Spirited Away - The Game

Ah, the vulture trying to scare away other vultures, Maximilian thinks to himself. Out loud, he says, "Why, that is very noble of you, Mrs. Murgatroyd. Mrs. Tubbs is very lucky to have such a caring relative." He takes a meaningful look at the gift basket again, then adds, "But are you certain that your niece would not appreciate a little gift in these trying times?"

Ha. Maybe the slender woman I saw at the window was Mrs Tubbs after all... Do they keep her captive? Why would a physician other than her own need to be involved... This reeks foul play. he thinks, observing how the expansive woman's attitude has changed.

Mrs. Murgatroyd assents that her niece might indeed find the gift of sweets agreeable.

"It is very thoughtful of you. But if you were hoping to present it to her yourself, it would not be possible, at least not at present. Dr. Amberly is with her and is as we speak administering a powerful sedative, I believe. Poor Aramintha was in a state of great agitation when we arrived. You would need to ask him whether a visitation would be permissible any time soon. You may leave the basket with me and I will make sure it is delivered to her safely." She throws a piercing look at Henry, making it clear that she believes him capable of stealing from the basket if allowed the opportunity. "You may, if you wish, leave a card. I am sure that knowing the great Mr. Norrell has taken a particular interest in her would lift her spirits."

Suspicious of Henry, thinking he might not be a footman at all, Edward thinks of something that would put him to the test.
Surely a true footman would know, at this point, to step forward and at least offer to take the basket for her mistress - but she seems not to trust him. Let us see how he reacts to the visiting card. Any footman would know that the exchange of cards is a menial task that the help need to take care of for their masters...

Edward carefully puts the basket on a coffee table near the woman, with a nod.

He then steps back and produces one of Maximilian's cards from his waistcoat (careful to choose the one with the right gendered name), putting it in plain sight, but not offering it to anyone in particular.

Max looks like he wants to protest, but then Edward begins doing something and the young gentleman decides to let his servant do what he has in mind. Instead, he says, "I would be interested in speaking to this Dr. Amberly. I have great respect for the medical profession."

"You may do so, as soon as he is finished examining my niece. Maybe you would like to take a sit, have some refreshment in the meantime? That means tea, Henry!" the lady turns to the footman once more, the young man still fidgeting by the door. "Surely you can at least manage that?"

"Yes, ma'am," he stutters and shuffles out of the room. Once outside he breaks into a run - it is easy to hear, since he has left the door open, apparently without sparing a thought for poor elderly Mrs. Murgatroyd and the murderous drafts he might be exposing her to. The card and the gift basket sit untouched on the table.

"Honestly, those country servants are beyond anything I've seen!" Mrs. M complains and gestures for the two visitors to find a seat. "I don't know how my niece could live in such a household. Just before you arrived, gentlemen, her own maid was here and she informed me that she means to leave! And not only that, but she had the nerve to ask me for a recommendation! Well, I wash shocked to my core. I told her that if she means to abandon her mistress in time of distress, I would make certain she would not find employment ever again. Once Aramintha is sufficiently recovered, I will have a word or two with her."

Seeing Henry being ordered out, Edward sees an opportunity to get some servant gossip.

He leans discreetly towards the woman and clears his throat.
"Hut-hum... If I may, Milady... Perhaps I may be of assistance to your footman? I could share some tips for the proper high tea preparations... I am sure the lad will catch up fast..."

"Oh, I very much doubt that he will. I have half a mind to dismiss him, but sadly it is not my place. But if you would be so kind to take it upon yourself to see that he does not poison us in his incompetence, I would owe you a debt of gratitude, sir!"

Even though Edward is unfamiliar with the house, he has enough experience to know what to look for. And he finds it - an unassuming door on the ground floor, discretely hidden behind the main staircase. In the corridor behind it the rich panelling gives way to bare stone. Further ahead there is another door which has been left ajar and from it the warm smells of the kitchen fill the air. Edward can hear voices and although he can not tell what they are saying, the tone is unmistakable - the sound of servants grumbling against an unreasonable master.

