Page 54 of One More Christmas at the Castle
‘I’m looking forward to cleaning the bookshelves, too, once I’ve finished with the cupboards,’ I said eagerly. ‘Maria only seems to have had time to dust along the tops.’
She now looked faintly amused. ‘If that’s your idea of fun, go ahead. But as I said, not at the expense of neglecting the duties you’re actually hired to perform.’
‘Certainly not,’ I said. ‘In fact, I hope to make a start on the Christmas cake today, once the supermarket delivery has arrived.’
‘Good – the sooner the better, I would have thought.’
‘I have a good recipe for a quick version. You steep the fruit in alcohol for a few days before making it,’ I explained.
She made no comment on this but said, buttering her toast, ‘Henry seems determined to add to his workload, too. He asked me yesterday evening if he could fetch the newspapers every day, instead of Lucy. I assume,’ she added, ‘that since thefloral arrangements around the house have suddenly improved a hundredfold, either you or Henry must be responsible.’
‘Henry – one of his many talents,’ I said.
‘Indeed?’ she said, and then turned her attention fully on her breakfast, which I took as my dismissal.
In fact, I’d opened the door when her voice stopped me in my tracks.
‘And dinner tonight is …?’
‘One of the main courses you mentioned was Mrs Hill’s giant Yorkshire puddings, filled with sausages, onion gravy and mashed potatoes, so I thought I’d cook that tonight.’
It was hardly cordon bleu, but good home cooking of a traditional kind seemed to be what she was yearning for. Comfort food, I supposed, in the face of her illness.
‘And perhaps roast chicken with all the trimmings for dinner tomorrow, when you have a guest. With apple pie to follow.’
‘Very good,’ she said, and this time it reallywasa dismissal.
In the kitchen, Xan and Plum were watching Henry grilling bacon, though Plum was the only one drooling.
‘Do you know if Lucy is in the morning room yet?’ I asked.
‘Yes, I made her tea and took it in,’ Henry said. ‘You were ages upstairs.’
‘I wanted to apologize personally to Mrs Powys for intruding into her husband’s study without permission yesterday, but now you’ve explained, Xan, she does seem OK with it.’
‘I told you so,’ he said, but smiled warmly at me. ‘It was nice of you to apologize, though. We’re going to record another session at half past nine. We’ve covered her childhood and undergraduate years to the point where she met Asa, so today will be the first of her memories of their life together in Greece. I hope she won’t find talking about it too upsetting.’
‘I expect it’ll be poignant, but also good to remember the happy times,’ I suggested.
‘I hope so,’ he said. ‘After the recording session, I think I’ll start going through those bundles of handwritten letters from the second cupboard we emptied yesterday. All the elastic bands that held them together seem to have shrivelled over the years, though, and look more like desiccated worms.’
‘Yes, I kept picking up bits of brittle rubber when I was cleaning. Plum tried to eat one, but it would probably simply go straight through his system without touching the sides, anyway.’
I paused. ‘Since Mrs Powys is OK now with my helping you, Xan, I could give you an hour after lunch? I’ll be a bit busier today, once the order arrives, but I can manage that.’
‘Yes, that would be great, if you’re sure you don’t mind giving up your spare time again.’
‘She’s dying to clean and organize the whole room now, so you’d probably have to keep the door locked to prevent her,’ said Henry.
‘I’m sure Xan will prefer to work in a clean, tidy room,’ I said with dignity.
‘I asked Mrs Powys if I could do the daily paper run to the village instead of Lucy, and she agreed,’ Henry said.
‘Oh, yes – she did mention that,’ I said.
‘Lucy’s a nervous driver and the weather is supposed to be turning colder tomorrow, so the sooner I take over, the better,’ he said. ‘Anyway, Maria said Andy’s fretting because the Land Rover isn’t being used. He thinks the battery might go dead, or something seize up permanently.’
‘When did Maria say that?’ I asked.
