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He immediately wondered if Petal had seen what had happened this morning and suspected she must have.
“Edwards wouldn’t know that you had swapped with Petal again, would she?”
“Pardon, sir?” Aggy looked confused.
“How much does Edwards overhear about the working arrangements in the house, Aggy?”
The young woman looked pleased that he had used her name before she realised he was still waiting for her to answer him.
“Oh, nothing, sir. She mostly keeps herself to herself. She eats in her room because she thinks it is beneath her to eat dinner with the servants. The nurse only appears to cause trouble with Rollo, or Mrs Kempton.”
“And Petal,” Aidan added with a sigh.
Aggy looked surprised for a moment. “Well, yes, she has threatened her a time or two.”
“What about?” Aidan was curious, and a little annoyed with Petal that she hadn’t told him about this herself.
“Well, I am not altogether sure, but Petal was a little annoyed about it,” Aggy replied matter-of-factly.
“Where is Petal now?”
“I don’t know, sir. She spoke with Rollo before I got up this morning and left the house. I don’t have any idea where she went, and I don’t know if she will be back.”
“Can you go downstairs and fetch Rollo for me? Tell him that whatever he is doing can wait. I want to see him, and Mrs Kempton, and yourself here as soon as possible.”
Aidan knew, he just knew, that Petal had seen him and Edwards in bed together. Unless it was her day off, which he doubted, he suspected she had quit her job.
“Over my dead body,” Aidan snarled as he began to pace around the room.
While he was pacing, he realised there was not much discomfort in his legs anymore. Emotionally, he wouldn’t get any better until he had Petal back where she belonged; right beside him, in his bed, in his arms.
This time, though, she was going to be there under new terms – whether she liked it or not.
Taking a seat at the bureau, he drew out a piece of parchment and dipped his quill to pen a note while he waited for everyone to arrive.
Thankfully, Jerry chose that moment to appear in the doorway.
“Ah, I am glad you are here,” Aidan murmured as he pushed to his feet. “Wait a minute.”
“My, I am honoured that you are so grateful to see
me,” Jerry replied with a smile. “What is happening?”
Aidan brought him up to date with the latest turn of events. Jerry stared at him in stunned surprise. Aidan didn’t get the chance to discuss it with him further. Rollo, Mrs Kempton, and Aggy arrived.
“Excellent. Close the door, Rollo,” he ordered.
He waited until everyone was before him and stood to one side of the fireplace for a moment while he gathered his thoughts.
“Where is Edwards?”
“She is in bed, sir. She has come down with the same illness everyone else has had, or claims to have in any case,” Mrs Kempton reported. It was evident from the tone of her voice that she doubted the woman was ill at all.
“As long as she stays in her room that is fine by me for the time being,” Aidan declared. “She is less likely to cause trouble for anyone in there.”
Rollo frowned at him but had yet to speak. It was clear from the expression on his face that he was out-of-sorts.
“Now then, where is Petal?”
