----
Closing her accounts book with a sigh, Flora Ryan shook her head slowly; it was no use trying to persevere with it when she really wasn't in the mood. She should really go and find Mr Jarvis, she couldn't keep avoiding him after all and the poor man was probably anxiously awaiting her decision. The problem was she still didn't know what she was going to say to him. Did she want to go along with this charade? In all honesty, no; she had always believed marriage was something special and to pretend to be engaged for the sake of money felt totally fraudulent. But then Felix's words to her earlier had unnerved her somewhat. She didn't seriously think that Mr Jarvis would ever contemplate going near Mrs Diggins but she couldn't be so sure about someone else, someone younger and prettier, in fact someone just like Betty, whom she had actually seen in conversation with the other maids all excited about something now she came to think about it. Surely he couldn't have asked her as well?
Distractedly leaving her office and making her way vaguely down to the scullery, the housekeeper rounded the corner and literally stopped in her tracks as just ten yards away was the butler and a certain pretty young housemaid engaged in conversation. Staring at the pair of them, Flora made up her mind there and then. She would do it. She just had to. He obviously didn't see her as anything more than a colleague and now perhaps as a means to a more comfortable life. But she would rather it would be her that he thought of with gratitude, not some upstart of a housemaid, and also that when he looked back on his days at Taplows, she would not be remembered as the woman who nearly ruined and foiled all his plans to inherit the money. What she was getting was not much consolation, other than the actual money, but it would be better than to have him think ill of her for the rest of his days.
"Mr Jarvis…" Flora called out, making her way towards the pair.
"Mrs Ryan" Jarvis replied cordially, looking up from his conversation on hearing her voice. "How can I help?"
"May I have a word?"
"Certainly" the butler replied genially, nodding at Betty who made herself scarce, getting back to her chores.
"Umm…. in private if possible….I'd rather not discuss it out in the corridor…"
Nodding his understanding, the butler indicated down the corridor to where his office was "Shall we…..?"
"Yes…that would be fine." Flora murmured as she followed the butler down the corridor, entering his office as he held the door open for her before shutting it firmly behind him.
Pacing over to the fireplace, Flora turned back to the butler who was now sitting in his desk chair, looking up at her expectantly. Twisting her ring round her finger nervously, Flora bit her lip slightly before taking a deep breath and beginning to speak. "I….I wanted to speak to you about the…..the propo…I mean the suggestion you ran by me the other night."
"Ohhh.." Jarvis uttered, sitting up straighter in his chair and staring at her more intently, trying to read her expression to see if he could tell whether he was going to like her answer or not.
"Yes….I….I have come to a decision."
"And…."
"I accept….I mean, yes, I will do it." Flora said softly, watching as the butler's eyes widened in surprise.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course Mr Jarvis. I am not one to be flippant about such matters." Flora retorted a little sharply, as the butler still appeared to be having trouble processing the information.
"Thank you….Thank you ever so much for agreeing to this." Jarvis finally managed to get out, still not quite believing what he had heard "I must admit that I never really thought you would" he blurted out, mentally kicking himself when he saw the housekeeper's expression go even more frosty "I mean….what was it that made you agree?" he blundered on, trying to dig himself out of the rather embarrassing hole he had inadvertently got himself into.
"Oh…It was…" Flora stuttered, trying to come up with some plausible reason. She had never envisioned that he might actually wonder what possible reason had caused her to agree. Fumbling about for something that might seem vaguely convincing, she eventually muttered some excuse about her aunt, and how the money would be helpful, hoping the butler wouldn't suddenly chose this moment to want to know her family history in more detail.
However, luckily for her, the butler's mind was mostly elsewhere, otherwise he would probably have picked her up on it. It was beginning to sink in for the butler that his harebrained plan might actually work. He was going to get the money!
"There really is no time to lose." He muttered half to himself, as he turned back to his desk slightly, rifling through his papers for his cousin's letter.
"No time for what?' Flora asked in confusion.
"Dilly-dallying, delaying, hanging about." Jarvis exclaimed triumphantly as he extracted the letter and pulled out his own writing paper at the same time. "I will write immediately and impart the good news to my family!"
