‘Did he?’ The housekeeper looked alarmed.
‘Yes. Apparently, it was he who took the snuff box, not Albert as everyone thought. Borrowed might be a better word for it, as he intended to put it back. Of course, he took it for the very best of reasons. It was to help that nephew of his get out of trouble. Unfortunately, Albert told all to Miss Cooper. She, being of a rather spiteful disposition, threatened to tell your master, who I understand is very particular about his servants being honest. It would have meant Mr Mason losing his job.’ Rose sat back in her chair. ‘To some people, that wouldn’t seem much of a motive for murder. But for a person like Mr Mason, for whom the position of butler is everything, it would mean a great deal. He has dedicated his life to serving the Grayson-Smith family. Crossing Manor is his home. I don’t suppose he can imagine a different life, do you?’
‘No,’ said Mrs Field, producing a handkerchief and dabbing at her eyes, ‘I don’t suppose he can.’
‘Oh,’ said Rose, sounding more cheerful. ‘There is one piece of good news. You’ll be pleased to hear that we have recovered Mrs Grayson-Smith’s diamond necklace. It’s rather a long story, and I don’t want to bore you with it, but it was Miss Cooper who had taken it. She’d hidden it in the lining of one of Mrs Grayson-Smith’s fur stoles and hung it in your mistress’ wardrobe. Rather ingenious, don’t you think?’
‘Yes.’ Mrs Field shifted in her seat. ‘Do you think that is why she was murdered? Someone knew she had taken the necklace and wanted it for themselves? Perhaps she wouldn’t tell them where it was, or goaded them that she was in possession of it, so they killed her.’
‘No.’ said Rose. ‘You see, Miss Cooper had the necklace with her when she was murdered. She was intending to leave Crossing Manor that night with Albert. In fact, she was all ready to leave. She’d brought down her suitcase into the servants’ hall, and was wearing her coat. The necklace was most probably in her coat pocket. She wouldn’t have left the necklace upstairs in Mrs Grayson-Smith’s room, because she wasn’t intending to go back there. And besides, she couldn’t, even if she had wanted to, because Mason had locked the doors into the main house.’
‘If what you are saying is true, then how is it that you found the necklace in the mistress’ wardrobe?’ asked the housekeeper. ‘How did it get back up there?’
‘Oh, that’s easy to explain,’ said Rose. ‘The murderer put it back. During the conversation leading up to her murder, Miss Cooper must have disclosed her hiding place for the necklace. I dare say she bragged a bit about her own cleverness.’
‘I see.’
‘Do you?’ Rose sat forward in her seat. ‘There is only one person who had an opportunity to put the necklace back in its hiding place this morning, when the doors from the servants’ hall to the main house were unlocked. Mrs Grayson-Smith has kept to her room all day. She has forbidden the maids to tidy her room, and on the few occasions she has left her room, she has locked the door behind her.’
‘Surely you’re not suggesting that the mistress killed –’
‘No, Mrs Field, I am not. I am suggesting that you killed Miss Cooper.’
The housekeeper opened her mouth once or twice, but no words came out. She stared at Rose with eyes full of anguish, and then slumped back into her chair.
‘You are the only person, other than Lady Lavinia and myself, whom Mrs Grayson-Smith has admitted to her room today. When you realised I would not be attending to your mistress, you were adamant that you attend to her yourself rather than have one of the housemaids do it, which I understand is the usual practice. It provided you with an opportunity to return the necklace to its hiding place while your mistress was having her bath. I daresay you brought it into the room wrapped up in a towel. You would have been desperate to get rid of it. You didn’t want it discovered in your room.’
A silence filled the housekeeper’s sitting room and the two women looked at each other, one with fear and the other with pity. It was Mrs Field in the end who broke the silence.
‘Yes. I did it. I killed her.’ She held her head in her hands. ‘Even now, I can’t believe I did it. I never intended to.’ She looked up at Rose through her tears. ‘The reasons Mr Mason gave for killing Miss Cooper, you knew they were my reasons too, didn’t you?’
‘Yes, that’s to say, I guessed they were.’
