Chronicles of Mystery

A Series of Portraits

In front of his bedroom door, Alistair was already waiting, looking impatient to start working. He was fully dressed and, unlike Lucy, seemed to have spent a little over ten seconds getting ready. Alistair liked to look presentable, even when he had to put on his clothes from the night before.

When he saw Lucy, he walked towards her.

 - I saw Maude just now. She warned me that breakfast was going to be served soon in the same dining room as yesterday. We should go and eat quickly before making the plan for today.

Lucy smiled. As usual, Alistair had already owed everything to plan in his sleep. He didn't like wasting time doing nothing, even when he was sleeping.

Cheerfully, she began to trot towards the dining room, the prospect of a good meal like the one the night before had made her forget all her worries.

However, Lucy was quickly very happy to be accompanied by Alistair. Without him, she would have had difficulty finding the dining room, with her poor sense of direction. It was already a miracle that she managed to follow the path to her room. Lucy was indeed the kind of person who needed a map of her street, or even her house. Although, a card wouldn't have been ideal either, as Lucy would probably have managed to get lost even with it or misplace it. At this point, one could almost have spoken of talent.

Both arrived at the simple wooden door that led to the dining room. Lucy's sensitive nose was already picking up the scent of an appetizing meal and her ogre hunger was beginning to awaken.

 - Really we should investigate much more often if it is to be fed like this every time! I now understand the motivations of Sherlock Holmes.

Alistair shook his head at this dubious interpretation of his comrade.

In Lucy's mind, the discussion with the Countess was already far away. Her thoughts were already all on the breakfast table. Another part of her, too, didn't really want to remember. That part of her wanted to let her worries behind, to forget about them. Spend a carefree moment. To be able to laugh, be happy and smile, just a few more minutes. To be able to continue to enjoy this happiness so dearly paid for.

This morning, being very dark, Maude had opened wide the curtains of the room but, that being not enough, she had also lit candles which reinforced the contrast with the dark corners of the room. This one looked even more sinister, abandoned.

Despite that, on the table, the only welcoming element of the place, a small feast for the two guests. Myriads of plates containing just as many ingredients. Grilled toast with, on the side, pots of butter and raspberry jam. Fried eggs whose yolk seemed golden, round and melting, while the edges of the white were slightly toasted. Well-colored sausages and a dish of beans. Some mushrooms from Paris as well as very red tomatoes. And, to finish, two glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice.

Everything was arranged elegantly, with care, in plates of different sizes. Two chairs were placed at each end of the table, with, in front of them, cutlery surrounded by cloth napkins. Last decorative touch, in the center of the table, a small vase with a red flower inside.

Lucy found all this charming. Of course, it would have been even more so if the room had been lit more than a cemetery at midnight on the winter solstice and if there had been fewer cobwebs than in a house decorated for Halloween and if the place had looked like it had been used during the last decades...

It mattered little to Lucy who could be content with it. It was enough for her to concentrate on this delicious meal and especially on this plate of eggs and sausage which formed a smiling face. When you could see a face in your food, as long as it wasn't your slain stepmother's face floating in your soup, you could be sure a good day was going to follow.