Miser of Mayfair

M. C. Beaton
is the author of the hugely successful Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth series, as well as a quartet of Edwardian murder mysteries featuring heroine Lady Rose Summer, the Travelling Matchmaker, Six Sisters and School for Manners Regency romance series, and a stand-alone murder mystery,
The Skeleton in the Closet
– all published by Constable & Robinson. She left a full-time career in journalism to turn to writing, and now divides her time between the Cotswolds and Paris. Visit
www.agatharaisin.com
for more, or follow M. C. Beaton on Twitter: @mc_beaton.

Praise for A House for the Season:

‘Plot intricacies, colourful domestics and characteristic attention to period details . . . an entertainment that will please fans.’

Publishers Weekly

‘A witty, charming, touching bit of Regency froth. Highly recommended.’

Library Journal

‘[Beaton] has launched another promising Regency series.’

Booklist

‘A romp of a story . . . For warm-hearted, hilarious reading, this one is a gem.’

Baton Rouge Sunday Advocate

‘[Beaton] is adept at character portrayal and development . . .
Plain Jane
is sure to delight Regency enthusiasts of all ages.’

Best Sellers

Titles by M. C. Beaton

A House for the Season
The Miser of Mayfair
•
Plain Jane
•
The Wicked Godmother
Rake’s Progress
•
The Adventuress
•
Rainbird’s Revenge

The Six Sisters
Minerva
•
The Taming of Annabelle
•
Deirdre and Desire
Daphne
•
Diana the Huntress
•
Frederica in Fashion

The Edwardian Murder Mystery series
Snobbery with Violence
•
Hasty Death
•
Sick of Shadows
Our Lady of Pain

The Travelling Matchmaker series
Emily Goes to Exeter
•
Belinda Goes to Bath
•
Penelope Goes to Portsmouth
Beatrice Goes to Brighton
•
Deborah Goes to Dover
•
Yvonne Goes to York

The Agatha Raisin series
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
•
Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet
Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener
•
Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley
Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage
•
Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist
Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death
•
Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham
Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden
Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam
•
Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell
Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
Agatha Raisin and the Curious Curate
•
Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House
Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance
•
Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon
Agatha Raisin and Love, Lies and Liquor
Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye
Agatha Raisin and a Spoonful of Poison
•
Agatha Raisin: There Goes the Bride
Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body
•
Agatha Raisin: As the Pig Turns

The Hamish Macbeth series
Death of a Gossip
•
Death of a Cad
•
Death of an Outsider
Death of a Perfect Wife
•
Death of a Hussy
•
Death of a Snob
Death of a Prankster
•
Death of a Glutton
•
Death of a Travelling Man
Death of a Charming Man
•
Death of a Nag
•
Death of a Macho Man
Death of a Dentist
•
Death of a Scriptwriter
•
Death of an Addict
A Highland Christmas
•
Death of a Dustman
•
Death of a Celebrity
Death of a Village
•
Death of a Poison Pen
•
Death of a Bore
Death of a Dreamer
•
Death of a Maid
•
Death of a Gentle Lady
Death of a Witch
•
Death of a Valentine
•
Death of a Sweep
Death of a Kingfisher

The Skeleton in the Closet

Also available
The Agatha Raisin Companion

Constable & Robinson Ltd
55–56 Russell Square
London WC1B 4HP
www.constablerobinson.com

First published in the US by St Martin’s Press, 1986

This paperback edition published in the UK by Canvas, an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2013

Copyright © M. C. Beaton, 1986

The right of M. C. Beaton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in
Publication Data is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78033-305-2 (paperback)
eISBN: 978-1-47210-436-6

Typeset by TW Typesetting, Plymouth, Devon

Printed and bound in the UK

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Cover design and illustration:
www.kathynorrish.com

To the Mulcare family –
Ann, Tony, Patrick and Charlotte

History is but a tiresome thing in itself; it becomes more agreeable the more romance is mixed up with it. The great enchanter has made me learn many things which I should never have dreamed of studying, if they had not come to me in the form of amusement.

Thomas Love Peacock

Mr Glowry used to say that his house was no better than a spacious kennel, for every one in it led the life of a dog.

THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK,
NIGHTMARE ABBEY

It had been a long winter, and the spring of 1807 seemed an unconscionable time in coming. The days were blustery and cold, the skies leaden and dismal.

But in the heart of London’s Mayfair there were already signs that spring was struggling through the gloom. Daffodils were blowing in the tussocky grass of Hyde Park, and a cherry tree at the corner of South Audley Street raised its weighted branches of pink blossom to the lowering sky.

Outside the town houses, from Grosvenor Square to St James’s Square, brass was being energetically polished, window frames painted, and steps scrubbed in preparation for the Season.

In fact, despite the chill, there was noise and bustle everywhere, from the blackbirds carolling on the rooftops to the hurrying servants in their new liveries in the streets below who were looking forward to the Season with all its promise of abundant food and extra money.

Everywhere, that is, except Number 67 Clarges Street.

The house at Number 67 seemed at first glance to be in mourning. The shutters were closed and its black, thin frontage stared down on the fashionable street like a gloomy undertaker. There were two iron hounds chained on the wide doorstep, gazing down at their paws as if they had long ago given up any hope of freedom. Although it was the fashion during each London Season to hire a house in Mayfair at a disproportionally high rent for sometimes very inferior accommodation, Number 67 stood empty and appeared likely to remain so, despite the fact that the rent was reasonable and the building in good repair.

The sad fact was that in an age when gambling fever ran high and everyone from a lord to a scullery maid was superstitious, Number 67 had been damned as ‘unlucky’. And no mama hopeful of finding a good marriage for her daughter was going to risk incurring the wrath of those pagan gods who look down on the exclusive world of the top ten thousand.

The house was owned by the tenth Duke of Pelham, a young man, the ninth duke having hanged himself in the house in Clarges Street. The suicide of the ninth duke was not the only reason why the house had remained vacant for two Seasons and seemed likely to remain so for a third. One family, who had taken the house the Season after the duke’s death, had lost all their money through their son’s gambling. The family following that had suffered a worse fate. Their young and beautiful daughter, Clara, had been found dead in the middle of Green Park without a mark on her or anything to explain the cause of her death.

Although the present duke’s agent advertised the town house at an increasingly modest rent, it stayed empty. The young duke was at Oxford University and did not appear over-concerned about the house, since it was only one of his many properties and he had a mansion of his own in Grosvenor Square.

The staff had been hired at very low wages during the old duke’s time, and nothing had been done to alter this state of affairs as the young duke, who left the handling of everything to his agent, was not even aware that Number 67 had a permanent staff. Although the servants could barely eat on their wages, they had, when the house was first let, been able to supplement their diet and income by the many parties held there. The servants’ table had groaned with leftover food, and livery and apron pockets had jingled with tips from the rich dinner guests. But without a tenant, their could be no alleviation of their sad state. So the servants of Number 67 gloomily looked on as their more fortunate rivals in the neighbouring houses prepared for yet another lucrative few months.