Beauty Of Music

Chapter 25

It took over an hour for the five companions to leave the city and arrive at the doors of the De Chaney Château, a grand building with two main floors, a basement that housed the kitchen and a wine cellar and the attic space was used as the servant's quarters. The exterior walls were made of creamed Angouleme stone, the window frames were a dark grey colour, the doors were made of solid oak with windows covered in a floral iron work, the roof was at an angle on all four sides with a flat top with light grey tiles and on each corner of the roof was a turret with a coned roof. Phillippe brought the carriage to an immediate halt by the entrance, where they were greeted by a butler. He was a tall, middle aged man with grey hair and a receding hairline at the top, a thin grey moustache and was wearing a smart black jacket, a white shirt with a stiff collar, a white bow tie, smart black trousers, and shiny black shoes.

"Good evening Monsieur, La Count. We weren't expecting you home this evening; Lucy saw your carriage approaching from one of the upstairs bedrooms" he said in a polite manner as he stood in front of the double doors.

Whilst he greeted Phillippe, everyone else climbed down from the carriage. Christine was assisted by Phillippe whilst Erik helped Catherine.

Phillippe turned to address the old butler.

"I apologies for the unexpected arrival Pierre. But things were getting hectic in Paris and my friends and I wanted to get away from it all abruptly" he said.

"Of course sir" said Pierre.

His eyes passed over each of the young Count's companions and when his eyes fell on Erik he had to do a double take when he saw he wore a mask. He did feel slightly suspicious about Erik but said nothing because it wasn't his place to comment so offered them all a polite smile.

"Is the kitchen fully stocked?" asked Phillippe as he led everyone towards the entrance to the Chateau.

"Yes Monsieur" said Pierre as he stepped to the side to let them pass.

"Have five settings placed at the table and have cook prepare a simple dinner please, some soup will do us just fine. We will be in the Parlor until it's ready" said Phillipe as he and the others passed through the threshold.

Pierre followed behind them and closed the doors as he came in.

The entryway to the Chateau was a big open room with a wooden staircase leading to the second floor with white spindles and a dark wooden rail, the steps themselves were covered by a dark red carpet with a golden pattern on both sides, the floor was wooden and had a shine to it, the walls were a mustard colour, there was two white doors on either side of the staircase and an archway on each side leading in to two different rooms.

"Very good, Monsieur" said Pierre as he walked pass the group.

He made his way towards the door on the right side of the stairs, opened it, walked through the threshold, and closed it behind him.

Phillippe led everyone to the archway on the right side of the room which led into a beautiful parlor. The walls were a cream colour with white coving around the edges of the ceiling, a white marble fireplace on the left with a roaring fire, two couches with a dark wooden frame with light blue cushions and in between them was a white antique coffee table, there was another table at the far end of the room with a vase of flowers and two candelabras sitting on top of it.

"Let us all sit down and talk" suggested Phillippe.

He and Christine made their way towards the couch further in the room while Catherine and the Erik sat on the one closest to the door and Carriere stayed standing beside the sofa Christine and Phillippe were sitting on.