‘That will do, Miss Cooper.’
‘Albert has the cheek to suggest there is a thief among us, when we all know that if there is a thief, it’s him.’
‘Miss Cooper –’ began the butler, his face now quite flushed.
‘It’s no good, Mr Mason. We all know as how he took the snuff box and you made him put it back –’
‘That’s a lie!’ cried Albert, jumping up from his chair and knocking it over in the process.
‘Sit down, Albert,’ Mason demanded, his voice raised.
After a little hesitation, the young man complied with some reluctance. Martha had stared at him imploringly, willing him to be quiet. The fact that he had risen briefly had provided Rose with an opportunity to study him more closely. If Albert were to be judged merely on his appearance, he would be considered an outstandingly handsome young man. He was tall and well-proportioned in physique and his footman’s livery set off his figure to perfection. He was dark in complexion, with hair that was almost black and which fell in untidy curls around his face giving him an exotic if unkempt air, strangely at odds with the neat splendour of his uniform. Had he smiled or merely looked attentive then his face with its even features would have been almost beautiful. Now, however, with fury blazing in his eyes and anger distorting his countenance, his face was only striking. Standing, looming above the table, he had looked almost menacing, sitting he still looked hostile and ill-humoured, his character marring his good looks.
‘That will do, Miss Cooper,’ the butler said quietly, reiterating the housekeeper’s words.
Mason had regained something of his usual composure, sufficiently to imply aloofness. His tone was such that few in the room would have dared to challenge his authority. Velda Cooper did not appear to share such scruples. Having at last given voice to her grievances, the lady’s maid showed no sign of being silenced. If anything, she seemed more determined than before to make her point.
‘He took the snuff box and he took madam’s necklace. You may shake your head, Mr Mason, but there can be little doubt in anyone here’s mind that he is the thief.’ The lady’s maid turned to glare at the footman. ‘It’s not right, so it’s not, that he should be walking around as bold as brass while we, with not a blemish on our characters, are all under suspicion.’
There were faint murmurs of assent from the other servants.
‘Nonsense,’ said the butler. ‘The situation with the snuff box was a misunderstanding, nothing more. It had been removed to be cleaned, that is all. And there is no reason to suppose the necklace has been stolen. It has simply been mislaid.’
‘That’s not what the mistress thinks,’ retorted Miss Cooper. ‘She warned Lady Lavinia not to bring her jewels with her. Told her there was a thief among her servants, she did. If you don’t believe me, ask Miss Denning here.’
Rose blanched as all eyes turned to her. How she wished she had not been so outspoken. She had intended to be all but invisible, melting into the background, a casual observer. To have drawn attention to her presence in the house, to have alluded to her purpose … She cursed her own impetuous nature. If only she had kept quiet. If nothing else, she was responsible for this outburst in the hall. The lady’s maid’s contribution to it, anyway. And now the servants were looking at her suspiciously or, understandably, at least with some reservations. She was not one of them and yet she knew their business. The theft that had haunted them all the last few days was known to her. Why, her mistress was very likely discussing it this very minute with their mistress as the two women roamed the grounds together.
‘Is this true, Miss Denning?’ demanded Mrs Field.
‘Yes. No,’ began Rose. ‘That’s to say it is true that Mrs Grayson-Smith recommended that Lady Lavinia did not bring her jewels with her. On account of a theft having occurred in the house, she said. I don’t think she said the thief was one of the servants.’
‘Well, there we have it,’ said Mason bestowing the assembled servants with something akin to a smile. ‘A precaution. Let us not read any more into it than that.’
The effect of the butler’s words, and the tone in which they were delivered, was to bring calm to the servants. They resumed their chatter and Rose was left feeling that she had negotiated a difficult situation with some skill and efficiency. What had threatened to become a disaster had proved the opposite. She had gained a deal of information regarding the thefts without having had to raise the matter herself, and she had also managed to deflect suspicion in connection with her presence in the house. It was only the lady’s maid that worried her. Without meaning to, she had made the woman look a fool among her peers, not something that Velda Cooper was likely to take lightly or forget. The insolent words of Albert had been forgotten, but the humiliation of the lady’s maid still showed clearly on the woman’s face.
