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SOPHIE RECLINED ON one of the loungers in the sun room with a good book. It was one of her preferred morning activities when it was pouring with rain. The ting, ting, ting of the droplets on the glass relaxed her.
“Now, what did you do with Morgan?” Raquel muttered as she clunked in, threw her dripping raincoat and hat at Frank, and strode to the nearest lounger. “I want tea.”
“She has the day off.” She went back to her book as Raquel thwacked Frank in the shin with her stick.
“Why, did you take advantage of the girl?” Raquel shoved her walking stick to the side and groaned as she leaned into the recliner. “Girl looks like she needs some ruffling if you ask me.”
Sophie laughed. If only she knew how ruffled Morgan had been. “She has a hangover, I believe.”
“And?” Raquel glared at Frank wincing and half-hopping. “Tea, man. Unless you want me to take out the other one?”
Frank shook his head and limped out.
“You’re too soft on the staff. They are slow, slow and lazy.” Raquel tutted and yanked on the “call” cord.
“Ma’am?” A shaky voiced maid cowered in the doorway.
“Tea!” Raquel waved the cord at her. “What do you think you’re being paid for?”
“Yes, ma’am.” The maid scurried out.
“Who said I pay them?” Sophie tried to hide her smile. Raquel was feistier than usual.
Raquel bellowed out a laugh. “If you didn’t, they’d be far better.” She thunked her stick to the floor. “Now, when have you ever excused a hangover?”
“When I cause it.” She focused on her book, except she had read and reread the same paragraph since Raquel had arrived.
“You got her drunk?” Raquel let out a grunt, then narrowed her eyes. “When have you ever needed to intoxicate someone to take advantage?”
Sophie raised her eyebrow, focus still on the text she wasn’t reading.
“Don’t raise that brow at me. You usually only need to look at a woman to get her attention.” She plumped up the pillows.
“I didn’t get her drunk or seduce her, she was in the wing.” Sophie turned the page but only for show.
“No!” Raquel yanked the cord again. “Snooping?” She yanked the cord once more. “I told them to make the tea not grow it.”
“Apparently she was protecting me. Edwina neglected to tell her it was prohibited.” She glanced at the doorway as the maid, red faced and shaking, scurried in, the china rattling about as she shook.
“Trying to get her in trouble?” Raquel snatched her cup and glared at the maid.
The maid bowed her head, waiting, shaking so badly her apron string danced about.
“I’m not thirsty, go away.” She flicked over another page, the maid shrieked and bolted.
“She is unamusing too?” Raquel raised her eyebrows at the doorway. “What are you doing to them?”
“On the contrary, dear aunt, I’ve not so much as asked her to bring tea.” She shrugged. “The female staff seem more predisposed to shaking.” She lowered the book. “Most likely, Edwina is behind it. She was attempting to keep Morgan from my dangerous clutches.”
Raquel roared with laughter.
Sophie smiled. Good to see whatever had soured her mood had shattered. “So, Morgan headed to the pub and picked up an admirer, along with a terrible sense of direction.”
“Best you don’t get fond of her.” Raquel sipped at her tea. “You know what happened before.” She smacked her lips together with a contented sigh.
“I doubt Morgan wants me to give her that kind of attention.” She slapped the book closed. “Any more than you wished to be prayed on by my dear uncle.”
Raquel tutted. “I was a scullery maid, it was always a risk.” She sipped at her tea. “I got used to it. Stop making it sound like a crime.”
And Raquel somehow believed that. Conditioning. “It was a crime.” She held up the book to stop the protest. “I don’t care if things were different. If I’d known when he was alive, I’d have shown him exactly where I get my temper from.”
And her voice rumbled with it.
“I know.” Raquel smiled around her tea cup. “Regardless of naughty men, I think you need to keep Morgan onside. She’s healthy, she’s athletic, and she could be a great asset.”
“Morgan is simply my head of security.” She swung her legs off the lounger. “And, converse to your assumptions, I don’t play with the staff.”
“I’ve no idea why. You need company.” Raquel finished her tea and yanked the cord again.
“Other than the issue of bad taste?” She stood up, poured her own tea, and a second for Raquel.
“She is a grown woman. What bad taste is there?” Raquel folded her arms. “And you are a Haye, girl, not a maid.”
“If I abuse my position to lure an engaged woman into my bed.” And in spite of her family’s and her own reputation, she couldn’t . . . Not with Morgan. She couldn’t understand why herself. “Besides, it’s not quite as easy when she is a former police detective.”
“Ma’am?” the maid squeaked from the doorway.
“You are too slow,” Raquel snapped. “Do you have something so important that it takes you all day to tend to the lady of the house?”
“No, ma’am,” the maid mumbled, knees shaking visually. “Sorry, ma’am.”
Sophie frowned. Raquel often took a disliking to staff but the mood underlying was clear. “Help Edwina to mark the map where Morgan is prohibited and take it to her.”
“Yes, ma’am, course, ma’am,” the maid mumbled and fled.
Raquel’s glassy eyes lit up. “If Morgan was a detective then she could help your cause . . . and she could do with ruffling. If she’s ruffled, she’ll be happy to keep those sniffer dogs away.” She wagged her stick.
Sophie took her tea back to her lounger. “I don’t play with the staff.”
Unless she counted enjoying Morgan’s arms around her or her whimper. She picked up her book as Raquel took a nap and smiled. Morgan had seemed quite ruffled indeed.