Jane shifted her weight. “Well, I know who to send them off to for repair. It’s the same thing.”
I restrained myself from rolling my eyes.
Jane sniffed. “Well, it’s too bad you brought that Ryder down here. I was winning.”
Marie scraped her pile of coin into her apron and twisted the fabric into a knot. “No, you weren’t. You again didn’t ’ave any spades in your ’and, and I was about to reach twenty-one.”
I examined the girl. I’d known she was quick, but perhaps underestimated just how clever. “How about a spot of tea before we turn in?” I settled myself at the table, shaking Southey off of my foot. “I have a few questions that I hope you can answer, Marie.”
“I’ll get the water going,” Jane said.
I looked at the enormous pot and shot Marie an imploring look.
She nodded. “You sit and think about why you tried to build to that nine when Bert ’ad already shown ’is.” She lugged the pot to the fire and kindled it. “What do you want to know?” she asked me.
I pushed out a chair for Jane. “Did you or anyone else see someone around Lord Perrin’s wine yesterday?”
“Not that I noticed.” Marie climbed over one of the benches and sat. “I can ask the others, but I think they would’ve said something after we found out ’e was poisoned.”
“What about arguments?” I drew my feet farther underneath me. Instead of his bone that I could see sitting near his bed near the fire, Southey seemed to find my boot leather more palatable. “Did any of the servants hear Perrin fighting with one of the guests?”
Marie hesitated. “Well, there was a banger of a fight between the master and Mr. Smith. I don’t think ’e was going to let Miss Smith marry my lord any longer.”
I nodded. That accorded with what Mr. Evans had said about the marriage contract dispute. “Anything else?” I pushed.
Marie stood and went to a tin on the counter. She pulled it open, sniffed, then chose another. “There is always a bit of yelling. The master did ’ave a temper. But nothing specially bad.”
I toed Southey over to where Jane sat, hoping he’d transfer his attention. “And?”
Marie’s shoulders dropped. “It’s not what we ’eard. It’s what we’ve seen. Lord Perrin told us to look through the guests’ belongings, looking for anything interesting. The lord always asked us, whenever any guests stayed over.”
“Perrin asked you to spy?” My heartbeat raced. I don’t know why I was surprised. That sounded like just the thing my brother-in-law would do. It was still shocking. “How ghastly.”
“Just go through pockets and drawers while we cleaned. Their luggage if they didn’t unpack. Keep our ears open, that sort of thing.” Marie took the pot off the fire and poured it into a teapot. She added tea leaves from one of the tins and brought it to the table, reseating herself after placing cups in front of us.
Jane leaned forward. “Did you find anything interesting?”
“Jane!” This was people’s privacy we were talking about. It was an abominable question.
But one that needed answering. “Yes, but, uh, did you?”
Marie shrugged. “I ’eard Lord and Lady ’avenstone speaking poor of the earl, but that’s not so surprising.” Her forehead wrinkled. “The baron does ’ave a case of tonics in ’is room. ’e seems to like to take a tipple from some of them with the morning tea, and Lady ’avenstone, well, she’s got a remedy for everything. But they’re not the only ones who didn’t trust Perrin Manor to have the medicine they need. Mr. Bertram Withers also brought some powdered chamomile and calomel. ’e asks for a cup of hot water every night to put them in. Must ’ave a weak stomach.”
Neither of those powders would kill someone in mere hours. But what of the Havenstones’ tonics? There were many ailments that might induce the couple to travel with their personal apothecary shop. Might one be a poison, however? “Next time you’re in Lord Havenstone’s room, can you look to see if the tonics are labeled? Write down what all he’s brought? You can write, can’t you?”
The girl huffed. “Yes, ma’am.”
Jane poured them all tea. “I thought spying on guests was wrong.” She pushed my cup toward me, her lips pinched.
“It is.” I took a sip of tea, wincing at the bitterness. I placed the cup down. “It’s abominable behavior. But would you mind terribly to keep on doing so while we investigate?” I leaned forward, resting my forearms on the table. “Someone here killed Lord Perrin. We must discover who.”
Marie grinned over the rim of her cup. “Trying to catch a killer. That’ll be all the crack.”
“Yes, except for the fact a man is dead,” I said dryly. My chest went tight. Marie was smart and had experience poking through what didn’t belong to her. She would be all right.
I pushed back my chair and stood. “One more thing.” I bent and plucked up Southey. I put him into Marie’s unsuspecting arms. “Hold onto this beast until I can get to my room, please. Ifear to think what he would do to my slippers if he had all night to chew.”
Chapter Ten
