The Fatal Flying Affair (A Lady Hardcastle Mystery, #7)

by T.E. Kinsey

It had become our habit for me to mispronounce Featherstonhaugh as Feather-stone-huff instead of Fanshaw, and for him to call me Strongarm instead of Armstrong.

Featherstonhaugh /ˈfænʃɔː/ FAN-shaw (also spelt Fetherstonhaugh and Featherstonehaugh) is an English surname. The name comes from Featherstonhaugh in Northumberland, from the Old English feðere, 'feather', stān, 'stone', and healh, 'corner'.

entente /änˈtänt/ I. noun 1. a friendly understanding or informal alliance between states or factions • the growing entente between former opponents. 2. a group of states in an informal alliance. 3. (the Entente Cordiale) — the understanding between Britain and France reached in 1904, forming the basis of Anglo-French cooperation in World War I.

Secret. Clandestine

termagant /ˈtərməɡənt/ I. noun 1. a harsh-tempered or overbearing woman. 2. (Termagant) — ‹historical› an imaginary deity of violent and turbulent character, often appearing in morality plays. – origin Middle English (sense 2): via Old French from Italian

“A gentleman is someone who knows how to play the banjo, but doesn’t.”’

tiffin /ˈtifin/ I. noun (Indian) ‹dated› a light meal, especially lunch. – origin early 19th cent.: apparently from dialect tiffing ‘sipping,’ of unknown origin.

aeroplanes are the coming thing – vital to the national doo-dah in times of thingummy

I’d been working for Lady Hardcastle since 1894. Seventeen years. Half my life. I’d officially served as her ‘lady’s maid’ for those seventeen years, but my role for most of that time had been more that of an aide-de-camp and general right-hand woman who also did a bit of mending.

mufti2 /ˈməftē/ I. noun plain clothes worn by a person who wears a uniform for their job, such as a soldier or police officer • I was a flying officer in mufti.

scoff2 /skôf skäf / ‹informal› I. verb — [with obj.] 1. eat (something) quickly and greedily • she scoffed down several chops • a lizard scoffing up insects. Compare with scarf3. II. noun food. – origin late 18th cent. (as a verb): originally a variant of Scots and dialect scaff. The noun is from Afrikaans schoff, representing Dutch schoft ‘quarter of a day,’ (by extension) ‘meal.’

jackdaw /ˈjakˌdô/ noun a small, gray-headed crow that typically nests in tall buildings and chimneys, noted for its inquisitiveness. [Genus Corvus, family Corvidae: two species, in particular the Eurasian C. monedula.]

tautology /tôˈtäləjē/ I. noun 1. the saying of the same thing twice in different words, generally considered to be a fault of style (e.g., they arrived one after the other in succession). 2. a phrase or expression in which the same thing is said twice in different words. 3. [Logic] a statement that is true by necessity or by virtue of its logical form. II. derivatives 1. tautological /ˌtôdlˈäjək(ə)l / adjective 2. tautologically /ˌtôdlˈäjək(ə)lē / adverb 3. tautologist /-jist / noun 4. tautologize /tôˈtäləˌjīz / verb 5. tautologous /-ɡəs / adjective – origin mid 16th cent.: via late Latin from Greek, from tautologos ‘repeating what has been said,’ from tauto- ‘same’ + -logos (see -logy).

‘Joseph of Cupertino is the patron saint of flying,

Rum Punch is one of the earliest known cocktails, with written references dating to at least the 17th century. Traditionally featuring a spirit, citrus, spice, sugar and water, punch offers the creative drinker a wide berth for experimentation. Rum Punch begins with two types of rum, a smart and easy way to add depth and complexity to a cocktail. From there, pineapple and grenadine lend sweetness, orange juice brightens everything and a touch of lime cuts through the tropical sweetness.

piccalilli /ˈpikəˌlilē/ I. noun a relish of chopped vegetables, mustard, and hot spices. – origin mid 18th cent.: probably from a blend of pickle and chili.

Ask and ye shall receive and all that. Beat about the bush and all you’ll get is a nervous bush. Shrubs are wary of being beaten.’

The Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Roadster

Bakelite /ˈbāk(ə)ˌlīt/ I. noun ‹trademark› an early form of brittle plastic, typically dark brown, made from formaldehyde and phenol, used chiefly for electrical equipment. – origin early 20th cent.: named after Leo H. Baekeland (1863–1944), the Belgian-born American chemist who invented it, + -ite1.

linoleum /ləˈnōlēəm/ I. noun a material consisting of a canvas backing thickly coated with a preparation of linseed oil and powdered cork, used especially as a floor covering. II. derivatives linoleumed adjective – origin late 19th cent.: from Latin linum ‘flax’ + oleum ‘oil.’

As the crow flies there fly I, as it were.’

It would be rather churlish of us to turn round and say that man can fly but woman can’t, eh?’

Even only partly opened it would have been possible for three Clydesdale horses and a Friesian cow to pass through in line abreast, and still leave room on either side for a policeman on a bicycle and two men pushing a grand piano.

Escoffier, Georges-Auguste /ˌeskäfˈyā/ (1846–1935), French chef. He gained an international reputation while working in London at the Savoy Hotel 1890–99 and later at the Carlton 1899–1919.

‘One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong and four of weak. It’s not alchemy, it’s just lime juice, sugar, rum and water.’

