Page 57 of The Thief
She shook her head. “No, thank you.”
Alastair nodded and turned to Babette, offering her some tea, then his mother, finally offering some to their fathers.
After everyone was settled with their tea, Alastair started the story, telling them about the sitting room and the threats against Scarlett, making sure to include their suspicions as well. When Alastair was finished explaining all of his information, Scarlett added some of her own that she had acquired.
“I have recently found that there is one maid who disappears daily, abandoning her post to go somewhere and the other maids have not been able to find out where she goes.”
Alastair looked at her in surprise.
“How come you did not tell me this yesterday?”
“I wasn’t completely sure I needed to. I didn’t speak to that maid because she was out on a family emergency. I was unable to ask her where she went.”
He became increasingly suspicious as she spoke.
“Which maid were you unable to speak to?” he asked.
“Olive said her name was Liza. Bard confirmed with me that you hired Liza the day before I arrived and since then, she has done a less than excellent job. Since we don’t want anything getting out, Bard has not yet had Mrs. Boudrow fire her.”
He stood there, waiting until she finished before he walked over to the door.
Opening it, he called out for Bard to come see him.
The abruptness of his movements made the other occupants of the room jump and when he saw Bard coming, he turned to apologize.
“My apologies, but you will see why I did what I did in just a moment.”
Bard walked into the room and Alastair closed the door behind him.
“My Lord, I came as quickly as possible. What do you need? Is there a problem?”
Alastair shook his head and rested his hand on the older man’s shoulders.
“Everyone is all right, as you can see.” He used his hand to sweep the room. When Bard visibly relaxed, Alastair smiled. “Bard, I need to know if Edward Holmes and Liza were hired at the same time. That might explain why she was leaving all the time. I believe it was her and Edward I saw leaving the guest wing two days ago.”
Bard looked at Scarlett and then at Alastair.
“I will have to check our record with Mrs. Boudrow. I believe she will know exactly when they were both hired.”
“Wonderful. Let us know when you find out.”
He nodded and stepped away from Alastair and bowed at the waist.
“Please excuse me, sir,” he said, heading out of the door.
When he’d shut the doors once more, Babette asked Alastair, “Do you think this Holmes fellow has something to do with what is happening to my daughter?”
“It’s too soon to tell. We will have to keep looking for clues before we jump to any sort of conclusion.”
He looked around the room at all of them.
“Right now, we are just trying to keep Scarlett safe. That is what matters.”
“We cannot agree more. It would not do well for something worse to happen to her,” Antoinette stated.
A small smile came to Scarlett’s lips and she looked over at the older woman seated across from her.
She did indeed give her son her coloring, but she had a wisdom in her green eyes that Alastair did not.
