The next morning the plane landed shortly after Alice was done with her breakfast. After claiming their baggage and getting through customs, they found their driver holding a sign saying 'Carleton' with a porter already waiting beside them. The driver introduced himself as soon as he saw them approaching, apparently able recognize her and her brother. They boarded a shiny silver Rolls-Royce that Alice suspected was of a classic design. She grinned, thinking that Ethan would probably have been salivating over the car.
They drove a few hours through a light snow until they finally reached their grandfather's residence. The first thing she noticed as they drove up was the snow-frosted, pyramid shaped trees that revealed a grey stone mansion as they drew closer. They pulled up to the steps that led to the main entryway, which were closer to the size of the whole patio at her house, and they got out of the car while the driver took care of their baggage. She was still staring up at the grand house with big eyes, blinking snowflakes from her eyelashes, when her brother gave her a friendly nudge forward.
Alice let out a sigh, thinking that perhaps she was behaving like a country bumpkin, and looked over at Hieronymous who had also not moved far from the car. Her husband looked…well, a little wary. Abruptly, he came to himself, offered her his arm, and then they followed Clark toward the grand wooden doors.
Of course Hieronymous might be a little nervous. After all, Grandfather knew everything and his mind would not be erased if anyone messed up. He had only one chance to make a good first impression.
If she had thought the outside of the house fancy, the inside looked as if it had been plucked out of the Tudor era. Carved wood decorated the lower half of the walls that led up to a vaulted ceiling, and the windows were of stained glass. A fireplace larger than her bed took up most of one wall, and she was almost afraid to touch the elegant furnishings thinking they had to be museum pieces.
A maid took their coats, bobbing as she curtseyed, and it was not a moment afterward she heard a familiar voice. "Alice, Clark, it's wonderful to see you," their grandfather said, smiling as he came down the stairs. She smiled back at him, let go of her husband's arm, and reflexively crossed the carpet and gave the man she had only met once a hug. As the hug ended, he put her at arm's length, looking her over. "Alice, you look even more like your grandmother than when I saw you this summer." He was smiling, but Alice noticed the small glimmer of tears in his eyes.
Clark got a handshake and a slap on the back. She guessed her brother was just grateful that their grandfather did not ruffle his hair as their foster-grandpa often had done.
"Grandfather, this is my husband Hieronymous Grabiner," Alice said, and her husband came forward, and they shook hands.
"Pleased to meet you Lord Grabiner," her grandfather said.
"Just Hieronymous if you please, Lord Carleton," her husband replied. "And thank you for your gracious invitation. I was most delighted to receive it."
Her grandfather nodded. "Most certainly; you are family now. I am to understand from Alice's letters that she decided to keep you."
Alice's grin was almost sheepish. Her grandfather's tone seemed cheerful enough that it did not indicate comparison of her husband with a stray dog, in spite of his choice of words. For some reason, this statement appeared to amuse her husband and he almost smiled.
"It may be a better description to say that I could not escape her," Hieronymous replied.
"Do you wish to?" her grandfather asked, but his tone remained jocular.
"She has cured me of that particular insanity," her husband replied. Clark chortled from beside her, and Alice had to smile as well.
"And yet I still have more to work on," Alice said, taking her husband's hand.
His left eyebrow rose as he said, "Do you wish me totally sane, wife?"
"Of course not," she said with a grin. "I simply plan to install a few new insanities if I see fit to do so."
"You'd better watch out," Clark piped up. "She does that sort of thing to people unintentionally. I'm not sure what will happen if she tries to do it on purpose."
"And I suppose that is reason you claim is responsible for the state that you are in?" she asked her brother.
Their grandfather laughed, and saved Clark from having to reply. "Lunch should be ready in about a half-hour, if you want to go to your rooms to freshen up. After that, would you prefer to rest or be shown the house?"
"The tour," Clark immediately replied. "I have been sitting down long enough for today."
Neither she nor her husband had any objections, so the butler showed them up to their rooms. Their grandfather's master bedroom was on the ground floor, but apparently the rest of the bedrooms were upstairs. They reached Clark's bedroom first, which had a nice view of the gardens she had noticed in the front of the house. Her bedroom, as well as her husband's, were further down the hallway and faced a courtyard with a pond, and she could see a greenhouse that appeared to be attached to the lower floor. Their rooms were joined with a door, but they both had their own private bathrooms. She suspected the arrangement of the rooms had been made for the benefit of married, magical couples who would want both privacy and access to each other.
Alice noted that although she frequented Hieronymous' rooms at school, this would be the closest she had actually slept to him—with the exception of the plane which was too public to count. She had mentioned in her letters that they were keeping their relationship chaste for the present, since her grandfather had indirectly asked under the guise of making room arrangements. It occurred to her to wonder if her grandfather had a way to monitor if they went into each other's rooms for any length of time, or if he was just showing an uncommon amount of trust. She suspected the former rather than the later, and she was just enough like her twin siblings to wonder if she should play with the situation a little. She was also unlike them enough to immediately realize that it was a bad idea.
The butler also introduced her to Mrs. Liza Jameson, who would be her maid while she was here. She was a pretty, plump middle aged woman. She had apparently already unpacked her suitcase for her, and led her to the closet which contained the wardrobe her grandfather had produced for her stay here. "Are you planning on staying in today my lady?" Liza asked, opening the wardrobe.
"Yes," Alice answered, wondering if a gentleman's gentleman had been produced for her brother and husband as well, and what exactly they did. At least, men never needed someone to help them with their hair or had clothing that buttoned down the back.
"Then one of the witch styles would be perfect," Liza said. "I had your measurements and your grandfather told me that you had your grandmother's coloring, but I would be pleased to make any adjustments you might need or want."
