Page 10 of One More Christmas at the Castle
‘One guest will already be there when we arrive. He’s a biographer, writing the life of Asa Powys.’
‘That’s still only three people. How does she usually manage?’
‘She told me she had a daily cook/housekeeper, but due to illness in her family she can’t work her usual hours at the moment. It doesn’t sound as if she’d be up to cooking for a large house party anyway.’
‘Did she tell you that on the phone?’
‘No, I gleaned most of that from the emails in answer to mine from this cousin, Lucy. There’s a weekly cleaning and laundry service too, so they’re not going to expect us to do all the housework.’
‘Just as well!’ I said. ‘I suppose if she wants to pay through the nose for us to look after just the three of them, that’s up to her and we’ll have lots of time to settle in before the other guests arrive and the festivities commence.’
I do enjoy organizing a good Christmas party and making sure everyone has a wonderful time, and good food plays a large part in that. There would be no damp, limp sprouts, dried-out turkey or instant gravy coming out ofmykitchen. Henry, too, is adept at making sure there’s enough alcoholflowing to oil the wheels of conversation and jollity, without derailing it.
‘It’s going to be chilly up there, so I hope the Castle has good central heating,’ Henry said. ‘I forgot to ask about that!’
‘So do I! Do you remember when we did that Christmas gig in the Highlands and the heating didn’t get as far as the kitchen or servants’ quarters?’
‘We’d better pack the down duvets and our thermals, just in case,’ he suggested. ‘And we’ll have to get a move on, if we’re going to be ready in time.’
‘We certainly will. There’s such a lot to do first and then the van to pack.’
We liked to be prepared for any eventuality … or emergency.
‘I expect we’ll have loads of time off before the rest of the guests arrive,’ Henry said optimistically, considering how much Mrs Powys would be paying for our services, ‘but we can chill, watch films and relax before we run ourselves ragged providing the Christmas cheer. And if it’s going to be really cold up there, I’ll put my snowboard in, just in case.’
‘I think that’s a bittoooptimistic, Henry. It sounds to me as if Mrs Powys is the sort of woman who wants her money’s worth, like Lady Bugle, and will keep trying to add jobs to our workload, or sneakily tell the cleaning service not to come and expect us to do all that, too.’
These were all things that had happened more than once in the past.
‘Or she’ll expect us to look after the children as well,’ I continued, ‘like that ghastly couple in Hampshire a few years back.’
‘I like children, but I couldn’t eat awholeone,’ said Henry absently, smoothing the sleeves of his pale blue cashmere jumper over the cuffs of his Tattersall-check shirt. His sartorial style varies wildly between Hooray Henry and rather grungyteenage snowboarder. This seems to fascinate the followers of his very popular blog, Rudge the Roamer.
The tea cosy was lying within reach so I threw it at him, but he caught it and jammed it over his curls. Since it was knitted in the form of a giant strawberry, it looked very odd indeed.
Sabine
I kept Lucy busy, replying to emails from Heavenly Houseparties and sending out the invitations.
The final missive I dictated to her was to Xan, by which time she was looking a little harassed: although she had spent her working life as a secretary, competence in anything seemed to be beyond her.
Dear Xan,
Much though I enjoy your letters, the recent delay in receiving your last one, due to the tardiness of the postal service (which would be faster if they used carrier pigeons), means that I have decided to utilize Lucy’s skills to email you for, as you know, since I cannot touch-type, I find it tiresome. Still, the fact that Lucy has any useful accomplishment never ceases to amaze me.
Lucy ceased pecking at the keyboard and said, with a weak smile, ‘You will have your little joke, Cousin Sabine!’
‘New paragraph,’ I said, ignoring this.
I am delighted that you are prepared to fall in with my suggestion that you take up residence here for the month of December, which should give you sufficient time to go through Asa’s papers and collect enough material for his biography. As you know, I have found myself unable to look at them myself – indeed, I have barely entered Asa’s study since the terrible day he died, and keep it locked except when Maria goes in to air and dust it. I use the library now as my own study.
But I am sure Asa would be happy that you were the one to use it again and also to write an account of his life and works, because he was so very fond of you, as am I.
I paused again and waited for Lucy to catch up.
Still, now that I know my own days are numbered, it is time to throw open the door on to the past and enjoy reliving those wonderful early years in Greece. I expect your grandfather, Tommy, told you many stories of our underwater exploits in the Aegean: it was all a great adventure. You will dispel the ghosts and do justice to Asa’s life and work. I also hope that you can assist me to decide what to do with Asa’s papers – which his old university would quite like to have – and the many valuable artefacts in his collection.
I could see Lucy mouthing the word ‘artefacts’ as she typed and I hoped she knew how to spell it.