‘Come in and shut the door,’ said Mason.
He was seated behind the large, wooden desk in his pantry. It was a room he considered very much his own domain, a place where he reigned supreme, even more so than in the servants’ hall, where idle servants’ chatter could run away with itself as it had done this evening. In some households of which he knew, the butlers that presided over them demanded that the servants’ meals be eaten in silence. Privately, he abhorred such practise, considering it close to tyranny. He admitted, however, that such a strict approach to discipline had certain advantages. For example, the conversation that had taken place that evening would never have occurred.
He sighed inwardly and puffed out his pigeon chest, trying to muster his strength. Over the years, and in this very room, he had disciplined and, where deemed necessary, even dismissed a number of male servants. The current situation was nothing out of the ordinary. A spirited young man attempting to challenge the authority that bound the servants’ hall and make a name for himself among the servants. A cocky lad trying to impress the women folk, nothing more. He had dealt with such cases a dozen times before. This time should be no different, though of course it was.
‘Albert,’ he said almost wearily, ‘I will not have you speak like that to Mrs Field. And to accuse the cook of pilfering food …’ He shuddered.
‘I said I was sorry,’ said Albert scowling, standing before him like a naughty schoolboy. He did not quite stand with his hands in his pockets, but it was clear that was his inclination.
To the butler, he did not look a bit apologetic. How many times, Mason wondered, have I told him to smarten up his appearance and stand up straight? His manner is sullen and there is always the most unpleasant sneer upon his face. His hair is unkempt with those curls of his falling about his collar in such a bohemian fashion.
The boy was a bad apple, but how to deal with him? That was the question. The butler put a hand to his forehead to conceal his despair. The young man was a disgrace to his profession.
‘But you didn’t mean it, Albert, just as you do not mean it now. I cannot be seen to tolerate such behaviour.’
‘I’m your own sister’s son –’
‘Don’t you think that I know it?’ said Mason, banging the desk with his fist. He had not meant to let his anger show, but really the boy would try the patience of a saint. ‘Do you think that if you had been anyone else I’d have put up with such behaviour? As God is my witness, I have tried to do my best by you for my own poor sister’s sake. But enough is enough, Albert. A life in service is not the life for you.’
‘But I like it here,’ said Albert. There was a stubborn look upon his face.
‘I cannot think why. You do not understand the role of footman or discharge your duties efficiently. At every opportunity you challenge my authority and upset the other servants.’ The butler bent forward and leaned over the desk towards him. ‘And what have you done to Martha, I’d like to know? The poor girl has done nothing but sob bitterly for these past few days.’
‘She’s all right,’ said Albert quickly.
‘Is she? I don’t think so and neither does Mrs Field. She rightly considers hersel
f responsible for the girl’s welfare and I can tell you she’s very worried about Martha. The girl’s in pieces, anyone can see that. If you’ve got her into trouble –’
‘I haven’t.’
‘I’m glad to hear it. Now, Albert, I’m only thinking of what’s best for you. You’ll be paid up to the end of the month –’
‘I said I like it here, Uncle. I’m not going anywhere.’
‘Mr Mason. In this house I am referred to as Mr Mason and you know it.’ The butler looked exasperated. Why did his nephew insist on being so difficult? ‘Now look here, Albert. This really won’t do. You know as well as I do that you are not cut out for this life.’
‘I’m staying, Uncle.’
‘No you are not. I am sorry, Albert, but your conduct is such that you have forced my hand.’
‘There are things that I could tell if I wanted to,’ said the footman, an unpleasant smirk distorting his handsome face.
‘What things?’ There was a note of apprehension in the butler’s voice.
