“Christiana?”

She paused and turned back, and then glanced down with surprise when he set a piece of plum cake on her plate. “I know you forgot this. You tried to grab it twice before being distracted.”

Christiana smiled wryly and murmured, “Thank you.”

There was little conversation as they ate. Christiana supposed no one wished to discuss either the blackmailer or the murder of George when they suspected a member of the household staff might be involved. They were also apparently eager to get on with their individual tasks for the day and were soon finished and excusing themselves from the table.

“Shall we head out?” Daniel asked Richard as the group left the dining room.

Christiana noted the distaste on her husband’s face as he glanced to the wrinkled dark coat he wore and wasn’t surprised when he said, “I need to change my clothes first. I should have sought out a change of clothes on awaking, but so loathe wearing what’s available that I put it off. I won’t be a minute though.”

“I shall wait in the parlor,” Daniel said with a nod and turned into the room as Richard started up the stairs.

Christiana watched Richard jog lightly up the steps, and then glanced to the side when Suzette touched her arm.

“When do you want to start interviewing the staff?” her sister asked, glancing toward the parlor after Daniel.

“We will wait until everyone leaves,” Christiana decided. “Why do you not go keep Daniel company? I want a word with Richard about how he wishes us to proceed with the staff anyway.”

Suzette smiled and immediately slipped into the parlor. She also pulled the door closed, Christiana noted and briefly considered opening it and reminding her sister that unmarried ladies did not stay alone in a closed room with men. However, she simply let it go and turned to head upstairs. The two would be married soon enough.

She found Richard in the master dressing room, contemplating George’s wardrobe with a less than pleased expression. Christiana supposed she could not blame him. George had dressed like a dandy and Richard just was not a dandyish man.

“Oh, Christiana,” he said and smiled wryly when he noted her entrance. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” she assured him quickly, running a hand absently over a pair of pink knee breeches. “I just wondered how you wished us to proceed with the interviews. I presume you don’t wish us to give away what we are trying to learn?”

“You presume right.” Richard frowned. “We don’t want whoever hired them to realize we are on to them before we sort out who it is.”

“No,” she agreed.

“I suppose you and Suzette have the hardest task of the bunch of us. I’m sorry about that.”

She smiled faintly and shrugged. “It will not be hard to carry out, just hard to succeed at. We might manage to be able to cross servants off the list, but I doubt we will learn exactly who could have poisoned the whiskey. It could have been put in at any time between the day he died and the last time he drank from it before that. George didn’t allow anyone else to drink his special whiskey.”