Asking lacks urgency and gives the mistaken impression that compliance with the request might be optional.’

hypocoristic /ˌhīpəkəˈristik/ I. adjective denoting, or of the nature of, a pet name or diminutive form of a name. II. noun a hypocoristic name or form. III. derivatives hypocorism /hīˈpäkəˌrizəm, hi- / noun – origin mid 19th cent.: from Greek hupokorisma, from hupokorizesthai ‘play the child,’ from hupo ‘under’ + korē ‘child.’

on one's uppers ‹informal› (chiefly Brit.) extremely short of money.

jingoism /ˈjiNGɡōˌizəm/ I. noun ‹chiefly derogatory› extreme patriotism, especially in the form of aggressive or warlike foreign policy. II. derivatives jingoist /ˈjiNGɡōəst / noun

Dunnok ‘It’s another name for the hedge sparrow,’ she said. ‘Dumpy little brown bird with a pointy beak.’

‘Mal de l’air, air sick

suffragist /ˈsəfrəjəst/ I. noun ‹chiefly historical› a person advocating the extension of suffrage, especially to women. II. derivatives suffragism /-ˌjizəm / noun

WSPU

you don’t know the half of it. I see all their personnel files – it’s part of my job to keep the records up to date, you see? His full name is Rupert Gilbert Hubert Herbert.’

shambolic /ˌSHamˈbälik/ I. adjective ‹informal› (chiefly Brit.) chaotic, disorganized, or mismanaged • the department's shambolic accounting. – origin 1970s: from shambles, probably on the pattern of symbolic.

kine /kīn/ plural noun ‹archaic› cows collectively.

‘Top-stitched felled seam,’ I said with a sigh. She grinned. I held up both hands with my fingers curled towards the palms, then hooked them together. ‘Like that,’ I said. ‘Then two rows of stitching lock the whole lot together and the cut edges are tucked away inside the seam. It’s neat, and very strong.’

Go to

plum duff /ˌpləm ˈdəf/ noun a rich, spiced flour pudding made with raisins or currants.

Triple Alliance lot, obviously – you know, the Germans, Italians and Austro-Hungarians.

Bernoulli's principle I. noun the principle in hydrodynamics that an increase in the velocity of a stream of fluid results in a decrease in pressure. Also called Bernoulli effect or Bernoulli theorem. – origin Named for Swiss mathematician Daniel Bernoulli (1700–82).

toxophilite noun tox·​oph·​i·​lite | \ täk-ˈsä-fə-ˌlīt \ : a person fond of or expert at archery Toxophilite became established in the language as the name for a late 18th-century English archery society. The word derives from Greek toxon, which referred to both a bow and arrow, and philos, meaning "loving." Today, toxophilite is a rarely used word but often occurs in vocabulary games and puzzles and in spelling bees. A more ubiquitous descendant of toxon is "toxic." Toxic is an anglicization of Latin's word for "poison," toxicum, which originally meant "poison for arrows" and is a borrowing from Greek toxikon, meaning "arrow."

my lady’s maid and right-hand woman, Miss Florence Armstrong.’

Gaol -- origin Middle English: based on Latin cavea (see cage). The word jaiole from Old French and gayole from Anglo-Norman French gaole (surviving in the spelling gaol), originally pronounced with a hard g, as in gale. / usage: see usage at prison.–

Battenberg or Battenburg, is a light sponge cake with different sections held together with jam. The cake is covered in marzipan and, when cut in cross section, displays a distinctive two-by-two check pattern alternately coloured pink and yellow. The large chequered patterns on emergency vehicles in the UK are officially referred to as Battenburg markings because of their resemblance to the cake.

Harry’s wife, Lady Lavinia, was Lord Riddlethorpe’s sister and had been known since her schooldays as ‘Jake’. The schoolgirl logic had taken her from Lavinia to Lav to Lavatory to Jakes to Jake.

I had nothing to worry about – my life was calm and peaceful for the most part – but my beloved brain had decided that a life free of anxiety was a life wasted. To induce what it clearly considered to be the appropriate levels of dread and discomfort, it had trawled through recent events looking for something to fret over. Having found nothing, it had decided to catalogue every mistake I had ever made and every embarrassment I had ever suffered. In chronological order. That did the trick. Well done, brain.

plimsoll /ˈplimsəl ˈplimsōl / plimsole I. noun (Brit.) a light rubber-soled canvas shoe, worn especially for sports. – origin late 19th cent.: probably from the resemblance of the side of the sole to a Plimsoll line.

Jemmy — A crowbar, also called a wrecking bar, pry bar or prybar, pinch-bar, or occasionally a prise bar or prisebar, colloquially, in Britain and Australia sometimes called a jemmy (also called jemmy bar), gooseneck, or pig foot, is a tool consisting of a metal bar with a single curved end and flattened points, often with a small fissure on one or both ends for removing nails or to force apart two objects. Crowbars are commonly used to open nailed wooden crates or pry apart boards.

dekko /ˈdekō/ I. noun — [in sing.] (Brit.) ‹informal› a quick look or glance • come and have a dekko at this. – origin late 19th cent. (originally used by the British army in India): from Hindi dekho ‘look!,’ imperative of dekhnā.

velocipede /vəˈläsəˌpēd/ I. noun 1. ‹historical› an early form of bicycle propelled by working pedals on cranks fitted to the front axle. II. derivatives velocipedist /-dist / noun – origin early 19th cent.: from French vélocipède, from Latin velox, veloc- ‘swift’ + pes, ped- ‘foot.’