‘Bad things. Things you wouldn’t like me to tell. There’s not much that goes on in this house that I don’t know about.’ The young man began to walk about the room, pausing to pick up and look at objects, before proceeding on his way. He stopped for a long time before the safe, staring at it and tracing the key hole with his finger.
‘I wouldn’t even need to say anything definite as such, Uncle. I could just hint at things, here and there as the mood takes me. Of course, I wouldn’t want to get anyone into any trouble, but if my hand was forced, as you might say …’
Chapter Nine
‘I shall have to keep an eye out for that footman of yours,’ said Lavinia, applying some rouge expertly to her cheeks. ‘He sounds rather interesting. Dangerously handsome, did you say?’
‘I did not,’ said Rose, laying out a burnt gold-coloured dress, the satin material of which gave it the appearance of liquid metal. ‘I said that he was rather good-looking, but a thoroughly ill-bred young man. He was objectionably rude at supper time and awfully unkind to the housemaid who unpacked your clothes, the one that you remarked upon as having been crying. I say, Lavinia, don’t you think that this gown is a little too much?’ Velda Cooper’s condescending words about the slippers still rang in Rose’s ears. ‘You’re dining in tonight and there will just be the two of you. No other guests.’
‘More’s the pity,’ sighed Lavinia. ‘I have to admit that I am finding Millie’s company rather tedious. It’s not her fault, poor girl, but she really isn’t able to talk about anything of interest. That’s when she opens her mouth at all, I should say. Most of the time she is silent as the grave and just sits there quietly agitated, wringing her hands, mopping her brow, that sort of thing.’ Lavinia looked down at her splendid dress. ‘And she has no eye for clothes at all.’
‘Hardly any point in dressing up, then,’ said Rose.
‘You know me, I always like to make an impression. Now, be a dear and fasten my necklace for me before you go, will you?’ Lavinia stared at her reflection in the mirror. ‘It’s not quite right, but I suppose it will have to do. I do wish I’d brought my diamonds with me. They offset the gold dress beautifully.’
‘For goodness sake, Lavinia,’ said Rose. ‘Do let us get down to business. Remember why we are here. It is not for you to show off your wardrobe. I have to get back to the servants’ hall in a minute, or I’ll be missed. I have to sit there and pretend to sew or something equally mundane. Do think of me while you are enjoying your five course dinner, won’t you?’
‘Oh, I shall,’ said Lavinia sweetly.
‘Now, the conversation I was telling you about that I overheard between Albert and Martha was certainly suggestive, don’t you think? And they were at pains to keep it secret.’
‘I should say it was! From what you’ve said, the housemaid as good as accused the footman of taking Millicent’s necklace.’
‘Well, she didn’t actually mention the necklace by name, but I can’t think what else they could have been talking about. It couldn’t have been the snuff box because that had been taken some time ago and put back. Anyway, Albert denied taking whatever it was and got frightfully upset when Martha refused to believe him.’ Rose began to pace the room. ‘He also denied stealing both the snuff box and the necklace when Cooper accused him outright of doing so in the servants’ hall.’
‘Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he? It’s not the sort of thing he’d admit to unless he wanted to get into trouble. It just means he’s a liar,’ said Lavinia dismissively. ‘And from what little you’ve told me about his character, it’s hardly surprising if he is. If he hadn’t been old Mason’s nephew, I daresay he’d have been out on his ear before now.’
‘Yes, I think that’s safe to assume. Under normal circumstances, if there was any suspicion that a servant was a thief, he would not still be employed. Now, what I found particularly interesting was that all the other servants appeared to be of the same view as Cooper. That Albert was definitely the thief. That he had taken the necklace, I mean. And yet if it had been proved beyond all doubt, being the butler’s nephew wouldn’t have counted for much. Don’t you think it strange that nothing has been done about it? Albert has not been made to put the necklace back as he was with the snuff box.’
‘You think someone made him put the snuff box back?’