‘I’ll tell you how it was. I’d like to get it off my chest by telling someone. Something had woken me and I couldn’t get back to sleep. Perhaps it was Miss Cooper going down the stairs with her suitcase. I thought I’d make myself a nice cup of tea. How I wish I hadn’t! As I was making my way down the passage, I noticed there was a light on in the servants’ hall. It struck me as strange. So I went in. And there was Miss Cooper, standing there as bold as brass with her coat on and her suitcase by her feet. She was holding the mistress’ diamond necklace in her hand, holding it out to see how it caught the light.’
‘It must have given her quite a shock to see you?’
‘It did. She knew she’d been caught in the act good and proper. She had nothing to lose but to tell me how it was Mr Mason who’d taken the snuff box, not Albert. She said she was leaving with the necklace and if I tried to stop her she’d tell the master about Mr Mason.’ She sobbed. ‘He’s such a good, upright man, is Mr Mason, he wouldn’t have denied it, not if the master had asked him outright. He’d have told the truth. And you’re right about the master being very particular about his servants being honest. Mr Mason would have lost his job. It would have destroyed him.’ The housekeeper held up her head. ‘It would have destroyed me too. Being housekeeper here means as much to me as being butler does to Mr Mason. We’ve both dedicated our lives to serving the Grayson-Smith family. I can’t imagine a life away from Crossing Manor, but it wouldn’t have been the same without Mr Mason.’ She paused. ‘I couldn’t imagine a world without Mr Mason in it.’
‘Do you love him so very much?’ asked Rose softly.
‘More than life itself,’ declared Mrs Field. ‘I’ve been here at Crossing Manor since I was a young woman, and Mr Mason since he was a young man. We’ve grown up together as you might say. I loved him from the moment I first set eyes on him. I thought in time he might feel the same way about me. But he never did. Unrequited love, that’s what they call it, isn’t it? But I cherished what we had, running this house in partnership, taking tea and coffee together in this sitting room. Sometimes, when we sat side by side in front of the fire, I could almost imagine we were a married couple.’ She smiled and then her face darkened. ‘I wasn’t going to let her take it all away from me. I wasn’t going to let her hurt him.’
‘But to kill her!’ said Rose.
‘It was her own fault really. She wouldn’t let it alone. She had to tease me about Mr Mason. She said he’d never look at someone like me and that it was pathetic for a grown woman to carry on so. Then she picked up her suitcase and went and sat in one of the armchairs and started reading her magazine as if nothing had happened. I was so angry I couldn’t help myself. I saw the saucepan lying there. I picked it up and hit her on the head before I knew what I was doing, and then I hit her again and again … I couldn’t stop.’
‘What did you do next?’ asked Rose with a heavy heart.
‘After the anger faded, I couldn’t believe what I had done. Then I remembered the necklace. It had fallen out of her pocket and was lying on the floor. I wanted to return it to the mistress. I couldn’t do anything for poor Miss Cooper, but I could return the necklace. Miss Cooper had told me about her hiding place for it. Very clever she thought she was. I thought I’d put it back there for safekeeping and then in a few days’ time I’d produce it and say I’d found it somewhere. Then I went to bed. I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t for one moment think I’d fall asleep, not after killing someone. But the odd thing is, I did.’ The housekeeper put her hand to her head. ‘I meant to be the one to find her. I never meant that it should be little Pearl … Pearl and Edna …. I can hardly bear to think ab
out it.’
There followed another silence, which neither woman seemed particularly minded to break, each lost in their own thoughts.
‘You know you must tell the police the truth, don’t you?’ Rose said at last. ‘If you don’t, an innocent man may be convicted of Miss Cooper’s murder.’
‘Yes. I realise that now. I’d never let Mr Mason hang for my crime. I thought it might all go away. Aren’t I silly to hope that things would go back to the way they were?’ She put a hand to her face, which had unexpectedly turned crimson. ‘It will all come out at the trial, won’t it? About my feelings for Mr Mason and why I did it? I don’t think I will be able to bear it.’
There was another moment of silence. Then the housekeeper patted the arm of her chair in an affectionate manner as if she were saying goodbye to the room.
‘Would you mind if I go up to my room first before we go and see the policemen? I’d like to make sure I leave it tidy, and I must get my coat. I daresay it’s chilly outside.’