Edward stops behind the door within hearing distance of the staff in the kitchen, hoping to hear a little more.

After which, he will make a few loud steps approaching, so they are prewarned, and knocks at the door.

"Mr Henry? My master Mr Calstock sent me down to help with tea preparations, with the agreement of Lady Murgatroyd, of course. You see, he is a very fastidious tea drinker, and he figured it would be quicker to send me down to help than for you good folks to try guess his... fussy quirks, shall we say. "
He will push the door to make himself visible, with a warm smile on his face.
" You know what they're like... "

As Edward leaves with Henry, Maximilian stays with Mrs. Murgatroyd. He approaches another seat but doesn't sit, hoping but not expecting for her to offer. "Shameful," he agrees. "Even the servants in London are getting lazier by the year but I could not imagine how bad it must be all the way out here. Certainly, the atmosphere is lovely, but if the servants aren't up to the task... Did this maid say why she wished to leave?"

Edward
Several pairs of eyes turn to stare at Edward as he walks in. The expressions are of mingled surprise and guilt; and small wonder - Edward had distinctly caught the words "nasty old bat" before entering the kitchen, and something about spitting in someone's tea. The offending voice had been female, belonging to one of three - a stout woman identified by her advanced years as a cook or a house-keeper (possibly both); a very young, awkwardly tall dark-haired girl with the raw hands of a scullery maid, and the mysterious lady Edward had glimpsed through the window upon approaching the house. Henry is sitting slumped on a chair, recovering from his encounter with Mrs. Murgatroyd and for the moment looks like he hasn't yet gathered the courage needed for returning to her.

"We know how to boil water, thank you very much," the lady from the window says sharply.

---

Maximilian

"Oh, she did not think it necessary to inform me. Not to get married - maids are always leaving to get married these days - or she would not have asked for a recommendation. Maybe she thinks there will be a scandal and is hoping to jump a sinking ship, instead of pumping to save her. Pump or drown, I say! I can't abide disloyalty." Mrs. M shifts in her seat, having worked herself into a state of agitation even further. Her shrill voice in conjunction with the sumptuous fabrics of her dress make her look like a fat hen. "I confess I am not best pleased that news of the family misfortune has reached London, but I believe that with Mr. Norrell's help everything will be resolved quickly. He has prepared his most potent spells, I trust?"

"Oh yes, he has provided us with a most exciting spell to cast," Max explains. "However I have left it in Mr. Broadhurst's hands. I'd be liable to lose it, were I to carry it myself." He then shakes his head. "Regretful, how the servants of today behave. Now, if you would like me to have a word with this maid, that could be arranged. Certainly, she must think she can find better employment somewhere else. Perhaps a city gentleman should explain to her that, as you so eloquently put it, jumping a sinking ship is not a trait well appreciated among potential employers. But speaking of horrible servants, I was told about a particularly strange one, a Mr. Starhouse. You wouldn't happen to know about him, would you?"

he nods at the woman, smiling. "Of course you do, I wouldn't dare suggest the contrary, milady. The thing is... my master is very peculiar in his habits... and his preferences for tea-taking are no exception. The amount of fussy details he expects... and the scoldings he gives me if something is not to his taste!! You wouldn't believe it. All I ask is to arrange his tea tray personally... " he asks politely.

"To avoid a scene, you see..." he adds.

Then he pats his forehead as if remembering something, "Oh! I almost forgot! Might any of you ladies be Miss Elsie Lesser? I am to present her the regards of Mrs. Fowler, from the grocery shop."

Edward

"That would be me," the mysterious - or rather, the no longer mysterious - woman answers, retracting her metaphorical claws when Edward mentions her friend, but still looking at him with some suspicion. "Kind of you to carry her regards all this way. Did you find her well?"

