Page 47 of A Duchess of Mystery (The Mismatched Lovers #3)

I t turned out that Atkins had a list of only five servants who were relatively new to the castle and whom he suspected, albeit unwillingly, might have been either foolish or desperate enough to have taken a bribe and told a lie.

All of them were young and had been only a matter of months in the castle’s employ.

Two of them were young parlor maids, one was a recently arrived underfootman, and two were grooms.

“We’ll have to treat them as though we suspect them of having seen something,” Richard said to his assembled senior servants. “Even though all three of you feel certain they couldn’t have done this, and that whoever it is, is lying for money. Whatever it is, it’s not a wild goose chase.”

Mrs. Barnes pursed her lips. “If it was one of those girls then I’ll know them for liars the moment they open their mouths.

Although, as it’s hard enough getting these new girls out of their beds in the morning to do their chores, I can’t believe either of them would have voluntarily risen at three even if they heard someone shouting ‘fire.’”

Amos chuckled. “And my two lads from the stables would’ve been tucked up in their beds, exhausted.

They’d had to wait up and deal with the carriage when Their Graces returned from their dinner party.

That takes a while, and with having to be up again by six they wouldn’t be wanting to hang about in the stableyard. ”

Atkins frowned at his fellow servants. “The underfootmen all sleep upstairs in the attics, same as the housemaids, so it seems to me the most likely that the grooms would be ideal candidates to fabricate a story about having seen something that night. We have to remember that whoever it was is lying. They didn’t actually see anything, which means it could be any of them, regardless of the chance of them having been up at that hour of the night. ”

It seemed from this, though, that each one of them didn’t want to assign guilt to any of the suspects under their own command.

Richard rubbed his bristly chin, trying to dispel the unwelcome image of where Isabella might currently be finding herself without success.

His imagination was working overtime, even though he was supposed to be organizing an interrogation.

“Mr. Atkins is correct. It could have been any of them. It could just as easily be one of the maids as the footman or grooms. We must not allow ourselves to harbor any preconceived ideas at this point.” He surveyed his assembled would-be inquisitors.

A rather formidable bunch. “But we’ll start with the two maids, then the footman, as they are indoor servants, and leave the grooms until last.”

The four of them abandoned the library and repaired to the room Richard had known as his uncle’s study.

He’d elected not to include Philip Sanders in this matter, as the less people who knew the truth, the better.

If questioned at some point in the future, Philip would quite legitimately be able to claim ignorance, even though it now seemed as though he might know more than he was letting on.

With the nature of his job, it seemed likely that if anyone were to spot the pistol having been in the wrong hand, it would have been him.

Atkins had co-opted Robert, the head footman, who was absolved of suspicion due to his long service and seniority and the trust Atkins had in him, to fetch each of their suspects to them without alerting the others. At least, that was the idea.

Maud, the youngest and newest parlor maid was the first arrival.

She was a small girl for her eighteen years, with a pretty face liberally scattered with freckles and sandy brown hair confined under a mobcap.

She’d put on a clean apron for her interview and, as she stood before the desk in the study, behind which her interrogators had seated themselves, her hands gripped that apron as though she were trying to screw water out of it.

Guilt about something exuded from her every pore, but not necessarily the kind of guilt they were looking for.

“You may sit down, Maud,” Mrs. Barnes said, keeping her tone kind.

They’d decided, as she was in charge of the female servants, that she should be the one to question the two housemaids.

The theory was that they wouldn’t be so frightened of her, but this might have been negated by the presence of not only the butler and head groom, but also her employer.

Maud perched herself on the edge of the chair Atkins had put in front of the desk, clasping her reddened hands together and staring down at them as though they were fascinating. She was trembling.

“Can you look me in the eye please?” Mrs. Barnes said.

Slowly, Maud raised her head and peeped up at them out of wide, frightened eyes. She reminded Richard of a deer he’d once seen Marcus shoot. But he couldn’t afford to feel sorry for her. He had to remember Isabella.

