She shook her head and turned away. “I really should return Pip upstairs. Excuse me.”
Hector was keen not to let her go away yet. He had been rather bored until she’d swept into the room, and the chance to talk to a near-stranger was vastly more appealing than watching the snowfall outside. “If you’re worrying about Lord Vyne’s restriction denying the chance for children to be in the lower part of the mansion, I happen to have it on good authority that he rarely comes downstairs these days.”
She stopped and turned. “Why ever not?”
“He hardly ever comes down.” Hector drew closer so he could whisper.
“Oh!” she gasped. “But still, Lady Vyne might not want Pip running around.”
He looked at her in confusion. “Surely you’ve heard? Lady Vyne is not here. She left Vyne almost a year ago. Took the children, packed her trunks, and has been living in Cornwall with Lord Clement and m’sister Meg—whom he married by the way.”
“He never told me about my aunt.”
Hector rolled his eyes. “Vyne lies, quite frequently, and he is known for keeping his own counsel, especially when it’s a sensitive topic. I really would not put much faith in anything he might promise, too, if I were you.”
She pulled her child to her side and stroked his pale hair. “I’m sure that’s not the case. He wouldn’t lie to me. I’m his niece. Family.”
“Then you might be a rare bird indeed, but I am not wrong about your aunt.” Hector gestured her to the arrangement of chairs before the warm fire. “Please join me.”
Ruby shook her head again. “Do excuse us.”
To his regret, Ruby flew from the room, dragging her son along with her. Hector followed along a few steps, but she was soon only a memory.
A pity she went so quickly. He’d only now remembered that Ruby Clement was the first girl he’d ever kissed. Since it was Christmas, and she was quite pretty, he hoped to be in a position to claim a second under the mistletoe…and do a much better job this year.
Chapter Six
Ruby returned her son to her chamber, told him to play quietly, and then went in search of a servant. Hector suggested she had been lied to, but that couldn’t be right. Her uncle surely would have told her of her aunt’s absence when she asked to talk of her marriage with the woman. And she’d experienced enough of Hector as a boy not to believe anything he would say without confirming it first.
At last she found a maid, who stammered out that Lady Vyne was not receiving.
That didn’t sound promising. “Perhaps you could ask if Lady Vyne would make an exception for her eldest niece.”
“It’s not my place to interrupt her, madam,” the girl warned.
Ruby narrowed her eyes, suspecting she was being lied to again. “Then whose is it?”
The maid wet her lips and became visibly distressed. “I could ask the housekeeper.”
Ruby could ask, too, and get the answer she wanted in quicker time. “I should like to speak to the housekeeper myself.”
The maid’s eyes grew round.
“Take me to her,” she said. “Now.”
The little maid uttered a muffled wail.
Ruby hadn’t been so long in the wilderness of Scotland not to remember how to deal with reluctant servants. “I hope you’re not going to tell me the housekeeper is too busy to speak with a member of Lord Vyne’s family,” Ruby asked, raising one brow.
“No, madam,” the maid promised as she bobbed a curtsy and bid her follow her to the main staircase.
They went down to the entrance hall together but turned away from the sealed front doors and the library, where Lord Stockwick might still be if she bothered to look. Behind the stairs, there was an entrance to the servants’ hall below. Although, at first glance, it seemed merely a paneled wall rather than a doorway.
Ruby descended after the maid, skirts lifted to clear the steps. The passage down was narrow, and the air musty and cold, and Ruby was very happy to see light seeping around a lower door.
They burst out into the warm, fragrant air of the servants’ hall. The scent of roasting meat and baking bread was strong and reminded her of her former Scotland home. Farther down the hall, she could see servants bent over a large worktable, consulting each other as they toiled for Lord Vyne.
“This way, madam,” the maid urged in a whisper.
Ruby was turned away from the kitchen staff and shown to a plain oak door with a brass plaque attached to it. Housekeeper.
The maid knocked and entered when bid.
Ruby waited outside a moment to give the maid a chance to explain her presence, and then stepped into the room. A severe-looking woman with gray hair and dark clothes sat behind a small desk sipping tea, but set that aside quickly when she spotted Ruby.
Ruby smiled. “You must be the housekeeper.”
“Yes, I am Mrs. Burrows. I am housekeeper of The Vynes.”
Ruby didn’t remember meeting the woman on her last visit. “I am hoping you can help me speak with Lady Vyne today.”
Mrs. Burrows pursed her lips, and then she sent the maid away. “She is not to be disturbed. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Yes, the truth would be appreciated. Is my aunt here or not?”
Again the woman pursed her lips. “I shall be happy to pass a message to Lord Vyne that you wish to speak with the countess.”
“If I wanted to trouble my uncle, I would have already asked him about his wife a second time,” she said quietly.
The housekeeper’s jaw twitched. “You will have to wait to speak with Lord Vyne.”
“Why will you not tell me about my aunt’s whereabouts? I promise you, I hold her in the highest esteem. Is she in ill health?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“A housekeeper would know everything there is to know about the occupants of the house she is mistress of,” Ruby argued. “I can only conclude that my aunt is not here, and I also suspect now that my uncle doesn’t want her location divulged by the servants. Not even to me.”
The housekeeper tilted her head to one side. “I cannot help what you suspect.”
“No, you cannot.” Ruby pulled a face. Hector had told the truth about Lord Vyne’s marriage. “How sad that I will likely not see her. There was so much I hoped to ask her.”
“I am sorry I could not be more help.”
Ruby nodded slowly. “Thank you for seeing me. But one last question. I don’t suppose you ever found the silver bell I lost when I was here last time.”
“I am sorry to say it is not in my possession, madam, or I would have gladly returned it to you long ago,” the housekeeper promised as she led Ruby back into the hallway door.
If her bell was not in the housekeeper’s possession, or her servants, it meant it had been well and truly lost all those years ago. Seeing Hector again here had stirred up an irrational hope she might be reunited with her long-lost keepsake, but it was not to be.
As she was about to ask another question, the housekeeper spoke again. “Should you require anything within our power, the servants of The Vynes are at your disposal. Please use the bells of the house next time.”
In other words, no more browbeating the servants into bringing her downstairs again. It wasn’t a surprising request. By rights, Ruby ought to have kept to the upper floors where the family normally would spend all of their time. “Perhaps next time I have a question, the maids might simply do me the courtesy of telling me what I need to know.”