Edward seems to have been granted access to the tea and the stove, where a kettle full of water has already been set to boil. The cook and the scullery maid return to what they had been doing before the man's entry, namely scrubbing potatoes and paring apples.

---

Maximilian

"Yes, of course you would inquire after him. He is the villain who's orchestrated my niece's husband's disappearance. And before you ask - yes, I am aware what the rumours about him are. I'm afraid Mr. Tubbs was the originator of those rumours. He is a ridiculous man, Mr. Tubbs. I myself never approved of the match, by the by. As I said - ridiculous man. But Aramintha's father thought that as long as a man has land, money and interest, he may be excused some trifling eccentricities, so my opinion was not consulted." The lady's expression very clearly conveys that she considers it her niece's own fault, finding herself in this distressing situation by marrying a "ridiculous man". She looks Maximilian up and down, searching for signs of ridiculousness. "I say, you appear to be awfully young. In what capacity does Mr. Norrell employ you? Are you his secretary? His pupil?"

Edward nods in gratitude and busies himself. He will start setting a tray with fastidious precision, making a show of folding napkins in a certain unusual fashion, place cutlery and crockery in a very specific pattern and distance between them, all to support his claim. He will comment every now and then, cutting buttered white bread in fussy lozenge shapes and displaying them on a plate in a fanning arc.

He responds to Miss Lesser as he works.
"Oh, Mrs Fowler seemed quite well, yes. A formidable lady. She was very helpful to us... You see, my master wanted to acquire a present for Mrs Tubbs... Too bad we could not meet her. How is she, it must be a terrible predicament for her... I hope her health has not suffered too badly? "

"I don't think it's quite awful to be young," Maximilian argues before explaining. "Oh, I'm neither a secretary nor pupil. I'm a magician, in fact." He doesn't specify theoretical, because that would be a lie. Technically, the word magician itself might count as a lie. Norrell would certainly say so. But it sounds much more presitigious than charlatan. "And Mr. Norrell is employing me as an investigator. I will refer you again to the letter."
Changing the topic back to what is important, he says, "Now, I believe you were just about to tell me more about this scoundrel Starhouse. So you don't believe those rumors about him, but you still think he abducted your niece's husband?"

Edward
The innocent question earns Edward a disdainful "harumph" from Elsie. She does not appear particularly concerned for her mistress. The rest of the servants are watching Edward's handiwork with curiosity, and in Henry's case - with mounting horror, wondering if he'd ever be expected to arrange food in such an elaborate way. In the end it is the Cook answers instead:

"We don't think she is quite right in the head," she says in a low voice, as one does when sharing something that is particularly scandalous.

"Elsie thinks the Mrs. did him in," Henry blurts out.

"I... I never said such a thing!"

"You did, you said she's poisoned him!"

"I never did, I... She was acting very queer that day."

---

Maximilian
"You are certainly an odd young man," Mrs. Murgatroyd declares in a tone that suggests that "odd" is not as far down in her estimation as "ridiculous" but not quite proper either. "But I suppose magicians are allowed to have some oddities. You would, of course need more information in order to employ the right incantations." She thinks for a moment. "No, I do not believe Starhouse is a fairy. Mr. Tubbs believed it and for some reason considered it an excellent thing. I do not know whether Starhouse abducted him or... did something else to him, but it is clear as day that he is the culprit. After all, he disappeared as well, didn't he?"

"You are right that it is very odd that Starhouse disappeared along with Mr. Tubbs," Maximilian graciously agrees. "Unless, of course, they left together, in which case it would be less odd, though still curious." Suddenly a thought occurs to Maximilian and he asks, "So you would say that Mr. Tubbs was rather fond of Mr. Starhouse?" Attempting to make it look like an unrelated thought, though not exactly putting in the effort of properly disguising the connection between his thoughts, though he does assume Mrs. Murgatroyd would not pick up on it. "How did Mr. and Mrs. Tubbs get along? I'm sure she is far more proper than he ever was. Would something like that have led to discontent between them?"