Chapter 84: SERVICE FOR THREE

Nearly tea time

Outside Grantham House

Thomas impatiently eyed the street and wondered how much of his afternoon the Dowager expected him to surrender. Who was this Lady Adelaide Bennett whom she wished to impress? He caught sight of a cab pulling to the kerb and instantly was there to meet it. No sooner had he opened the door, than the occupant handed him a snow white toy poodle. He stood at attention and covertly studied the stranger while the dog sniffed his neck. The woman paid the driver, exited the car with an easy grace, and paused to gaze at the dwelling. "Grantham House, after all these years."

Although Lady Bennett appeared to be close to the Dowager in age, her silver hair was bobbed, and she was as trim as Lady Mary and at least as stylish. She turned to the dog. "Come here, Bebe. This young man has more important things to do than attend to you." She relieved Thomas of the dog and shifted her attention. "Are you Thomas Barrow?"

"Yes, milady." Thomas did not reveal his surprise at the question. Why would the Dowager bother to tell her my name? He held open the front door to admit the mystery woman. "If Your Ladyship would be so kind as to tell me what the dog eats, I shall bring it a plate along with your tea."

"No, no. I don't like to spoil my little darling. She had enough to eat on the train and a lively walk before the cab. She's ready for a nap."

"A pillow then, milady?"

Lady Bennett laughed gaily. "How thoughtful, Barrow. Violet was right about you."

Right about me? Right about what? Thomas closed the door behind them. "Lady Grantham is awaiting you in her sitting room, if Your Ladyship will follow me."

"Lead the way, Barrow, up the stairs and back through time, if that's not too much to ask."

"Milady?"

"Forgive me, Barrow. I'm always a bit giddy when Violet and I get together. She's such a card!"

"Yes, milady." This woman is daft.


The Dowager's Sitting Room

Thomas opened the door to the sitting room and stood in stunned silence as the Dowager and Lady Bennett greeted each other as though they were the dearest of school chums reuniting after a long vacation. He had never seen the Dowager so animated except when expressing her displeasure. He reluctantly closed the door and flew to the kitchen, stopping only to grab a decorative pillow from the nursery.

"She wants service for three," Mrs Patmore informed Thomas before he could remove the extra dishes from the tea tray.

Thomas nodded. The Dowager must have invited a member of the family to join them. He returned to the sitting room as quickly as humanly possible without overturning the tray. As he approached, he could hear the Dowager's high-pitched titter and Lady Bennett's throaty laugh. He was curious to hear their conversation, but when he opened the door, they quickly sobered and dabbed their eyes with their handkerchiefs. He set down the tray in front of the Dowager and placed the cushion on the floor near Lady Bennett.

"You remember Barrow, don't you Bebe?" Lady Bennett asked the dog as she handed her to Thomas. He placed the dog on the cushion, and the animal politely accepted the invitation to nap. Thomas took his position next to the Dowager as though it were 1860 and he were a lady's footman. He could not help but feel that there was little to separate him, at that moment, from the little cur who slept at Lady Bennett's feet.

The Dowager removed the cosy from the teapot. "Addy, I believe it's time to disclose our business."

"I believe you're right, Vi."

The Dowager set the strainer over a cup and poured the tea. "Barrow, I'm going to ask you to do something that you will find shocking."

Barrow was amused at the thought of the Dowager shocking him, but he did not smile. "Yes, milady?"

"Sit down. You're to have tea with us."

Thomas was certain he had misheard. "I beg Your Ladyship's pardon?"

Lady Bennett accepted the filled cup and added a squeeze of lemon. "If he's confused by a simple invitation to sit, then perhaps he's not the man for the job," she remarked with a sly smile.

"Job, milady?"

The Dowager set the strainer over a second cup and poured. "I've asked you to tea, Barrow. I know you won't insult me by refusing. You're the guest I was hoping to impress."

"Milady, I don't mean to appear dull-witted, but ..."

Lady Bennett spread a napkin across her lap. "Sit down, Barrow. We won't bite, will we, Vi?"

