“Lemon or sugar, ma’am?”

“Neither, thank you,” Hannah responded with a smile. “I’m really glad you poured that. I would have been petrified that I’d drop the pot.”

The housekeeper gave a startled smile, but she immediately regained her composure. “Yes, ma’am. Will there be anything else?”

“I don’t think so.” Hannah had the urge to do something totally inappropriate. All this formality was getting to her. “Actually I hate tea, but don’t tell Queen Judith that I said that.”

“No, ma’am. I shan’t.”

The housekeeper beat a hasty retreat, but Hannah heard the sound of stifled laughter as the door closed behind her. That made her feel good. She doubted that Judith’s domestic staff got many laughs from her guests.

Once the sound of housekeeper’s footsteps had faded off down the hallway, Hannah lifted the other teacup and took a peek at the mark on the bottom. She was right. It was Wedgwood. She could hardly wait to tell Delores that she’d actually sipped tea from such a rare and expensive cup.

There was nothing to do but wait for Judith, and Hannah took stock of her surroundings. There was a secretariat of French extraction in a corner. It was probably from the time of Louis XIV, but she wasn’t entirely sure. Somehow she doubted that Judith would ever buy copies, regardless of how cleverly they’d been crafted.

The wing chairs were antiques from the mid-eighteen hundreds, undoubtedly English and most certainly expensive. Mentally Hannah added up the items of furniture that surrounded her and came up with a staggering amount. No wonder Del Woodley had needed to borrow money. His wife had spent close to a hundred thousand dollars decorating her sitting room!

All that adding made her hungry and Hannah eyed the platter of sandwiches, little rectangles of bread with the crusts removed. Why did people who wanted to be sophisticated cut the crusts off slices of bread? As far as Hannah was concerned, the crusts were the best part. The filling in the sandwiches was green and since she didn’t think that there was any moldy bologna in the Woodleys’ refrigerator, Hannah assumed that it must be watercress or cucumber. A vegetable sandwich on white bread with the crusts missing wasn’t exactly Hannah’s idea of haute cuisine. She was just wondering if they might taste better than they looked when she heard footsteps approaching. Judith was coming and Hannah pasted a perfectly polite expression on her face. It was showtime.

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Hannah dear. I’m terribly sorry to have kept you waiting,” Judith greeted her as she walked over to take the other chair. “I see that Mrs. Lawson has poured your tea.”

Hannah raised her cup to take a hasty sip. The tea was lukewarm since she’d left it standing for too long, but she managed a smile. “It’s delicious.”

“I do prefer oolong, but most of my guests are partial to Darjeeling.”

Hannah wasn’t sure whether the tea she’d just sipped was oolong or Darjeeling, but it didn’t really matter. “I came to compliment you on your party, Judith. It was perfect, as always.”