“I am inclined to agree he does not have the courage, even if he had good cause to be worried and angry if he learned there would be no legacy. He has lived off his expectations for several years now, with impressive self-indulgence.”
“He is not like you, then.”
“Not like most of us.”
She turned the sheet. Her hands, red and soapy, caught her attention. She paused to check her nails. They looked like a washerwoman’s. Not surprising, since she had become one.
She began scrubbing again but noticed that Chase’s attention had also been on her hands.
“Only one more day,” she said. “They will heal.”
“Could you not have found someone to spy in your stead?”
An awkward question. She scrubbed with determination.
“Ah, you did.” He ambled closer. “You have friends here, helping you. I thought you might have.”
“I don’t need anyone else to do this. I have eyes and ears.”
“But more eyes and ears would be useful.”
“Did you place some friends or employees among the servants? Do you think I did because you did? How clever of you. I wonder if I can guess which ones.” She made a display of pondering. “The footman Andrew? He is amiable enough to lure all kinds of secrets out of people.”
“If I had placed him here, I would have made him a valet. There is much more to learn in the chambers behind closed doors.”
Indeed there was. Elise had provided all kinds of information from serving Lady Agnes.
He blocked the stack of linens she needed to wash. After dumping her sheet in a rinsing tub, she gestured for him to move. He turned, lifted a towel, and handed it to her.
The water had cooled too much. She wiped her hands on the towel before dumping it in the vat, then strode to the fireplace where water warmed.
Other hands met hers on the big kettle’s handle. Strong ones. “I will do it,” he said.
He lifted the kettle and carried it to the tub and poured it in. He tipped his fingers in to test the temperature. “Too hot. Wait a spell.”
She all but shoved him aside. She plunged her hands in and found the towel.
“Interesting that you mention Andrew. I saw you and him together this morning, out in the garden,” he said. “I assumed you were learning what bits he had overheard. Or else just flirting.”
She had been assessing Andrew to see if he might be a good addition to her enterprise once his short hire here ended. Amiable and not too young, the footman had a manner that put people at ease. “Andrew is not one of my friends, so you were wrong.”
“About his helping your eyes and ears? Or about the flirting?”
She stopped scrubbing and looked at him. No teasing smile. No impish sparks in his eyes. It had been a serious question. A ridiculous notion flew through her mind. He is jealous. She almost laughed at herself for thinking it. Yet, the way he stood there, watching her, waiting for some response . . .
“As a well-born gentleman, you would not understand how servants are informal with each other,” she said. “The best ones watch out for each other too. He insisted the cook give me some time to rest from my chores, and invited me to join him outside to escape.”
Why was she explaining? He had no reason to know, or care. If she had been kissing Andrew it would be none of his business.
“Then I am left to guess who the others are.” He smiled sardonically. “Only you considered how useful additional ears would be. A fine thing, isn’t it? A professional investigator stands before you, and you were more clever than he was.”
She had not confirmed that she had anyone here. If he thought to trick her into doing so, he would be disappointed. She did glow inside at his praise, though. Since she intended to make this her profession too, it was good to have another investigator call her clever.
“If I were truly clever, I would have bribed the family solicitor to spy for me. I can think of no way to eavesdrop on that meeting this afternoon short of that.” She threw the towel in the rinsing tub.
He dropped another linen into her water. “I will be there.”
“Of course.”
“I mean that I can tell you what happens. Not spy as such. Simply pass along some particulars.”
She obscured her surprise by twisting her current linen to wring it out. “Why would you do that?”