“That hasn’t happened yet. We have lost only one booking.”
“There could well be more.”
Baxter raised his chin and stared at the ornate ceiling. “Once more I have been ambushed and overtaken. Very well. If you must. Have Samuel meet me in the library. I want a word with that young man.”
“Thank you, darling.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a hug. “I promise I shall use the utmost caution.”
He rolled his eyes. “Where have I heard that before?”
She didn’t answer him, being that she was already halfway out the door, on her way to call Sam Northcott to offer her services.
Pansy trudged across the courtyard, lifting her skirts clear of the snow that covered her ankles. She’d wrapped her shoulders with a shawl, but the icy wind stung her nose and ears, and she drew the soft woolen cloth over her head.
Snow was pretty, as long as you could look at it through the window of a warm kitchen. Walking through the stuff was not much fun. Her stockings were soaked, as was the hem of her navy blue skirt. Mrs. Chubb wouldn’t be happy about that.
Reaching the door of the stables, she wrinkled her nose as the smell of horses invaded her nostrils. Samuel always said he didn’t notice it anymore, which was just as well, seeing as how he worked in there most of the day.
He was somewhere at the other end. She could hear his voice, the soothing tones he always used while grooming one of the horses.
As always, her heart beat faster at the sound. Ever since Samuel had declared her to be “his girl,” her world had grown bright with promise. Even though he’d impressed upon her that she was still too young for marriage, she was confident that one day she’d stand by his side as his bride, and she was content to wait for that day. No matter how long it took.
Samuel looked up as she drew close, his face splitting into a wide grin. “Hello, beautiful. What brings you in here?”
Pansy caught her breath. “I came to see you, didn’t I.”
“Well, that’s always a pleasure.” Samuel gave the horse a final pat and stepped away, rubbing his hands on his breeches. “Got time for a hug?”
“Always.” She ran into his arms with a blissful smile. After a moment of pure pleasure, she murmured, “Actually, Mrs. Chubb sent me. Mr. Baxter wants to see you in the library.”
Samuel let out a mournful sigh. “And here I thought you came just to be with me.”
She tilted her head back to look at him. “I always want to be with you, Samuel.”
He answered her with a quick kiss and let her go. “I’d better get over there. Mr. Baxter don’t like to be kept waiting.” He gently pushed stray hairs out of her eyes with his thumb, and then dashed off, leaving her to follow more slowly.
Somehow, the trip back through the snow seemed a lot less bothersome. In fact, Pansy practically skipped back across the kitchen yard and bumped smack into Gertie, who was on her way out the door with a coal scuttle in each hand.
“Here! What’s your bleeding hurry?”
Gertie’s scowl was fierce, and Pansy grabbed one of the coal scuttles. “Sorry. I was in a rush to help you, wasn’t I.”
“Yeah, not bloody likely. You just saw Samuel, didn’t you.”
Pansy blushed. “How did you know?”
“You got that soppy look on your face again, that’s how.” Gertie stomped across the yard to the coal shed, leaving Pansy to trail behind her.
Feeling sorry for her friend, Pansy followed her into the dark, musty shed. It was hard to be without someone to love, especially at Christmastime. She ought to know, she’d been through enough Christmases to know what it was like.
She’d watched couples kissing under the mistletoe, or standing close together at the carol-singing ceremony. She’d overheard whispers and shared laughter in the corridors. It had made the loneliness all the more painful.
How lucky she was to have Samuel. Someday, she silently vowed, Gertie would have that companionship again. It would be her Christmas wish for her friend. She’d do her level best to see that it came true.
“I have to go into town to see my dressmaker,” Cecily told Samuel when he answered the summons to her office later.
“Yes, m’m. That’s the house on Larch Lane, right?”
Cecily picked up her gloves and drew them on. “Actually, Miss Pauline Richards is out of town at present. We will be visiting her assistant, Miss Blanchard, and since her place of residence is quite close to the house where Jimmy Taylor’s family lives, I thought we would pay the bereaved family a courtesy visit.”
Samuel looked back at her, his eyes gleaming with expectation. “We’re on the trail of another murderer, m’m?”
“Ah.” Cecily edged around the desk and walked toward him. “I take it you have had a conversation with my husband.”
“I have, m’m. Mr. Baxter told me about Jimmy Taylor dying and then that other bloke, the shoemaker, being killed with Jimmy’s whip. Strange thing, that.”
“It is, indeed.”
“I was sort of surprised when Mr. Baxter told me you were going to look into it. I remember you telling me you promised him you wouldn’t do that again.”
“Yes, well, I did, but then I received a telegram canceling a booking because of the murders. Fortunately Mr. Baxter saw the necessity of solving this case before we endured more empty rooms for Christmas.”
“It’s not too late to invite someone else, m’m.”
Alerted by his tone, Cecily narrowed her eyes. “You had someone in mind?”
Samuel shrugged. “I got a letter from Doris the other day. She seemed sort of down-in-the-mouth. She was talking about how she missed us all at the Pennyfoot, and I just thought, since the room is going to be empty anyway…” His voice trailed off as he looked hopefully at her.
“Samuel! That’s a wonderful idea! I’ll have Philip send her a note before we leave.”
“She’ll like that, m’m. She misses the days when she was a maid here, and now she’s not on the stage anymore, she has more time to think about it.”
“Daisy will love to see her, too. I know she misses her twin. It will be good for them to be together for Christmas. Although Daisy has her hands full being nanny to Gertie’s twins. I hope she can find time to be with her sister.”
“I’m sure they’ll manage, m’m.”
“Good. Well, we’d better be off. I’m anxious to get on the trail of our murderer.”
Samuel gave her a sly look. “Mr. Baxter gave me all sorts of warnings, m’m.”
“I imagine he did.” Cecily regarded her stable manager, her head tilted to one side. Samuel had, at times in the past, been obliged to ignore Baxter’s warnings. “I trust we understand each other in this matter?”
Samuel grinned. “You can count on me, m’m. As always.”
“Thank you, Samuel. I never doubted it for a moment.” She sailed out the door, leaving him to close it behind them.
CHAPTER 4
The assistant dressmaker’s house lay on the far side of town. Normally Samuel would have taken the shortcut over Putney Downs, but since the snow had made the path along the cliffs somewhat treacherous, he’d insisted on the long route, taking them through town.
