Naughty In Nice (A Royal Spyness Mystery)

mentioning. If only I’d spoken up. Trust your gut instincts. That’s what my old inspector used to tell us.”
    “We’d never have suspected him of the murder, even then,” I said. “We thought he had a cast-iron alibi. And he didn’t seem to have any motive.”
    “Always the quiet ones,” Granddad said thoughtfully. “And we never found out how your marquis managed to spirit the necklace out of that room, did we?” he asked.
    I shook my head. “He was very clever. All that talent wasted.”
    “Hardly wasted. He was a bloomin’ millionaire, wasn’t he?”
    “But you know what I mean—turned in the wrong direction.”
    Granddad nodded. “I know what you mean. You and I, we were both raised with a conscience. We could never be happy doing what was wrong. But other people just aren’t made the same. They take what they can, and if they get away with it, then they give themselves a pat on the back.”
    That reminded me of one task I still had to do. I decided to approach it straightforwardly and went to visit Lady Groper. When I’d told her the story she sniffed.
    “Frankly, I’m not a bit surprised,” she said. “That was the sort of man he was. Not the easiest to live with, made more enemies than friends. Now it’s my job to make sure that Bobby doesn’t turn out like him. He was sent down from Oxford, you know. I’m going to take a firm hand with that young man from now on. Keep him on a tight rein.”
    I felt a little sorry for Bobby as I returned to the villa holding the precious snuffbox.
    As Granddad prepared to go back to England I considered how long I’d like to stay and of course my thoughts turned to Queenie. I didn’t really need a maid and Mummy’s Claudette could help me in a pinch, so the kind thing to do would be to send Queenie back with Granddad. I broached the subject as she brought in my morning tea, miraculously on time.
    “Queenie, my grandfather is going back to England,” I said. “I know you haven’t been happy here, so I wondered if you’d like to go back to England with him.”
    She looked shocked. “Oh, no, my lady. I wouldn’t dream of it. My place is here with you. You need me to take care of you and help you on your road to recovery. . . .”
    “Queenie!” I interrupted sharply; but she went on, “I know I haven’t been up to scratch in the past, but now I’m going to work bloody hard to be like a proper lady’s maid . . .”
    “Queenie!” I said again; but she still kept talking, “and you’ll be so proud of me and . . .”
    “Queenie!” I said for a third time. “You’re slopping the tea onto my bedspread.”
    “Oh. Sorry, miss,” she said, looking down at the brown splashes. “Well, never mind. It blends in all right with the flower pattern, don’t it?”
    I sighed. I was stuck with her whether I liked it or not.
    So Granddad went home and a few days later Mummy announced that she was going back to Germany. She’d had a letter from Max. “Such a lovely letter,” she said. “All about how much he misses me and that life has no meaning without me. He wants us to get married. He promises that if I don’t like living in Germany we can have a château in Switzerland instead. On a lake. That sounds nice, doesn’t it? And he’s even hired a tutor to give him English lessons so that we can talk to each other more.”
    “But you said he was boring,” I reminded her.
    “I know, but one does want so much to be adored, and he does adore me,” she said. “And all that lovely money is rather nice too.”
    “And will you really marry him?”
    She wrinkled her pretty little nose. “I’m not quite sure about that part. We’ll have to see how it goes, won’t we?”
    “So I presume that means you want to close up the villa and turn me out.”
    “Madame Chanel says she’ll be delighted for you to come and stay with her,” Mummy said. “And I understand that the Duke of Westminster has said you’re always welcome on his yacht.”
    Darcy came up with the best suggestion. “I have to go off again,” he said, “but the hotel suite is booked through the end of the month. I wondered if you’d like to take my place and keep Bridget and Col company.” When he saw my face light up he added, “It might be a good idea if you got to know the rest of my crazy family—just so that you know what you’re in for.”
    It was the closest he had come to hinting that we had a future together. I thought it wise not to pursue it. “So you