Mind Your Manors

Part 3 - Allegory

There was little anyone could say to refute the butler's statement. Silence prevailed. Rohbair had successfully reined them in, and since he didn't wish to lose ground, he continued, "As we have now commenced the new year, I think—"

"WOO! WOO! WOO-HOO!" Chin had popped out of his chair in the corner, hooting and hollering for all he was worth. "Melly New Year! Melly New Year! WOO!" The spectacle, what with all the shouting and jumping and waving of arms and such, won everyone's full and undivided attention. The exertion took its toll, however. Chin soon stopped, stripped off his overcoat, and flopped back into his armchair, exhausted. "Too hot to hoot!" he said, lapsing into a fit of giggles.

No one found his remark particularly amusing, so they turned back to Rohbair, who'd just then cleared his throat. But before he could begin, Ernie lashed out with another hot-headed rebuke. This time claiming the chintzy excuse for a New Year's eve party, which amounted to nothing more than a cheese plate accompanied by a keg of lager in lieu of champagne and caviar, was a disgrace to humanity. A hardy round of roars from Zero, Horst, and to a lesser degree, Buck and Alfonso, attested to their support for his sentiment. Lisa squeaked a corresponding accord. As did Marie-Claire, although with a more profound resonance. Chin loosed another vociferous "WOO!". Yuno just grinned.

Irate over the petty disruption, Rohbair rapped his drumstick on the music stand, furiously. He bellowed: "Oh, for Christ's sake! Christmas was a bleeding non-event. So what? So was bloody New Year's. What's the matter with you all? Don't you see? It's your fault. Your  bloody fault!" He had their attention again. Smoldering eyes scanned their mute faces, daring anyone to so much as smirk.

"Let's," hissed Rohbair, "just get to the crux of the matter, then, shall we?" Everyone sat or stood stock still. No one dared breathe. "Right," continued Rohbair, "a thief, a man who shall remain nameless, arrived at this manor. We took him on his word. And he, he took us for the fools we indeed are. He abused our generosity. He lied. He stole. BUT, he did not, and I repeat, he did not ... do this unaided. He had help."

Rohbair glared at those he thought culpable, lingering on each in turn so that they might feel the intensity of his contempt. Zero looked away and then pretended to be occupied with something caught on his fingernail. Ernie patently avoided eye contact. Horst, fussing with his ascot, did not seem overly perturbed coming under scrutiny. But, when Rohbair's piercing gaze reached Malgreete, who stared straight back, unblinking, unflinching, a curious thing happened: her cold, hard, indigo eyes seemed to melt. And then, a twinkle sparkled in them about the same time that the corners of her mouth flowed into a sultry smile.

Rohbair blinked. He straightened, put his pointer back on the stand, and addressed his audience anew. "However, we are not here this evening to point the finger or lay blame. No, what we should like to accomplish is rather more complicated. Now, I daresay, we must all assume some degree of guilt for the largess squandered at our peril. For the excesses we have allowed, have now come back to haunt us. Thus, we have rationing ... outright depletion in some cases. And we will face further hardships—winter is not over. Therefore, we must learn to do without. And we must learn to come together, to work as a team, to trust—"

Alfonso stood up. "I do not wish to cut you off, señor, but I wonder how you can talk like this. You use these words 'trust', 'learn', 'come together', 'work in a team' ... these words, they have no meaning in this house. Look what has happened to us ... This is no leedle theeng—we almost lose everything. Let me esplain why this is. This is because of desires, señor, individual desires, they are too strong in this house. Like this, I theenk we cannot learn, we cannot trust, and we cannot work like a team. But this is just my feeling."

Alfonso hesitated as if he might have something to add, or maybe he was expecting a response from someone. But since no one gave any indication of having anything to say at that moment, he sat down.