The Magician's Sons

Chapter 30

It was early the next morning when Jemma hurried into the servants' hall, as usual, to have her breakfast with the others. Her mind was full of the happiest thoughts, and as she took her place at the table, she hummed very quietly to herself. Her dreams built cozy cottages in quaint gardens rather than castles in the clouds. But they were elaborate, wishful dreams nonetheless; and in them, Norman was always there. They had only grown dearer to each other as time went on.

Every now and then, a little chill of uncertainty took her by surprise. There seemed to be a warning in her heart, a cloud in her sky which sometimes drifted over her sun when she realized how little she knew about the man whom she had fallen in love with. They had talked now and then and shared their interests. More than anything, they had shared their adoration for one another. But there was still so much to learn.

That morning, such worrisome thoughts were far from her mind. She had come to breakfast without a care in the world, and the servants settled down at the table in a cheerful, chatty mood. The butler sat at the head of the table being served like the master of the house while he read the morning paper before it reached Crumley's hands.

"Now here's something!" he exclaimed with a smirk; "something close to home and rather fascinating. Listen to this!" He had everyone's attention in an instant. "Fire started in basement of the well-known hotel, The Pearl of Britannia. Was it an accident or arson? Investigators are keeping the information under lock and key, but evidence proves it was no mistake, nor was the fire begun by the staff or a lower-class citizen. Though the perpetrators' names have been kept confidential, several reliable sources confirm that all participants were young men of the middle and upper classes." As the butler finished reading, he cast a meaningful look upon all of the servants and folded the newspaper carefully. "What do you make of that? There have been some very peculiar happenings around here, have there not?"

"Very strange," Jemma agreed without getting his drift. "It's such a pity, ain't it, that young gentlemen could do so much harm? Folk like them make me almost afraid t' walk out on the streets! But I feel so sorry for 'em, you know? I 'ave a feelin' their trouble all comes 'cause they don't know Jesus. Course, that's the problem wiv everybody what does wrong fings. They don't got Jesus in their 'earts, and they're like lost sheep wanderin' all over the hills wivout a shepherd."

"Hmm..." the butler grunted in response. "Isn't it odd how things go? We read of such happenings all the time in the papers, but they are always tales about strangers whom we care nothing for. It is another matter entirely when it comes so close to home. To be precise, when it comes —in— your home."

Jemimah looked up at him quizzically. "What d'ya mean, sir?" she asked.

"These rogues were reported as being young men of high society. And here, for weeks, our own master's son has been behaving in a terribly peculiar way. Going out late at night, not coming home until early in the morning. Not to mention, coming home in a questionable state."

Icy chills gripped Jemma's heart as she listened. Then a rise of temper warmed her with fire. "Mr. Tummel! 'Ow can ya say such fings about Master Norman? 'Ow can ya sit there an' slander such a kind, goodhearted young man?" she asked passionately.

"Don't get yourself in a tizzy over it, my dear. I was merely making some observations. And before you go calling me a slanderer, you might take heed that you are not defending a guilty man. There must be an answer to the abnormal behavior which Master Norman has displayed."

Here, the other maids and servants around the table perked up and piped in as they made quick work of their meal.

"I've suspected somethin' weren't right wiv our young master," a housemaid began, "ever since I seen 'im, one night, comin' 'ome wiv Mr. Crumley and walkin' as if the whole world were tipped upside down. I wondered, at first, if the young man was ill! And I felt sure of it when he stayed in bed till half past noon the next day! But, what do you fink? He was up by three o'clock, as healthy as ever. It wasn't the last time I saw 'im come a-swayin' into the house neither."