‘. . . No.’ She gave an involuntary shudder at the memories now attached to the books; it caught the maid’s attention. ‘Chilly,’ she murmured, looking away again.

The maid stopped pretending she was dusting and came over to inspect the egg now in Effie’s hand. ‘So what’s that one, then?’

Effie looked up at her impatiently. ‘It’s a sparrowhawk egg.’

‘And that one?’ She crouched down close, hugging her knees, and pointed to its neighbour in the next box.

‘That’s a common tern.’

‘That one too?’ Her finger pushed lightly at the one beside it.

‘No, that’s a moorhen.’

The maid frowned. ‘But it looks just the same.’

‘Superficially, perhaps. But the moorhen has speckles that are finer and more evenly spread around the whole egg. The common tern has a plainer base with markings that are bolder and more like brushstroke tips. See?’ She pointed out the differences.

‘You need a good eye for detail doing this.’

‘I suppose so,’ Effie murmured.

The girl was staring at her openly now, last night’s timidity seemingly gone. She smiled brightly, quite suddenly. ‘. . . My name’s Fanny, by the way.’

Effie was surprised by the rapprochement. ‘Effie.’

‘I know. I remember. You made quite an impression, one way an’ another.’

Effie looked quickly away again. She should have known this wasn’t friendliness but plain curiosity.

‘Hey, it’s all right, you know. There’s always a drama going on down there.’

‘Is that why you were so quiet, then?’ Effie asked bullishly.

‘Yes! I stay out of it! Last night the excitement was all about you but it’ll be someone else tonight . . . Probably Billy. Or one of them upstairs, seeing as they’re all due back.’

Effie didn’t reply but she felt the quickening of her heartrate. Was Sholto travelling back here, even now? She replaced the sparrowhawk egg in the box and put the lid back on.

‘So are you really friends with Lord Sholto, then?’ Fanny asked, as if reading her mind.

‘I wouldn’t have said it if it wasn’t true.’

‘It’s just that . . . people like them aren’t usually friends with people like us.’

‘Us?’

‘Aye, commoners. I know his lordship’s a modern man, but even he has limits.’

‘I wouldn’t know about any of that,’ Effie said after a pause. ‘Where I’m from, you take people as you find them. Everyone’s equal, more or less, though there’s some as have more sheep.’ She shrugged.

Fanny, who had been watching her closely, laughed suddenly. ‘That’s probably exactly what he likes about you, then. If you don’t fuss over him, there’s a novelty for him. He can’t move for tripping over servants here.’

‘Aye, I’d noticed.’

Fanny cupped her chin in her hand, watching her interestedly. ‘Do you mean you really had no idea that he and his family were so important?’