"Oh…my" Flora murmured, slightly concerned about the haste with which the butler wanted to do things, especially as he had already started writing.
"No time like the present after all." Jarvis muttered, glancing up briefly from his letter at the housekeeper who was still standing in his office looking rather anxious.
"Of course….yes, I'll leave you to write then." Flora replied with a slight frown, making her way over to the door. "I can leave you to tell the Earl and staff as well can't I?"
"Yes, yes" Jarvis replied distractedly, waving a hand vaguely in the housekeeper's direction.
"Good day Mr Jarvis then." Flora retorted, slightly annoyed at the butler's lack of attention to her in light of her decision as she marched out the door. It was only when he heard the door shut behind her that the housekeeper's last words registered and he suddenly paused in his writing. Just what on earth was he going to tell the rest of the staff!
---
The next few days passed in somewhat of a blur for Flora Ryan. Despite the butler's preoccupation when she had told him she would go along with his plan, he had in fact been paying far more attention to her recently and consequently her doubts about the whole situation had begun to fade. Things between them weren't quite as comfortable as they once had been but they were certainly less tense and awkward than they had been these past few months, even since he had returned from Cumberland. She still couldn't quite believe she had agreed to the butler's somewhat ludicrous plan, it all seemed a bit surreal at times. She was to pretend to be engaged to Mr Jarvis for some time and then at some point or other, this would land them with a sizeable sum of money, half of which would be going to her and her life in service could be over if she so wished it.
It was that part of the plan that Flora was trying not to think about too much, what would happen if it all went according to Jarvis's plan. She would be left where? Admittedly with money, so theoretically she could do whatever she wanted to do. But just what did she want to do? Mr Jarvis presumably wouldn't be hanging around waiting for her, he probably had plans of his own and certainly wouldn't want her tagging along. A life in service was all she had known for so long and very soon it would be no more.
However it was not these thoughts that occupied the housekeeper as she made her way from the dining room one evening to the butler's office. Mr Jarvis had appeared more distracted than usual for most of the day and just before dinner had muttered hastily in her ear that he needed to speak to her once dinner had finished.
Wondering what had come up that would lead to Mr Jarvis being so distracted he even refused his favourite lemon sponge pudding, Flora knocked on the office door, entering on the butler's command and shutting the door behind her.
"Mr Jarvis."
"Ahh Mrs Ryan….thank you for dropping by."
"Is everything alright Mr Jarvis?" Flora asked as she sat down in the chair opposite the butler.
Frowning slightly, Jarvis waited until the housekeeper was sat before taking his seat again. "I had a letter our…..arrangement." He began slowly, fumbling in his jacket pocket before bringing out a slightly crumpled letter.
"Nothing too worrying I hope?"
"No…no…" Jarvis replied hesitantly "That is, there has been no change of plan." He added, looking up to catch the housekeeper's reaction but her expression gave nothing away. "However" he continued "my family have taken rather enthusiastically to the news of my 'engagement'. So much so in fact, that some of them are visiting Bristol soon and are now planning to take a detour down to Taplows to meet us both."
"Oh my goodness."
"Quite, Mrs Ryan." Jarvis said dryly "A week on Friday if I am not mistaken." he added, looking down at the letter to confirm it.
"But…but….what are we going to do? We have to meet them surely?"
"Yes" Jarvis sighed "There is no way we can get round it. If I reply saying we are busy then they'll probably turn up here at Taplows, and imagine the mess that would cause."
"Why…yes, but…" Flora murmured.
"There's no buts…it's the only thing we can do" Jarvis cut in, scanning the letter once more "A week Friday….that's your afternoon off isn't it" he added half to himself "and well, I've got errands for the Earl in town that I can postpone until then…."
"So…so we meet them….next week?"
Turning back round slightly to face the housekeeper, Jarvis took in her slightly more than apprehensive expression "Don't worry Mrs Ryan it will all be fine. I'm sure they won't want to stay for very long." He said reassuringly.
"But….but what are we going to tell them?"
"What do you mean Mrs Ryan?" Jarvis asked, frowning slightly in confusion "I have already told them that we are…errr….engaged."
