As she approached the garage Mrs. Hughes was surprised to hear singing. She stopped and stood still listening to a deep rich voice belting out a lilting tune which filled the air. The melody sounded somewhat familiar but it took her a few moments to realize the sung words were not in English.
Finally stepping around the corner and in to the courtyard in front of the garage she saw the young chauffeur wearing dark coveralls leaning over a bicycle hard at work doing … well she wasn't quite sure what it was he was doing to the bicycle. A small table, the top covered with tools, a bucket, and some rags, was by his side.
"You're sounding very chipper this morning Mr. Branson" she said as she approached him.
He looked up at her and offered that warm smile of his. "And why not Mrs. Hughes?" He flung his arms wide. "The sun is shining, the birds are singing, flowers are in bloom, it's a beautiful summer day." And although he thought it he didn't dare voice his delight that it appeared the beautiful Lady Sybil hadn't entertained, at least from her viewpoint, any serious suitor during her just complete season.
"Was there a spot of whiskey in your tea this morning" she laughingly asked.
"If I had whiskey I wouldn't waste it in a cup of tea" he good-humoredly replied.
Then standing up he asked "So is there something I can do for you?" as he wiped his greasy hands on a rag before leaning the bicycle against the low brick wall that divided the courtyard from the adjoining field. "Or" spreading his arms and tilting his head upwards "are you just taking a few minutes to enjoy this heavenly day?"
"It must be nice to work in the sunshine" she replied. "Unfortunately with my windowless office most days I'm not even aware of the weather."
"Well come those dark wintery days with a freezing wind rattling the garage doors or those days of lashing rain a windowless office doesn't sound half bad" he said. "But on days like this being outside … it's heaven."
She nodded towards the bicycle. "Taking on extra work?"
"Thought that space" he pointed towards the right of the garage to what had probably once been used as a horse stall "would be a good place to store some of my supplies but I found it crammed with all sorts of stuff. Some of it worthless like rusty pipes and mildewed burlap sacks but some things I can fix up and use like an old bookcase or" he nodded towards the table "this table that I converted to a rolling tool cart."
She was impressed with his ingenuity and even more with his desire to keep busy. "Didn't realize your skills included furniture making" she cheerful remarked.
He chuckled and then looked pensive as he rubbed his hand along the tool cart. "We had this shed in our back garden that my Da made into his workshop. I spent many an hour there working with him on converting bits and bobs and scraps into something useful. My brothers and I were always on the lookout for discarded stuff that we could use like a chair with a broken leg. We might not have been able to fix that chair but we could use the parts for something else. You'd be surprised what we could do with discarded bicycles and wagons and prams."
He looked up at her. "I did check with the stable manager and he told me they just used that room as a dumping ground and I was welcomed to use the space and anything I found there." He picked up the bicycle. "Took a bit of work to straighten out the fenders and some of the spokes are missing but it's rideable. Thought it might be nice to use on my days off."
He set the bicycle back down again leaning it against the brick wall. "So has everything settled down now that the family is back?"
"It's only been a day Mr. Branson."
"I don't understand why Mr. Carson was so …" he struggled trying to come up with the right phrase and not wanting to offend the kind housekeeper who was close to the butler. "It's not like the family hasn't gone away before … I mean don't they go every year to London for the season?"
"Well I think he felt a little more pressure this year what with Lady Sybil's presentation and ball."
He chuckled once again. "I know the maids were all giddy talking about the balls but I imagine they're rather stiff formal affairs with polite conversation and refined music leading to boring dancing. Not like us Celts ... we know how to party. Our toe tapping, hand clapping music makes you want to sing and dance."
He took a deep breath. "Don't you sometimes long for a céilí?" He looked at her and grinned "I imagine you cut a fine rug on the dance floor Mrs. Hughes."
"I'm afraid my dancing days are long behind me."
"Not from what I've heard." He leaned towards her. "There are rumors that at last year's servants ball you and Thomas were quite the dancers."
"Can't believe everything you might hear" she rejoined.
