Christmas at The Grange (Kindle Single) (A Lady Hardcastle Mystery) by T E Kinsey

Author:T E Kinsey [Kinsey, T E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kindle Press
Published: 2017-12-12T05:00:00+00:00

THREE

We stayed through the gift-giving. We had already wrapped presents for Sir Hector and Lady Farley-Stroud, but Lady Hardcastle had also somehow managed to buy, wrap and deliver gifts for the rest of the family, too. I was going to have to look out for my job if she were able to organize that sort of thing without me.

But by the time Lady Farley-Stroud began mumbling about how lovely it would be to have some of that cold beef in a sandwich – or perhaps the turkey – we simultaneously gave the secret ‘it’s time to leave’ signal and began saying our goodbyes.

With Sir Hector’s blessing, I went below stairs to wish my pal Maude Denton, Lady Farley-Stroud’s lady’s maid, a merry Christmas. I extended the season’s greetings to anyone I bumped into, and made an effort to pop my head into the kitchen. Rose, the kitchen maid, smiled and nodded before getting back to washing the pots and pans. Mrs Brown, the Farley-Strouds’ ill-tempered cook, bustled over to us and I feared I had earned poor Rose a ticking off for slacking. Instead, she wrapped me in a warm and matronly hug.

‘A very merry Christmas to you, m’dear,’ she slurred. She was a great deal more agreeable with a few festive sherries inside her. ‘I don’t say nearly as often as I should what a fine, fine woman you are. All best wishes for the new year, too.’ She swayed slightly. ‘Here,’ she said in a conspiratorial whisper. ‘Come over here. Come on.’

She beckoned me over to one of the huge pantries and huffed her way inside. She emerged a moment later with a cloth-covered basket.

‘Shhhh,’ she said as she lifted the cloth to reveal at least a dozen mince pies. She replaced the cloth and tapped the side of her nose.

‘Mum’s the word,’ I said.

I thanked her and said my goodbyes, but not before I’d been treated to yet another hug and a kiss on the cheek.

We turned down the offer of a lift down the hill. This was partly because we felt a desperate need to walk off the after-effects of the enormous lunch, but mostly because Bert was in no condition to drive us. I had last seen him snoring in a wing-backed chair below stairs, with three empty beer bottles on the table beside him.

The sun was setting as we let ourselves back into the house and I put the kettle on for tea.

‘You know,’ said Lady Hardcastle as she settled into a kitchen chair, ‘I think I probably could force at least one of those mince pies down.’

‘I’m so glad you said that,’ I said. ‘I was thinking exactly the same but I didn’t want to appear swinish.’

‘We shall be little piggies together,’ she said.

I set down the teapot and flopped into the chair opposite her.

‘Oink,’ I said, and poured two cups of tea.

‘What do you make of this pendant business?’ she said.

‘I’m sure it’s not the oddest thing we’ve encountered,’ I said. ‘But it would definitely get an honourable mention.

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