“I wouldn’t call them servants.”
“You have a housekeeper, caretakers for your
property, and a caregiver for your father.”
“Wait a minute. The housekeeper doesn’t live
there, nothing unusual about having her come in. Well, she does do
the cooking. We engage a lawn service like everyone else in the
neighborhood. True, we could do without the full time gardener.
Mother hired him for all the flowers she was busy with toward the
end of her life. He’s old now and has been with us for many years.
We don’t need him, yet we’d never let him go. Father offered him
retirement at half pay to go with his Social Security, but he wants
to work, doesn’t know where else to go, or what else he’d do.
“And father needs Amelia, his full-time
caregiver, she lives there. Thank heavens we’re fortunate enough to
be able to afford her, I realize that. I don’t think of them as
servants, like they’re standing waiting for us to ring a bell.”
“I guess it doesn’t sound too extravagant.
How is your father?”
“He’s doing fine, considering he’s in an
advanced stage of Alzheimer’s. He seems to remember you. Look, I’m
grateful we have no money worries, and I’m not apologizing for it.
Our family worked hard and was fortunate in business. Do you think
such an unpretentious lifestyle intimidates Judy?”
“I suspect that it might. She has to believe
she’ll fit in. A woman picks up on things. She has a degree from
Florida State and should make Detective some day. So, she has a lot
going for her. Even so, she wasn’t brought up in private schools
with studies abroad in Paris and debutante balls. And she doesn’t
buy her clothes at Nordstrom’s.”
“I’ll cover her with clothing beyond her
dreams.”
“Absolutely do not use that approach!” She
wagged a finger at him. “She doesn’t want you to dress her up and
have her meet the Queen of England.”
“Come on now. We definitely are not society
types, and we only occasionally did the country club bit. All that
was previous generations.” Now Sandy had him worried. “I’m truly
fond of her. I don’t want to screw up this one.”
She took his remark personally and wondered
if he meant he’d screwed up wooing and not winning her. “Judy’s
already fond of you. My guess is she loves you. She needs to get
comfortable with such a major change in lifestyle. And sure, you
definitely could screw it up. She might take a chance for herself,
but she’s not going to take a chance with her daughter.”
“You think she actually cares for me? I’ll
take what you said to heart. Thanks. I’ll watch it.”
“Okay, now I’ll take you back out to the old
hag’s apartment to pick up your car. It’s parked in the back,
right? Where did you leave your coat and tie, up in her
apartment?”
“Of course not, they’re in the back
seat.”
She remembered the way to the apartment
building from her unpleasant meeting there with Claudia. She turned
into the alley that ran behind. Martin was pleased to see his car
still sitting back there untouched where he had left it.
She pulled up behind his car. “So, you were
going to tail Claudia, that’s cute.”
“That’s what I was going for, cuteness.” He
smirked.
“No, actually it wasn’t a bad idea. We could
both spend some time surveilling Claudia. Do you want to help
me?”
“You are asking a man who just got badly
burned doing just that.”
“We’ll talk about it.” She patted him on the
knee. “I did a lot of surveillance in my field investigator job in
Philly. Once I spent an entire night in an alley behind a smelly
dumpster staking out some bad guy. You found a good spot here near
these bushes. Anyone coming from downtown would come in the
opposite way and would never notice you here.”
“Let’s get out of here. The old hag might
show up, and Claudia could come home at any minute. See you
tomorrow.” He got out of her car.
“Just a minute, Martin. You got me thinking.
If I wanted, would you dress me up and have me meet the Queen of
England? You almost certainly could arrange it somehow, couldn’t
you? I’ll just bet you could.”
After smiling and waving goodbye, he unlocked
his car, and sat thinking of the Queen. The thought took him back
to a summer almost five years earlier on his last trip to London.
He hadn’t met the Queen—although she had smiled at him. At least he
thought she meant her smile for him.
On that occasion, he had tagged along after
his father who was among the barristers attending a seminar on
European law under the auspices of King’s College in London. After
a meeting one evening, they were having drinks in the Strand Palace
Hotel lounge when unexpectedly joined by an old friend of his
father’s who happened to be a former justice of the UK Supreme
Court.
