AN ADDITIONAL BENEFIT OF DOMESTIC RETAINERS
The hearth in the main hall at Fellscar was blessedly ablaze, and Holmes and I luxuriated in its radiance until the chill was banished from our bodies. Throughout, I noticed Holmes’s gaze wandering time and again to the shield that hung above the mantel. At one point I caught him tapping a forefinger against the cleft in his chin, a mannerism I had come to associate in my friend with a state of deep concentration.
Whatever it was that he found so absorbing about the shield eluded me. It was a rather plain escutcheon, as these things go, with only the prancing lion on top lending it any great visual interest. I had seen many a family coat of arms with more to commend it to the eye.
Thanks to our excursion around the lake, we had arrived back at the castle after the coachload of Allerthorpes had departed for Yardley Cross. It is an odd sensation to be a guest in someone’s house when the hosts are absent, even if only temporarily. It feels almost as though one is an intruder, and one is loath to make oneself seem too much at home, lest it be construed as impolite.
I voiced this sentiment to Holmes, who replied to the contrary.
“For our purposes, Watson, the position could not be more advantageous.”
“I do not see how, but I imagine you are about to tell me.”
“Who is at Fellscar now but us and the servants?” said he. “And one must never underestimate the usefulness of servants when it comes to criminal detection. You will recall our involvement some four years ago in the matter of Lady Eva Brackwell and the blackmailer Charles Augustus Milverton.”
“All too well,” I said with a shudder of revulsion. “You dubbed the latter ‘the worst man in London’, and you were not far wrong.”
“You will also recall how I, in the course of my investigation, adopted the guise of a rather roguish plumber, Escott by name, and wormed my way into the affections of Milverton’s housemaid Agatha.”
“You did somewhat more than that. You became engaged to the girl.”
Holmes acknowledged this with an unabashed bow. “For as long as was necessary. When I broke it off…”
“At my insistence. You would have been happy simply to disappear from her life, never to be seen again. That would not have been fair.”
“When, at the insistence of the most scrupled man I know, I broke it off,” Holmes resumed, “Agatha soon got over her heartache and found consolation in the arms of my love rival. As I understand it, they are married now and have a child, with another on the way, so all is well. No harm done. But what was the aim of my deception?”
“You learned from the maid the exact layout of her master’s house, so that we might burgle it.”
“The point of this little reminiscence being simply to remind you that domestic retainers can be a mine of useful information, which the diligent prospector may extract by means of painstaking, methodical digging. A servant sees more, hears more, knows more about his employer’s doings than even the employer’s dearest friends. Likewise he or she possesses an intimate understanding of the day-to-day workings of the household, which may prove invaluable. If one can crack the shell of the individual’s discretion, one can bring to light all manner of facts one might otherwise never have learned. And hark! I hear just such a person approaching now.” He lowered his voice to a level only I could hear. “Why, I do believe it is Trebend. What luck. The very member of staff I was most hoping to talk to, for who is a greater authority on life both below stairs and above than a butler? Quick, Watson. Look casual. No, not like that. Not so stiff. More natural. That’s better.”
Trebend glided into the hallway, pausing to direct a courteous nod towards Holmes and me.
“Good day to you, Mr Trebend,” said Holmes.
“Good day, sir.”
“I gather Dr Watson and I have been abandoned. The family have gone to church.”
“That is so. They should be back around noon. Is there anything I may help you with?”
“Not at present, thank you. This excellent fire is providing all we could ask for. Unless, that is, you would be willing to satisfy my curiosity on a few small matters.”
“I shall endeavour to do so, sir,” said the slenderly built servant, “although I must point out that I have a great many demands on my time just at present. Mr Allerthorpe has tasked me with overseeing personally the erection and decoration of the Christmas tree. The gardener and two of the footmen are even now bringing said tree in from outside. Furthermore, sundry Allerthorpe kin are due to arrive today for the celebrations, and I am to arrange the distribution of them amongst the guest bedrooms.”
“Of course, of course,” said Holmes sympathetically. “And how are the Allerthorpes to work for?”
“I’ve no cause for complaint, sir. None whatsoever.”
“I imagine Thaddeus Allerthorpe keeps you on your toes.”
“I have been in service my entire adult life. I have suffered worse masters.”
“Does he pay well?”
“My salary is perfectly adequate, commensurate with my station.”
“And you feel well treated by him and the rest of the family?”
“Why should I not?”
Trebend was becoming pained and even a touch testy. He was impatient to get on with his duties, but more than this, I could tell that Holmes’s probing was discomfiting him. He was loath to be drawn on the subject of his employers, doubtless through ingrained professional discretion.
My friend seemed to sense the same thing, for he changed tack. “I note that your accent is not a local one.”
“It is not, sir.”
“Other staff, those whom I have heard speak, speak uniformly in a Yorkshire brogue. You are clearly a Londoner.”
“Born and bred, sir.”
“Yet the surname Trebend betrays Cornish roots, does it not? Many a name in Cornwall, whether place or person, begins with the ‘Tre-’ prefix.”
“Well, that’s as maybe. I am not one who has been bothered overmuch about his genealogy. Although, come to think of it, I do recall my father once mentioning something about ancestors in Cornwall. Bodmin, I think he said.”
“Nevertheless, you are a fair way from London.”
“A man may travel where he likes, sir, and take work where he finds himself,” said Trebend with a complaisant smile. “As it happens, I consider the neck of the woods where I have fetched up to be very congenial. Some consider the landscape rather too rugged and bare, but I, having grown up amid the hurly-burly of a city, find its wildness and emptiness bracing. The locals are friendly, too, more so than in London. I have been made to feel quite at home.”
“Then there is your wife’s marmalade,” I interposed good-humouredly.
“You are correct about that, Doctor. Margery’s marmalade is a significant regional attraction.”
“She cited it as the reason you will never sue for divorce.”
“Said that, did she?” Briefly, Trebend’s lugubrious expression softened into something close to amusement. “Well, she may not be wrong. But she, above all else, accounts for why this Londoner has found a contented berth in the East Riding. She is a fine woman, as anyone with eyes can see. I knew, from the day I took up my post at the castle, that she would become my wife.”
“Mrs Trebend was here at Fellscar before you?” Holmes said.
“She was, sir. She has been the family cook for nigh on a decade.”
“And how long have you yourself been in the Allerthorpes’ employ?”
“A little over two years. And now really, gentlemen, if you will excuse me. There is much to be done.”
“Of course,” said Holmes, with a gesture that craved pardon. “We have detained you long enough.”
After Trebend was gone, Holmes tugged my sleeve and said, “To the kitchen. You have already made the acquaintance of Mrs Trebend. I should like to do so myself. She sounds a redoubtable woman, and moreover she is among those select few who can lay claim to having seen an actual ghost. I am keen to interrogate her on the topic.”
“Please be circumspect, Holmes,” I said. “Mrs Trebend is such a marvellous cook. I should hate for you to aggrieve her and thus possibly impair the quality of her fare. Mealtimes are about the only thing that makes staying at Fellscar Keep bearable.”
“Ever mindful of your gastric welfare, Watson,” said Holmes, “I shall, I assure you, be the soul of tact.”
