Escaping Notice (25 page)

“Missing?” Miss Leigh's voice sharpened. She pushed Helen aside
and clawed through the drawer. “What do you mean?”

“That necklace I found — the one a guest lost. Did you not put
it in this drawer?”

“Yes!” She searched the drawer again. Then she did precisely as
Helen had done and pulled the drawer out and threw the contents
onto her bed. “It is gone!”

“Could one of your sisters have borrowed it? Perhaps for the
evening?”

“Of course not! Do not be a ninny-hammer, girl. The house is in
mourning. No one would wear colored jewels at a time like this and
certainly not Esther or Elvira. Someone must have stolen it — we
must report this immediately.”

“Yes, Miss Leigh,” Helen replied, thankful she had successfully
diverted attention away from herself. She might even get assistance
to find the accursed necklace now.

“Inform your brother. He likes to investigate matters that are
none of his concern. Let him investigate this.”

“Hugh?” Helen stared at her, startled. “Yes, Miss Leigh.”

“And that reminds me, what were you doing, going through my
wardrobe? A cap and jacket that belonged to me are now in your
brother's hands. I have a good mind to dismiss you without a
reference for interfering in matters that are of no concern to
you.”

“The clothes were damp, Miss Leigh, and growing mould.” Helen
eyed her employer with trepidation. “I feared they would ruin the
other dresses stored in your wardrobe, or worse, make you ill. I'm
sorry, I never meant —”

“He thinks I murdered my nephews because of you!”

“I never — surely he cannot think that!”

“Some man in a blue jacket and cap was seen near the Twilight
before the earl took her out. They think I sabotaged the
vessel.”

“Oh, no, you must be mistaken. Let me talk to him. There must be
dozens of folk with blue jackets and woolen caps. He cannot be so
foolish as to suspect you.”

Miss Leigh studied her with a strange, cynical light in her
eyes. “There was no love lost between the earl and me. It was well
known we argued. Your brother has heard the rumors, and the earl's
damn lawyer is using him to investigate. And now they will point to
that jacket and cap, and I will be to blame.”

Helen caught Miss Leigh's hands. The fragile skin and bones felt
brittle and dry within Helen's grasp. She rubbed them with her
thumbs. “No. Let me talk to him. It is all a dreadful
misunderstanding. Everyone knows you wouldn't — couldn't — do such
a thing.”

“That is where you are wrong. I am perfectly capable of
sabotaging a boat if I wished. Everyone will find out soon enough
that I used to sail in my younger days. I've taken the Twilight out
myself on several occasions with my nephew Lionel as second mate.
And once they know that ….” Her voice broke and her hands tightened
on Helen's in a sudden spasm of emotion. The muscles in her neck
worked violently as she attempted to control the rush of emotion.
“I could have done it.” Her dark, shadowed eyes stared into Helen's
with a look of desperate appeal. “But I did not.”

“I believe you, Miss Leigh. Please let me speak to my brother.
He will understand. Truly, he will.”

Plagued by worry, Helen watched Miss Leigh turn and walk out.
The older woman's shoulders slumped and her feet dragged, showing
every day of her age. Helen should n0t have added the burden of the
stolen jewels to Miss Leigh's already heavy load, just to escape
from suspicion. And to make matters worse, Helen was responsible
for Hugh’s belief that Miss Leigh had murdered her nephews.

More and more, Helen felt her actions were irresponsible. She
had caused nothing but trouble, and now there was every possibility
that Miss Leigh would suffer dearly for Helen's mistakes.

With the household at dinner, Helen hurried down the servants'
stairs. She found Mrs. Adams in the kitchen, coordinating the
succession of servants carrying the dishes for the main course up
to the dining room.

Edward stood at the cook's elbow, intently staring into a
bubbling pot. The cook said something and then placed massive
wooden spoon in Edward's grip. She stood back and nodded to the
lad, watching him stir the pot. Edward's face glowed with
pride.

When he glanced up, Helen winked at him. His grin widened before
he went back to his task.

“Mrs. Adams,” Helen said, weaving her way through the servants.
“I've just come from Miss Leigh. Someone has stolen that necklace I
found.”

“When?”

