Page 141 of One More Christmas at the Castle
‘You don’t need a lot of skill to hang the towels neatly on the heated rails and wipe a washbasin,’ Henry pointed out. ‘It’ll be good for him.’
‘What’s Xan up to?’ I asked.
‘He’s taken Simon into the study to show him some of the artefacts you found in the cupboards,’ Nancy said. ‘Sophie tagged along, too, but if she’s expecting to see treasure from shipwrecks, I feel she’s going to be bitterly disappointed!’
I transferred a few things from the freezer to the fridge and then began to make stock with the turkey giblets, for tomorrow’s gravy.
Advance preparation is the key to a successful Christmas dinner … but it was just as well that today’s lunch would be a doddle, with roast beef sandwiches and the soup I’d already made.
The stock was simmering gently when the bell for the library suddenly jangled and, since there was no sign of Henry, I went to answer it.
‘There you are,’ said Nancy, who was standing next to Mrs Powys, by the window. ‘And I’msurewe’ve dragged you away at an inconvenient moment, but Sabine wanted a quick word with you.’
She smiled encouragingly at my employer, who returned it with one pencilled eyebrow raised and then, as if she’d been given a silent command, turned to face me.
‘Dido, since you got here, I haven’t always spoken to you as I should have done. In fact,’ she added, as if the words were being dragged out of her, ‘I’ve let my knowledge of your linkto my half-sister colour my attitude towards you and I’m very sorry for it.’
I stared at her for a moment in complete astonishment and then stammered, ‘Th-thank you! But once I knew … I mean, it was perfectly understandable, Mrs Powys.’
‘There,’ said Nancy comfortably, beaming from one to the other of us. ‘And Sabine has come to appreciate everything you do to make us so comfortable – not to mention, well fed!’
‘I – enjoy it,’ I said lamely, then asked if I might be excused, since I had stock simmering on the stove.
‘Yes, thank you, Dido, that will be all,’ Mrs Powys said, more in her usual manner, and I left the room.
What an odd little scene that had been! I suspected Nancy had had her friend in a sort of virtual armlock, but for all that, she had held out an olive branch and I was not the one to refuse it.
After lunch Xan insisted I go for a short walk with him, and since several of the others had had the same idea, we took the track through the woods rather than head down the garden terraces.
‘It’ll be nice when the guests have all gone home again, apart from Nancy, and we can spend more time alone together,’ he said, putting an arm around me. ‘It’s an odd situation, with you and Henry running yourselves ragged, doing all the work, and the rest of us swanning about, enjoying ourselves.’
‘We don’t mind. It’s our job and what we’re here for,’ I pointed out. ‘And anyway, you, Dom and Nancy are helping out, too, which makes it all much easier.’
‘Dom and Henry seem practically joined at the hip, don’t they?’ he said with a grin.
‘Yes, it’s rather nice – and Mrs Powys doesn’t seem to mindthatlittle romance. She’s stopped objecting when you and the others help us out with the chores, as well.’
‘I think she’s mellowing and she’ll soon get used to the idea of you and me, too. I suspect Nancy’s been talking her round and telling her you couldn’t help having Faye as a grandmother.’
‘And I’m sure you’re right!’ I said, and told him all about that very strange little scene in the library earlier.
‘Well, it’s certainly a step in the right direction,’ he said. ‘By the way, Sabine’s told us all to be in the sitting room just before three this afternoon, ready for the next instalment of the Mitras Castle Christmas Experience.’
‘I bet she didn’t put it like that!’ I said, laughing. ‘But yes, you’re to all gather around the radio at three, for the annual carol service by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. There’ll be mince pies and mulled wine. I usually listen to that in the kitchen,’ I added. ‘It’s one ofmyannual traditions, too.’
‘I think Nancy wants usallthere together – and then afterwards, we’re to gather round the upright piano in the billiard room and sing some carols of our own, with Nancy playing the music.’
‘What, Henry and me, too?’
‘I expect so – even if you do slip off at some point, lured by the call of the kitchen.’
Plum, who had run ahead, now came back and looked up hopefully.
‘Time to turn back, I think,’ I said. ‘And there are Dom and Henry in a clinch in the shrubbery. Let’s tiptoe tactfully off and leave them to have their moment.’
‘I’d quite like a little moment of my own, first …’ he said.
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