Bed & Breakfast 9 - Auntie Mayhem by Mary Daheim

Author:Mary Daheim [Daheim, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mary Daheim
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2010-03-22T04:00:00+00:00

Mrs. Tichborne huffed. “Think 1597. Your home is comparatively new.” She wrestled a large ham on the kitchen counter. Supper preparations were under way, and the cousins had volunteered to help. Mrs. Tichborne didn’t AUNTIE MAYHEM / 141

reject the offer this time. Officially, it was her day off, and she wasn’t inclined to prepare a hot meal. Instead, the family would be served a cold collation. “Maybe,” the housekeeper went on, her ire cooling, “they’ll turn up the jewels Mrs. Ravenscroft swore were stolen.”

Momentarily, Judith was puzzled. “Mrs. Ravenscroft? Now which one would that be?”

With a scowl at Renie who had already filched a slice of ham, Mrs. Tichborne brandished the kitchen knife.

“Genevieve Ravenscroft, the Frenchwoman. Even in her dotage, she ranted about how she’d had her diamond choker and ruby earrings stolen. Miss Ravenscroft—her sister-inlaw—didn’t believe it for a minute. She said Mrs. Ravenscroft was careless. She’d put them somewhere, and couldn’t remember.”

Renie was licking her lips over the last morsel of ham.

“Diamonds and rubies, huh? That sounds like pretty expensive forgetfulness.”

The housekeeper shrugged. “Lady Cordelia had plenty of other pieces that were handed down to the next generation. I’m told that Sir Henry Ravenscroft doted on his wife. The French daughter-in-law got most of them. Chauncey Ravenscroft’s wife, Hyacinth, was too godly to wear gems, and Miss Petulia didn’t care for anything showy. Anyway, I don’t think the missing pieces ever turned up. I would like to see them find Bothwell, though.”

Judith paused in putting sweet pickles on a three-tiered server. “Bothwell? What was it, a family pet?”

“No, no,” Mrs. Tichborne replied. “It was a costume for the All Fools Revels. Participants dress up as actual characters from the Elizabethan period. Sir Walter Raleigh. The Earl of Essex. Bess of Hardwicke. And of course Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Earl of Bothwell. The costumes have all been copied from portraits and are very authentic. The Ravenscrofts always store them here.” Suddenly, her face sagged. “My Janet got the blame for Bothwell’s disappearance. She wore the costume that year. And didn’t it suit her, with those long, lovely legs! How she and her partner danced! The galliard, I think it’s called. They do it every year.”

142 / Mary Daheim

The housekeeper bit her lip in an effort at self-control. “But of course she didn’t take the Bothwell costume with her. Why would she do such a thing? Ever since, whoever plays Queen Mary has had to make do with the Earl of Darnley.”

“So did Mary,” murmured Renie, swiping another piece of ham while Mrs. Tichborne looked away.

“Forgive me,” the housekeeper said, turning back to the cousins. Her eyes were overbright. “I try so hard not to dwell on Janet. It’s best to think of her as living a wild life in London than accept the fact that she might be…”

Emboldened by the other woman’s misery, Judith reached out to pat her arm. Mrs. Tichborne stiffened, but didn’t recoil. “That’s possible,” Judith said kindly. “Teenagers do very foolish things. By the time they realize it, they’re too embarrassed to admit their mistakes.

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