“Now, Maud,” Mrs. Barnes said, her voice softening a little more. “I want you to tell me the truth and you will not be in any trouble. Do you understand?”

Maud nodded. “Yes, Mrs. Barnes.” Her voice came out as a terrified whisper. This was a girl with something to hide. Richard watched her closely. Had they struck lucky the first time? Could this mouse of a girl be the one they were after?

“Think about last night. I want to know if anyone approached you asking questions about the night the previous duke died.”

A brief look of relief shot across Maud’s face.

Clearly this wasn’t the question she’d been expecting.

Did she have something else to feel guilty about?

Who knew what young servant girls got up to that they didn’t want those in charge of them to find out about.

Richard’s hope of early success dissipated.

“Yes, Mrs. Barnes. They did that. Last night, at the ball, a man come into the servants’ hall and was asking us all questions.

” She blushed, almost falling over herself in her haste to answer.

“One of they visiting grooms, I think he said he was. What come with the carriages to the ball. He was a bit familiar, like.” More blushing.

Probably he’d used flattery on her. “He was asking if any of us could tell him what he called ‘the inside story.’ He asked everyone the same thing.”

“And did you tell him anything?”

She shook her head with mounting enthusiasm.

“No, Mrs. Barnes. I didn’t tell him nothing.

I didn’t know nothing to tell him, for a start.

I was asleep in my bed when it all happened, like a good girl, and I didn’t know nothing till I got up in the morning to do my chores.

” She leaned forward in her seat, eager to help now she’d realized she wasn’t going to be in trouble.

“And he kept trying to put words in my mouth that I wasn’t saying.

He was, that. Real cheeky like. Kept asking me to say yes to things.

Over’n’over again. I told him I had work to do and couldn’t be talking to the likes of him.

Put him straight, I did. Cheeky so and so.

He went off to ask someone else after that. I think.”

“Very sensible of you,” Mrs. Barnes said, with a smile that must have been meant to be reassuring. It worked, because Maud smiled back, suddenly brimming with confidence.

“Thank you, Mrs. Barnes.”

“And that was the only contact you’ve had with this man?”

“It was, Mrs. Barnes.”

Richard exchanged glances with Atkins who gave Mrs. Barnes a nod.

“Thank you, Maud,” she said with real kindness in her voice now. “You may go.”

As soon as the door closed behind her Mrs. Barnes spoke. “She’s telling the truth. I know my girls. It wasn’t her.”

Richard nodded. “I agree. Did you see how relieved she was when she found out what she was being questioned about?”

Atkins nodded, a hint of reproval in his eye and voice. “No doubt she has some other small crime she feared would be discovered, Your Grace. Mrs. Barnes will need to keep a better eye on these girls, I fear. They are inclined to foolish behavior if given half the chance.”

Mrs. Barnes snorted at his tone. “Girls will be girls. I do my best, but it’s not easy.

But it’s those handsome young footmen you’ll have to watch, Mr. Atkins.

They’re every bit as bad as my girls.” She tutted her tongue.

“But at least I don’t have to worry about the duke chasing after the maids any longer.

” She glanced at Richard. “Begging your pardon, Your Grace. I don’t mean you, of course. ”

Richard smiled. “I know you don’t, and I consider it very flattering that you haven’t classed me with my cousin in that department.”

“Let’s have the next girl in now, shall we?” Atkins said.

The second girl, Betsy, a year younger than Maud and the newest addition to the staff having only been employed for a bare month before Marcus’s death, appeared just as innocent of having been bribed as her fellow parlor maid.

She was a more cocky young lady and less inclined to fear, so perhaps she was not hiding any misdemeanor of her own.

She answered the questions readily, and departed with a spring in her stride and a peek over her shoulder at Richard.

Innocent of the crime, but perhaps not innocent in other ways.

A good thing he wasn’t inclined in the same direction as Marcus. This wasn’t the Middle Ages.

That left the three male servants.