“I don't know —”

“None of the servants, I'll warrant. There's no one new except
you lot.” Mrs. Adams frowned and made an impatient gesture to one
of the footman fumbling over a platter of mutton dressed with mint
leaves. “We'll have to search the household. To make sure.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“After dinner, then. All the servants will be here. You will
stay with them to ensure no one leaves. Mr. Symes and I will
search. If the jewels are here, we will find them.”

“You can't search the entire house —”

“We will, and we will find them. There weren't so many as knew
about the necklace. If we need help, we shall know who to ask.”

Chilled at the sureness in the housekeeper’s voice, Helen agreed
meekly. Helen knew she would not be on the list of those trusted
enough to assist.

When Mrs. Adams went back to her task with a sharp command to
another hapless footman, Helen wandered over to the stove.

“Are you learning to cook, Ned?” she asked.

“Yes. All sailors know how, leastways, that's what Cook says,”
Edward cast a respectful glance over his shoulder at the cook.

Cook grinned and crossed her thick arms over her round belly.
“Mind your business, lad.”

“What were you talking to old prune-face for,” Edward asked,
curiosity livening his face.

“The necklace is gone,” Helen whispered. She smiled at the cook
and raised a brow to indicate she was merely discussing a private,
family matter. “They are going to search for it after servants'
dinner.”

“Oh,” Edward replied in a peculiar, off-hand voice. He stared at
the pot.

She studied him, aware of some oddity in his expression. When
she could not identify it, she gave him a hug. “Do not worry about
it. I just wish we had fewer complications and more successes.”

“So do I,” Edward agreed heartily. “And I hope I'm not burning
this sauce!”

Cook grabbed the spoon and shouldered the two of them away from
her stove. After a cautious taste, she smiled and thrust the
utensil back into Edward's hand.

“'Tain't burnt yet. Just tell your sister to be gone about her
business, and you concentrate on the task at hand or the sauce'll
be ruined, for sure.”

Helen laughed and stepped away, thinking of Hugh. She had to
convince him of Miss Leigh's innocence.

And perhaps he would have the answer to some of their own
problems, too.

“ …
do nothing in your master’s house that you feel obliged to
conceal ….” —
The Complete Servant

Edward listened to Miss Helen as he stirred the sauce and tried
to pretend he did not have a care in the world. He must have
succeeded, because she smiled and gave him a hug, although his
heart was floundering around in his boots like a dying
mackerel.

They’re going to search the house for the necklace!
He
had to hide it. Now.

After Miss Helen left, Edward coughed and pretended to gag,
right over the pot.

As he hoped, the cook pulled him away. “Here now, no getting
sick. If you feel ill, go back to your room.”

“But I ….” he protested, hoping it would lend veracity to his
claim of illness. A brave lad would not just cower and run away, he
would fight to the bitter end.

“Now, lad. No place for bravery here. Get out and take your
cough with you.” She batted Edward away from the huge stove. “If
you want to learn that bad, come back tomorrow morning. I'll teach
you to make scrambled eggs so light the clouds will envy them.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Edward turned away with pretended reluctance. He
dragged his feet across the flagstone floor as he wandered back
through the door to the servants' quarters.

Once he was out of sight of the staff scurrying to and from the
kitchen, he ran. There was no time to lose. The family ate supper
at eight and the servants an hour later, at nine. He had to hide
the jewels and be back for dinner if he was not to bring suspicion
down around his ears.

Thieves weren't welcomed aboard ships, no matter how good their
intentions. Ormsby was no different.

The necklace was stuffed into a corner of his pillow as there
was nowhere else to hide it. The bed was a thin straw mattress
suspended by a web of knotted ropes, and his rickety chest of
drawers offered no secret compartments at all. The paucity of
hiding places disgusted him. Any self-respecting castle like Ormsby
should be absolutely riddled with hidden panels, secret
compartments and mysterious rooms. As far as he could tell, there
was not a single one.

Shoving the necklace into his pocket, he ran out of his room and
into the narrow hallway.

Where to go
?

He could not put it anywhere in the house. They were bound to
find it. Edward's first thought for a hiding place was the maze. He
dashed outside, but at the shadowy entrance, he hesitated. The
crow-witches had found their way to the center and back again, so
it could not be a very good maze.

