“It is possible they’re presents given to her by people she’s fond of,” I mused. “Children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.”
“I shouldn’t think she’s the sort children would be fond enough of to give gifts to,” Hannah said. “She has a pinched-up face and a harsh tongue. Lady Mortimer was a sweet old thing—Lady Fontaine will never be.”
“You say she and Lord Peyton do not get on?”
“Not a bit of it. He called her into his study the night of her arrival, and such shouting there was.” Hannah shook her head. “Toffs can be nastier to each other than the likes of us ever will be. He wanted her to go at once, but she refused.”
Interesting. Was Lord Peyton angry because his sister would disrupt his nefarious plans? Or were they simply a brother and sister at odds?
“Is that all of the household?” I asked.
“Aye, that’s the lot. They’re quite demanding. I might have to ask for a rise in wages.” Her dimples showed again.
“What about his other visitors?” I hoped for groups of conspirators crowding the drawing room, so loudly plotting the government’s demise that Daniel would have plenty to tell Monaghan.
“As I say, he’s well-liked, but visitors don’t come in clumps or stay long, because of Lord Peyton’s poor health. His most frequent visitor is the Earl of Pelsham. He spends a few hours there and then goes off. He’s been there several times already since I’ve been there, and I gather he and Lord Peyton are boyhood friends. There have been a couple other callers, one a lady and gent called Lofthouse, the other, his doctor, Mr.Hampton. Mr.Hampton’s already come twice. Most of the time, though, it’s quiet. Course, I’ve only been there a week.”
No hordes of angry gentlemen ready to assassinate the queen or Mr.Gladstone, I concluded. “At this rate, Daniel will never come home,” I said glumly.
Hannah sent me a look of sympathy. “He’s playing a long game, I can tell. Those can take months, sometimes years. I’m sorry, pet.”
“It won’t be years,” I said with a confidence I did not feel. “Daniel is clever. He’ll quickly discover whether anyone in the house needs to be arrested. Even Lady Fontaine, if only for being disagreeable.”
Hannah chuckled. “She’d be the first to go, if that were the only reason.” She sobered. “If your man does start makingarrests, I’m in the wind. I don’t need to see the inside of a nick. Not again.”
I gave her a warm smile. “As long as you don’t steal the silver, Mr.McAdam will know you have nothing to do with anything.”
Hannah looked aggrieved. “I keep saying, I never touched them spoons. I’ll confess to the cash that was in our mistress’s desk. She was always boasting about how she kept fivers in there. Easy to take a few.”
“Well, don’t pinch any fivers from the viscount, please.”
“No fear. I’m there to watch, right? As a favor to you.” Hannah’s friendly grin widened. “You must fancy him something fierce, your Daniel. You keep slipping and calling him by his given name, plus you wouldn’t go to all this trouble if he meant nothing to you.”
“He is a dear friend,” I said stiffly.
“Not what your eyes tell me, Katie, me darling.” She continued in a louder voice. “Now, missus, you gonna buy this lot or not? I have others I can flog them to.”
“Very well, give me a dozen pears and six apples.”
“Right you are, love. I’ll toss in the grapes for nothing. Two shillings for the lot.”
“Two shillings?” I cried in true outrage. “You are mad. One and we are finished.”
Hannah let out a long sigh as she jumped to her feet. “Only because I’m in a hurry. Robbing me, that’s what you are.”
I counted over the coins and transferred the fruit from her basket to mine. Hannah flounced away, as a disgruntled seller would, quickly disappearing into the gathering shadows.
I climbed down the steps of the opera house with my now-laden basket, and immediately banged into a slim man with aneatly trimmed beard in a dark suit topped by the pale smudge of a dog collar.
“My dear Mrs.Holloway,” the man said in a quiet voice as I apologized profusely. “You do know you’re being followed, do you not?”
9
“I do indeed, Mr.Fielding,” I said. ““Please do not draw attention to the fact.”
Mr.Fielding raised his low-crowned hat, for all the world a solicitous vicar concerned about a lady. “Then forgive my intrusion. It will be dark soon. Might I escort you to a more salubrious part of the metropolis?”
“The daylight lingers well past eight o’clock these days,” I pointed out. “But if you must.”
