‘No pretence required, Fishy, dear. The company of new friends is all I need. I’m glad to have met you all.’
He smiled. ‘I’ve had a word with the coroner, and he’s happy with your written statement, so you’ll not be called upon at the inquest. And the local magistrate is a pal of mine. He’s agreed not to call you for the committal. You’ll be needed for the County Court trial, of course, but the assizes aren’t for a while yet. You must stay here when they call you.’
‘Thank you, dear. I shall look forward to your company, if not the trial.’
‘Cheerio then, sis,’ said Harry. ‘Safe travels, and all that.’
‘Goodbye, Harry, darling. Do promise to come and visit. You too, Jake, dear.’
‘We’d love to,’ said Lady Lavinia. She was already a ‘we’.
‘And you, too, Fishy. All of you. You must all come down. We might have to put you up in our neighbours’ house if you all come together, but it would be such fun to have you.’
We were saved from having to try to work out exactly how this might be arranged by the sound of a throat being quietly cleared at the front door.
‘Aha,’ said Lord Riddlethorpe. ‘I believe Morgan’s trying to tell us that the motor car is packed.’
‘It is, my lord,’ said Morgan. ‘With the Water Board digging up the main road to Riddlethorpe, we’ll have to take the long way round to the station.’
‘Then you ought to leave at once,’ said Lord Riddlethorpe. ‘Goodbye, Emily. Goodbye, Miss Armstrong. Until we meet again.’
Chapter Eighteen
There was a slight delay at Birmingham. A signalman slipped on some wet leaves on his way to the signal box and spilled tea on himself. He was scalded quite badly, leaving the main line to Bristol without proper signals for an hour, until his assistant could be roused and sent to work in his place. It gave us the opportunity to eat lunch in town, though, and we resolved to visit the city more often.
Back in Littleton Cotterell, not much had changed. The same dog cart that had first brought us to the house the previous year was waiting for fares at Chipping Bevington station. The same driver was as helpfully obliging and as quietly uncommunicative as he had been the first time we saw him.
He carried the bags into the hall, and was rewarded with Lady Hardcastle’s usual generous tip.
‘I do like going away,’ said Lady Hardcastle as we closed the front door and took off our hats. ‘But I think I like coming home slightly more. Did you warn Edna and Miss Jones that we would be back today?’
‘I wired them from the station at Leicester,’ I said. ‘While you were chatting to that lady about her dachshund.’
‘He was an adorable little fellow,’ she said. ‘And so well behaved.’
‘So I gather. More importantly, it gave me an opportunity to let Edna know our plans.’
‘I don’t know what I’d do without you.’
I checked in the kitchen, where I found the range lit, a pie ready to be re-heated, and a box of vegetables ready to be cooked.
‘Miss Jones has left everything we need for dinner,’ I called.
‘Splendid,’ said Lady Hardcastle from the hall. ‘Did she leave any tea?’
‘I’ll put the kettle on.’
I brought out a tray a few minutes later bearing tea and some of the biscuits Miss Jones had baked for us. Lady Hardcastle was still checking through the post.
‘I’m not sure I fancy unpacking tonight,’ she said, indicating the jumble of trunks and cases. ‘Do I have something to sleep in?’
‘I should think we can find you a nightdress in the wardrobe among the many dozens of nightdresses you seem to own,’ I said.
‘Then we shall leave the unpacking for tomorrow. Get the pie on and we’ll have an early supper, a glass or two of wine, and a bit of piano before an early night.’
Edna helped me to drag the luggage upstairs the next morning.
‘If I’d thought about it, I could have told our Dan to come and help with these,’ she said as we hauled the largest trunk up to the main bedroom. ‘He don’t mind helpin’ me out, if you ever needs any fetchin’ and carryin’ done.’
‘Not to worry,’ I said. ‘We seem to be managing. Just about.’
‘True,’ she said. ‘But it never hurts to keep him busy. Did you have a nice time?’
‘Not bad. One or two minor mishaps, but it was an interesting break.’
We set off back downstairs for the last bags.
‘How did you like the racin’ cars?’ she said.
‘Sadly, that was one of the mishaps – we didn’t get to drive them in the end.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,’ she said. ‘P’raps his lordship will invite you some other time.’
‘I do hope so. I— Oh, blast.’
The telephone had begun to ring.
‘You answer the telephone, my lover,’ said Edna. ‘I’ll take these last ’uns up.’
I picked up the earpiece from its cradle.
‘Hello,’ I said loudly and clearly. ‘Chipping Bevington two-three.’
‘Hello?’ said a strident, female voice. ‘Hello? Is that you, Emily? Hello?’
‘Good morning, Lady Farley-Stroud,’ I said. ‘Hold on one moment and I’ll fetch Lady Hardcastle for you.’
‘Ah, Armstrong,’ she said. ‘It’s you. Would you get Lady Hardcastle for me, please?’
‘Of course, my lady,’ I said, and I put the earpiece down on the table.
I found Lady Hardcastle in the study.
‘I heard,’ she said. ‘I’m on my way.’
I went upstairs and began unpacking.
An hour later, I’d put away everything that could be put away, and had presented Edna with a large pile of laundry.
‘I’m not sayin’ as I minds, dear,’ she said. ‘But you’d-a thought a big house like that would offer to do some laundry for their guests, wouldn’t you? They’ve got the staff for it, a’n’t they?’
‘They have, and they did,’ I said. ‘This is just the stuff that we couldn’t get done before we left. It’s only a couple of days’ worth.’
She shook her head disbelievingly. ‘She don’t wear this many clothes at home,’ she said. ‘How many times a day was she changin’?’
‘At least three outfits a day,’ I said. ‘Usually four or five. It’s a tough life among the toffs.’
She laughed. ‘We don’t know the half of it, do we? The worst we has to think about is workin’ our fingers to the bone from dawn till dusk. We should think ourselves lucky we only has one dress each to worry about.’
I decided it would sour the mood to mention that she only worked half-days, and that I’d often seen her out in a variety of rather nice dresses. Instead, I chuckled politely and went to see if Lady Hardcastle needed anything.
‘Ah, Flo, there you are,’ she said when I finally tracked her down in her studio in the orangery. ‘I was thinking of coming to find you. Do you have any plans for this evening?’
‘I was thinking of collapsing in the drawing room with some of your best brandy and an improving book,’ I said.
‘Then you shall have to send your apologies to the decanter and the bookshelves,’ she said. ‘Tonight, we dine with the Farley-Strouds.’
‘Both of us again?’
‘Both of us. Gertrude has learned of our return and is keen to hear our tales.’