The senior servants' dinner that even was quiet and tense, just as some would suppose it should considering it was the day they had had the funeral and all. However the reason for the tension had not been the sadness that should have been present at the death of a child but due to a real undercurrent of pressure that flowed under every mumbled word that was uttered. Something had happened, of that the senior staff were sure but at the moment they had not all the details only the butler and housekeeper knew and they were making a point of not speaking, not speaking at all in fact!
Jarvis had resorted to angry glares and occasional grunt like noises which soon put off everyone from engaging him in conversation, whereas the housekeeper, well she kept her eyes fixed firmly on her plate and they did not deviate, not even when Mr Kraus made a point of asking her if she wanted more wine simply answering with a definite nod. So of course with the decorum they had spent years practising the rest of the senior staff carried on regardless, ignoring their superiors silence with a polished air of detachment but underneath it all each one had a burning desire to know what had really happened.
It looked as though they might get their chance when the butler was called away half-way through his meal to attend on the Earl leaving the withdrawn housekeeper to weather the curious glances alone. However they were doomed to languish in disappointment as despite her frail appearance the housekeeper did not crack, instead she contented herself with pushing her spoon around in the mess that had once been lemon sponge and custard. The butler's favourite, and that had not escaped their notice so either the housekeeper had simply arranged it earlier that week and it was mere coincidence or she had done something wrong that required a significant level of grovelling.
Yet despite this insight they all filed out of the room in barely concealed ignorance leaving the housekeeper along with her thoughts and the tidying up.
'She had seriously miscalculated.'
That was the one thought that was going round and round in Flora's mind as she cleared the table, running her fingers across the smooth china, her mind far from the task she was carrying out.
'He simply had to forgive her…But how? How on earth could she explain so he would understand?'
Sighing the housekeeper sank into the chair by the fire staring into their flickering depths as if somehow the answer to her dilemma would present itself in the flames.
'Perhaps there is no way should explain, perhaps her actions no matter how well intentioned had simply been wrong and there was no way, no argument that could justify them?'
Suddenly the door opened and the housekeeper was jolted from her musings.
"Forgive me Mrs Ryan I wasn't aware dinner had finished…"
"Wait…Please Stay Mr Jarvis, you haven't even finished at least have your pudding." Flora pleaded as the butler stepped back into the corridor his face still cold when he met her gaze.
"I am not really hungry Mrs Ryan."
"But it's lemon sponge, I made it esp..." She added almost petulantly a childish impulse that she instantly regretted but it seemed to do something that all her pious insistences and justifications could not and so the Butler stepped inside closing the door behind him.
"Well I suppose I could have a little then." He offered magnanimously settling down at the opposite end of the table and attacking his desert with gusto.
Sitting in silence as she watched him demolish his dessert Flora had to stifle the urge to smile. "I thought you said you weren't hungry?"
That little comment earned her a reproving raised eyebrow but the butler's mouth was so full of dessert he could hardly snap at her. Realising that this presented an unprecedented opportunity Flora took a deep breath and launched into her barely prepared speech.
"I am sorry…I was a fool, I freely admit it Mr Jarvis." She gabbled unable to meet the Butler's stunned gaze. "I know you are angry with me, and you have every right to be, I am angry with myself…I don't know what I was thinking, of course she had to be sacked and I undermined you in front of members of staff and I will never forgive myself for it. I embarrassed you I know…Oh but honestly that wasn't my intention, I would never dream of doing it on purpose, I know that is no excuse but I mean it! I knew I had made a terrible mistake when I first saw your face, and I understand that you will probably never forgive me…or trust me again, all I can say in my defence is that I am not as strong as you. When she cried and begged me I couldn't help but want to find another solution…It was a weakness of character I know but then…I am only a woman." Flora added softly coming to a pause long enough to draw breath and to risk a glance up at the butler who had remained strangely quiet.
"What's so funny?" Flora gasped on catching the butler's amused expression.
"Nothing." Jarvis replied before returning to his bowl of custard.
"Yes it is you're laughing at me aren't you?" Flora retorted unable to stop her Irish temper from flaring.
Shaking his head the Butler finished the last of his pudding with a contented sigh getting to his feet. "Believe me Mrs Ryan I would never laugh at you, but you have to admit that is the most pathetic reason for disregarding my orders…" He stopped holding up a hand to forestall her indignant protests. "And also the most creative…I truth I am no longer angry with you, I was disappointed but as there was no permanent harm done I think it would probably be for the best to forget it ever happened."
"Could we?" Flora asked hopefully getting from her seat to close the distance. "I never wanted to let you down; your good opinion has always meant so much to me."
"Then it is forgiven and forgotten Mrs Ryan, after all what people go through their lives without having differences of opinion and the lest few days have been…Well most trying on us all, it is hardly surprising that under such circumstances you should suffer a momentary lapse of judgement" Jarvis muttered benevolently offering the housekeeper his arm which she took gratefully, then as they stepped out into the corridor he added in an amused tone unable to keep it back any longer. "After all you are only a woman."
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