'There was something different, definitely something, if only he could put his finger on it.'
Sitting back in his chair the butler reached for his glass of claret, washing down Felix's excellent beef Wellington, as he surveyed his senior staff. It had been some months since they were all gathered round this table, the leaving meal to be more precise, and something had changed since then. Not the number of people or the faces, nor the places they had taken round the table that was as it had always been, but something was definitely different and he suspected it was his housekeeper.
'Perhaps if he looked long and hard the answer would pop into his mind.'
Tapping his glass once, so one of the lower servants waiting table that day rushed forward and filled it up, he picked his now refilled glass up gazing at Flora Ryan over the rim.
'What was different? She had not aged in any visible way that he could discern, there were no new wrinkles creasing her brow, her creamy complexion was still as flawless as ever, nor lines gathering at her eyes, true those were easier to see when she smiled but he hadn't seen her smile in…it seemed like ages.
The last time he could remember her smiling, really smiling, it hadn't been at him but at Felix, that day of the race on the hill when he watched them chatting from afar, he hadn't seen her smile since that morning, at least not anywhere near him.
So what could it be?
Perhaps her dress?'
Skimming his eyes down her elegant neck he took in the lace collar, which contrasted sharply with the dark dress, it wasn't black yet nor was it blue or grey, but what ever the actual colour it was bespoke Flora Ryan, crisp, clean, neat and efficient; no flash of colour and personality.
'Had she always dressed like? He couldn't remember, but he was certain he would recall such a momentous event if she ever had appeared dressed in pink or crimson. She had something with flowers on it didn't she? Perhaps she dressed differently when the men were away and she had not to report to the Earl every morning but he doubted he would ever see it.
One thing was certain she never wore those earrings during the daytime, much larger and more decorative drops than those little pearl things she normally wore…And was that rouge on her cheeks, normally she was so pale?
Shocking was that woman, Miss prim and proper, Miss paragon of all things virtuous and moral, actually was wearing rouge, like a…well it didn't bear thinking about.'
Sipping deeply at his claret in order to cleanse his pallet and his thoughts, the butler leant back in his chair, glancing round as the valets tucked heartily into the bowl of trifle that had just been placed before them all.
'She licks the spoon.'
Jarvis thought to himself, the image coming immediately to his mind of that delicate pink tongue flicking out and over cold steel, and he was unable to resist a shiver.
"Are you quite alright Mr Jarvis?" The chef suddenly asked, and this drew the other's attention.
Squirming in his seat at this unwanted attention the Butler shook his head dismissively, noting how quickly the others returned to their deserts, only Felix and Flora's gazes lingered; the housekeeper surreptitiously glancing up in between taking spoonfuls of pudding.
'Yet still the puzzle remained. What could it be?'……
"Good Night Gentlemen." The housekeeper muttered later as the clock struck eleven and she headed off to bed.
"Mrs Ryan." Felix replied but the butler merely nodded his head respectfully, standing up from his seat until she had disappeared, gratefully accepting the brandy that Felix automatically poured once she had left.
"It suits her." The chef muttered before taking a deep sniff.
"What suits her?"
"Her hair…Come now Walter surely you must have noticed…You could barely keep your eyes off her all night."
'Her Hair! That was it, why hadn't he realised it before, of course it was obvious now, instead of her usual bun under a cap, there were curls piled on top of her head and delicate ringlets curling round her ears.'
"Her Hair….See I knew something was different!"
He exclaimed getting to his feet and slapping his hand down on the table making the chef jump from fright.
"Are you quite alright Walter?"
"Me?…Fine…Never better!"
The Butler retorted grabbing his brandy and downing it in one before smugly asking for another, settling down in his armchair to relax and enjoy being once more back on his turf. Content that the world was as it should be, now that he had every thing figured out as usual, although he had to admit things were certainly looking better than he remembered.