Alice suspected her maid had some skill in using Black magic to alter clothing. Since she knew nothing about witch fashions herself, she let the maid pick and help her into a dark green long velvet dress with small buttons down the back, and delicate lace around the collar and at the ends of the sleeves. A petticoat, long stockings, and soft black leather shoes completed the ensemble. Liza did have to adjust the shoes so they would fit correctly, but that was it. She had the feeling that the maid wanted to do more than simply pull the brush through her hair, but it was time for lunch.
Alice stepped back, looking herself over in the mirror quickly before leaving through the door. It felt nice to look like a fully-grown witch instead of a schoolgirl, and her curves filling out more during the last year had helped on that front. She also noticed the approving glance that her husband gave her as he offered her his arm, and the butler led them down to the informal dining room with Clark trailing behind them.
After a pleasant, light lunch their grandfather led them around the house. The downstairs featured the sitting room by the entrance that they had already seen, a library that Hieronymous seemed itching to explore further, a formal dining room, the master suite, and a doorway that led to the greenhouse she had seen from the window. Upstairs, in addition to guest rooms, contained both her grandfather's study and his laboratory. There was a third floor, which they did not see, that contained the nursery and the servants' quarters. They did not go outside, but apparently in addition to the gardens and the pond, there was a stable that contained a few horses that were kept for riding. Alice decided that she would have to check that out sometime, and then sighed thinking how much Nancy would have loved to be riding a horse with her. Nancy loved horses as much as Ethan loved cars.
By the time their grandfather was done with showing them the house and recounting various histories of some of the more interesting artifacts, it was time for afternoon tea. They returned to the sitting room to find that a large Christmas tree had been delivered, and boxes of ornaments had been opened and placed near the tree.
"Since it will be Christmas Eve tomorrow, I was wondering if you wished to decorate the tree tonight, or if you had any additional Christmas shopping to do," Grandfather said.
"I have a little still," Alice admitted, and Clark echoed her. Clark had already received his present from her, but she still had to find something for Hieronymous. During Thanksgiving break, she and Clark had raided the large box of unsorted photos in the attic, and took some of the doubles to make a photo album for their grandfather. Ellen had actually helped her put it together, being more artistic than she was herself. Clark had maintained that acting as the guard during the 'photo raid' was sufficient for his side of the contribution, and as his handwriting was illegible as that of most physicians, she had let it go at that.
"Mrs. Jameson can escort you to the local mage mall tonight if you wish," Grandfather said.
"I believe that I have everything that I require, but if I might avail myself of your library..?" Hieronymous asked.
"Consider it at your disposal," Grandfather replied, and her husband nodded his thanks.
"While I plan to be free every evening, and completely free for the next few days," her grandfather started, "I will have to work some mornings and afternoons. Is there anything special you wish to do while here so I know what arrangements to make?"
"Could we go to a show while we're here, like a classical concert or play?" Clark said after a moment.
"Certainly," Grandfather said. "I maintain a box at a local opera house; I shall see what is playing. For the days I am gone, I shall leave the car and the chauffeur at your disposal if you wish to play the tourist."
Clark nodded and grinned. "That would be nice. Ethan is going to be so jealous…about the car at least. He doesn't care much for classical theatre or music, but classic cars are an entirely different story for him."
Their grandfather sighed. "I wish that you all were here this Christmas, but I shall have to satisfy myself with having only two of my grandchildren and one in-law here with me. It is more than I have had for years."
"That reminds me," Alice said, to distract her grandfather from the sad thought of not having his family together as much as it was pertinent. "Mom thinks that you are on Dad's side of the family. Dad knows you aren't related to him, but thinks that you are repaying his father for something he did during the Cold War. Apparently he talked to Grandpa about it, but Grandpa said the event was still classified."
Her grandfather blinked. She guessed that was his equivalent of most other people's gaping astonishment. "He must be remarkably resistant to mind altering effects of magic. I know he was a Navy Seal, and normals trained to resist torture have also proved resistant to magical mental effects before."
"Is Petunia aware?" her husband asked, and Alice nodded assent.
"Does this mean that magic can't alter his mind?" she asked, and her grandfather shook his head.
"Not exactly, it does mean that a very skilled White mage will be needed if there is anything major that he will need to accept or forget," he said. "I should go back in my journals to see what the event in question was, in case the subject comes up. It may have been fortunate that I chose to involve myself in such events."
"A friend of Grandpa's followed the money trail from our tuition," Clark remarked. "They knew that someone was trying to hide it, but were still able to link it to you."
"In other words, my staff needs a talking to after the holidays," their grandfather sighed. "It would not do to alter the flow of your tuition now, or if that friend is still monitoring they would notice the change and would think that there is something to hide."
Alice shrugged. "Probably so, people in the intelligence business would be paranoid enough to check a second time."
Clark frowned. "After I'm done with school, I assume I'm coming here so you can start teaching me. How would we explain that one to Dad? I mean, if you're active in normal politics he's going to be able to find you with a simple google search and if it says something about me being your grandson…."
After considering for a moment, their grandfather answered, "I'll just have to tell him that you made a good impression on me while here, and I decided to adopt you as my heir lacking a son of my own. Hopefully that will cover the issue. He should not object to such an improvement in your fortunes."
"He would if he thought that was not what Clark wanted with his life," Alice interjected. "Which means you will have to develop a sudden interest in the UK and its politics, Clark."
"Let me see…" Clark said, tapping a finger against his chin. "Yep, I think I can do that."
"Your first step towards world domination," Alice said with a smile.
Their grandfather looked quizzically at Hieronymous, who shrugged as if to say that this was normal behavior, but he did not understand it either.