"Yes, yes….but what else do we tell them?" Flora asked, sighing slightly in exasperation when the butler still stared back at her blankly "I mean…they'll want to know about…about us."
"Us?"
"Yes about us, how we met, how…"
"Well that's fairly self-evident."
"How long we have been engaged," Flora continued, glaring slightly at the butler's interruption "what our plans are after we marry, where we will go after Taplows…."
"Ahh yes, thank you Mrs Ryan." Jarvis cut her off hastily, not quite meeting her gaze.
"We can't just turn up for tea and hope they swallow any fancy story we happen to come up with on the day."
"Yes, I get the point thank you Mrs Ryan." Jarvis retorted, annoyed that he hadn't really thought about this before. "Well there isn't really any way out of it. We still have to meet them….we'll just have to come up with a convincing story beforehand. We've got plenty of time still." he added, glancing up the housekeeper briefly.
"What kind of convincing story?" Flora asked slightly anxiously, wondering just what the butler had in mind.
"Oh…you know….how we met…what our plans are…as you were saying a moment ago eh." The butler mumbled, studiously avoiding the housekeeper's gaze as he kept his eyes firmly on is desk, appearing to be avidly searching for something under all his paperwork.
"So…shall we…I mean, do you have some free time now to…?" Flora asked somewhat awkwardly, twisting her hands in her lap as she watched the butler nervously.
Looking up from his desk, Jarvis twisted his head round slightly to lock eyes with the housekeeper before turning round properly in his chair "Yes I suppose we should…" He finally said, glancing back down at the letter in front of him.
Getting up from his chair, the butler paced over to the window, glancing longingly at the cabinet where he knew a half full bottle of brandy was waiting. A drink would definitely make this conversation a whole lot less awkward but he wasn't quite sure how much Flora Ryan would approve.
"Ahem…well how we met is…as I said…no need to embellish on that one."
"Yes."
"And our plans for after the ….the wedding…?" Jarvis muttered, barely glancing up at the housekeeper, who had herself in fact gone a rather obvious shade of pink.
"You have your house….down in Eastbourne do you not?" Flora asked suddenly after a moment or two of awkward silence.
"Yes I do." Jarvis muttered awkwardly, fiddling with some of the loose paint on the windowsill, wanting to move on from this topic of conversation that had caused so many problems between them before "Do you mean we could…..that's where we could say we were going?"
"It would make it simpler wouldn't it?"
"It certainly would." Jarvis replied softly, glancing up at the housekeeper who was now looking rather anxiously over at him. "So that's easy enough…..and our story before then…" he added "Oh well I'm sure we can come up with something over the next few days, we have enough time after all." He finished hastily, on seeing the housekeeper blush even further and wanting to end this conversation as rapidly as possible.
Chiding himself mentally once again as he watched Flora fiddle with the loose threads on the seat of her chair, he really should have foreseen these kinds of complications in his plan. They would also have to somehow overcome this awkwardness between them whenever either one of them brought up the fact that they were pretending to be engaged. In all fairness though, he thought, it wasn't the most ordinary of situations to find oneself in, and given their history of animosity over money matters, it was bound to make things a little awkward and strange to begin with. Hopefully however, they could get over this, or it would make tea with the relatives a very interesting experience next week.
"Yes…yes I'm sure we can." Flora mumbled "Was there anything else you needed to discuss Mr Jarvis?" she asked, as she made to stand up, also wanting to remove herself from this rather awkward situation.
"No I think that was everything for now….I'll write again to say that we would be delighted to meet them next Friday in Tappleton then."
"I look forward to it Mr Jarvis." Flora replied, but wishing she had phrased it slightly better as she caught the butler wince slightly at her words before nodding good night "Good night Mr Jarvis." Flora muttered back as she made her way back out of the door.
