Near the fireplace, where he wrapped a crystal vase in linen, Crawford greeted Elsa with a polite nod.
“You’re rather chummy with the gardener and her imbecile girl, aren’t you?” Wesley spoke over the piano at her.
Crawford kept his head down, moving on to wrap a clock.
“She’s no imbecile,” Elsa said. “And they’re about to go, anyway.Look, these were painted by your great-aunt. Do either of you want them? Do you think your father or grandmother would?” she asked.
“Pish!” Jane waved a hand. “We’ve all seen those, and no, we don’t want them. Get rid of themandthose people in the courtyard, please, and then you must come back and tell me all your news. I’m dying for distraction.”
“I’ve got to get back to work, Jane, but thank you for these. I’ll see if the Petrovics would like them first.”
Wesley stopped playing. “How curious. I cannot imagine what spell they’ve cast over you for you to moon over them so. Really, Elsa, I can’t say it’s dignified.”
Nostrils flaring, Jane stood with fists trembling at her sides. “Those aren’t supposed to go to them!”
“You said you didn’t want them.”
“I don’t, but I’d rather they get destroyed when the county tears this old house down. Our family things are not to end up in the hands of servants—”
Uninterested in hearing the rest, Elsa ducked out and closed the door on Jane’s tirade. With her back to the drama she hoped would not breach the house, she showed Tatiana and Danielle the paintings.
“Would you like to have these?” She spread them out flat on a bench.
Tatiana pressed a hand to her chest. “My, but aren’t they beautiful.”
“Please take your favorites,” Elsa urged. “Take all of them, if you like.”
“Yes.” Danielle twirled her hair around one finger. “All of them.”
Tatiana touched Elsa’s elbow. “You’re sure?”
“Of course. Here, you can use your basket to take them home with you.” Elsa stacked the jars of honey in one elbow and afresh loaf of bread wrapped in paper in the other. While Danielle carefully nested the watercolors in the basket, Elsa motioned Tatiana aside.
“Before you go, do you have any updates from those inquiries you’ve made seeking employment elsewhere?” she asked quietly.
“I wish I did.”
“My parents know a lot of brownstone owners in Manhattan. Perhaps one of them needs a gardener. Would it be all right if I ask?”
A sad smile pinched Tatiana’s eyes. “Bless you for offering, dear. Brownstones don’t usually have gardeners’ cottages on site, do they? So we’d have to find a home off the property. Even if we could find something affordable, Danielle and I aren’t meant for city living.”
Perhaps the New York Botanical Garden was hiring. But that was still in New York City. Even if Luke found that their cottage could be moved, any available lot near the Botanical Garden would be a far cry from the sprawling landscapes here on the Hudson River.
Elsa would have to keep thinking.
CHAPTER
17
“Stop!” Elsa deposited the honey and bread on the sideboard in the dining hall and rushed to the table.
Jane and Wesley each grabbed two more birds—one in each hand—and dropped them into various boxes Crawford was lining up on the floor. They weren’t even wearing gloves.
“Please, stop!” Elsa repeated. “I wasn’t finished with those, and they haven’t been wrapped for transport. What are you doing?”
Jane stepped back from the table, hands up in surrender. “Don’t have a kitten, darling. We only thought we’d help you pack. These are all going to the museum, correct?”
“Yes, but—”
