I'm Normally Perfect (re-upload)

Chapter Twelve

'I think that would be offensive. Just pretend you're in a Merchant Ivory film.'

I chuckled, 'Is that what you do?'

'No, we've always had servants. Teems is the butler and Nathalie and Constance are the maids. Nathalie is the taller one.'

'There's a butler, too? Oh, yay.'

'There's a cook as well, Violet. She's a hoot.'

'If you had a cook growing up then how did you learn all the stuff you know about food?'

'Violet taught me. Actually, her mother did. Violet and Teems are married. Teems was the stable boy when I was younger. They have a house on the grounds. As does the groundskeeper, Mr Wilkins.'

'All right.' There was an entire list of names I'd have to ask for later. 'Anything else I need to know? Can I get a map or something?'

'Supper is at seven and it's not that confusing—I'll give you a tour, if you'd like.'

I nodded. 'Do I need to dress for supper, or is what I'm wearing fine?'

She laughed, 'You're fine just as you are.'

'How do I find you? Ring a bell? Set off a flare?'

Smiling, she said, 'My room is one floor above yours, though I'll most likely be in the kitchen or the library. Just ask one of the servants, they'll help you.' I screwed up my face. 'Or you can wander around until someone realises you're missing and then we'll have to form a search party. We'd have to rely on Clem sniffing you out and that could take weeks, what with her having to have a lie down every few feet.'

I laughed. 'Ok. I'll unpack and meet you in the library for my tour.'

'All right. It's on the first floor in the east wing.'

Once alone, I took in what was to be my accommodation for the week. There was a big clock ticking somewhere nearby. The ceilings of my room were probably twenty feet high, the walls the same grey stone as the outside of the house. The headboard of the bed was tall and curved like a bell and carved with an intricate design, four posters held a maroon velvet canopy which fell to the floor at the corners in long folds. The bedclothes matched the canopy and there were several rows of pillows at the head of the bed. Two wingback chairs and a small table were situated in front of a fireplace; pieces of crystal lay on the mantelpiece. Thick rugs covered most of the highly polished dark wood floor. There were two tall windows, whose heavy drapes I pushed open to let in the afternoon light and my jaw dropped at the sight of the back garden. Or I should say "gardens" because there were many distinct sections that carried on over several acres of land behind the house. I was in the most western part of the building and there appeared to be a maze set off of the most eastern end. There were fountains and birdbaths, sculptures and swings. I thought I could make out the top of a gazebo shrouded by ivy and small trees near the back edge of the property. After gazing out over the grounds for a bit I put my bags on the acre of bed and laid everything out before finding places for my clothes in the chest of drawers.

Once that was completed I set out to find Alex, strolling down the second floor, west wing hallway admiring the various paintings along the walls, going down the wide staircase to the first floor, traversing the expansive the marble-floored foyer and wandering down the hallway I guessed must have been the east wing past several closed doors and more paintings. Near the end of the hallway, on the left, two tall double doors were open and Alex was sitting across from her brother in an overstuffed, brown chair in the middle of the room. I entered and gaped; no wonder Darkmoor Manor hadn't thrown her off the day of the auction—three of the libraries from that house would have fit into this one. Bookcases were built into every wall in the two-storey room, on the bottom level there were various reading areas consisting of two or three chairs situated around small tables, on the second level there was a sculpture and a large globe in the far corner. She saw me, 'Ready for a walkabout?'