He shrugged his shoulders. "Oh what I'd love to hear now is the sound of a fiddle. Doubt they had that at their fancy society balls."
"Longing for home are ya lad?" She looked intently at him and thought how lonely it must be sometimes be for him here. She guessed Thomas was the only one close to his age but she couldn't see him and Thomas as friends. While the chauffeur was amiable to all in the servants hall his interest in books and politics wasn't shared by any of the other servants.
"There's lots I miss Mrs. Hughes."
He looked around the courtyard and the garage. "But I'm luckier than many. That Renault is a dream to drive and I love working on it and that old Napier. I have access to his lordship's wonderful library and his newspapers. Out here there's no one watching me and I can run the garage the way I want. And it seems I can find things to keep me busy."
"Like finding old bicycles to fix up" she offered.
He smiled. "And that wonderful rolling tool cart I made from that old table" he added looking quite pleased with himself as he patted the top of the table. Then turning towards he said "there's actually two more bicycles in there. Should I fix up one for you?"
The servants hall was abuzz over the installation of a telephone in the butler's office.
"I don't understand how it works" commented an interested William.
"And should we be surprised at that?" sneered Thomas.
"Will we be able to use it?" asked one wide-eyed housemaid.
"As if anyone you know would have a telephone" came the sharp reply from O'brien.
"Mr. Carson will you show us how it works" William implored, ignoring the sneering comments of the footman and the lady's maid.
"The telephone is not here for our amusement" Carson replied with his apparent agitation hiding his own lack of knowledge.
Tom, leaning against the doorway to the servants hall listening to the conversation, silently chuckled as he turned to leave for he doubted that the butler had any inkling of how the telephone actually worked.
"You look in rather good spirits" Mrs. Hughes remarked upon seeing him in the hallway.
"The world is changing Mrs. Hughes. Think of all the new inventions that are changing are world." She raised her brow as he continued. "Things made possible because of electricity." He nodded toward the sconce on the wall. "Would your mother have thought that at the flip of a switch you could light up a room? And now with the telephone you can hold a conversation with someone miles and miles away."
"Ah Mrs. Hughes you're still up" the deep voice of the butler seemed booming in the quietness. "It appears everyone else has retired."
She looked up from her desk to see him filling the doorway of her office. "I was just …" she rifled the papers on her desk. Taking a deep breath she said "it's been quite a day."
"That it has been" replied the butler. He stepped in to the small room and in two strides was standing in front of her desk. "May I interest you in a sherry before your retire?"
He poured the sherry into two stemmed glasses filling about half the glass. Sitting on either side of the small round table, they both took a couple of sips of the amber liquid, seemingly lost in their own thoughts instead of immediately talking.
"I guess it shouldn't be a surprise" Carson broke the silence. "It's been all the talk since the murder of that archduke."
"But still" she somberly said "it comes as shock for it to be a reality and not just rumors and whisperings." She took another sip of her sherry. "It's hard to imagine that this morning we were so focused on the garden party, making sure everything was set and ready and now tonight everything has turned topsy turvy."
"Well one good thing is that the problem of Thomas has been solved." Carson set his glass on the table. "Not that I wish the man harm but it will be good to see the back of him."
"I wouldn't have thought he seemed like to the type to volunteer" Mrs. Hughes said. "But I do agree with you that it's good to be rid of him."
She turned and looked at him. "Although the same can't be said of Gwen."
The butler snorted. "I can't imagine leaving here for a job as secretary."
"Oh I don't know Mr. Carson. The hours will be less-"
"But still leaving a fine house such as this for a telephone company" his tone and manner made clear his disdain."
She shook her head. "We'll not get into that Mr. Carson but to say not everyone shares your admiration for the upper class."
She took another sip of her sherry as her thoughts turned to something that Carson would find even more contemptable. He obviously hadn't seen the chauffeur and Lady Sybil at the garden party yet although she knew she should tell him she just couldn't quite bring herself to do so. Maybe it was just a momentary lapse, the two caught up in the excitement of Gwen's new job. Maybe ... she took a deep breath.