---
Luckily however for both the butler and housekeeper, the next few encounters they had over their upcoming 'engagement' were markedly less awkward, Jarvis for one having decided to put aside any embarrassment and try to treat the whole situation as a business matter. Flora being only too happy to follow the butler's example and to try and be as professional as possible. One advantage as far as Flora was concerned however, was that the two of them were now spending far more time together; they had spent the past three evenings in a row after dinner in Jarvis's office. At first they tried to sort out a plausible story for their engagement history that wouldn't rouse the family suspicions immediately.
Jarvis had mentioned however that they had better make sure they both knew a little bit about the other's family and background just in case, and so the whole thing had become rather sidetracked into a very pleasant general conversation, the like of which they hadn't really had since the butler had returned from Italy, over a year ago.
However this sudden tendency for the butler and housekeeper to hole themselves up together at every available opportunity had not gone unnoticed by some of the rest of the staff and consequently there were some interesting rumours regarding this circulating both the lower and upper servants. The much pleasanter atmosphere between the butler and housekeeper as well as the rather genial mood of both, particularly the butler, had also been noted.
The following Friday came around very quickly indeed and before she knew it, Flora found herself sitting next to the butler in the carriage as it gently rumbled down the lane towards the town. Taking a deep breath to try and dispel some of the nervousness that had settled in her stomach, Flora glanced quickly over at the rather taciturn butler, wondering if he was as anxious as she was about their upcoming encounter. Looking away from the butler, she glanced down to where she was unconsciously clasping and unclasping her gloved hands in her lap. If she looked closely at her left hand, she could see the outline of a new ring that now graced her fourth finger.
That had certainly been a little surprise last night. She had called by the butler's office just before she was about to retire for the night, just to check the arrangements for the following afternoon and had found the man in question sat at his desk as usual. They had exchanged the usual pleasantries and Flora had just been about to say her goodnight and make her way to bed when the butler had called her back into the room. He had fumbled around in his desk drawer for a moment or so before pulling out a little velvet black box……
"I've been meaning to give this to you…." The butler muttered, not meeting her eye as he flicked open the little box to make sure the contents were still in place "Here" he added, holding out the open box to the rather stunned housekeeper. "If we're going to do this properly…"
Taking a couple of steps towards the butler, Flora hesitantly reached out her hand for the small box, bringing it nearer her face so she could better study the delicate ring that lay nestled inside. Stifling a small gasp as she took in the simple but elegant engagement ring, she couldn't help but wonder how much this had cost him and where on earth he had got it from, she was sure nowhere in Tappleton sold anything such as this.
"Ohh Mr Jarvis, you really shouldn't have…I mean…"
"It was my grandmother's" Jarvis cut in quietly "My mother sent it to me a few years ago, before she passed away. I think she meant it as a hint for me to get married." He added, a wry smile flashing across his face briefly as he met the housekeeper's eye for a moment.
"Oh…well thank you all the same. It's a beautiful ring, I'll take great care with it." Flora replied softly, closing the lid on the box and holding it firmly in her hand.
Nodding in acknowledgement, the butler turned back slightly in his chair towards his desk "I don't think there is anything more we need to do about tomorrow then…other than pull off the happily engaged couple….we should be fine." He added sardonically, yet missing the housekeeper's slight wince at his words as he searched one of the piles of paper on his desk for something.
"Of course Mr Jarvis" Flora muttered, edging towards the door "Goodnight."
"Good night" Jarvis replied, nodding in her direction as she closed the door behind him…..
Shaking her head slightly as she came back to the present, Flora suddenly realised that they had arrived in Tappleton and that the carriage was drawing to a halt.
"Here we are then." Jarvis muttered, more to himself as the carriage stopped near the main square. Waiting for the door to be opened, he quickly swung himself out before assisting Flora down. Checking his pocket watch, he frowned slightly before offering the housekeeper his arm. "I think we should be just about on time."
Clutching somewhat nervously onto the butler's arm as they made their way across to one of the more respectable local inns, Flora glanced surreptitiously around to check that no one she knew was about. That was something they could do without after all, someone spotting the two of them together and drawing the wrong conclusions.
Walking into the inn, Jarvis led them both through to a drawing room towards the rear of the building, away from the somewhat noisier patrons in the front rooms. As the butler held the door open for her, Flora cautiously stepped into the room, pausing slightly to wait for Walter as the small group of people sat around the fireplace immediately looked up from their conversation upon their arrival.
