Don't Call Me Baby

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Hanging with the servants

I was woken at 8:00am by the noise of dogs in the courtyard. I pushed aside my curtain and looked out at the spectacle. There were about twenty horses and riders some in red jackets some in black with about fifty hounds patiently waiting. The riders were passing a flask around and I could see their breath in the cold late autumn air, but I couldn't quite make out who was who. It was a drag hunt of course as fox hunting had been banned for several years now. Although as a typical city dweller I didn't agree with hunting foxes anyway, I had to admit it was a fine spectacle. The horses looked majestic and despite my opinions on hunting being an anachronism we could well do without, I did secretly admire the sight. The countryside I had decided was an altogether different world than the city.

I trotted back to bed, but couldn't get back to sleep and when eventually the Hunt Master blew his horn and they rode off I decided to get up and explore the gallery some more. My bedroom was a bit chilly and I suspected the rest of the house was no warmer so I dressed in several layers, grabbed my sketch book and pencil case in my Mao satchel, and set off for the kitchen. Hmmm, all very well and good I thought, but where on earth is the kitchen?

I bumped into Hardy and the maid who were carrying the remains of breakfast. "I'm sorry Miss Hussey you've missed breakfast," he informed me.

"That's cool. Perhaps I could help you take those down to the kitchen and make myself some toast," I held out my hands.

"Oh no Miss," he protested as I took hold of the tray.

"It's ok, Hardy, all the posh people have left and I won't tell," I winked at him.

"Well I suppose it would save me coming back again for the rest," he said handing the tray over to me and popping back for the remaining dishes.

The kitchen was large and must have been the warmest place in the whole house. Hardy introduced me to Mrs. Mac the cook and Katie the maid. Mrs. Mac offered to make me a cooked breakfast, "Oh no, toast will be fine and if there are any bananas?" I asked expectantly. Well I couldn't break the habit of a lifetime could I?

I settled down at the kitchen table with a steaming mug of sweet tea, toast, and two bananas - I could tell Mrs. Mac was woman after my own heart. Hardy joined me and we chatted about the weather. Turns out that Hardy was an East London boy and we had a friendly debate about whether East London was better than West London. Mrs. Mac was from Scotland and found the conversation amusing because to her all Londoners were the same, at which point both Hardy and I protested. As I finished up my breakfast I asked Hardy if he would pose for me, taking my sketch book out of my satchel in anticipation. He protested, but in the end I managed to get him to agree as long as it wouldn't take long as he had his duties to do.

"You must get a lot of guests down here," I commented to him as I began to sketch.

"A fair few," he told me, "Although, not as many as when Mr. Jasper's father was alive. His mother liked to entertain she did. Mr. Jasper has a few friends down now and again for shooting and hunting mostly."

"Friends from London?" I asked him trying to engineer the conversation so I could bring up Derek.

"Some are and some are old school friends," he replied.

"Like Julian?"

"Oh no, Mr. Julian has only been down a few times, but his cousin Mr. Derek, god bless his soul, was a frequent visitor. Australian, but a nice chap all the same," he added as if being Australian would count against him normally.

"Oh Derek, yes Julian told me about him, he died recently didn't he? Very sad," I said trying to sound both sad and encouraging.

"Oh yes, we were all upset to hear that news. Mrs. Mac was particularly fond of him, weren't you," he turned his head around to pose the question to Mrs. Mac who was busy at the sink.

"He liked my fruit cake," Mrs. Mac told me, "would sneak into the kitchen to steal a piece and then stop and chat to us. Not like the other posh ones," she added conspiratorially.

"Yeah," I said encouragingly, "that Francesca she's a real bitch," I added pulling no punches. Katie giggled at my language which earned her a stern look from Hardy.

"I am sure she has her nicer moments," Hardy tried half-heartedly to come to Francesca's defence, but I could tell from his expression he had never experienced any 'nicer' moments from Francesca.

"Well I ain't seen 'em," Katie protested.

"Nor me," I agreed.

"Now, now," admonished Hardy, "we shouldn't be gossiping about the folks upstairs," he looked my way warily.

"Oh don't worry about me," I assured him, "I won't be carrying any tales back up there," I motioned with my head upstairs. Well, I felt slightly bad about that because the truth was I was going to report this conversation to Julian. "In fact," I added for extra reassurance, "she hates me because I'm Julian's girlfriend."

"That's why that nice young man Derek never brought his girlfriend down here," said Katie. "Cos he knew that Francesca would be all snooty about her." Derek had a girlfriend? Well, I knew he was a player, but there was nothing in the reports about a regular girlfriend.

"And how do you know young lady?" asked Hardy.

"Well, he told me innit?" Katie said. "We used to talk cos Mr. Derek weren't like the others. He said he liked to chat with us normal people," she giggled.

"He had a girlfriend?" I asked her as innocently as I could. "Julian didn't mention that he was dating. Must've been real horrible for her when he died?"

"Suspect it was," she mused, "only no one knew who she was. He kept it quiet, he did. Wouldn't even tell me. Mind you, I think he met her at work."

"What makes you think that?" I asked. "I work at the same place maybe I'll know her?"

"Well, there was this phone call once. A woman said she was from the office and couldn't reach him on his mobile. Said it was urgent. That was the last weekend he was here. He took the call down here in the kitchen. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but I could tell he was upset and not, you know, like in a work way. Like I thought he was gonna cry. I asked him what was wrong, but he just rushed out." We all looked at her in amazement.

""That explains why he left in a hurry then," mused Hardy. "I was wondering what had happened because he just up and left. He didn't even wait for Mr. Jasper to return. We never saw him again," he looked down sadly.

Wow, this information was hot. A mystery woman called him from the office. In all probability it was his secret girlfriend. Jeez who could it be? Who was I kidding it could only be Pam! And that would explain the expression in her eyes when I asked her about Derek's death, but why would they be dating in secret and what, if anything, did that have to do with him being found dead a week later? I suddenly felt the urge to find Julian. I needed to pass this information by him and try and work out its significance.

I finished off my sketch of Hardy and showed it to him. "That's very good Miss Lola, very good." He complimented me. Mind you I had deliberately made it flattering taking at least ten years off his age, and making his double chin rather smaller than it actually was.

"You can keep it Hardy. In fact let me sign it maybe one day when I'm a famous artist it will be worth money," I winked at him.

"I'm sure you will," he said, "you definitely have talent there young lady." I made my excuses and told them I might go for a walk seeing as the day was bright. Hardy informed me there were spare wellingtons in the boot room as he looked down at my white trainers. Mrs. Mac wrapped me up a packed lunch of ham sandwiches and some of her famous fruitcake, "In case you get peckish on your walk," she told me as though I was assured to get peckish, which, when I thought about it I most probably was.