A perfect target.
“She saw it was only the baby and me in the nursery and said she would return when you were awake, but I told her to leave the tray. You would be down in a moment.” She lifted a square of cloth and looked at it. “You do not think anything was amiss with the porridge?”
“No,” Lucy said hastily. “In fact, Johnny was already complaining of a tummy ache before we came downstairs,” she lied. She continued folding and chatting, but her mind was far away. She needed to see Duncan straightaway.
When the laundry was folded, she excused herself and wandered around the servants’ wing, incurring the curious looks of the maids and a glare from Molly, until she spotted Duncan polishing silver in a small closet. She nodded at him as she passed, aware of the other footmen in the room, then paused as though just remembering something. “Brother, I have a free hour, and thought I would go for a walk.”
Duncan glanced up. “The weather is fine,” he said and went back to his polishing.
“Is there anywhere I should visit on the estate? James, where has the best view of the park?”
“King Henry’s Mound, of course,” James said.
“I think I shall go there.”
“Enjoy your walk,” Duncan said as though he couldn’t care less.
But Lucy hadn’t been at the mound for more than ten minutes before he trudged up behind her. He paused at the crest and bent to catch his breath. “You had to choose the highest point.”
“I wanted somewhere no one would hear us or see us.”
Duncan rose. “Tell me.”
“I know who did it.”
Chapter Eighteen
“The nursery maid,”Lucy said.
Duncan nodded. “I knew it.”
Lucy stared at him, a furrow between her brown eyes. “How?”
“I think it was the way she was cleaning. The spilled porridge was the least of our concerns, but she acted as though it would catch on fire if she didn’t mop up the spill right away. And she was in such a hurry to remove the bowls and mug.” Her actions had roused his suspicions, just as they had made Lucy distrustful.
“I noticed. It was why I asked you to take the bowl and cup with you. Where is it now?”