At the door, she paused and looked back.
‘Thank you, Miss Simpson, for not going to the police with your suspicions. I appreciate your talking to me first.’
Later, Rose wondered whether she should have stopped her. Instead, she sat in the housekeeper’s sitting room, with its faded but genteel furniture, waiting for Mrs Field to return. She realised afterwards that she must have become too engrossed in her own thoughts. With a start, she looked at the clock on the mantelpiece. Too much time had elapsed. She was running to the door and out into the passage when she heard the scream. She heard the sound of running feet, the clatter of shoes on the staircase, and Agnes appeared in the passage, her hair falling down, her eyes wild.
‘Oh, miss. Something dreadful has happened. Mrs Field has just thrown herself out of an upstairs’ window!’
Chapter Thirty
‘Hello Edna,’ said Rose, ‘I’ve come to say goodbye.’
It was the following afternoon, and Rose had gone to the kitchen in search of the kitchen maid. She had found Edna busy preparing vegetables for the dinner that evening, under the watchful supervision of the cook, who had looked slightly put out by Rose’s sudden appearance in her domain. The woman had taken out her annoyance by making a great show of banging pots and pans and now stood resolutely at the stove with her back to them, vigorously stirring a sauce of some concoction.
‘I wish you weren’t going, miss. It’ll seem awful quiet here without you, what with Pearl gone.’ Edna whispered. ‘Her father fetched her first thing this morning. He’d heard talk in the village about the murder. I don’t think she’ll be coming back.’
‘I’m afraid I must leave,’ said Rose smiling. ‘Remember, I’m getting married in a few days’ time. I must see Cedric. I’ve missed him terribly and I have so much to tell him. I’m sure there will be a hundred and one things waiting for me to do when I get back. Final preparations for the wedding and gifts to acknowledge, that sort of thing. Did I tell you that my mother’s made my wedding dress? I’m dying to see it all finished.’
‘What’s your dress like, miss?’
‘Well, it’s made of pale gold satin and it’s cut on the bias so it drapes beautifully. It has a cowl neck and puffed sleeves, which are tapered in at the elbow –’
‘Oh, miss. It sounds beautiful, I wish I could see it.’
‘Well, perhaps you can.’
Edna raised her eyebrows and looked at her quizzically, the knife she had been holding to slice the carrots slipped from her hand and clattered on to the table. Rose, in response, looked towards the stove and addressed the cook’s back.
‘Would it be all right, Mrs Mellor, if Edna were to accompany me into the garden? I’ll only keep her a few minutes.’
The cook’s only response had been to stir a pot with particular vigour, which Rose took to be a sign of reluctant acquiescence.
‘Edna,’ said Rose as they strolled in the garden, much to the delight of the kitchen maid, who breathed in the fresh air, ‘I have something to ask you. Do you remember telling me that you didn’t much like working in the kitchens?’
‘I do, miss.’ Edna sighed. ‘And it’ll be worse now Pearl’s gone. I wish I was doing something else, I do really.’
‘Now, don’t answer me now, because I should like you to think about it, but I was wondering if you would be interested in becoming my lady’s maid. It –’
‘Oh, miss, I should love it more than anything,’ cried Edna, clapping her hands together. ‘Though I should tell you that I haven’t any experience of that sort of thing.’
‘Neither had I when I came here. You should have seen the mess I made of Lady Lavinia’s hair,’ laughed Rose. ‘She was so cross. But seriously, Edna, Lavinia’s lady’s maid, Eliza, is the most wonderful teacher and I shall arrange for you to go on courses in hairdressing and fashion.’
‘Would you really? Oh, miss, I can’t wait,’ exclaimed Edna, skipping around the garden in her excitement.
‘Close the door behind you, Albert,’ said the butler.
In Albert’s opinion, his uncle was eyeing him rather too coldly. He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, gazing nervously around the butler’s pantry, awaiting the inevitable reprimand for his recent bad behaviour.
‘Albert. I’m dismissing you from your position as footman in this house with immediate effect.’