Making their way properly into the room and shutting the door behind them, the pair made their way round the various tea tables to the fireplace. A rather portly gentleman with a slight receding hairline stood up as they approached, placing his teacup on the table beside him as he did so.
"Good afternoon!" One of the gentlemen greeted cheerfully "Walter Corey is it?" he asked earnestly, holding out his hand to Jarvis, who nodded in acknowledgement "I'm George Riley, your late cousin Elspeth's husband."
"Delighted to meet you at last."
"And you too" Mr Riley replied jovially "and this must be your lovely fiancée!' he added, turning towards Flora.
"Yes….May I introduce Miss Flora Ryan, my fiancée." Jarvis replied seriously, relinquishing Flora's arm.
"It's lovely to meet you." Flora murmured softly, holding out her hand as Mr Riley took it before gallantly bowing over it.
"Charmed to meet you as well" he replied before turning to the rest of his companions "And may I present my wife, Mrs Susan Riley…."
"Walter Corey" Jarvis murmured as he took the lady's hand, who smiled back at him.
"And this is your other cousin.." George said to Jarvis as he introduced the other lady, a slightly built woman of about fifty-something "My late wife's sister, Mary…and her husband Henry Osborn." He added as Jarvis and Flora moved to greet the other couple. "They were visiting Bath for the month and so decided to join us on our little trip down to see you."
"Well this is all very exciting…" Mr Riley enthused once all the introductions had been made "please do sit down" he added, gesturing to the chaise nearest the fire "I'll ring for some more tea."
"Thank you." Jarvis murmured as he and Flora walked over to the chaise before perching somewhat awkwardly on it. "How was your journey?" he enquired politely once all the others had taken their seats as well.
"Ohh perfectly pleasant, nothing to complain about really."
Polite small talk carried on for the next few minutes until a maid came through with a tea tray just as there was a slight awkward lull in the conversation.
"Mr Riley" Flora said softly, breaking the silence once everyone had been served their tea cup "You have two daughters do you not, did they accompany you on your trip?"
"Yes, yes I do" George replied, a smile breaking out at the mention of his girls "My little cherubs went off to explore this delightful little town earlier with their governess. Hopefully they'll be back before you leave…"
"Yes that would be lovely" Flora murmured, taking a sip of tea as silence descended once more.
"So…what about the two of you?" Mary suddenly asked conspiratorially, causing Flora and Jarvis to look up anxiously "Are you planning on having many children?"
Unfortunately Mary's timing couldn't have been worse for the butler who had just taken a large sip of tea and was now spluttering loudly as he desperately tried to swallow the tea instead of spit it back out into the cup, much to the surprise of the others in the room.
"Ohh well we're….we're not sure." Flora managed to stutter, patting the butler on the back as his choking subsided slightly "We're just happy to wait and see, aren't we Walter?"
"Yes…. quite." a somewhat red-faced Jarvis managed to gasp out after a few moments.
"How long have the two of you been engaged then?" Mary asked next, obviously not content to the leave the interrogation just yet.
"Just over four months now" Jarvis replied, glancing across at Flora as he did so for reassurance of their pre-arranged story, but colouring slightly as the subject of children still hadn't quite disappeared yet. "We were planning on a wedding next summer but then when we heard….about the will, we decided to bring the wedding forward slightly."
"Ohh won't that be just lovely" Mrs Riley gushed "Georgie and I married last Christmas and it was just wonderful…..snow and everything, so picturesque wasn't it dear."
"Yes, yes, quite lovely." George agreed, reaching out to pat his wife's hand affectionately.
Luckily for both Jarvis and Flora, the rest of tea passed relatively easily with talk turning to the local area, Taplows and just away from the particulars of the happy couple. However it wasn't quite over and done with, as once tea had ended Mr Riley then suggested that they all took a refreshing turn about the local park that backed onto the tavern. Nodding their agreement, as both felt it would be rather rude to take an abrupt leave now, Jarvis and Flora followed the others out the door of the tavern and along to the park gates.
