Her Ladyship’s wrath had not subsided. She asked Reginald to deliver a letter to Mr Abbot at Pickford’s in Maida Vale. Reginald reported below stairs that she seemed distracted and distressed when she called for him, that she was still in her wrap though it was eleven in the morning, and that it looked as if it needed a good wash; her face was puffy and her eyes were red. Lily said there had been another episode in the night between the Earl and the Countess. He had knocked at the bedroom door and she had screeched at him to go away, that she hated him, that she wished she were dead, she should never have married him. (‘Just as if she were anyone,’ as Smithers pointed out.)‘I will not have you in my room ever again,’ her Ladyship had screamed. ‘Nor will that woman get an invitation.’Elsie reckoned she was referring to Mrs Baum, wife to the Mr Baum who had disturbed the household a month or so ago. Nothing had been quite the same since. He had been a bird of evil omen. A black crow bringing bad news with him.Lily, who now slept in the side room opposite the master bedroom, for her Ladyship liked to have her near at night, had been woken by the racket and now reported it in detail.
