Her Master’s Wedding-5
1890 Words
*****
Chapter Fourteen - Richard – The Volunteer
“What on earth…?”
Elizabeth sits to one side of the table. Michael to the other. Each has a mound of paper worthy of a termite mound and a cardboard crate to one side. As I watch, Elizabeth briefly scans a sheet then tosses it into the box beside her. Michael is shaking his head, disbelief writ large.
“He really did keep everything, didn't he. This is a parking ticket from nineteen-ninety-two and this….” He scans the sheet, his lips moving as he does so, “…. is an invoice and guarantee for removal of a wasps’ nest from the following year.”
“How did you get dragged into this, Michael?”
“He volunteered,” says Elizabeth, her voice short. “Please don’t upset my staff member. I might lose him.”
Michael snorts. “You’ve got me for today until Charlotte and James turn up. But I’m happy enough to help. If you like, I can take a box home with me. No harm in doing a bit during the evening in front of the fire.”
Elizabeth swings grateful eyes on him. “Oh, would you?”
*****
Chapter Fifteen - Richard – Wedding Dresses
“A pleasant afternoon, my Love?”
She flops down in her chair. It’s very uncharacteristic. Normally, my Elizabeth is graceful and carries herself well. Today she has all the signs of being at the end of her tether.
“It’s been a long afternoon.” She glances around the room. “Master, is there any wine? I’m exhausted.”
“Exhausted? Just from a few hours of shopping for a wedding dress?”
“We have been through every wedding shop I know of, plus several of the larger department stores. I have looked at hundreds of dresses.” She presses a hand to her forehead. “I’ve gone wedding-dress-blind. For someone who normally doesn’t give a hoot about clothes, Charlotte is being very picky about this. I wouldn’t have minded if she was having trouble finding something to suit her. But she looked stunning in everything she tried on.”
I chuckle. “Well, she would, wouldn’t she?”
“Master?”
“She looks a lot like you my Love, and you also looked stunning on our wedding day.”
She smiles, squeezing my hand at the compliment, but there’s something….
What’s wrong?
“So, did she find something she liked in the end?”
She throws her hands in the air. “No. Nothing made her happy. I’m going to have to go with her to do this again.” Then she hesitates, her voice slowing. “Master, I’m wondering if everything’s alright with Charlotte. She was very snappy with me towards the end of the afternoon.”
That’s not like Charlotte….
…. She adores Elizabeth….
“How do you mean? Alright?”
“I’m wondering if she really wants to get married?” Then she slants me a meaningful look. “Or at least, if it’s Michael she wants to marry.”
*****
Chapter Sixteen - James – The Menus
I’m about ready to explode.
Give me strength….
If they don’t stop bickering soon….
Ben picks up a menu card and pulls a face. “The menu’s a bit bland, isn't it? I thought you go for something more adventurous.”
Michael, blank-faced, looks up from the table. He has dozens of small name-cards laid out, moving them around as he works out a seating plan. “Like what?”
“Well, plain roast chicken? Why not say, chicken kiev? It’s a bit more interesting.”
“I set the menu,” I say. “It's not everyone who likes garlic. And if people do want something spicier they can choose a sauce. Or anything from the standard menu for the restaurant. But I happen to know from Michael that at least a couple of the older ones in your family have delicate digestions. So, I opted for chicken, plain.”
He curls a lip. “I still think it’s a bit unadventurous.”
“It’s too late to change it now,” I snap. “All the supplies are in. I've chosen a menu that will be easy to serve to a lot of people. It's the first time the kitchen has served any amount of food and I want it to go smoothly. It’s almost the practice run for the Open Day next week.”
Ben at his most truculent is a trial I can do without. He squares up on me. “And you know something about a hotel kitchen, do you? And how to run one?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. I....”
Michael interrupts. “If you two don't at least try to be polite to each other, I swear I'm going to bang your heads together. You.…” He jabs a finger at me…. “Calm down. And you....” The finger swings on Ben.... “I'd have thought my own brother would give me a bit of support for my own wedding day instead of being deliberately obstructive.”
Then apparently embarrassed by his outburst, he stamps out.
Ah… Crap….
I offer a tentative hand to Ben. He takes it without a smile, tugging it down in a short stab of a shake, then he also marches out.
Death, divorce, moving house and weddings….
The most stressful of all life changes….
In the corner, Richard has watched all this in silence. As Ben’s footsteps retreat out of earshot, “He’s a contrary son of a b***h, isn’t he, that Ben. Nothing like his brother.”
I don’t want to say anything. Biting on my tongue, I simply shake my head.
Richard nods understanding. “I’ll go and see if I can calm things down a bit.”
*****
Chapter Seventeen - Richard – A Bar and a Beer
“How about the bar and a beer?”
“A beer?”
“I really appreciate the help you’ve been giving Elizabeth with those old papers of Albert’s. The least I can do is buy you a drink.”
“Thank you, Richard. That’s a great idea.”
“This round’s on me.”
*****
“So, are you finding anything of interest in that appalling pile of garbage from Elizabeth’s old uncle?”
