Murder and Mittens

Chapter 4 – A stroll in the grounds

  Etta was about to turn, to leave the room when Dennis Mowbray asked her, ‘what would you like to do today, Miss Ashcroft?’

  Go and tell my mother that Miss Mittens is here. She couldn’t say that.

  ‘Oh please call me Hetty,’ Etta said. The words had come out of her mouth involuntarily, which was a scary experience.

  Dennis smiled. ‘What would you like to do, Hetty?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Etta said since she couldn’t go straight to tell her mother.

  His smile dimmed a little. ‘You could go riding or play golf,’ he suggested. ‘We have a excellent gold course close by.’

  Since Etta couldn’t ride or play golf, she was not at all keen on either of those suggestions.

  Dorothy came to her rescue, ‘give the poor girl time to breathe, Denny. Hetty, why don’t I take you for a tour round the house and grounds before lunch?’

  ‘Good idea, I’ll join you,’ Cecil said.

  Dorothy looked annoyed but said nothing, to Etta’s disappointment

  Etta gratefully accepted. The two of them exited the drawing room.

  ‘I don’t think we need jackets, it seems quite warm out,’ Dorothy was saying when two men came out of a door next to the drawing room. One was a slim young man with mousy fair hair and a pleasant face. The other was a tall, broad shouldered, handsome man with black hair just starting to go grey at the temples.

  ‘Oh Stewart, where have you been?’ Dorothy asked crossly. ‘I wanted to introduce you to Hetty.’

  Stewart smiled; he seemed totally unfazed by Dorothy’s tone.

  ‘Wainwright and I have just been having a quiet smoke, my sweet.’ He turned his eyes on Etta and smiled, his eyes crinkling.

  ‘Hello Hetty, delighted to meet you.’

  He took her hand and held it for slightly longer than Etta thought necessary. She pulled it away and Stewart smiled again. Etta noticed Dorothy was looking at her in not such a friendly way now.

  ‘And I’m Algy, Algernon really, Algernon Wainwright. Pleased to meet you.’ He beamed at Etta in a friendly way and shook hands and Etta warmed to him.

  ‘Where are you off to?’ Stewart Grenadier asked.

  “I’m going to show Hetty the grounds as it’s such a fine day.’

  ‘Good idea, we’ll join you, shan’t we Algy? Unless, of course, you don’t want us to come?’

  He stood smiling down at Dorothy who was clearly powerless to resist him. Etta didn’t want them to come; she wanted to pump Dorothy for information but was too polite to say so. She thought she detected a fleeting frown on Algernon’s face but then his face became bland again. Just then Cecil came noisily out of the drawing room and caught sight of the other two men.

  ‘Ready for the off?’

  ‘Stewart and Algy are coming too,’ Dorothy informed him.

  Cecil didn’t disguise his lack of enthusiasm for the idea.

  ‘Really? Nothing better to do?’

  ‘Nothing better than to escort two lovely young ladies around a garden,’ Stewart said smoothly.

  They all followed Dorothy out the front door and onto the gravel drive way. The sun was high in the blue sky, ruffled by white clouds and Etta could feel the warmth on her skin

  ‘Gardens first,’ Dorothy announced.

  They moved off across the lawns and down towards the gardens.

  The gardens were lovely, laid out in ornamental squares framed by hedges. A stone path led between them. One was filled with asters and marigolds and another with all white roses while yet another had pink roses of all possible hues in it.

  ‘We’ve got a kitchen garden, of course, but you won’t want to see that,’ Dorothy told Etta.

  ‘Nice weather,’ Algernon remarked to one in particular.

  Cecil laughed. ‘Brilliant observation, Algy,’ he said scornfully. ‘Next, you’ll be telling us that it’s quite remarkable for this time of year.’

  Etta disliked him more and more.

  ‘No, I won’t because it isn’t.’

  That simple comment took the wind out of Cecil’s sails. He didn’t reply but turned to Etta.

  ‘Tell me, Miss Ashcroft or may I call you Hetty?’ He didn’t wait for a reply. ‘What do you think of our American guests?’

  ‘I’ve only just met them.’

  ‘But you must have formed an opinion, surely? Did you recognise the wife?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Of course, you’d know her under a different name, Evangeline Carter. That’s her screen name or I should say that was her screen name. She’s quite given up the silver screen to the general relief of the film going public. She was an awful actress.’

  ‘Oh I don’t know,’ said Algernon, ‘I quite enjoyed “Moon Over Cairo”.’

  ‘You cannot be serious,’ drawled Cecil. ‘And that version of “David Copperfield” she was in, talk about misguided casting although I think we all know how she got that part.’

  Stewart Grenadier was listening with a frown on his face while Dorothy had a little smile playing around her lips.

  ‘And I bet Evangeline Carter isn’t her real name.’

  ‘Well, all the movie stars change their names,’ Dorothy said.

  ‘Not all but I bet the studio insisted with her. She probably had some dreadful name like Eva Turtelbaub.’

  ‘Not quite cricket to disparage someone behind their back, eh Mowbray?’ Stewart said.

  Etta liked him for that. Cecil had been making her feel uncomfortable even though she had not been struck with Evangeline Spinoza’s warmth or friendliness.

  ‘I loathe cricket,’ said Cecil with feeling. ‘What about you, Hetty? Do you like cricket?’

  ‘I don’t really watch cricket. I’ve never played it.’

  ‘Well naturally, you’re a girl.’

  ‘That’s not the reason why,’ Etta began about to argue that the England women’s cricket team were proof that women played cricket when she realised that if she did that, they would know she was a fake and that somehow seemed important.

  Cecil had got bored and had moved onto, ‘do you like plays and the theatre?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So what was the last play you saw?’

  ‘I don’t think it would have been one that you would have seen.’

  ‘You can rely on it. Cecil only goes to see weird, gord blimey plays. Never anything decent,’ Algernon butted in.

  ‘What you can decent; I call common muck, only fit for the masses. Like those revues you love.’

  ‘Nothing wrong with a song and a bit of a laugh,’ Algernon retorted.

  Cecil shuddered. While they had been talking, Stewart and Dorothy had moved ahead of them towards a grove of trees. Cecil gazed at them.

  ‘Now, there’s one little duet I’d like to break up. Can you imagine having that Neanderthal in the family?’ Without waiting for an answer, he hurried to join the two.

  Etta, looking round, suddenly noticed Jen in the distance, come round the corner of the house.

  ‘Miss Ashcroft?’

  ‘Hmm?’ Etta’s attention was on Jen.

  ‘I just wanted to say; you’re doing a cracking job. Keep it up.’ He too speeded up to join the others as Etta stared at his back in surprise.

  ‘I just want to have a word with my maid about something,’ she shouted at them, and turning on her heel, made for Jen.