Mungo yawned and looked out the window. He knew that to engage was unwise. The best way to defuse this was to remain silent.
“She’d be perfect for you,” Gray persisted.
“If you don’t desist?—”
“Wonderful, we are here,” Ellen said as the carriage stopped. “We’ll continue this later.”
“We absolutely will not, and you’ll not think to meddle in my life, Ellen. I’ve no wish for a wife.”
“Do you think of Miss Downing that way, then?” Gray asked. He then flung the door open and leapt down before Mungo could grab him.
Ellen followed, laughing.
“Right then, I will do the talking,” Gray said.
Ellen nodded, as did Mungo, but he bared his teeth at both of them.
The Holton Agency was in a respectable London street, with houses attached on either side. They walked through a black iron gate and up the path to the front door.
Gray knocked.
The door opened and there stood a young woman of about Ellen’s age, Mungo would say. She was immaculately dressed in pale blue and had a smile in place. “Good day to you.”
“We wish to speak with Mrs. Holton, if you please, about retaining the services of a maid for our daughter,” Gray said.
“We usually require an appointment, but if you’ll come this way, I shall see if Mrs. Holton can see you.”
The woman ushered them inside after shooting Mungo a questioning look.
“This is my cousin. He lives alone and needs a new housekeeper,” Ellen said. “Isn’t that so, cousin?” she added loudly. “He is hard of hearing,” she then whispered.
Mungo gritted his teeth and nodded.
The woman smiled and led them down a hall and into a small parlor.
“It’s very well presented,” Ellen said.
They did not have to wait long before the woman returned.
“Mrs. Holton has time to meet with you before her next appointment, if you’ll come this way.”
They were ushered up a set of stairs and into a room that had a window overlooking the street.
A woman stood behind a large desk, smiling. “Good day to you. I am Mrs. Holton. I understand you are in need of staff?”
She was a tall lady, her snow-white hair arranged—Mungo suspected—in the very latest fashion. She wore deep green velvet that lent her an air of quiet authority. The room around her was immaculate, its few pieces of furniture polished to a dignified sheen.
“Good day to you,” Gray said. “I am Mr. Rutherford, and this is my wife. We have brought her cousin, Mr. Percival Tolland-Brackenshaw, with us, as he is in need of a housekeeper also. Of course, it is not easy for him to retain help, seeing as he has a propensity to yell at them due to his hearing.”
Mungo swallowed the snarl. They were having fun at his expense, and he could do nothing about it… yet.
“We shall, of course, be honored to help!” Mrs. Holton yelled in his direction.
“Excellent. Now, our daughter is of an age where she is in need of a maid,” Gray said. “She will enter society next year, and I fear the current one will not be up to the mark when she does.”
Mrs. Holton retook her seat behind the desk after Gray and Ellen had taken theirs, and began to make notes.
“We at Holton’s will have just the right candidate for you, but before we set up an interview, I will explain how things are run here at the agency and our expectations from the girls.”