The Dowager set the second cup of tea in front of the vacant chair. "Only if necessary."

Lady Bennett smiled pleasantly. "I suggest you not make it necessary, Barrow, and sit down."

Thomas could not help but feel he was the butt of a joke. He sat stiffly and stared at his cup, not knowing where else it was safe for him to look. Lady Bennett watched him for a moment and lost her frivolous demeanour. "Vi, something's not right. Perhaps this won't work after all."

The Dowager did not look up but proceeded to pour her own cup of tea. "Give him time, Addy. Isn't that the purpose of these practice teas, to give him a chance to adjust?"

"Practice teas, milady?"

Lady Bennett brightened. "Quite right, Vi. Shall we put the poor man out of his misery and ..."

"... shoot him?"

"No, I think we should tell him our plan first. Then we may shoot him." The Dowager and Lady Bennett seemed to think that this was the most comical thing a person had ever uttered, but Thomas was not amused. The two women again dabbed their eyes. "I beg your pardon, Barrow. Vi and I are not behaving as we should."

"I am perfectly able to apologize for myself, Addy." The Dowager picked up the plate of sandwiches and held it out to Thomas. "Won't you have something to eat?"

"No thank you, milady."

The Dowager's voice softened. "Please take one, Barrow. I recommend the smoked salmon. It has capers," she added, as though capers were a luxury a butler could not resist.

Thomas took a salmon sandwich and set it on the plate the Dowager handed him.

The Dowager handed Lady Bennett a plate and took one for herself. "I'm certain you will forgive us, Barrow. Addy and I have known each other since before we were married, but she lives in France now, and we have little opportunity to visit. When we're together, it's as though the years have collapsed, and we're girls again. It's a rare pleasure. You understand, don't you, Barrow?"

Thomas was astonished to hear the Dowager speak to him in such a personal manner. "Certainly, milady."

Lady Bennett selected an apple and cucumber sandwich. "We met the day of our coming out. We were waiting outside the ante-room together gripping our name cards. It was thrilling but terrifying. We each wore two tall ostrich feathers to distinguish us from the married women being presented. Married women wore three. Our de rigueur nine-foot trains were draped over our arms."

"That's where we met Ella," added the Dowager. "Addy and I were wrapped up in our worries. Would our feathers fall? Would we stumble when we curtsied? Would we trip over our trains? But Ella laughed and reminded us that hundreds of women had been presented to the Queen. If one of us tripped, the Queen would only yawn."

"That was Ella." Lady Bennett took a second sandwich. "I was the first to go. My mother kissed me on one cheek, and Ella, a stranger to me, kissed me on the other. In those days, the ceremony was in the Queen's Drawing-room. I entered and dropped my train, and magically, it was straightened by two lords-in-waiting. I felt as though I were a one-woman parade as I approached the Queen. I curtsied so low I thought my nose would scrape the floor, and I received my forehead kiss. The Queen kissed all the peeresses as they were presented. I curtsied to the Prince and to Princess Helena and then came the final test: backing out in a series of curtsies without tripping over my train."

"You were the loveliest of the three of us, Addy."

"Yes, I was, wasn't I. But you were the most regal, Vi."

"And Ella was the most spirited," the Dowager declared.

"Ella was the last to be presented," continued Lady Bennett, "and when she found us afterward, she hooked her arms through ours, and our friendship was cemented."

The two women began to eat as though Thomas required no further explanation. He took a sip of tea and watched them over the rim of his cup. They seemed to lose all interest in conversation as they munched happily. He had no choice; he would have to speak. "That is a lovely memory, milady (nodding to the Dowager), milady (nodding to Lady Bennett), but I don't see how it pertains to me."

"Of course not. We haven't told you yet," replied the Dowager. "You're not eating, Barrow. Doesn't our fare suit you?"

Thomas was certain he saw the Dowager wink at Lady Bennett. "It's delightful, milady." He picked up the delicate sandwich and finished it in two bites.