‘’Ere, uncle, you can’t do that,’ protested Albert, patently shocked. ‘The mistress, she ain’t going to press charges about her damned necklace and –’
‘I am very well aware of that,’ said Mason brusquely. ‘You should consider yourself very fortunate. Most employers would not have shown such leniency. Now, I’ll pay you up to the end of the month, which I think is more than generous given the circumstances. I’m afraid you can’t expect me to give you much of a reference –’
‘I don’t want to leave,’ said Albert sulkily. He looked at his uncle slyly. ‘I’m sure the master would be very interested to learn the truth about who took the snuff box –’
‘He already knows the truth. I told it to him this morning,’ said the butler, raising his voice a little.
‘And he’s letting you keep your job?’ asked Albert, looking taken aback. ‘Blimey.’
‘He is. The master appreciates all that I have done for the family during my years in service and is prepared to overlook the incident.’ Mason paused and stared down at the papers on the desk in front of him. His eyes appeared glazed and it was doubtful that he saw them. ‘I should have told him before. Then none of … of this awful business would have happened.’
‘It wasn’t my fault that it did,’ said Albert sulkily. ‘If Velda Cooper hadn’t –’
‘You may be innocent in the eyes of the law, Albert,’ said the butler, getting up from his seat and coming to stand rather menacingly in front of his nephew, who flinched visibly. ‘But I consider you bear more than some responsibility for the tragic events that have taken place here. Two women are dead, one of whom …’
He could not continue, for his voice broke a little and there were tears in his eyes. He took a deep breath and stood up to his full height, which was not inconsiderable, and puffed out his weak pigeon chest. Mrs Field, had she been there, would have thought him very handsome.
‘I wish you well, Albert. Make something of your life and make your poor mother proud of you.’ The butler resumed his seat. ‘Now, will you be so good as to shut the door when you go out?’
You’ve done what?’ exclaimed Lavinia. ‘I have never heard of such a thing!’
‘You were the one who told me that I would definitely need a lady’s maid when I became the Countess of Belvedere,’ said Rose. ‘I think Edna will be very suitable. She is a quick learner and very enthusiastic.’
‘But she has no experience,’ protested Lavinia. ‘She’ll probably decorate your hair as she would a strawberry charlotte.’
‘You do talk a lot of rot, Lavinia. Now, what do you think of Edwin Grayson-Smith?�
� said Rose, keen to change the subject. ‘He wasn’t at all what I had expected.’
‘I know exactly what you mean,’ replied Lavinia enthusiastically. ‘I’d imagined someone very loud and gruff and rather intimidating. But he seemed terribly sweet and jolly fond of old Millicent in a quiet and undemonstrative sort of a way. Of course, I think it helped that she wasn’t wearing one of those awful insipid dresses of hers, and that I’d done her hair for her.’
‘I’m sure that helped enormously,’ laughed Rose. ‘I thought they appeared rather well suited, Millicent and her husband, I mean. I do hope that their marriage will prove a success. It’s a great pity that Mr Grayson-Smith doesn’t spend more time here at Crossing Manor with Millicent. She’d get to know him better and she wouldn’t be so lonely and bored.’
‘Well, it’s funny you mention that,’ said Lavinia, with something of a mischievous grin. ‘I admit that I did take him aside this morning and propose that he take down that portrait of his first wife in the drawing room and commission one to be done of his second. I also suggested that he take Millicent on a nice long holiday to recover from this awful business which, I will say for him, he thought was a terribly good idea.’
‘Well done,’ said Rose, who could imagine the scene perfectly, and felt a little sorry for Millicent’s husband. ‘And we shall also make a point of seeing them often. Sedgwick is so very close.’
‘I don’t think I shall ever want to come back to Crossing Manor,’ said Lavinia, with a shiver. ‘I say, I wonder if Millicent will make an effort with her appearance when we are gone. I do hope so. She really is quite pretty. I have made it my mission to find her a suitable lady’s maid, with Eliza’s help, of course.’
‘Well, you’ll be able to see for yourself in a few days’ time,’ said Rose. ‘I’ve invited Millicent and Edwin to the wedding.’
‘Have you really? I say that … hello? Here’s that tame policeman of yours. I expect he has come to congratulate you on a job well done. Hello, Sergeant Perkins. How are you?’
Murder in the Servants' Hall Page 29