“Right away, ma’am.”The lad took off down the street.
She next turned to Mr.Carver and asked if he would join them.
“No, Perty.I shall take full advantage of these few hours off and enjoy the quiet of my own home.”
Alex watched him march down the street and enter a house similar to that owned by the Hesters, same golden stone and ivy, although the garden was not as nicely maintained.
“Poor man,” Mrs.Hester said as they watched him disappear into his house.“He hasn’t been the same since his dear Martha passed on.”
“His wife?”Alex asked.
“No, his daughter,” Mrs.Hester replied.“She died suddenly a few years ago.About five years, I think it was.”
Alex’s heart beat a little faster, for unexpected occurrences tended to be linked, did they not?“The same time my grandfather died?Was it before or after his death?”
Perty pursed her lips in thought.“Shortly afterward, I’m fairly certain.Came as a surprise to us all, for Martha was a cheerful, hearty girl.Never sick a day in her life, and suddenly she began to waste away.Not sure what she died of.Mr.Carver’s wife had passed over a decade ago by then, poor woman died of a lung fever.Ever since then, it was just him and Martha.What a bright, sweet girl she was.Poor man, he is quite alone now.”
“They never did learn what illness killed Martha, did they?”Tulip asked as they ambled into the house and settled in the parlor.
Perty took a moment to leave their side to put on the kettle.
It did not take long before she was back with cakes and delicate plates.She was followed by a maid who carried a tray with teapot and cups.Once the maid had set it down, Perty poured each of them a cup of tea while responding to Tulip’s question.“What killed poor Martha?No, it remains quite the mystery.”
Alex frowned, but this was just his natural instinct to question anything sudden and unexpected leading to death.“Where was she when she came down with this mysterious disease?”
Mrs.Hester shrugged.“Oh, she had been to Thornwycke Hall to see her father.But no one at Thornwycke got sick afterward, so that was ruled out.Mrs.Granger was so kind and thoughtful to them.She had soups and easily digested stews delivered to Martha daily, but nothing seemed to help.”
“That is sad,” Alex said, the hairs on the back of his neck beginning to prickle.
What had Mr.Carver’s daughter noticed at Thornwycke?
Whatever it was, he’d wager it got her poisoned.
By the ever-helpful Mrs.Granger?
Or was his cynical mind looking for something sinister where it did not exist?Martha obviously was not the girl mentioned in his grandfather’s journal.
And the killer had not done away with any of the Davenport dukes yet…unless his grandfather had been helped along to an earlier death, one also hastened by slow poisoning.
And how was Mrs.Granger involved in any of this when she was new on the job at the time?
“What do you know about Mrs.Granger,” Alex asked.“She seems rather young to be a housekeeper for a manor house as large as Thornwycke Hall.”
Tulip’s eyes widened and she stared at him, no doubt wondering why he was curious about their housekeeper.
“Did you know her, Aunt Perty?I don’t remember ever seeing her in Burnham before.”
“She rarely comes into town.Odd, one would think that she would.”
“Why do you find it odd?”Tulip asked.
Perty Hester shrugged.“Her family is from around here.Your uncle and I, and Mr.Carver, grew up with Mrs.Granger’s mother and aunt.The mother’s name was Margaret and the aunt was Elspeth.”
Alex choked on his tea, but quickly recovered.“Do go on, Mrs.Hester.Forgive me, but I felt a sudden urge to sneeze.It has passed.I am fine.”
“Where was I?Oh, yes.Margaret and Elspeth, both of them were such pretty girls.Margaret was the elder.She married and moved away with her husband.They had a little girl, and that is your current housekeeper, Eleanor Granger.But I don’t think they were blessed with any more children.”
“And Elspeth?”Alex prodded.