‘Yes, I think his uncle did. I say, I feel a little sorry for poor old Mason. I think he’s torn between wanting to maintain the highest of standards and wanting to do the right thing by his sister’s son. You should have seen him in the servants’ hall. He tried to pretend that no theft had occurred.’ Rose sighed. ‘I suppose he does not want to be seen as being unduly lenient towards his nephew.’
‘Well, he has been,’ said Lavinia. ‘It may well be that we won’t be able to locate the necklace, but at least we will be able to tell Milly whom the thief is.’
‘We don’t have any proof yet,’ warned Rose. ‘We’ve just been speculating. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you –’
‘What?’ demanded Lavinia, her hand paused in the act of patting a curl.
‘One of the servants is Edna.’
‘Edna?’
‘Yes. She used to be a scullery maid at Ashgrove House.’
‘Oh.’ Lavinia spoke the one word with a forced indifference. Only her hands gave her away. She drummed her fingers on the dressing table top, a tuneless, unmelodic sound. ‘Oh, I see.’
Rose was not surprised by her reaction. Inwardly she cursed herself for having been so thoughtless and insensitive. Mention of Ashgrove House brought back sad memories, ones that her friend would doubtless prefer to forget. She remembered the pain and anguish and Lavinia’s subsequent flight to the Continent, leaving her brother to deal with the aftermath as best he could.
‘Did she recognise you?’ asked Lavinia. A vein throbbed in her neck, betraying the tremendous effort she was making to regain her equanimity.
‘Yes,’ said Rose quickly, keen to distance herself from the mention of Ashgrove. ‘She wasn’t certain at first. My disguise confused her, you see. I think it was the spectacles. She almost gave me away. She didn’t mean to. I managed to stop her before she did, and she promised not to say anything to the other servants.’
‘Do you think she will keep to her word?’
‘Yes, I do. Just as I was coming up to see you, she stopped me and said she would be bringing me my cup of tea in the morning. It will be an opportunity to talk to her privately and explain why I am here and in disguise.’
‘And you really think she can be trusted?’
‘Yes,’ said Rose. She might have added that Edna had helped her with the business at Ashgrove, but thought better of it. Instead she said: ‘She’ll be able to help answer a few questions that I have. Her presence in this house might well prove very useful. She’ll be able to tell us about the household’s routine. We should be able to establish from that who had an opportunity to steal the necklace.’
‘I
can tell you that,’ said Lavinia. ‘I’ve been thinking about that since we last talked about it.’ She had returned her attention to repairing her face. ‘The housemaids, the housekeeper and the lady’s maid. The weather has been so fine that I doubt whether the scullery maid’s been bringing up coal and laying fires in the bedrooms. Not in the morning at least.’
‘What about the footman?’ asked Rose. ‘Albert’s the footman. Would he have had any occasion to come upstairs in the morning and go into Mrs Grayson-Smith’s bedroom?’
‘No, I don’t think so. His presence at this end of the corridor at that time of day would certainly have been commented on. I suppose it’s possible he might have arranged a clandestine meeting with Martha while she made the bed or changed the bedding. You got the impression they were sweethearts, didn’t you?’
‘But if the housekeeper caught him, there would be hell to pay,’ said Rose. ‘I’m sure she’d have sent him away with a flea in his ear, I can tell you, Mason, or no Mason, which means that –’
‘Something like that happened to poor Eliza once, though it wasn’t her fault,’ giggled Lavinia. ‘Not at Sedgwick, I hasten to add. It was at another house when she was a young housemaid. There was a new footman, you see. He’d never been in service before and he found working in a grand house rather daunting. It was his first day and he got terribly lost. He went into the daughter of the house’s bedroom instead of the mistress’ sitting room. Eliza was in there plumping up the pillows and it gave her an awful fright. She screamed and the housekeeper came running. The poor footman got a clip round his ear by the butler and –’
Murder in the Servants' Hall Page 8