Many who had attended that law conference
noticed and spoke to the retired judge, slightly bowing, and
addressing him as “Your Honor.” During that interesting evening, he
expressed regrets that had he known father and son were coming to
London, he’d have attempted to obtain invitations to the Queen’s
Garden Party to be held the next day. As the former Supreme Court
judge left, he again apologized for failing to get them admitted to
the Queen’s affair.
His father wanted to retire early and left
for the Savoy Hotel across the street. Martin stayed on and moved
from the table to sit at the bar for a Martini nightcap. The bar
was beginning to empty. The two barmaids, both in formal black and
white, were talking together. The bartender who served him was an
attractive young woman with a pleasant manner.
He thanked her for the drink and just to be
cordial observed, “Americans all over the place.”
“You are not in short supply.” She tossed him
a polite smile as she left to attend to a signaling customer. She
returned after a few minutes. “Where in the states?”
“Florida. Have you been there?”
“Disney World, of course. I’ve been to the
Caymans and Bermuda too.” She looked at him steadily. “Are you in a
hurry? Why don’t you move down to the very end of the bar there
near the wall. That’s the best spot for chatting.”
“I didn’t mean to be flirting with you. I
don’t want to get you in trouble.”
“It gets boring and I’ve got two hours to go.
Dad’s the Director of Food Services, and I’m the night manager of
the bar. You won’t get me in trouble.” She moved his drink to the
end of the bar. “We’re good.”
“Did you enjoy the Caymans?”
“I liked Bermuda better.”
“Bermuda is friendlier, I agree.”
“Are you here on holiday with your
family?”
“On business with my father, I’m not
married.”
“I noticed you talking over there. I’ve seen
that distinguished-looking chap you were with before. He’s a
celebrity of some sort, maybe on the telly.”
“He’s a retired UK Supreme Court
Justice.”
“You see, I knew he was in show biz. He was
one of the Supremes.” They both laughed.
When she returned, he said, “We just missed
being invited to the Queen’s Garden Party. At least “His Honor”
intimated he would have like to get us in.”
“I doubt it. Having friends in high places
doesn’t usually work with the Queen’s garden parties. They’ll be
eight thousand guests, all of them individually invited and from
all walks of life, as they say. You need to be a wee bit special in
some way to get invited. Merely being rich and famous isn’t
enough.” She excused herself to set up drinks for a couple just
arriving.
“You have a girlfriend?” she asked when she
came back.
“I’m not certain what that means.” He thought
he knew where this was leading; one can be solicited in even the
best hotels.”
“I have a boyfriend,” she continued, ignoring
his response. “In fact, he’ll be dropping in here any minute. He’s
been a boyfriend for much too long. It’s time he became a husband.
He talks about marriage, but do you see any ring on my finger?”
Martin had misjudged the situation. She was
just being talkative. “Tell me about him.”
“He's thoroughly infuriating like most men.
He's attractive and he doesn't know it. So it makes him more
attractive. I'm attractive and he doesn't know it. So it makes me
furious.”
“I agree you’re attractive. Is he pursuing a
career? Is there another woman on the scene?”
“Yes and no. He’s ambitious and getting ahead
nicely in business, so he’s preoccupied with business instead of
occupied with me. When he comes in, he’ll sit in that booth over
there fingering his mobile instead of me...I mean instead of
attending to me. I understand, and I want him to have a good start
in business, but good grief it’s been three years. A girl has to
look out for herself, you know.”
“You want his attention? Just mention another
man, and you’ll have it.”
She motioned toward the entrance. “That’s
Bruce now. You can meet him.”
He quickly read her name from the nameplate
pinned to her black vest. “How do you do, Bruce? Maddie told me
your name. I’m Martin.”
They shook hands. Bruce took the adjoining
bar stool. “So, Martin, you’re a guest here in the hotel?”
“Across the street.”
“Oh, the Savoy.”
“I’d rather be over here. Maddie certainly
makes a lonely fellow seem welcome.” He smiled at Maddie who
started frowning.
