Page 2 of Mrs. Holloway's Christmas Pudding

“Yes, poor chap,” Cynthia answered. “He had to be carried out by two of the footmen and put into his carriage. Mrs. Whitaker is quite worried. It’s too bad—I rather like the man. ”

Life was precarious, and a chill or fever could carry one off without warning. Even if Mr. Whitaker was in the last stages of consumption, however, Mrs. Bywater would find a way to blame me. It was an ongoing battle between the two of us, Mrs. Bywater ever seeking an excuse to be rid of me.

“I will need to find out exactly what happened,” I decided.

“We know it’s nothing to do with you,” Cynthia said quickly.

I appreciated her loyalty, but her friendship wouldn’t help if Mrs. Bywater sacked me, which she likely would if Mr. Whitaker died.

If I lost my post, it would be a disaster. Most of the salary I earned went directly to my friends, Joanna and Sam Millburn, for the keeping of my daughter. If I had no way to pay Joanna, the Millburns might not have the wherewithal to look after Grace.

Cynthia knew this, as did Tess, though Mr. Davis did not. An unmarried cook with a daughter was not the sort of person Mrs. Bywater would let remain in her employ, so I had sworn Cynthia and Tess to secrecy.

I suppressed a sigh. “I will simply have to prove to Mrs. Bywater for once and for all that none of my dishes were tainted.”

Very annoying as I was especially busy with preparations for the upcoming Christmas dinner. Mrs. Bywater had decided the family would stay in Town this year, with Cynthia’s family traveling up to see her, instead of she going to them. I was glad of Cynthia’s presence, because I liked her and missed her when she went to her father’s estate, but it did mean more work for me and less time I could spend with Grace.

“Why should you have to prove it?” Mr. Davis began, jerking me from my thoughts, but Cynthia interrupted him.

“Because Auntie won’t leave off until Mrs. Holloway has thrown away every morsel in the house, which is ridiculous. She would then complain about the expense of replacing it all.”

“Course, we’d be rid of all them plums,” Tess murmured behind me.

Cynthia acknowledged this with a grin. “I’ll help, Mrs. Holloway. Glad to.”

She was kind to me, this fair-haired, blue-eyed earl’s daughter who defied convention, befriended a cook, and went about with her friends dressed in gentlemen’s suits. Her eccentric ways couldn’t hide a good heart or a quick mind, and I was forever grateful she had come into my life.

“Thank you,” I said with sincerity. “I’ll need to know exactly what Mr. Whitaker ate, and also what sort of illnesses he suffers from.”

“I can help with that.” Cynthia bounced on her toes in her restlessness. “Round up all your friends, Mrs. Holloway. We’ll rush about for you. Won’t we?”

She directed the question at Mr. Davis and Tess. Tess agreed eagerly, and Mr. Davis gave her a conceding nod.

“I will list the dishes he partook of,” Mr. Davis said. He turned and glided from the room, his footsteps quiet as he made his way to the butler’s pantry.

“All your friends, Mrs. H.” Cynthia’s eyes danced. “Will you send for him, or shall I?”

It wouldn’t be as easy as Cynthia surmised to locate Daniel McAdam, the person to whom she’d been referring to when she’d said All your friends. Daniel had been in Ireland until recently, doing secretive things for the man he worked for, an icicle of a being called Mr. Monaghan.

It was by no means certain Daniel would answer my summons. He sometimes disappeared for long stretches at a time, doing who knew what for his guvnor. I did not know if I’d even need his help. He was good at catching those who set off incendiary devices and tried to assassinate the queen, but Mr. Whitaker’s illness was hardly in the same league. But I welcomed Daniel’s thoughts on any problem and supposed it did no harm to send word to him.

Once Cynthia went upstairs, I took my basket of scraps out to the beggars who habitually came to stand in the shadows in Mount Street. They knew I would emerge to dispense the leftovers at a certain hour every evening. I didn’t worry they’d take sick from them, because as I’d said to Mrs. Bywater, Tess and I ate a little of everything, so we’d discover if something was off.

The tall young man with Daniel’s eyes was there and gave me a cheerful greeting. I asked him to tell his father I wished to speak to him. James agreed with his usual energy and bounded off after he accepted the small piece of plum tart I’d tucked into his hand.

I decided there was no sense in me waiting for Daniel this evening, so I finished my chores, sent Tess to bed, and retired myself.

There was also no sense in me fretting too much about Mr. Whitaker. A man with a weak constitution having to be taken home and put to bed likely had nothing to do with what he had or hadn’t eaten that day. Mr. Davis had given me, before he’d gone to bed, a list of all the dishes Mr. Whitaker had consumed, which had been most of them. Everyone else had eaten the same, he told me. I’d thanked Mr. Davis, the information confirming my own convictions.

Some people could not stomach certain foods, it was true. I always tried to provide a variety of dishes at dinner parties so those with a sensitivity could find something of which they could partake.

Nonetheless, I was always most careful with my ingredients, making sure all were fresh as could be before I put them into any of my dishes. I could sleep with a clear conscience on that note.

Even so, I tossed restlessly and returned, sandy-eyed, to the kitchen in the morning.

Surely Mr. Whitaker would have recovered from his distress by now, I reasoned as I began to prepare breakfast. He’d be fine after a night’s rest, wouldn’t he?

The best way to discover what was happening in another house in Mayfair was to ask the servants. Tess, who was a friendly chatterbox, had plenty of mates in the neighboring houses of Mount Street, South Audley Street, and beyond. It did not take much doing to send Tess on an errand where she could strike up a conversation with another maid on a similar errand. Through the gossip that permeated Mayfair, she soon returned with an answer.

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