Gavin wasn’t at all sure the maid could give them that much information.
“Hmm.” The maid’s lips pressed together as if in thought. “There was a masquerade party a few years ago, and her ladyship was looking in one of the attics.” The woman stopped again. “Let me take ye there, it’s a little hard to find. This house isn’t as old as some, but I wouldn’t want ye to get lost.” She started forward then stopped. They almost bumped into her, and she started walking again.
Finally she opened the door to an attic filled with trunks, and Gavin groaned. “It will take us all day to find what we’re looking for.”
“It’s not that bad.” But Georgie’s voice held a good deal of doubt. “Is there any order to the trunks?”
The maid shrugged. “Couldn’t say, miss.”
Georgie gave a soft sigh, and Gavin wanted to hear her sigh for him when he kissed her. “At least it’s all clean.”
“Oh, yes, miss. Mrs. Hopper, the housekeeper, keeps the whole house clean.”
“Well, thank you . . .” Georgie’s words trailed off.
“Cooper, miss,” the servant said.
“Thank you, Cooper.” Georgie gave her a coin. “We will simply have to search.”
“It would have been too easy otherwise.” Although, after they’d found the maid, Gavin had hoped she’d be able to lead them right to the things.
“Yes, indeed.” She turned to the servant. “Thank you again for your help. Now we must look for the items on our list.”
“Is it a game for the house party?” the woman asked.
“Yes. We found the painting of the woman with the baby geese.” Georgie handed her the list. “Now we have to find the items in the painting.”
“Well, if it helps. I was told she was the old Lord Turner’s mother who liked to dress up.”
“That helps a great deal,” Georgie said with a conviction Gavin did not share. “We had better not keep you from your work.”
“Yes, miss. Good luck.” The maid bobbed another curtsey.
He raked his fingers through his hair. “Where do you suggest we start?”
She studied the room for several seconds. “It makes sense to me that the older trunks would be in the back of the room. From what I understand, when this house was finished they were all moved over here. I do expect that they are rather a jumble.” She turned in a slow circle. “But, I think the ones that were filled here will be in some sort of order.”
He walked to the closest ones. “Shall we begin with these?”
She stared at the trunks before which he was standing, and strolled past the first row. “Many times fabric is reused for new gowns. However, the clothes the lady in the painting was wearing were not particularly rich. I would not be surprised to discover that she had an affection for geese and visited them.”
He tried to follow her reasoning. “So you are saying that she would have kept clothing that she did not worry about ruining?”
“Something like that.” Georgie stopped in front of a large dark wooden trunk banded with decorative metal, also dark with age. “Let’s try this one first.”
Fortunately, the key was in the lock. That was odd. He looked at the other trunks. “Miss Featherton, I believe you are to be commended.” Gavin turned the lock and opened the lid. On top lay the cap with the red ribbon nestled in a basket. Also in the basket was a feather that looked to be made of gold. “I say.” He lifted the feather. “I wonder if this is our prize.”
She pulled her bottom lip between her small white teeth. “That would be hard to share.”
Not if they were married. “You’re right. But, at least we found what was on our list.” He started looking to see if there was another piece of paper. “I can’t believe it was this easy.”
“Considering we are to go into the town today for the market, she could not have made it too difficult.” Georgie opened her pin-watch then glanced at him. “Aside from that, it was sheer luck that you took one end of the gallery and saw the paper. We might not have known to look for it if you hadn’t found it.”
“And we found the maid.” That had been a stroke of luck.
“Indeed.” She nodded. “Can you imagine how long it might have taken us to discover this room if we had not?”
“At least an hour, I would imagine.” He picked up the basket. “Let us trace our way back down.”
