Star of the East: A Lady Emily Christmas Story Read Online Free PDF Page A

relieved.” Mrs. Fitton blotted her face with a neat linen handkerchief. “I was telling Mr. Jones that I simply cannot believe that any of our staff would conduct him or herself in such despicable fashion. We do not hire thieves in this house.”
    “No, my mother would never tolerate it.” I saw my husband suppress a smile as I spoke.
    “Is there anything else we can do for you, sir?” Jones asked.
    “You have been most helpful,” Colin said. “I shall be certain to inform Lady Bromley that things below stairs are shipshape. We shall need to speak to the earl, but I do not require anything from either of you at present.”
    “We are at your service, sir,” Mrs. Fitton said. “And madam, of course.” She gave me a little smile. “It is good to see you again, Lady Emily. The house lost a great deal of brightness when you left to be married.”
    “You are very kind, Mrs. Fitton, and I shall never forget all the times you slipped biscuits to me when my mother had sent me to bed without my supper.”
    “Mrs. Fitton!” Jones looked down his long nose at her. “I am shocked to learn you would do such a thing. I believed I was the only one supplying her with surreptitious treats.”
    “Yours always came from the sweetie shop in the village,” I said. “You were both extremely kind.”
    After leaving the leaders of my mother’s beleaguered servants, we found my father in his book-lined study, where, in anticipation of Christmas, he had put a festive wreath of holly and ivy on his marble bust of Pliny the Elder. He listened intently as Colin explained the situation—my mother had neglected to so much as mention the missing stones to him while they were breakfasting.
    “She is very good to me, your mother, in her way,” he said. “Doesn’t want me bothered with anything, or so she says. I know it really is due to her preferring to have absolute control over the household and all its inhabitants, myself included when she can manage it, but over the years I have come to find that I very rarely miss being embroiled in domestic intrigue.”
    “This goes a bit beyond that, Papa,” I said.
    He patted my hand. “Yes, yes, it does, my dear child. We must speak to the maharaja at once, of course. You will, I imagine, need to search the rest of the house?”
    “Yes, sir, we will,” Colin said, and my father nodded. “I can assure you that I will handle the matter in as discreet a way as possible.”
    “My wife will not like it no matter how you do it, my boy, so I would not trouble myself about taking special pains on her behalf. You are good to do this for us. Is there any possibility that the incident is something more than a simple theft?”
    “I wondered the same thing,” Colin said. “Her Majesty sent a note imploring me to be sure not to miss seeing the maharaja here, and I confess it makes me think that she—or, rather, someone in the palace—was concerned. If I may use your telephone, I shall ring one of my colleagues to make further inquiries.”
    “Anything you need, Hargreaves.” He rose from his desk. “Right. I shall leave you to it, unless you would prefer to inform the maharaja of what is happening before you ring the palace?”
    We agreed that it would be best to deal with speaking to the maharaja and searching the house as quickly as possible. My father sent for him and his wife—instructing the butler not to bring Lady Catherine with them—and we sat down in a sitting room that had been decorated in jade-colored silk.
    “I am more distressed than I can say that such a thing should happen when you are guests in my home,” my father said after explaining the situation.
    “You are not to blame, Bromley,” the maharaja said.
    “It is that awful diamond,” the maharini said. “It brings misery to everyone. I am almost glad that it is gone.”
    “Do not say such things,” her husband snapped and then laid a gentle hand on her arm. “Forgive me, my dear.”
    “I know you are