Walking along the path, Flora fell naturally into step with Mary and her husband, Mr Osborn, while Jarvis walked a little way behind with Mr Riley and his wife.
"Well Walter" George muttered once they were a little way along the path "I must say, if I wasn't very happily married myself then I would be very envious!" He joked, squeezing his wife's hand affectionately as he did so. "You certainly didn't mention what a wonderful woman your Flora is."
"Ahh well, I…" Jarvis muttered awkwardly, pulling at his collar to try and loosen it slightly.
"She's quite a dear….and very attractive I must say eh!" George added, giving Jarvis a knowing wink as the butler smiled weakly back. "Kept that one quiet didn't you!"
"Ahem well I didn't really think it was pro…"
"Oh George stop teasing the poor man" Susan admonished her husband as the butler went an indignant shade of pink "I think you're a very lucky man Mr Corey, the two of you make such a perfect couple." She added consolingly "Don't they George?"
"Oh yes, definitely. And you seem to get along so well already…how long have you known each other for?"
"Umm…about five years now." Jarvis muttered, attempting a smile but not really managing one.
"Ahh you can certainly tell that." Susan replied confidently.
"Can you now."
"Oh of course I can!" Susan exclaimed "You're just very natural together….oh and the way Flora looks at you…."
"What do you mean?' Jarvis asked sharply, unsettled by the knowing glances that were being exchanged between husband and wife.
"Oh you know what I mean" Mrs Riley explained patiently "Those little glances, eyes meeting across the table, private jokes shared that no one else realises. All those things that make it more exciting!"
"You notice a lot Mrs Riley." Jarvis replied politely, not knowing quite what else to say and thinking the woman had clearly read far too much into a simple conversation over afternoon tea.
"Women's intuition" Mrs Riley replied seriously with a knowing nod "Oh and personal experience of course dear!" she added affectionately to her husband who smiled back. "It's just nice to see a couple so in tune with one another….an so obviously in…."
However whatever Mrs Riley was going to say was cut off by a rather shrill interruption from Mary Osborn, but if Jarvis thought he was off the hook from the interrogation squad then he couldn't have been more wrong.
"Oh Mr Corey" Mary called out as the group in front all turned round to face them "You are an old romantic aren't you!"
Glancing over at Flora to try and ascertain what she could have said to have sparked this one off, the butler was just met with a rather embarrassed and apologetic look from the housekeeper. Turning his attention back to Mary Osborn, Jarvis gritted his teeth slightly, preparing himself for whatever schmaltzy attack on his character was coming next.
"We've just been hearing from Flora how you proposed!"
"Have you now?" Jarvis replied as pleasantly as he could manage, resisting the urge to glare over at his housekeeper while at the same time cursing himself for not thinking that this topic could come up today and wondering just what story Flora had come up with when put upon the spot.
"Oh yes…it sounded ever so romantic…rearranging your days off, taking a picnic with you, managing to sneak out some champagne – you naughty thing! Then a walk down by the lake and finally proposing by the gazebo." Mary sighed dramatically "It must have been such a lovely surprise for you Flora dear?"
"Yes, a total surprise in fact." Jarvis cut in dryly, raising an eyebrow and looking pointedly over at Flora who seemed to be doing her best to look anywhere but at him.
"Oh Mr Corey, don't be cross with her for telling me" Mary interposed quickly, sensing the brewing tenseness between the happy couple "I simply insisted I had to know, it was all my fault really, be cross with me instead." She trilled, nudging Flora conspiratorially.
"Of course not Mrs Osborn" Jarvis replied gentlemanly, bowing slightly in the lady's direction "You had every right to be curious."
"Good, good, well I'm sure you two can make up properly later when you've some privacy!" Mary replied, with a knowing wink at Flora, her smile increasing as the housekeeper went a rather bright shade of red and the butler seemed to find the flower beds to the side of the path suddenly most fascinating. "I'll stop monopolising your lovely fiancée now" Mary said, unhooking her arm from Flora's before literally walking her over to Walter. "Shall we walk down to the pond before heading back?" she added, looking round the rest of the group as everyone nodded their agreement.
