CHAPTER 19 : WHILE THE CAT'S AWAY

Arthur gave him a quick tour of his accommodation. It comprised of two large en suite guest bedrooms, a good sized living room, a small dining room, a study and a little kitchen. "In case I feel inspired to cook," Arthur said with a laugh.

His own bedroom was huge and Merlin felt he should be whispering as it was so impressive. There was a large sofa to the side of the fireplace which Merlin realised when they were in bed, they should be able to see the flames.

It was flooded with light with double aspect large casement windows. There was a large walk in closet, the size of a small bedroom with a wall of shelves and drawers and another area for hanging clothes. The wet room had a massive shower with twin showers heads. The bathroom contained a massive jetted tub and double sinks, beside that in another area was a WC and wash basin. Merlin realised that none of this would fit in his home. He laughed remembering how impressed Gawaine and he had been in Arthur's London house and the various hotels where he and Arthur had stayed but this was better than any of those and then he thought of Arthur's little Welsh cottage and he decided that as magnificent as this was, the little cottage was more homey. His mind jumped to how they had slept in the main room with duvets and then he slowly remembered what had happened.

Arthur was looking at him and caught the telltale blush. "You're miles away and I have a feeling not thinking about the renovations that went on in these rooms to bring them up to this standard. Where were you?"

"In another Welsh home of yours…!"

"Ah, that explains everything, The Big Whiteout!" Arthur smiled and said, "and the need for us to entertain ourselves…I doubt that we'll have snow and after all how many rooms can we explore, I am certain that we will have to once again rely upon ourselves for entertainment especially once it gets dark and Manscombe shuts down the power and we all have to wander about by candlelight."

"He shuts off the power…why would he do that?"

"It's tradition! Once a King and Queen were coming to visit and the Lord of the Manor wasn't on best of terms with their majesties, so the afternoon of the day the royal staff were due to arrive, he ordered the power off and his staff used only small candles to make their way around."

Merlin's brain went into over drive. He could play along too, so he'd let Arthur go on.

As Merlin had said nothing and was obviously fascinated by the story, Arthur continued, "When the first of the King's household arrived early that evening, they found the house in darkness and no one answered their knocking, so they decided to leave figuring that a mistake had been made in the dates and the King and Queen would have to stay where they were until everything was sorted out."

Seeing that Merlin was still interested, Arthur added, "Nevertheless before leaving, someone was sent to the stables and staff cottages to find out what had happened to the Lord and his household and the Estate Manager lied that the family was on vacation in Ireland and he did not know when they were expected back. Since that day, come eight o'clock the power goes off and everyone reverts to candlelight until daybreak!"

Merlin took a few moments to digest all the information before saying, "Arthur, is there any reference to this in the archives or historical diaries of the house?"

"Oh, there must be as we have an extensive library and I'm sure it was all documented when it happened. After all, the King and Queen's itinerary would have been altered and that would have been well noted."

"Did their majesties ever come back?"

"I don't know?"

Merlin said, "You could research it. You know that it would have been considered an honour for the King and Queen to stay in the manor. Just think, which ever bedrooms they used would be historical and visitors would be very honoured to sleep in them. They would probably have had brass plaques on the door, stating 'King So and So slept here on such and such a date and another one for the Queen's room."

Merlin was waiting for Arthur to trip himself up but he didn't so he kept asking questions. "Do you think it was maybe because with such a large house party, the costs for the power would have tripled even quadrupled…?"

Arthur realised that Merlin was on to him. He laughed asking, "When did you figure it out?"

"From almost the beginning, when you mentioned the Lord of the Manor ordering the power off."

"But why did you let me continue?"

"Because you look so cute when you lie! You brow gets wrinkled and you eyes cast around for things to say and your lips become absolutely irresistible." He leant forward and kissed him. "It was a good story you just need to get all your facts right."

Arthur smiled, "You've caught on the fastest, when Leon was thirteen, he came to stay and I found out later that he always carried a little torch in his pocket just in case the lights went out."

