by M C Beaton
Benjamin noticed her haunting South Audley Street followed by her maid. He, in turn, followed Mrs Courtney, marked where she lived, and then waited until he saw the maid, Janet, emerge alone. Benjamin, with the fear of Lady Carsey still in his mind, wanted to make sure they were not being spied on by one of her friends.
He followed Janet for some distance, waited until she went into a shop, and when she came out, pretended to bump into her.
‘I beg your parding,’ he said. ‘That I should harm such beauty.’
Janet giggled and then recognized Benjamin as being the footman of that woman her mistress had been trying to find out about. So when Benjamin pressed her to take a glass of ale with him, she readily agreed.
Benjamin quickly found out that Janet’s mistress was a Mrs Courtney and that Mrs Courtney was interested in Sir George and therefore in Miss Pym. Benjamin deftly flirted and flattered the maid, plying her with drink, while his busy mind thought out how to turn this to Miss Pym’s advantage.
‘You see,’ said Janet confidingly, ‘I may as well tell you the truth, for Mrs Courtney is an old cat. She is furious because Sir George was seen out with this Miss Pym who she says is nothing more than a servant. She reads about you being Miss Pym’s footman and decides some rich man is keeping Miss Pym and that Sir George should know about it.
Benjamin had a bold idea. If it did not work, and Miss Pym ever found out about it, she would never forgive him. But then, there was the fear of that dreadful poking hole in the country that she might take him to.
He grinned. ‘Mrs Courtney ain’t going to like this,’ he said. ‘Is she a great gossip?’
‘The worst,’ said Janet, round-eyed.
‘You see, the gent wot is keeping my Miss Pym is Sir George himself.’
‘Lawks!’ cried Janet.
‘You reek like a brewery,’ snapped Mrs Courtney, when her maid returned.
‘All in a good cause,’ said Janet with a genteel hiccup. She related Benjamin’s news while Mrs Courtney stared at her open-mouthed and then got out her book and carefully scored out Sir George’s name. Sir George had dared to be rude to her, Mrs Courtney; nay, he had run away from her in the Park. He should be made to suffer.
It was a prime piece of gossip. The very best gossip.
‘You are a jewel, Janet,’ said Mrs Courtney, and with a burst of democracy added, ‘a real friend.’
As Hannah Pym sadly began to pack her bags for a journey to York, for Mrs Clarence must be found and Sir George must have more stories, the buzz of gossip ran round and round London.
It was not to reach the ears of Sir George until Hannah was well on her way.
Benjamin heard the gossip from the other servants in the Running Footman, a pub hard by, and rubbed his hands.
Sir George would have to make an honest woman of Hannah Pym. Gossip was as damning as the real thing.
He whistled loudly as he went to pack his own bags until Hannah’s voice from the other room shouted to him to stop and then she came in to remind him severely of the duties of a proper footman. ‘And what are you grinning at?’ she finished.
‘I warn’t grinning,’ said Benjamin piously. ‘I was thinking o’ the Bible. Cast thy bread upon the waters. Well, I’ve just cast the whole bleeding loaf!’
‘Benjamin,’ said Hannah, shaking her head. ‘Sometimes I think you are stark, staring mad!’
About the Author
M.C. Beaton is the author of the hugely successful Agatha Raisin, Hamish Macbeth and Edwardian murder mystery series, all published by Constable & Robinson. She left a full-time career in journalism to turn to writing, and now divides her time between the Cotswolds, Paris and Istanbul.
Titles by M.C. Beaton
The Travelling Matchmaker series
Emily Goes to Exeter
Belinda Goes to Bath
Penelope Goes to Portsmouth
Beatrice Goes to Brighton
Deborah Goes to Dover
Yvonne Goes to York
The Edwardian Murder Mystery series
Snobbery with Violence
Hasty Death
Sick of Shadows
Our Lady of Pain
The Agatha Raisin series
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet
Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener
Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley
Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage
Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist
Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death
Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham
Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden
Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam
Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell
Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
Agatha Raisin and the Curious Curate
Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House
Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance
Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon
Agatha Raisin and Love, Lies and Liquor
Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye
Agatha Raisin and a Spoonful of Poison
Agatha Raisin: There Goes the Bride
Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body
The Hamish Macbeth series
Death of a Gossip
Death of a Cad
Death of an Outsider
Death of a Perfect Wife
Death of a Hussy
Death of a Snob
Death of a Prankster
Death of a Glutton
Death of a Travelling Man
Death of a Charming Man
Death of a Nag
Death of a Macho Man
Death of a Dentist
Death of a Scriptwriter
Death of an Addict
A Highland Christmas
Death of a Dustman
Death of a Celebrity
Death of a Village
Death of a Poison Pen
Death of a Bore
Death of a Dreamer
Death of a Maid
Death of a Gentle Lady
Death of a Witch
Death of a Valentine
Death of a Sweep
Copyright
Constable & Robinson Ltd
3 The Lanchesters
162 Fulham Palace Road
London W6 9ER
www.constablerobinson.com
First published in the US by St Martin’s Press, 1992
First published in the UK by Robinson, an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2011
Copyright M.C. Beaton 1992
The right of M.C. Beaton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library
ISBN : 978–1–84901–913–2
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