[Berkeley Brigade 10] - Shadow of Murder by Joan Smith

said something about rehearsing a love scene.”
    “Mr. Corbett!” she chided coyly. “Not here! She might come in at any moment.”
    “How about tonight? I can get us a box at the theatre. One of the pages there lets me know when there’s an empty box. Very private. They’re playing School for Scandal. ”
    “It sounds lovely,” she said.
    “Should I call for you here?”
    “Of course. I’m not a prisoner,” she said, and led him to the door. “I have to write this epergne up in the book or she’ll scold.”
    “She don’t look like an ogre,” he said. “A dashed handsome lady.”
    “A dashed lucky one, to have nabbed Luten,” she snipped.
    Vance stole a kiss and left. She was busily checking the donations book when Lady Luten arrived a few moments later. “That’s nearly the whole lot,” Miss Lipman said. “Just a painting and two statues to come. And of course Lady Clare’s necklace.”
    “We’ll begin writing the thank you notes to the donors this afternoon,” Lady Luten said.
    “When are you expecting the necklace?”
    “Soon. I’ll write that thank you note myself. It’s the most valuable item, and of course Lady Clare will expect some special mark of appreciation. I should send her a grand bouquet. I’ll take care of that.”
    After the rehearsal was over that day, Corinne went into the gold salon to see that no damage had been done. She was annoyed to see Reg had helped himself to various small but nonetheless valuable items from other rooms in the house — and without even asking!
    Her good Wedgewood tea set was on a side table, one cup and saucer dangerously near the edge. And what was the bergere chair from her own little sitting room doing in here? Miffed, she went into the hall to inform Evans he was to let her know if Sir Reginald wanted any other items from the house.
    “Why, Mrs. Ballard has taken in a few things, a tea set for one. When she asked me to get a chair, I thought you had approved it.”
    “Don’t say anything to her. It would hurt her feelings. I’ll speak to Sir Reginald.” Mrs. Ballard would be apologizing for a month if she said anything to her.
    As she looked around, she noticed a valuable statue of a horse from the T’ang dynasty was missing from the table in the entrance hall, where it usually stood guard over a large bouquet. Luten had told her it came from an ancient Chinese tomb. She asked Evans if Sir Reginald had taken it.
    “Not to my knowledge, Madam. He didn’t say anything to me.”
    “If he requires some knick-knack for the play, he can use something less valuable — or bring one of his own trinkets,” she scolded. “He has enough of them. Let us have a look around. No, it’s not here.”
    She went back to the gold salon, determined to rescue the statue before it got broken. But after a thorough look around, she could see no sign of it. Really this was too much! She would call on Reg immediately and give him a good scolding. While she was still in a temper, Reg came to call and was shown into the salon.
    He took one look at her scowl and said, “You’re working too hard, my pet. I just came to talk to you. I want to give a little party for my temporary cast and wondered if you and Luten would like to attend. And Mrs. Ballard, of course. She’s been a great help to me.”
    “Reg, I’m glad you came. I want a word with you.” She pointed to the Wedgwood tea set. “What is that doing here? You know that’s a valuable set. It belonged to Luten’s mama. If anything should happen to it! If it’s just a prop for the play you want, get something from the kitchen, or bring it from your own house.”
    “Sorry. Mea culpa. I asked Mrs. Ballard to get a tea set for us and she brought this. We haven’t harmed it. There’s nothing in it, not even water.”
    “You easily might have broken it! One cup and saucer were just on the edge of that table. With people milling about it might have got knocked off. But more importantly, where is