"Wait till I tell Gawaine!"

"No don't!" Arthur said, "We'll keep it a secret and maybe catch him out when he comes to visit."

Merlin nodded but said nothing knowing that before they could start inviting friends to stay over they had to let Arthur's father know of their relationship and Merlin had a feeling that it was going to be a long, drawn out time before that happened.

-0-0-

They put their bags in the closet and their toiletries in the bathroom. Merlin went again to look out the window. It was mostly parkland but in the distance on the hills he could see little cotton balls which he took for sheep.

Arthur came over and said, "Peaceful, isn't it? On the other side of the house are the stables and then further down the lane, Home Farm. Tomorrow, I'll show you the rest of the house if you'd be interested." Merlin nodded. Arthur said, "If you're hungry, I think we should make our way down to the kitchens and see what Sylvie has planned for supper. When I'm here by myself, I usually eat in a little room off the kitchen as it seems silly expecting them to bring food to the dining room or up here when I am quite capable of going downstairs.

"Anyway, I'd like to catch up on what has been going on here since my last visit. Manscombe is very involved with the local horticultural association and Sylvie is a keen cub scout leader. I used to be in her troop when I was young and afterwards for the longest time called her Akela…"

They took their time going downstairs, Merlin knew that the house had only been in the Pendragon family for around two hundred years but he was fascinated by the many antique portraits of Lords and Ladies of the Manor.

They passed one corridor and Arthur said, "That leads to the library and we call it the Rogues' Gallery as it had many paintings of the not so illustrious former inhabitants. The original family fell into bankruptcy and my ancestors for a debt settlement took the place, lock, stock and barrel. Financially, it turned out to be a good move. I doubt that nowadays we'd be able to purchase half of the antiques and my father still insists that money invested in real estate is never wasted.

"Does he fancy himself as the Lord of the Manor?" Merlin asked and Arthur just laughed. "Hope it isn't a hereditary trait, as I can't see myself getting off on tea parties, fetês and opening flower shows!"

"Don't worry, I won't hold you to being beside me," Arthur said with a grin.

-0-0-

Merlin and Sylvie got on well from the start as her mother was from Liverpool and as a child she had often visited her grandparents there. She was telling him how they lived near Goodison Park and how on match days her grandmother scared the living daylights out of her by telling her that if she got caught up in the crowd of Everton supporters she's never be seen again. "My Granddad used to say, 'Leave the girl alone, you only have to look at her to see she's a Liverpool supporter,' …and I still am!"

Arthur smiled at Manscombe who said to him, "Once a Liverpudlian always a Liverpudlian. Her greatest regret in life is that she didn't marry a Reds fan and that I am not addicted to the game and just to put a little spice in our marriage, I insist that my ancestors were probably Man U. fans. You still supporting Arsenal?"

Arthur nodded, "Not doing that well this year but who knows things might pick up in August."

Sylvie came over smiling, "It's good to see you, Arthur, I have supper ready so just tell me where you want to eat."

"Can we eat in the little room?"

"Certainly, it's close to the kitchen in case I forget anything. I'll just set the table, the room's been repainted and has new curtains since you were last here."

Arthur insisted that there should be no fuss and he and Merlin helped themselves to the food that Sylvie placed on the counter and made their way to the back room.

Once finished, they took their plates into the kitchen and Sylvie said, "Thank you, but you didn't have to do that. Full breakfast tomorrow?"

Arthur looked at Merlin who nodded and Arthur said, "That would be wonderful. Thanks for supper, we both enjoyed it and see you tomorrow."

"Thank you, Sylvie," Merlin added.

"If there is anything missing from your rooms, just call down and my husband will bring whatever it is up."

On the way upstairs, Merlin said quietly, "She thinks we're using two rooms."

"So, she's in for a surprise when we leave or if it makes you feel any better, you can go and bounce on one of the other beds to make it look occupied."

"I'd rather bounce on yours." Merlin said quietly with a grin after first having looked around to see that no one was listening.

