Death Among Rubies by R. J. Koreto Page B

master was probably boring day-by-day.
    “It must be exciting, working in a great house in London,” ventured a housemaid named Nellie, whose ingrained cheerful nature was not appreciably dampened by the recent tragedy. “All the lords and ladies coming by.”
    “I came from the household of the marquess, but now her ladyship and I live in a private hotel for ladies.”
    That amazed everyone—even the butler seemed startled. Young ladies did not live on their own.
    “Lady Frances likes her freedom,” said Mallow loftily. “She was used to it after attending university in America.”
    “Oh, go on,” said a footman. “Ladies don’t go to college.”
    Mallow glared at him. “There are colleges for ladies in America, and Lady Frances went to one. She’s very unusual.” And everyone became wide-eyed when she told them about her political work getting the vote for women—they clearly didn’t know Miss Kestrel was also involved in the group. “Lady Frances has also been to police headquarters at Scotland Yard. I’ve even been there with her.” That astonished everyone.
    After answering questions, Mallow ventured one of her own. “I suppose Miss Kestrel will come back here from London to live, and Mrs. Blake will return to live with her son?”
    Before anyone could respond, the butler said, “It would be unseemly to speculate at this point.” And that ended the conversation.
    However, Mallow was able to pick it up later, after tea, when she sat at a small table with Nellie to catch up with their sewing. Nellie made sure Mr. Pennington was not around, then said, “To be honest, we are concerned that Miss Kestrel will not want to return. She’s lived in London for years now, and she doesn’t . . .” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I’m not sure she’s well-suited to running a house of this size, even if she hired a proper housekeeper.”
    “Maybe she’ll get married,” suggested Mallow. “And you’ll have a new master.”
    “Maybe. There’s been talk that she might marry her cousin, Mr. Blake—then the two estates would be joined. He visits a lot. A very fine man.” She paused. “I suppose Lady Frances will get married someday, and you’ll move to a fine house.”
    “Yes, but right now her ladyship is too busy to get married.”
    Well, that was something. Nellie knew women who were too old to get married. Or too poor. But too busy?
    Nellie pursed her lips and looked thoughtful. “A friend of the master’s visited once. A young man, from a good family. We thought he might’ve come to possibly court Miss Kestrel and even marry her. But his valet said his master wouldn’t because of some old poet Miss Kestrel liked . . . let me think . . . a funny name . . . I don’t see why he wouldn’t marry her because she liked the poet . . . Oh, it was such a funny name . . . Oh, now I remember . . . Saffy? No, it was Saffo. That was it for sure.”
    They chatted a while more, before Mr. Pennington called Nellie away for other duties. However, Mallow was not alone long. Another woman came to join her, but the new arrival did not look like a proper servant. Her hair wasn’t as neat as it could be and Mallow thought her clothes were a little casual for a maid. She was holding a fine evening dress.
    “Excuse me,” she said. “We haven’t been introduced, but I was watching you sew and I’ve never seen such perfect stitches. Could you help me?”
    “Oh . . . yes, of course,” said Mallow. She took pride in her sewing and was flattered. “Bring a chair around into the light.”
    “Thank you so much. I’m Amy, Amy Hopp, although here I’m supposed to be Miss Hardiman, because it’s my mistress’s name. Dumbest thing I ever heard, but if that’s what they do, I guess I gotta go along. Anyway, my mistress is a guest here, with her father, and back home we don’t dress like this so much.”
    Mallow was a bit overwhelmed by a servant who so freely offered such