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that in the morning.”
    “I know.” Pansy hugged his arm. “I’m so sorry, Samuel. He was a good, kind man and didn’t deserve to die all alone in a hotel room.”
    Gilbert snorted, making them both stare at him in surprise. “Good man, my arse.”
    “Here!” Samuel glared at him. “Watch your language around a lady.”
    Gilbert raised his eyebrows. “Sorry. After listening to Gertie mouthing off, I thought Pansy was used to it.”
    Samuel took a step toward him. “Not while I’m around and not from you.”
    Gilbert held up his hands in submission. “All right, all right. Don’t get your knickers in a twist. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
    Pansy, however, wasn’t about to let it drop. “What did you mean, about Mr. Armitage? He was a very nice man, and you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.”
    Gilbert crouched down by the motorcar and started polishing it again. “Maybe not, but Armitage was not a good man by any means. He was a thief and a liar.”
    Pansy took a step forward. “I don’t believe you. How would you know, anyhow?”
    Gilbert shrugged and dropped the polishing cloth into a bucket at his side. “Never you mind.” He looked up and grinned at her. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, sweetheart.”
    Samuel scowled. “It’s time you were off,” he said, nodding at the doors. “You’re finished for the day.”
    Gilbert stood and touched his forehead with his fingers. “Yes, sir. See you tomorrow.” With another wink at Pansy, he strolled through the doors and out into the dark night.
    Samuel grunted. “Cheeky blighter. If we weren’t so busy I’d tell him to bugger off and not come back.”
    Feeling cold all of a sudden, Pansy hugged herself. “I can’t believe what he said about Mr. Armitage. He waded into that icy pond to save Tess and might well have caught cold and died from it. How could a man like that be a thief and a liar? I think it’s Gilbert what’s lying, that I do.”
    Samuel shrugged. “I suppose we’ll never know. I’m sorry the bloke is dead, though. I did want to thank him for saving Tess’s life.”
    Tess raised her head again and whined. Pansy dropped to her knees beside the dog and hugged her. “No matter what they say,” she said softly in the dog’s ear, “ we know that Mr. Armitage was a good man, don’t we.”
    Samuel laid a hand on her shoulder. “Thanks for coming to tell me. You’d better get back to the kitchen, before that old crow comes looking for you.”
    Pansy snorted. “I’m not afraid of her. ”
    Samuel pulled her to her feet and dropped a light kiss on her lips. “Maybe you’re not, but I am. I don’t want her complaining to madam that I’m keeping the maids entertained in the stables.”
    Pansy raised her eyebrows. “Maids?”
    Samuel grinned. “Well, one. The best, most beautiful one.”
    Pansy gave him a shove. “Go on with you.” She was smiling as she left him, and in spite of her sorrow over a kind man’s death, her smile lasted all the way back to the kitchen.

CHAPTER
    3
    Seated by the fire in her suite, Cecily waited anxiously for Kevin Prestwick to finish his examination of Archibald Armitage. Kevin had been her doctor for many years, and at one time had been a strong suitor for her hand before Baxter had captured her heart. Although Kevin was now happily married to Madeline, Baxter was never fully comfortable when the doctor was in their company. The relationship between the two men was fragile, though they had often worked together when necessary in the pursuit of a villain.
    Right now Baxter was pacing back and forth in front of the fire, hands behind his back. A sure sign he was deeply troubled.
    “I don’t like this,” he muttered. “I don’t like this at all.”
    “No one likes a death in the house,” Cecily murmured. She sat close to the flames, embracing the warmth on her knees through the thick wool of her black skirt. “It is unfortunate, to say the least. I hope it won’t