“Martin’s from Florida. He’s traveling with
his father.”
“Yes, father is here attending a law seminar.
I was in Paris and thought I’d pop over and join him.”
“You’re here on holiday.” Bruce now appeared
unsettled. “What do you do normally?”
“Well, not a whole lot at present. I’m sort
of looking around to see what sort of trouble I can get into.” He
gave Maddie a slight wink making sure that Bruce noticed. “Do you
have any suggestions for me?”
She was puzzled.
“Sorry, can’t help you there,” Bruce said
politely. “How soon will you be leaving?”
“Funny you should say that. I recently
decided to stay on for a while. I wonder if the hotel here can
arrange something long-term. My room would be right upstairs.
Maddie was telling me there are exciting things to do in
London.”
“Oh, was she?”
Maddie caught on and chimed in. “Yes, I could
help you with some suggestions. We wouldn’t want our friend from
the states to be bored, now would we, Bruce?”
“Maddie might possibly find a little time to
tell you about a couple of tourist attractions. However, she is
actually quite busy.”
“No problem, it would be fine. I wouldn’t
mind helping,” she said.
Bruce took a quick look at her and then back
at Martin. “I don’t want to seem impolite, but are you aware that
Maddie and I have a...relationship.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see any ring on
Maddie’s finger. In the states, any girl without a ring is fair
game, and a fellow is free to hit on her. Not that I intend to hit
on Maddie.”
“I’m familiar with the term, but what exactly
is
your
definition of hitting on her?” Bruce slipped off the
bar stool and stood. He crossed his arms across his chest.
“That’s up to the girl. I’d never force
myself on a woman. It’s much easier to charm them. You’d be
surprised who, in the end, turns her head.”
“Well, Maddie is spoken for, you can count on
that. So you can save your charm for someone else.” He smiled but
didn’t mean it. An edge had crept into Bruce’s voice.
“I do apologize to you both. I definitely was
out of line. I wasn’t aware of the cultural difference. I was under
the impression that, if she were spoken for, you would have given
her an engagement ring.”
She spoke up pretending to take Bruce’s side.
“We’ve talked about getting married haven’t we? Bruce didn’t want
to embarrass me with an engagement ring until we could give people
the date. Isn’t that right, Bruce?”
Bruce was trying to think. It was all moving
rather fast.
“I’m very pleased to hear that, Bruce.
Married men do much better in business. They appear more
decisive
. I’m sure you knew that.”
“Of course I knew that.”
“Well, this certainly is wonderful,” Martin
said. “How romantic. Bravo Bruce. This calls for a celebration.
Maddie, why don’t we all have a champagne cocktail right now. Put
it on my check. Is your father working here tonight? Perhaps he can
join us.”
“Champagne is fine,” Bruce said, making a
tight smile. “Will you please excuse me for just a minute?” He took
out his mobile and started walking away.
“Hurry back for the champagne, sweetheart.”
And then to Martin, “Well done. Lean across the bar, and let me
give you a sweet one on the cheek.”
“Is he going to take the next step?”
Her face was aglow. “He’ll take it. Just
needed a bit of a push, and you gave him a shove. He’s calling his
mum right now to tip her off before she hears it elsewhere.” She
was rubbing her palms together. “I’ve a surprise for you, Martin,
to show my gratitude. My father, as head of the local council, was
given four nominations for invitations to the Queen’s Garden Party
tomorrow. Since I’m quite active in the Homeless Emergency Project,
dad gave me two admission cards. I’ve been buying clothes to get
ready for a month. Would you like to escort me?”
He was nearly speechless. “It would be an
honor to attend and an honor to escort you, Maddie. Nevertheless,
shouldn’t you take Bruce?”
“No, I believe the two of us together
tomorrow will get a final point across to him.”
“I can’t thank you enough. If you don’t mind,
I’ll make it just a quick glass of champagne now and leave you two
lovebirds. I’ll be flying home day after tomorrow, as planned.”
“Martin, will you promise me one thing?”
“Anything for my lovely British cousin.”
“If he doesn’t come across with that
ring...will you come back and hit on me?”