Secrets at Sea by Richard Peck Read Free Book Online Page B

are the Upstairs Cranstons, though we are the older fam—”
    â€œCranstons? Cranstons?” The Duchess gripped the bone china chair arm. “Mother, father, two daughters, one quite young, the other quite awkward?”
    â€œWell, yes,” I said. What a gossipy place a ship is.
    â€œThey have already made an unfortunate impression in the first-class dining saloon.” The Duchess bent still nearer. “My dear, those dresses.”
    Oh, we were in over our heads now. Heads and ears. “But how could you know—”
    â€œOur waiters overhear their waiters,” the Duchess said. “The world is a much smaller place than it seems.”
    Her eyebrows rose high, though she didn’t really have eyebrows. “And what is the purpose of their journey, these Cranstons? To attend the Queen’s great jubilee?”
    Everybody at our end of the yardstick was naturally all ears. “Well, I’m not sure they know about the . . . jubilee,” I said. “They are ’usband—husband-hunting for Olive.”
    â€œThey are off to a very poor start, I’m bound to say. They have fallen at the first fence.” The Duchess shook her head. “Moreover they’ve picked the wrong ship. We are sailing very short of rank. There are only three unmarried Englishmen of title on the entire passenger list. Three only. I will name them for you. There is Lord Sandown, who will be the Earl of Clovelly. But he is presently only five years old.”
    Well, I don’t suppose he’d do, I thought.
    â€œAnd there is the Marquess of Tilbury, but he is eighty years old and has to be fed by hand.”
    Strike him off the list, I thought.
    â€œThat leaves Lord Peter Henslowe, who is twenty-four years old. But he’s good-looking and will be hard to catch.”
    I was lost among these lords. “I don’t think the Upstairs Cranstons are looking for a title for Olive. Lords? Earls? I doubt it, Duchess. They may not know what titles are. For Olive, they’d settle for just about any—”
    â€œThey have not set their sights high enough!” The Duchess tapped the yardstick. “They have not been well-advised. You have your work cut out for you.”
    We started and stared.
    â€œYou will have to take steps. You are their mice. Your fates are intertwined with theirs. You cannot leave important decisions to humans. Their heads are in the clouds. Times come when mice must pay their way. Your time draws nigh.” She stared past me at Louise and even at Beatrice. She meant business.
    We didn’t know what to think. Our brains buzzed.
    â€œHow fortunate for you that you have met us,” the Duchess remarked. “We take an interest in your situation. We can’t think why.”
    She snapped a finger in the air, and three waiters nearly fell on her.
    â€œTake away this soup!” she commanded. “It is entirely too clear!”
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    CAMILLA WAS ASLEEP when we came in under her door. Our dinner had run to twelve courses. The remains of the flaming pudding churned inside me. The night stretched before us.
    The steamer trunk was gone, and Camilla’s lavender dinner gown was wadded on the floor with all her underthings. She was tidier than this as a rule, but she may have had a miserable time in the first-class dining saloon. Louise crept over to examine the crumpled handkerchief with violets on it.
    â€œI could sleep on her bed,” Louise muttered. “She’d be glad to see me when she—”
    â€œI wouldn’t count on it, Louise,” I said. I talked her into sleeping in the chamber pot under the bed. Beatrice and I went into Camilla’s jewelry case. It stood open on her dressing table and was tufted inside. It was the best we could do. I wouldn’t sleep a wink anyway, not this near a human. But I wanted Beatrice where I could see her.
    You are wondering about Lamont? So was I. Nigel had taken charge of