“Well, not likely yet. He only just left yesterday morn.”
Penelope struggled a moment. She must not show too much interest or surprise. “I did not know Mr. Stillwater was in the habit of visiting London.”
“He’s not. But there’s been a good bit of doin’s this summer, that none of us are in the habit of.”
“Goodness, you make it sound so dire.”
Mrs. Williams laughed. “No, nothing so terrible.” She leaned in. “It’s just, everyone knows he don’t allow visitors in the house.”
“Yes. It’s why I came to the back.”
“Nor would it have been any use to seek entrance at the front. Old Larkspur don’t even post a footman at the front of the house. Leastaways, he never did until this summer—after Lord Tensford found that big fossil.”
Penelope blinked. “How could the earl’s discovery affect the running of this house?”
“Theearl’sdiscovery?” The cook looked at her slyly. “I heard it was your doing that uncovered the thing.”
“Not at all,” she corrected her firmly. “It was the merest accident that I grasped that section of boulder to try and keep my balance. The merest accident that happened on an expedition that Lord Tensford had arranged, on his own property.”
“Well, I can tell ye that Mr. Stillwater would have fought him over ownership of the piece, had he been the one to pull down that stone and expose it. We all heard him ranting about it.”
“Good heavens, such a thing never entered my mind.”
“Mr. Stillwater weren’t the only one that thought so. After Tensford put a guard on it, all the curious folk come to him with their questions. It got so he could not enjoy his pint at the pub without being swamped with endless discussions. Even after he quit going to the village, they all came here to pester him.”
“Why would they—? Oh, I’d forgotten that Mr. Stillwater is also a fossil enthusiast.” Penelope hoped she’d be forgiven that small untruth.
“Oh, yes. It’s his obsession.” Mrs. Williams eyed her. “What did ye think o’ it? The one ye unearthed?”
She shrugged. “It was interesting. I suppose one could call it beautiful, in a cold and alien sort of way.”
“Eerie, if ye ask me, thinking so much o’ old bones and rocks.” Mrs. Williams made a face. “Dust collectors, if ye listen to the maids. But the folks kept coming, hoping to see the master’s collection, or to hear o’ the worth o’ such pieces.”
“You would think the locals would know better.”
“And so they might have, had the master not broken his own rules.”
Penelope set down her cup. “He admitted someone to the house?Thishouse?”
“For the first time in all the years of my employment here. At first, we thought it a fine thing. We keep it all in first-rate shape, and it seems useless, when no one ever sees it.”
“Good heavens. Whom did he allow in?”
The cook shrugged. “Some London gentlemen as were attending the house party. Several o’ them, at different times. And of course, the lady.”
“Lady?” Penelope held very still. “Who was she?” She waited, holding her breath, although she would bet her quarterly allowance, she knew the answer.
“I’m surprised you don’t know, seeing as ‘twas your own cousin who escorted her.”
“My cousin?” she said blankly. “Oh. Mr. Lycett, you mean.”
“Yes, him. He escorted the lady here, though the footmen said he looked bored enough with all the talk of fossils and where to find them. Apparently, though, the lady fell right in with Mr. Stillwater’s enthusiasm.”
“Well, you cannot expect me to know the lady by any association with Mr. Lycett. The countess was kind enough to invite him to join in many of her activities, for my sake. And I believe he made up to every female at that party.”
“Oh, one of those, is he?”
“Most definitely. He was staying with us, as a matter of fact, and he even tried to cozy up to my mother.”
