I?’ I said. She handed me the photograph and turned her attention instead to the folded papers.
The door handle rattled as Mr Waterford opened it and poked his head round the door.
‘Good afternoon, ladies,’ he said. ‘I don’t suppose you’ve seen Roz?’
‘I’m afraid not,’ said Miss Titmus. ‘We thought she’d gone straight up to her room. Have you tried there?’
‘Yes, no sign of her. Can’t find her anywhere. And Buffrey’s absent, too. Ah, well. If you see her, please tell her I’m looking for her.’
‘Right you are, dear,’ said Miss Titmus.
He left.
I looked back down at the framed photograph in my hand. There was the now-familiar group of young sportswomen. Unstoppable champions, with nothing to block their path to success and happiness. Lady Lavinia with her bat. Mrs Beddows with a ribbon tying back her hair, leaning on her friend’s shoulder, with one leg crossed in front of the other. Miss Titmus with her chubby face and her eyes slightly downcast. Katy Burkinshaw with her warm smile, a little brooch pinned to her chest relieving the starkness of the uniform. I looked more closely at the brooch as a thought struck me.
‘Miss Titmus,’ I said. ‘Did Katy Burkinshaw have a sister?’
‘What? Oh, yes. A couple of years below us. Worshipped her big sister. What was her name? Oh, it’ll come to me in a moment . . . Rebecca. That was it. Rebecca.’
I tried to pass the photograph back to Lady Hardcastle, who was still poring over the race order.
‘My lady,’ I said. ‘Have another look at Katy Burkinshaw. I think I know why she looks familiar.
She did as I asked, then looked back at the race order.
‘Did Monty just say Roz was missing?’ she said.
‘Yes,’ said Miss Titmus. ‘He said he’s looked everywhere.’
Lady Hardcastle stood abruptly. ‘I rather fear she’s in terrible danger. We need to find her at once.’
Chapter Sixteen
‘Helen, I need you to go and find Fishy and Monty. Bring them here, please. Don’t tell them Roz is missing, or they’ll go haring off on their own and we’ll never find her.’
Miss Titmus looked slightly taken aback. Lady Hardcastle tended to affect an air of slightly dizzy affability among new acquaintances. This confident, decisive, commanding Emily Hardcastle seemed to have come as a bit of a shock.
‘Righto, Emily,’ she said. ‘What about Harry and Jake?’
‘Harry’s on the sick list – he’ll be no use to us – and Jake will be better employed keeping him out of our way. Best leave them out of it. No, wait, you’re right. Fetch them. They can set up camp in here, coordinate the intelligence. Battalion HQ, and all that.’
Miss Titmus hurried off.
‘Armstrong, go down and find Spinney, and ask him to come up. I’d ring down, but there’s no telling who will turn up, and I need Spinney to coordinate the servants, so it will be quicker to fetch him directly.’ Lady Hardcastle was in charge.
‘On my way, my lady,’ I said, following Miss Titmus.
Rumours of Betty’s ‘sacking’ had already begun to take hold below stairs, and I was delayed for a few moments while I set a few people straight.
‘You pal around with that Miss Buffrey, don’t you?’ said one of the cheekier young housemaids. ‘What did she do to get herself sacked? Did she pinch something?’
‘She wasn’t sacked,’ I said. ‘She resigned. And if I hear any more accusations of pinching, I’ll box your ears.’
‘Have to catch me first,’ she said, and she skipped off.
I eventually found Mr Spinney in his parlour.
‘Come in, my dear,’ he said. He was sitting at his table, using the decanting cradle to decant a bottle of port. He looked up from the delicate work as he greeted me. ‘What can I do for you this fine afternoon? I hear young Miss Buffrey has been dismissed. I do hope it wasn’t anything too terrible. Poor Mrs Beddows doesn’t need any further ugliness in her life.’
‘I’m afraid you’re the recipient of inaccurate gossip, Mr Spinney,’ I said.
‘Oh? How so?’