“No, my Lord, I managed the household, your Lordship might say, for the late Master.”
“Well, for the moment continue to do so,” the Earl replied, “but we shall require more footmen and doubtless the housekeeper will want to engage new housemaids.”
“It’ll be nice to see the house full again, my Lord,” the butler said.
The Earl looked at him in surprise.
“You were not here in my father’s time?”
“No, my Lord, I was a pantry boy when your Lordship’s grandfather was alive. I left King’s Keep to go as footman to the Duke of Norfolk and I returned fourteen years ago to take up my present position.”
“You come from this part of the world?”
“I was born on the estate, my Lord.”
“I am glad about that,” the Earl said. “I am anxious to have my own people around me, people who have known King’s K
