Page 78 of Murder at the Mayfair Hotel

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“Not me,” Victor said.

“I heard it from Peter,” Harmony said.

Edith searched my gaze. “Miss Fox? What do you think? Can Lord Addlington’s word be trusted?”

I patted her arm. “I’m sure it can. He’s very well known here, after all.” I didn’t want to tell her the letter could have been falsified. I didn’t want to upset her more.

Victor stretched out his legs, his heels trapping the edge of Harmony’s skirt. She didn’t notice. “You can’t assume it was Mrs. Warrick dining in his room that night either. For starters, she’s much older than him.”

“So?” Harmony said. “What’s wrong with a middle-aged woman having a liaison with a younger man?”

“She’s past middle age.”

“So?” she asked again.

He turned to me and she rolled her eyes again. “It’s more likely he entertained a…different kind of woman in his room,” the cook said.

“Victor!” Harmony’s voice drew the attention of the other maids and cooks. “Don’t be so vulgar in front of Miss Fox.”

Victor adjusted his crossed arms, pushing his hands into his armpits. “Sorry, Miss Fox, but I didn’t want to say whore in front of you.”

Harmony rubbed her forehead and sighed.

I tried to suppress my smile. “I didn’t think those sort of women came into the hotel.”

Victor merely shrugged and the women didn’t comment, but the moment I said it, I remembered the Russian count and his mistress in the smoking room. It would seem the hotel’s staff looked the other way if the whore looked sophisticated enough.

“Hopefully the police will arrive soon,” Harmony said with a glance at the clock. “If they don’t, make sure Peter calls them again.”

“Of course,” I said, thinking the same thing. The message he left last night must not have reached the detective inspector.

“I have to return to work,” Edith said, rising.

Harmony rose too, only to find her skirt trapped beneath Victor’s shoes. Instead of pulling it free, she glared at him until he drew his legs back, releasing the skirt. He put his hands up in surrender but didn’t offer an apology. Harmony marched out of the parlor behind Edith and the other maids. Victor watched her go, a small smile on his lips.

I left the cooks and returned to the foyer where I asked Peter if the police had arrived yet.

“Mr. Hobart just informed me they’re on their way,” he said through a smile as a guest approached his counter.

The foyer was even busier than before, with several guests milling about or arriving. I was surprised to see Aunt Lilian greeting many of them personally. She smiled brightly as she flitted between groups like a mauve butterfly, but a closer inspection revealed the dark circles under her eyes.

Flossy broke away from the women she was talking to and joined me. “There you are! I’ve been looking for you.”

“Your mother looks well this morning.”

Flossy pulled a face. “She’s cross with me. She just learned that the man she wanted me to marry isn’t coming to tonight’s ball.”

“The one with the interest in Egyptian archeology?”

She nodded. “Apparently her friend, his mother, said I’m not the right girl for him. Mother is blaming me for not putting more effort into capturing his interest. But honestly, I tried, Cleo. I truly did. I even asked questions about the temples in Egypt.”

“Do you mean pyramids?” I said, trying to keep a straight face.

“Perhapsyoushould try. He seems more your type, and you’re closer in age to him than I am.”

“I don’t intend to marry,” I told her.