‘I couldn’t survive it without you, Beryl.’
She beamed with pleasure.
‘Come on,’ I said, putting a foot out of the car. ‘Let’s see how the other half live.’
With impeccable timing the massive doors of the house opened and a liveried footman came out to help us. I refused his offer of help with my overnight case, so he made himself useful by carrying Beryl’s small suitcase and the hamper.
A man in a butler’s uniform complete with spotless white gloves respectfully greeted us in an echoing cold, gray, stone hallway. In a broad Northern accent he informed us that drinks would be served in the Green Saloon in an hour’s time. The footman left the hamper on a stand nearby and led us down a short walkway hung with large tapestries toward a gargantuan, double-storied chamber. It had a balustraded gallery around all four sides and its walls were lined with full-length portraits of the family, no doubt executed by the great masters.
‘Goodness me, I feel quite touched by the golden wand,’ Beryl said in a stage whisper. Her eyes were wide.
‘Hmmm…’
We followed the footman up a grand marble staircase with a red runner carpet, and down a narrow corridor. He stopped outside a door and respectfully said, ‘Here we are.’
He opened it, and upon entering the room, stood back to allow us to fully appreciate our lodgings. It was a large paneled room that had been prepared for our arrival. The lamps were lit, there was a fire roaring in the fireplace and a vase with flowers on a table. It smelt of fresh linen. And on the antique, canopied four-poster bed, towels and bars of soap were laid out.
‘Breakfast will be served from seven until nine, or if you prefer you can ring for it to be brought up.’
Then he opened another door, which revealed a connecting door. He opened that door and Beryl stepped into the room that she had been assigned.
After he had gone Beryl knocked on the connecting door.
‘Come in,’ I called.
‘Isn’t this amazing? Can you believe people actually live like this?’ she asked and sank onto the green brocade sofa.
‘It is an unfair world we live in,’ I said mildly and disappeared into the bathroom.
When I came out with the tooth glass Beryl jumped up.
‘Oh good. A dressing drink? I’ll have one too,’ she said and went off into her room then returned with her tooth glass. I opened my bag and poured us both a healthy slug of whiskey. Beryl didn’t stay long. She wanted to look her best for dinner. I sat on my own watching the logs in the fire burn. Evening fell and brought with it a sense of timelessness. I merged into it together with all those people who had lived there before.
I was feeling mellow and peaceful and could have sat there with only me for company when Beryl knocked on the door forty minutes later.
‘What do you think? Is it too little or too much?’ she asked.
She was wearing a long blue dress that had a slight shimmer to it and a sunburst
necklace with matching colored stones. I knew she bought them especially for that night. I smiled, feeling a great burst of tenderness for her. ‘You look lovely.’
‘You really mean it?’
‘Have you ever known me to say something I didn’t mean?’
‘That’s true.’
I pulled myself out of my chair and shrugged into the jacket I arrived in.
‘Aren’t you going to dress for dinner?’
‘Nope.’
‘You’ll be the only one.’
‘So?’
She widened her eyes. ‘OK, boss.’