"Your ease at using words to paint pictures is commendable and I for one will try to fulfill your wish," Arthur said in the same quiet voice and then he said aloud as he spun in a circle, "for anyone who is interested my boyfriend and I are going to sleep together in my bed and most likely have sex!"

Merlin had only started to laugh when a noise caught his ears, a deep vibrating sound possibly an old man's voice. He grabbed Arthur's hand and said, "There's someone there!"

"Yes," said Arthur, "it's my Grandfather…"

"I thought your grandparents were dead, why haven't you mentioned him before?"

"Because I thought you'd seen him as we mounted the stairs."

Merlin certainly hadn't seen anyone on the stairs and he hadn't felt as if someone was spying on him.

Arthur smiled and said, "Wait a minute and all will be explained." He put his arms around Merlin and they stood quietly.

There was a whirr, a clack and a clock struck eight. Arthur explained, "It's my Grandfather clock; it's very old and something is wrong with it so a few minutes before the actual hour it gives one muffled distorted chime and then at the right time catches up with the rest of the chimes."

"That was mean, you could have told me immediately that it was a clock and I wouldn't have worried."

"And then we wouldn't have been standing here in each others' arms would we?" Arthur said kissing him. "It came with the house but my grandfather had it moved to his bedroom until my grandmother insisted that if it were going to stay there, she wasn't! So it went into the entrance hall and then over the years has made it up to this floor."

"Can't it be fixed?"

"Don't know, I'm so used to it I don't even hear it. Don't worry as once we're in my wing, we won't even hear it…" he looked at Merlin before smiling and adding, "…well, I don't think you will!"

-0-0-

They watched the news on TV and marvelled at the storms which were on the East coast while the West was having wonderful weather.

Arthur said, "I was in a bad storm in the midwest States once and it was terrifying. The wind literally tore up trees and threw them across roads and even into peoples' homes. Houses were lifted from their foundations, sheet metal was torn from building facades and wrapped around trees and telephone poles. There were many fatalities and we all gathered in the hotel ballroom for two nights. We'd seen it approaching even standing out on the hotel balconies marvelling at strange things flying through the air and then suddenly the alarm went off and it was no longer fascinating just plain frightening. I wouldn't want to live through that again and yet the people rebuilt their homes and still live in the area prone to tornados."

Merlin said, "You know that in 1091 there was a tornado in London. The original wooden London Bridge built by William the Conqueror fell down, hundreds of wooden houses were destroyed and the huge rafters of St. Mary-le-Bow church were buried twenty feet in the ground. The church was demolished. Can you imagine the mess and all the rubble which would have had to be removed by hand? There were probably other tornados across Britain but this was the first documented one."

"You're a variable fount of knowledge"

"That's what happens when your boyfriend has an enquiring mind!" Merlin said laughing.

Arthur smiled and said, "Ready to go to bed yet? I'm tired…"

'But hopefully not too tired!"

"For you, never…!"

-0-0-

"Chose your side!"

"I can't until you tell me which side you sleep on as I want to sleep on your left."

"OK, then you get the window side."

Merlin was happy as he liked nothing better than waking facing a window. "When is breakfast?"

"Whenever we arrive but we shouldn't be too late as it will throw out the daily routine. I also have arranged for us to go riding, I thought a nice tour of the estate would interest you. If it is raining we can do it in a jeep but it'll be better on horseback."

"I'll pray for clear weather then," Merlin said as he slipped into bed. It was some time before either of them fell asleep and Arthur had teased Merlin that he'd never felt so wanted in his life.

Merlin laughed and whispered, "Stay with me and we'll conquer the whole world and reign on the mountain tops of some faraway land."

"Tibet?" Arthur asked.

"Why not?"

"We'd be no trouble and only come down to the villages for the necessities of life, such as food, whiskey and internet service. As I'd have to keep in touch with the business which after all would be financing my life of leisure."

Merlin woke to the birds, there was one blackbird which was determined to waken the world. He smiled, he decided that if you are to be woken by a bird nothing is more melodious than a blackbird.

