Sadie took them with a gasp of pleasure. “That’s really good of you, m’m. Thank you ever so much.”
Elizabeth smiled. “I can’t have my housemaid running around without undergarments, now, can I?”
Sadie slapped a hand over a grin, just as the kitchen door burst open once more.
Violet stood in the doorway, still holding the cup and saucer. “He’s not there,” she said flatly. “Martin’s not in his room. He seems to have disappeared.”
CHAPTER 2
“Oh, dear,” Elizabeth murmured. “I do hope Martin hasn’t got himself lost again.”
Violet stomped over to the sink and poured the tea into the drain. “Now we’ll have to waste time looking for him, the silly old goat. Sadie, you look upstairs, I’ll look down. If you don’t find him up there, get Desmond to help you search the grounds.”
“Don’t bother Desmond,” Elizabeth said, heading for the door. “I’ll take the dogs and look for him outside. I could use some fresh air.” She whistled to the burly animals dozing under the table. “Come, Gracie, come, George. Walkies?”
Both dogs leapt to their feet, nearly knocking over the table in their haste to get outside.
Violet shook her head. “They’ll be more hindrance than help. They’ll get the scent of a rabbit and they’ll be off. You’ll be spending more time looking for them than you will Martin.”
Elizabeth opened the door and let the eager dogs charge into the hallway. “They’re supposed to be part bloodhound,” she said, pausing in the doorway. “I’ll give them Martin’s scarf to sniff.”
“Just mind they don’t eat it,” Violet muttered. She turned on Sadie. “Go on, girl, start looking for that old fool. He’s probably up in the great hall talking to the suit of armor again.”
Sadie hurried out of the kitchen, stopping to pat the boisterous dogs on her way out. Elizabeth followed her, with Violet hot on her heels. They all parted company in the upstairs hallway, and Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief when she was out in the open air beneath a sky dotted with fluffy white clouds.