If the housekeeper was surprised, she did not show it. “As I said, I did not agree with all of his decisions. But I know with all my heart he was only doing what he thought was best.” Mrs. Houston’s face warmed with affection as she defended her longtime employer.

It was as if Lottie had finally discovered the last piece of a long, unfinished puzzle. “You love him,” she marveled.

“Yes,” Mrs. Houston admitted, blushing like a schoolgirl. “For many years now.”

“Does he know?”

Mrs. Houston laughed. “I should hope so, considering he’s the one who said it first.”

“I’m sorry. I…I had no idea.” It seemed impossible to think of Sir Alfred saying such things to anyone, really.

“Well, of course not. That was the point.”

“But you did not wish to marry?”

Mrs. Houston fixed her with a look. “Lottie, I’ve listened to you bang on about women’s suffrage for the last year. Are you really going to turn your nose up on me now?”

“No!” Lottie was mortified to realize that Mrs. Houston was right.

“We’ve an arrangement that suits the both of us. Your uncle has his work, and I have mine,” she said with characteristic firmness. “Besides, if we married it would only cause talk.”

Lottie balked. “What does that matter if you love each other?”

Mrs. Houston gave her a kind smile. “Oh Lottie. You’ve no idea what it would be like for me. People would say I tricked him into marriage. That I was putting on airs. He would lose the respect of his peers and I of the staff. I would never be accepted as the mistress of a house I once worked in. And I don’t want that. For either of us.”

“But isn’t it hard being here while he’s in London?”

Mrs. Houston’s smile slipped a little. “More than I could ever say. He doesn’t want me to see him as anything less than the man he was.”

Lottie grasped her hand. “I understand, but in this case I think you shouldn’t heed his wishes.”

“Thank God you came here. We’ll need to contact your uncle’s solicitor immediately.”

Lottie nodded in agreement. Mr. Jenkins was her solicitor as well.

Mrs. Houston then leveled her eyes. “I’m also going to contact Alec.”

“Why?” Lottie tore her hand away. “This isn’t any of his concern.”

“But if your uncle has been in decline for this long, and if Mr. Wetherby did know and said nothing, then his work may have been compromised,” she pointed out.

Lottie’s breath caught. She hadn’t thought of that.

“And besides, even if you did quarrel, Alec would want to know if you were in danger. No matter what happened in Venice, he still cares for you.”