She had been ridiculed for it in one of the dailies, calledeccentric, which I thought was a compliment. She didn’t care a fig what other people thought. As Brodie had pointed out, that was undoubtedly where my view of certain things came from. I took that as a compliment as well.
My aunt’s head butler, Mr. Symons, greeted me at the entrance to Sussex Square.
His stoic gaze took in my trousers, shirt, and jacket, and then the hound. There was only the slightest lift of one eyebrow.
“I will be staying for a few days,” I informed him.
“Of course, miss,” Mr. Symons said with a nod. “I will inform the staff to prepare a room.”
That was hardly necessary.
“Saints preserve us!” greeted us as Rupert followed me into the great hall. If it involved saints, it could only be Mrs. Ryan.
She had appeared at the sound of my arrival—unusual for that time of the night, along with several servants, Munro, and my aunt.
“Hello, dear!” My aunt greeted me with a kiss on the cheek, as if she took no notice of my clothing. “It is always good to see you.”
As if this was a social call for afternoon tea, cards, or perhaps a séance with her medium.
She glanced down at my bag and immediately told one of the servants to take it to the guest room in the west wing.
“Have you eaten, dear? We had a splendid bit of roast partridge for supper. And what of Brodie?”
What indeed?
The less everyone knew the better. Except for Munro. I did keep my answer brief.
“He is quite well, and off on a new aspect of a case.”
That seemed to satisfy Munro. He nodded to me, then told my aunt that he would make certain the front gate was secure. I did notice then that he was carrying a rifle, the sort of weapon that might be used for hunting animals.
“Come along, dear,” my aunt told me. “You look exhausted. I’ll send up one of the girls with a nightcap. You do look as if you could use it. A bit of the whisky will help you sleep.”
It was going to take a great deal of it, I thought. Tired as I was and worried about Brodie, I needed to think what was to be done next, if I was to help solve Ellie Sutton’s murder and prevent him going to prison.
Nine
As children,after coming to live with our great-aunt, we often wakened to a new adventure. It seemed that she was determined to make up for our mother’s death, our father’s preference for gambling over raising his daughters, and then his untimely death.
It was quite common to waken and find some special event had been arranged that inevitably took us away from our tutors and daily lessons. I had wholeheartedly embraced such truancy, while Linnie had worried that we might somehow miss something important in our education.
There was the occasion when our great-aunt arranged for our own private zoo, with animals brought to Sussex Square and allowed to roam about the grounds much to the fear of the servants, although it had not included any predatory beasts.
Never at a loss for imagination we had wakened one morning on another occasion to find a circus in the gardens behind the manor, complete with performers, elephants, horses, camels, and a dancing bear.
It is possible that my aunt’s somewhat different approach to her newfound parenthood accounted for my fascination foradventure, and then travel to some of the places where those various creatures had come from.
I listened to an unusual sound, my eyes still closed. Possibly a dream.
However, the sound persisted, then fading only to return quite loud. I opened both eyes, the awareness of where I was slowly returning.
I glanced at the bed beside me. I was decidedly alone and threw back the covers, then swung my feet to the floor and dressed in clothes I had worn before I went off to Charing Cross the night before.
The other details of the night before returned as I splashed water on my face and brushed my hair. I then went in search of my great-aunt, Munro, and coffee. Not in that order.
Coffee came first. I had followed the smell of it rather than wait for one of the servants to bring it up to the room, as I knew my aunt would have requested. I didn’t have time for that.
In the kitchens, I was directed to the gardens behind the manor as Cook set a new pot to brew.