Michael muses into his glass. “Depends what you’re looking for I suppose, but it’s actually quite interesting, seeing someone else’s life like this. Once you get past thirty-year-old bus tickets, you find the things that really tell you something.”
“Like what?”
“Did you know he was a bankrupt?”
“Was he now…”
Wonder if Elizabeth knew that….
“…. That could explain a lot. What little I saw of him was mainly complaints that things weren’t as they should be, and everything was better in his day.”
“Mind you….” Michael gulp at his beer. “…. he must have recovered from it. At least enough to have owned his own home when he died.”
“Ah-ah.” I shake my head. “That house came from his second marriage. His first wife left him apparently. There was talk in the family that he married the second one because she was quite well-off.”
Michael regards me from over his glass. “It doesn’t sound as though you liked him much?”
“Well, the old boy didn't like me much either. Not that he had much to say. He was already pretty addled by the time I first met him. When she went to visit him, I’d just drop Elizabeth off, and return a couple of hours later to collect her. And since I was paying his care bills by then, it hardly mattered what he thought of me. Elizabeth knew I was doing the right thing by him and that’s all that matters to me.”
Michael nods, apparently deep in thought.
Time to change the subject….
“So how are the wedding plans coming along?”
He is immediately more cheerful. “Ah, fine. Beth’s been a brilliant help. She comes up with all kinds of things that James and I would miss…. You know…. Girl things…. I think Charlotte would be completely out of her depth without her.”
“Did she want a big wedding?”
“James wanted it for her. And in fairness, so do I.”
“And for yourself, of course.”
He smiles. “Of course. You only do this kind of thing once.”
Let’s hope that’s true….
I jerk a thumb back to the dining room. “What’s with James and Ben? They don’t get on?”
“Ben? Oh, he's a miserable bastard.” Michael stares into his empty glass, then offers it to the barman for a refill. “I shouldn't say it about my own brother, but he is. He lives too much in the world of how it ought to be and not enough in the world as it is. Plus, right now, he's sulking because he thinks he should have been my Best Man.”
I wait until the barman has passed across the fresh glass and retreated along the bar. In a lowered voice, “I assume Ben doesn't know about you and James having met in the clubs?”
He snorts. “You've got to be kidding. No, it's not something I would ever tell him.”
“And your, um, arrangement over Charlotte?”
He rubs his nose. “I'll tackle that one in time.” Then sucking an inch from the top of the glass, “A good part of the problem is Ben’s own background. He was never what you’d call the sunny sort, but he wasn’t too bad until his own marriage went overboard.”
“Ben was married?”
“Briefly, yes. But he found out that his wife had been playing away from home with his best friend. The was the end of the marriage….”
“I can imagine.”
“…. and it’s left him with a chip on his shoulder and a misplaced sense of protectiveness towards me.” He takes the rest of the glass in one long swallow, then wipes his mouth on the back of his hand. “You were right. I needed that. Thanks, Richard.”
“My pleasure.”
“Now, back to work.” He turns to head for the door. “Let’s see if I can put together a seating plan that won’t result in the meltdown of civilisation as we know it.”
*****
Chapter Eighteen - Klempner - Privileges
“Sir, I thought you would like to know. Since you've been, um, behaving yourself, there's talk of extending your privileges.”
“In what way?”
“Extra exercise time. A pleasanter job.”
“I f*****g hate the laundries.”
“Don't blame you, sir.”
“Any chance of the library?”
“I'll see what could be done, sir, but I can't make any promises.”
“I understand…. Any news?”
“Little but wedding arrangements. The two men seem to have it worked out between themselves. One is actually marrying her.…”
“Which one?
“Summerford, sir. The other one is his Best Man.”
“And she’s happy with all this?”
“So I’m being told, sir.”
“Anything else? Did you talk to Baxter?”
“Yes, sir. He says he can move any time you want with around twenty-four hours’ notice.”
“Excellent.”
*****.
Chapter Nineteen - James – The Cake
The day before the wedding… and I feel like a spare part. Limping into the dining room, I find a small buzz of staff, moving efficiently and quietly, overseen by Beth, directing the laying out of the tables.
“Can I help?”
Her smile is brisk as she wipes hands on a cloth. “No, thank you, James. I think we have it under control. If you make sure the kitchen staff have everything they need, I think Michael and I can handle things in here.” She eyes me. “You're favouring that leg. Why don't you go get some sunshine on it? Bake out the ache.”
She's right, and I should do it, but I'm enjoying myself, watching my plans finally come together.
Soon have the knot safely tied….
So, I hang around, getting under the feet of staff who already know their jobs and how to do them.
Beth carries in the first layer of the cake. It's a beauty. I’m no expert on these things, but the thing is a minor work of art, almost plain white, but with a filigree of iced violets nestled at the base of each layer. Charlotte appears carrying another layer.
Not looking happy….
Stressed I suppose….
Beth nods one way… “Where do you want it, Charlotte? Here, by the window with that lovely backdrop over the view?” Then the other… “Or perhaps over there? Where it would be easier for the photographer.”
- Writer
