Fiona
The news spread through the mansion the way news always seemed to, quietly at first, then all at once, until by the following week nearly every member of the staff had heard some version of it. Mr. Chester was seeing someone. Officially, this time, not just a rumor sparked by a single grainy photograph, but something he'd apparently confirmed himself, mentioning it in passing to his assistant, who mentioned it to someone else, until the entire household seemed to be buzzing with quiet speculation about the woman who had finally captured the attention of a man most of them had assumed was permanently closed off to anything resembling love.
"Have you heard?" Ruth asked me one morning, arranging flowers in the front hall with the kind of energy she usually reserved for holidays. "Mr.