The abbey
.

The tumbled stones would protect it better than any vault. And
he could get there and back in plenty of time for dinner.

No one would ever miss him.

“ …
that is a crime which seldom goes unpunished.” —
The
Complete Servant

“The necklace is no longer in the house,” Mrs. Adams said to
Helen after she dismissed the servants, having held them in their
dining room for nearly three hours.

Her eyes followed the line of whispering footmen and maids as
they shuffled out, casting furtive glances at her over their
shoulders. Mrs. Adams had not explained why they had been held
there until well after midnight, just as no-one explained why they
were now free to leave.

Mrs. Adams felt ignorance was a virtue. And despite the fact
that Helen disagreed with almost every view held by Mrs. Adams, in
this particular case, she agreed. The fewer who knew about the
necklace, the better.

Helen managed to sit near her brother at dinner, but Ned did not
make an appearance. While Mrs. Adams and Mr. Symes searched the
house, Helen pulled Hugh aside. The other servants around them
either stayed at the table, making good use of their time by
cleaning the plates of any remains from their dinner, or gathered
into small groups to whisper.

“Miss Leigh said you accused her of murdering her nephews,”
Helen said as softly as she could. “How could you do such a thing?
Surely it was not simply because of those nasty clothes I found in
her wardrobe?”

“Someone wearing a blue jacket and knitted cap was seen at the
dock before we — before the Twilight went to sea. The ship was
sabotaged. The rudder and mast were sawn almost completely through,
and the storm took care of the rest. It rained the previous day and
night. The cap and jacket were wet.”

“She did
not
hate her nephews. She would never do such a
thing,” Helen protested vehemently. “You don't know her. Miss Leigh
is just a sad, ill woman. Even you must see that.” She gripped his
wrist. “And I am terribly worried about her health.”

“I don't want to hurt her if she's innocent. But the evidence
speaks for itself.”

“Then maybe you are deaf.”

His slow grin made her stomach flutter. “I am a fair man and my,
uh, associate is still looking into matters. If he finds evidence
to the contrary, I will be happy to believe in Miss Leigh's
innocence.”

“Perhaps you ought to start from that belief.”

“Let it not be said that I cannot listen to advice. For the time
being, I will suspend judgment. We will await more information from
Mr. Gaunt.”

“I cannot ask for more, I suppose.” She glanced around again.
“Have you seen Ned? He is never one to miss dinner.”

Hugh laughed. “Cook said Ned did not feel well. He went to his
room.” He glanced at the rapidly emptying table. “And if you wish
to put together a tray for him, you'd best hurry.” He reached
around her and snagged the last warm, yeasty roll as a maid picked
up the basket.

Relieved at his agreement to allow Miss Leigh the benefit of the
doubt, Helen picked up her napkin. Hugh handed her the roll he had
saved, and she collected several slices of mutton, some pickles and
a few slices of cheese before all the food was gone. A few of the
footmen gave her black looks, but she simply smiled prettily back,
comforted by Hugh's presence at her shoulder.

“ …
they will wisely take advantage of the opportunity which
Providence fortunately presents to them ….” —
The Complete
Servant

Stepping through the shadow-filled ruin, Edward eyed the
tumble-down walls of the central building. He had to hide the
jewels where he could find them again, but where no one else would.
The pointed, stone arch of the wide doorway still stood, beckoning
him to enter. The left wall was just a jumble of huge blocks, but
the right-hand and rear walls rose towards the darkening sky. The
night sky served as the roof.

Perhaps the almost complete building which jutted out on his
right protected the wall on that side of the structure, so it had
not crumbled like the others. The smaller structure was also
missing its roof, but at least it still had four walls. Above that,
a crooked tower rose, clinging to the remnants of a second and
third floor. There was no easy entrance, however, to that section
of the ruins. He wandered through the archway and stood, glancing
around. Vines grew out of cracks in the stone floor under his feet.
They twined up round the arch while clumps of coarse grass sprouted
between the slate slabs. Despite the attractive jumble of stones
with an abundance of crannies, he felt unsatisfied. Too
obvious.