Taking Walter's arm as they all turned to carry on; Flora studiously avoided the butler's eye as the pair walked on in a somewhat awkward silence listening to the chatter of the others. As they walked, Flora mentally chided herself for letting herself be backed into the situation of talking about proposals. Mary had been very persistent but she could have fobbed her off with just a simple story of Walter proposing after dinner, but no, she had to let all her foolish fantasies come out, stupidly thinking that it would never get back to Walter. God knows just what he was thinking of her now.
Eventually looking up from her silent introspection, Flora realised they had reached the park gates again already.
"Well this is us; you'll be heading back into town to get your carriage now won't you?" Mr Riley asked of the butler who bowed his head in reply. "Well I think I can speak for my wife and myself at least when I say we have had a very pleasant afternoon." He continued earnestly, looking round at his wife who smiled her agreement "It was good to finally meet you Walter, I'll write soon and give you more of the details" he said, shaking the butler's hand "And such a pleasure to meet you as well Flora."
Once all goodbyes had been made, with promises, or threats as Jarvis was more inclined to see them, to attend the upcoming nuptials assiduously made by all, the butler and housekeeper finally made their way back across the town square to where the carriage was waiting for them, both inwardly heaving a sigh of relief that it was all over.
"I think that all went quite well considering…" Flora murmured nervously after a few minutes, breaking the slightly awkward and tense silence that had descended on the carriage.
"Yes" Jarvis replied tersely "Although the nerve of that woman, inviting herself to the bloody wedding eh." he added a few moments later, glaring out of the window at the thought of it.
"Yes…she was a bit of a character wasn't she." Flora murmured diplomatically, thinking back to some of Mary Osborn's inspired questions that afternoon.
"Character! That woman could talk the hind leg off a donkey!" Jarvis snorted "Her husband should have put a stop to it, all those impertinent questions she kept asking. How many children do we want…how ridic….I mean, it is quite absurd to think it is any of her business." He hastily corrected himself as he saw Flora begin to frown.
"She was just quite excited I think." Flora tried to explain softly.
"Hmph. Silly, flighty people. Can quite see why we cut all contact with that side of the family now." Jarvis huffed, sitting back in his seat while still frowning out at the passing countryside.
"Yes of course." Flora agreed, trying to hide a smile at the grumpy expression on the butler's face.
"Honestly, the way she spoke sometimes, it was like I had wandered into a conversation with some of the kitchen maids" Jarvis continued to rant moodily, oblivious to the growing smile on the housekeeper's face "God knows how her husband copes…Ohhh Mr Corey, you naughty thing, stealing that champagne, what would the earl say…."
Breaking off suddenly, Jarvis looked round in surprise at the housekeeper who hadn't been able to smother her giggles at the butler's rather accurate impression of the unfortunate Mrs Osborn.
"Mr Jarvis that was not a very nice thing to say." Flora reprimanded him, her prim tone undermined by the smile that still played around her lips.
"I'm very sorry Mrs Ryan" Jarvis replied in mock sincerity, bowing his head slightly "I will act with due respect and courtesy from now on."
"I'm glad to hear it!" Flora retorted good-humouredly, feeling her insides flutter slightly as the butler flashed her an amused smile.
A few moments later and the roof of Taplows could be seen from the carriage window as they came round the bend in the lane. Jumping down quickly, Jarvis helped the housekeeper down from the carriage once they had arrived back in the courtyard a few minutes later.
"Thank you very much for giving up your afternoon off Mrs Ryan" Jarvis said softly, as they walked back into the house together. "I appreciate it a great deal."
"It was no trouble" Flora murmured in reply "It was a very pleasant afternoon."
"It was indeed." Jarvis agreed "I'll see you at dinner then Mrs Ryan." He said softly as the housekeeper made her way up the stairs to her room.
Making his way back to his office, Jarvis was just about to open the door when the chef called out to him. "Ahh the happy couple are back I see!"
Glaring back at the smirking chef, Jarvis muttered "I'll see you at dinner Mr Kraus!" before disappearing into his office to try and get back to some semblance of normality and routine after his rather surreal afternoon.
---