“How splendid!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “We could certainly use dedicated people like her.”
“Yes, m’m. I’ll tell her you said so.” Polly hurried out, and Elizabeth looked at Violet, who was pouring hot tea into the china teacups.
“It’s very refreshing to see young people getting involved like this,” Elizabeth said.
Violet carried a steaming cup and saucer over to Elizabeth and placed it in front of her. “About time they did something,” she muttered. “Instead of nattering about film stars and clothes all the time.”
Elizabeth glanced at Sadie, who rolled her eyes but, thankfully, held her tongue.
“Don’t disturb Martin if he’s sleeping,” Elizabeth said, turning back to Violet. “He’s seemed rather preoccupied lately. I hope he’s not falling ill.”
“The only thing wrong with Martin is his mind,” Violet said crisply as she carried the cup and saucer over to the door. “If he didn’t spend so much time talking to imaginary ghosts and worrying all the time about Germans invading us, he wouldn’t get so worn out.”
The door swung to behind her, leaving Elizabeth alone with Sadie, who was still occupied with sorting out the laundry.
“The thing that really makes me cross, m’m,” Sadie muttered, “is that now I have to buy new knickers. I was saving up my coupons to buy a new blouse. Now I’ll have to wait another two months.”
“I might be able to spare a coupon or two,” Elizabeth offered.
Sadie’s face brightened considerably. “Oh, could you, m’m? That would be smashing. Really. I could pay you back later, if you like.”
“There’s no need for that.” Elizabeth got up from her chair and fetched her handbag from the dresser. Opening it, she peered inside, then fished out her coupon book. “Here.” She tore out three coupons. “You may use these.”
Sadie took them with a gasp of pleasure. “That’s really good of you, m’m. Thank you ever so much.”
Elizabeth smiled. “I can’t have my housemaid running around without undergarments, now, can I?”
Sadie slapped a hand over a grin, just as the kitchen door burst open once more.
Violet stood in the doorway, still holding the cup and saucer. “He’s not there,” she said flatly. “Martin’s not in his room. He seems to have disappeared.”
CHAPTER 2
“Oh, dear,” Elizabeth murmured. “I do hope Martin hasn’t got himself lost again.”
Violet stomped over to the sink and poured the tea into the drain. “Now we’ll have to waste time looking for him, the silly old goat. Sadie, you look upstairs, I’ll look down. If you don’t find him up there, get Desmond to help you search the grounds.”
“Don’t bother Desmond,” Elizabeth said, heading for the door. “I’ll take the dogs and look for him outside. I could use some fresh air.” She whistled to the burly animals dozing under the table. “Come, Gracie, come, George. Walkies?”
Both dogs leapt to their feet, nearly knocking over the table in their haste to get outside.
Violet shook her head. “They’ll be more hindrance than help. They’ll get the scent of a rabbit and they’ll be off. You’ll be spending more time looking for them than you will Martin.”
Elizabeth opened the door and let the eager dogs charge into the hallway. “They’re supposed to be part bloodhound,” she said, pausing in the doorway. “I’ll give them Martin’s scarf to sniff.”
“Just mind they don’t eat it,” Violet muttered. She turned on Sadie. “Go on, girl, start looking for that old fool. He’s probably up in the great hall talking to the suit of armor again.”
Sadie hurried out of the kitchen, stopping to pat the boisterous dogs on her way out. Elizabeth followed her, with Violet hot on her heels. They all parted company in the upstairs hallway, and Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief when she was out in the open air beneath a sky dotted with fluffy white clouds.
Tasting freedom, the dogs yelped and barked as they bounded across the courtyard, heading for the soft grass of the expansive lawns. Elizabeth watched them, smiling at their antics.
Remembering the day Earl presented her with the wriggling puppies, a wave of longing swept over her. So many times she had waited, her heart full of dread, for him to come safely back to the manor. Each time he’d returned, she’d sent up a prayer of thanks, knowing that the next good-bye could be the last.
These days the waiting seemed to get harder each time he left, and never as agonizing as it was right now. With news of the invasion filtering through in dribs and drabs, she knew only that the Allied forces, though making some headway, were taking heavy losses.
According to the latest news, they had secured beaches and were building artificial harbors for the landing operations, with the help of Allied bombing raids on the enemy lines.
It was this last part that concerned her the most, of course. Earl was in the midst of it all, flying through those perilous skies with nothing between him and the flying bullets but a sheet of thin metal.
Just the thought of it filled her veins with ice. This had to be his most dangerous mission so far. He’d been fortunate up until now. He’d even been shot down once and returned with little more than a limp and a plaster on his forehead.
How long could his luck hold out? She’d heard the men talking, saying the more missions they flew, the greater the odds against them coming back.
The dogs barked, chasing away her morbid thoughts. They stood side by side several yards off, impatient to go to the cliffs, where they could race and tumble in the deep grass.
First, she reminded herself, they had to at least make a token effort to look for Martin. She headed toward the dogs, waving Martin’s scarf and wondering what on earth had possessed her to imagine they could actually understand what she wanted from them.
It was more than two hours later when she finally returned to the manor. By then, exhausted and hungry, she’d forgotten her original mission. She’d allowed the dogs to romp until they were ready to drop, while she’d indulged in her favorite pastime-reliving memories of all her meetings with Earl.
It wasn’t until Violet dragged the heavy oak door open and Elizabeth caught sight of her housekeeper’s face, that she remembered. “What happened?” she demanded, stepping inside. “Is Martin all right?”
“I don’t know.” Violet closed the door, then leaned against it for a moment before turning around. “He’s still missing. The girls and I have searched everywhere in the manor. Desmond has searched the grounds. He even bicycled down to the village, in case Martin had taken it into his head to walk down there. Though, slow as he walks, he would never have got that far until after dark. There was no sign of him.” She shook her head. “I don’t know where he’s gone, Lizzie. He’s missed his meal and it’s almost time for supper. He’s never done that before. I have to tell you, I’m really worried. I’m afraid something terrible might have happened to him this time. What are we going to do?”
By the time the long summer twilight finally gave way to dusky night, Martin still hadn’t returned to the Manor House. Just to be sure, Violet sent Polly and Sadie on another extensive hunt throughout the mansion, until everyone was convinced the elderly gentleman was not inside.
Greatly worried, Elizabeth rang the police constable at home, since the police station had closed its doors several hours ago. Judging by P.C. George Dalrymple’s tone, he’d been woken up from a deep sleep, for which Elizabeth profusely apologized.
“You know I wouldn’t disturb you if I wasn’t certain these are dire circumstances,” she assured him, after she’d recounted all the efforts they’d made to find Martin. “I’m afraid he’s wandering around in the woods somewhere, though why he would be there in the first place I can’t imagine.”
“Well, you know the old boy’s a bit dotty, your ladyship,” George said, still sounding irritable. “I’m just surprised he hasn’t wandered off before this. He’ll turn up in the morning as bold as brass, you’ll see.”
“No one,” Elizabeth said with emphasis, “is going to get any sleep while Martin is out there somewhere in the dark, alone and probably lost and confused. It’s damp out there at night. He could get pneumonia and at his age that could very well be the death of him.”
Standing behind her in the kitchen, Violet clicked her tongue in dismay. Ignoring the interruption, Elizabeth said