He lay thinking about college, just six weeks to go and his first year would be finished. It had been an up and down journey but overall he wouldn't have missed it. He turned slightly and looked at Arthur who was still asleep. He thought of the first day he's seen him at the Knells, leaving his car and getting a lift to the airport from Laurence. He hadn't been too impressed with him but he did appreciate his little Opal.

So much had happened since then, he smiled remembering how he had one day realised that he was very attracted to Gawaine's brother's friend, in fact head-over-heels in love he had decided.

A voice suddenly said, "Whatever you're thinking about obviously makes you happy, care to share."

Merlin laughed, "Just going over when we first met and how you were not conscious of me. I might as well have been a piece of gravel. You didn't say boo. Too caught up in your own life of giving directions to Laurence about your car and catching a plane."

"Well, I can make up for it now, if you like…" Arthur said raising himself on his elbow and grinning.

Later Merlin wrapped his arm around Arthur cuddling him to his chest, saying, "You are certainly one of my favourite things!"

Laughing Arthur asked, "Does that come after or before 'the raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…and wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings'?"

"In a completely different category and before all of them!"

-0-0-

There were down for breakfast by ten and Merlin told Sylvie it was one of the best Full English which he had ever had. She thanked him and said as she left the room that was because he must have been hungry.

Merlin grinned at Arthur who mouthed, "Told you…one of my favourite things!"

After breakfast, they made their way over to the stables and Merlin met Bud his mount for the afternoon, who loved everyone and was very mindful of his rider. Arthur felt quite confident in relinquishing Merlin to his care.

He himself decided to take Busby. He was his favourite of the horses in the stable. Best of all, he knew the estate so they could just wander along knowing that Busby would be able to get them home regardless of where they were.

Arthur told Merlin that he and a school friend had once left the horses tied up to explore a gully. Upon returning, they found the horses missing and decided that Busby must have felt that they had forgotten him and Soho. The two horses arrived back at the stable, looking very pleased with themselves; much to the consternation of a groom as he felt sure something awful had happened.

Someone had set off with a Jeep and found one tired and one rather annoyed young master tramping across the North Pasture. Arthur said, "Dick promised to keep quiet about it as my father would have been less than impressed that I had let a couple of good horses loose on the estate. For heaven's sake, the most dangerous animal they would have encountered was a badger or they might have gone trotting right across a field of oats but we could see from the tracks that they had methodically stayed on the edge of the field as if they were being ridden."

He patted the big grey and said, "This is one horse with a brain and I really enjoy him. How are you coming along with Bud?"

"He's excellent, a comfortable ride and quite willing to tag alone with Busby. Who usually rides him?"

"Anyone and everyone, he's so easy going and seems to know if someone is a little hesitant."

He pointed to his right, "See that building up ahead, it's a folly built sometime in the early seventeenth century. It's a replica of a warrior's tomb but when you get inside there is nothing but a marble bench suitable for viewing across the parkland to that dark mass over there which is a grotto, complete with the waterfall and a bench behind it.

"As far as I know the only people around would be the gardeners so later this afternoon we could drive over there and…you know!"

"Sorry, you've lost me, we could drive there and what…swim?"

"I think you purposely play dumb. You know darn well what I am referring to," he turned and grinning saying, "but after all if you are really not interested, sure I can find something else to do."

"All by yourself, Arthur?" Merlin said teasing him.

Arthur grinned, "Yes, all by my lonesome" He put Busby into a canter and followed a track into the woods, Bud followed on behind and Merlin called out, "Wait a second, Arthur, I have a brilliant idea do you want to hear it?"

Arthur slowed to a trot and Merlin reached his side saying, "We could go back to the house and put on some of the armour from the knights in the entrance hall and then we could go to the folly and have a battle."

"Merlin, you'd be no match for me, I'd have you flat on the ground after my first lunge!"

"That could also be fun!" Merlin said grinning as he took off along the forest path and Busby left behind had to work to catch up with his stable companion.