“I’m planning to,” I said. “Considering she died at the theater, the murderer is probably someone she knows from there. An actor who was in love with her, perhaps, or a jealous actress, or a besotted audience member. I’ll go tomorrow afternoon, after the funeral.”
“Why go to her funeral?” Goliath asked.
“To see who cared enough about her to show up.”
Our meeting over, we exited the parlor. Goliath and Frank disappeared into the service rooms behind the parlor, while Victor peeled away from them to head down the stairs to the basement kitchen.
I held Harmony back. “Did you overhear Lord Rumford talking to Mr. Hobart about his suspicions that Pearl was murdered?”
“Yes.”
“Were you listening in from the other side of Mr. Hobart’s office door?”
She looked somewhat sheepish and yet defiant at the same time. “I was dusting in the corridor and saw him go in. I didn’t plan to listen in, it just happened.”
I narrowed my gaze. “Mr. Hobart was goingto tell Mr. Armitage about the investigation. Mr. Armitage accused me of stealing the case from him.”
She cringed. “In my defense, Lord Rumford didn’t once specifically say he needed the services of a private detective.”
“It was implied, and you know it.”
She chewed on her lip. “Was Mr. Armitage very mad?”
“Yes, but he calmed down eventually. And thank you for leaving me to face him alone, by the way. I hadn’t pegged you as a coward.”
“He used to be my superior. It’s hard to think of him as an equal now. Anyway, you were better off being alone with him, without me interfering.”
“Why?”
Mr. Chapman, the restaurant steward, came around the corner and stopped short upon seeing us. Dressed in the tailcoat all the senior male staff wore, the rosebud he always added to one of the buttonholes each evening was already in place. He was tall, but unlike Mr. Armitage and Goliath who were also tall, Mr. Chapman took advantage of his superior height to look down his nose at us.
“Harmony, stop bothering Miss Fox,” he said snippily.
“She wasn’t,” I said.
I might as well not have said anything. He ignored me and glared at Harmony until she bobbed a curtsy and hurried off, the book hugged to her chest again.
“That wasn’t necessary,” I said. “Harmony is finished for the day so she isn’t taking time off from her duties, and we were just having a conversation. She certainly wasn’t bothering me.”
He tugged on his shirt cuffs until they appeared just beneath his jacket sleeves. “Friendships between staff and family or guests shouldn’t be encouraged. It leads to liberties being taken.”
I rolled my eyes and marched off. There was no point in arguing with him. He wasn’t going to change his opinion because of something I said. I hoped Harmony would suffer no repercussions.
I satwith Aunt Lilian until it was time to dress for dinner. She would not be joining us in the dining room, as her headache was too intense, but she wanted me to stay to keep her company for awhile.
“I can only rest so much,” she said with a twitch of her lips which I took as an attempt at a smile.
We sat in the sitting room in her suite, me on an armchair, Aunt Lilian reclining on the sofa. A blanket covered her legs and feet, and her slender fingers fidgeted with the edge, teasing and twisting the fringe. She looked so delicate lying there, like a flower past its spring bloom. According to all of the photographs I’d seen, Aunt Lilian had been a beauty in her youth.
“Last night’s party after the show took it out of you,” I said gently.
“Oh, but what a wonderful evening it was. Did you enjoy yourself, Cleo?”
“I did, thank you.” I’d retired before my aunt, uncle and cousins. While I had liked the evening, my family appeared to enjoy it more than me. They weretheirfriends, after all, not mine.
She reached out a hand to me. It shook violently. I took it gently, afraid of snapping off her boney fingers. “I’m so glad. Your mother would be proud of you, carrying on with such courage after your grandparents’ deaths. I don’t know if I could have been as brave as you at your age. To think you’ve journeyed to a new city and left your life behind!”
It hadn’t been a difficult decision. If I’d stayed in Cambridge I’d have lived in poverty. But I didn’t say that.
