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It was a hot night and most of the windows were open to let in whatever breeze
was about. The staff had gone to bed and the master and his wife were having
a nightcap alone together in the parlour.
Their relationship was very loving and caring and the man was very sensitive
to his wife’s feelings and to those of his children’s, the staff
and all around him, this was quite unfashionable in those days, early 1900’s.
As they sat together, they discussed their evening at the theatre; they so enjoyed
the hustle and bustle and the pure excitement of it all.
Everything was so colourful and the ladies all looked wonderful in their best
attire. They wore long gowns and some had tiaras in their hair, catching the
lights and sparkling even more, the gentlemen in their evening garments, some
with canes, looking very grand indeed.
The staff in attendance at the theatre were doing their best to attend and cater
to the needs of them all, trying very hard to keep calm. The evening was magnificent,
the performance exceeded their expectations, the music, the song, the pure indulgence
of the times, everything was perfect.
But as with many lives, this situation did not continue in the same way ever again. Their lives were to change in a way that they would not have believed possible.
Megan, their youngest child, was the sweetest little girl, she had dark brown
hair and brown eyes, with just a hint of green in them and her face, well, it
just beamed, she always wanted to please and took great pleasure in doing so.
Jane was their second youngest daughter and she was totally different from Megan,
still a lovely personality, but much more serious. Life was a serious thing
and she treated everything in this vein.
Tom, their second eldest, was a complete tomboy and into all sorts of mischief,
nothing serious, just complete devilment. His cheeky face, bright red hair and
those bright blue eyes, got him out of being reprimanded on many occasions.
Then there was Emma, the eldest, she was nearly sixteen and had developed into
a lovely young lady, she was slim and had hair that was a lighter colour than
Megan’s that went right down to her waist.
She helped with her siblings and just generally kept an eye on them, making
sure that they behaved in the correct manner of the times. This was very important
to her and she was often mortified at some of the pranks that Tom got up to.
The staff, there were three, Francis the butler, Frank to his friends. Celia
was called Cecile for some reason, had most of the household cleaning and washing
to do, but she did whatever was asked of her without a hint of how tired she
might have felt.
Betty was the cook, a happy go lucky lady, not much fazed her, she could deal
with whatever was put in front of her.
Apart from the household meals, the lady and master of the house frequently
entertained and Betty often had to cater for thirty or more, but she took great
delight in doing so.
On these big occasions outside staff were needed to help her prepare and serve
the guests, but usually everything went without a hitch.
Then there was the cat named Sammy and the dog named Woof. Megan had called
her that from the first time she saw her as a puppy and they had kept it, Woof
it was. So that completes the household, apart from James the gardener and they
all called him Jimmy.
Jane got up the next morning in a positive frame of mind, she was going to
get such a lot done today. She had a lot of paperwork from school that she wanted
to sort out and with that in mind she set about it, putting them in the appropriate
piles. Jane was extremely tidy and to have anything outstanding or out of place
she found extremely irritating.
Tom as usual was trying to find something to do, he went into the garden and
started throwing stones at the apple trees, the apples were nearly ready for
picking and this did not go down well with the cook. Betty took pride in her
cooking and the produce that she used and she didn’t want the apples bruised,
but he soon got bored with this and wandered off to find something else to do.
Megan was playing with her dolls, they were her pride and joy and she spent
endless hours putting them to bed, getting them up again, talking to them and
teaching them. She liked to be the teacher and tell them what to do, like the
real teachers did.
Jane was in the garden with Jimmy picking some flowers that her mother needed
for the dining table. Her mother wanted the house to look lovely and have the
wonderful aromas of the flowers to permeate the air, as that evening they were
entertaining on a grand scale.
Cecile was extremely busy getting the house in pristine order, with Frank making
sure all was just so. Frank was in charge of the dining table, the silver cutlery
and the various selections of glasses that were to be used and they all shone.
When the flowers were in place it looked lovely and Frank was pleased, as he
wanted it to look just right for the mistress.
Amelia, the mistress, took great pleasure in everything looking just so and
she knew how lucky she and her husband Nigel were to have such good and loyal
staff.
The day continued and as the day approached into evening, the hustle and bustle
and excitement increased to a momentous level.
Outside staff had been brought in as often happened for these bigger occasions
with everyone doing their jobs to the best of their abilities and all hoping
that the evening would be a success.
Everything was almost ready, the master and mistress were getting dressed, Amelia’s
gown had been specifically made for this occasion, it was the colour of cornflowers
a most beautiful blue, not unlike Tom’s eyes and the master looking very
grand as he always did on these occasions.
Emma was in her room sulking, she thought she was old enough to join the grown
ups as she was almost sixteen, but her mother thought otherwise and very gently
suggested another time, that of course did not go down very well, but reluctantly
Emma agreed.
The youngest children would be in bed by the time the guests arrived and Tom
although not quite ready for bed, would be in his room.
At last everyone was ready and the guests started to arrive.
One or two arrived first and then the remainder, in dribs and drabs until they were all assembled in the drawing room. As their glasses were filled the chatter began in earnest, some of them knew each other and were catching up on the latest gossip and others were introduced for the first time, but they soon settled into the evening relaxed and happy.
After a suitable time had passed, Frank announced that dinner would be served
in the dining room. As they got up some left their drinks on the coffee table
and others took their drinks with them, not wishing to be parted from them even
for the short distance across the hall.
As they were seated, Betty was organising the kitchen staff for the last minute
details so that her food was presented to the guests in the best possible way.
The evening progressed and each course brought praise from the guests, Amelia
and Nigel were pleased at the way the evening was going, but all too soon with
the last course long gone and the coffees and liqueurs a distant memory the
guests started to leave.
Frank closed the front door after the last guest had gone thankful that all
had gone well, the master and mistress always thanked their staff for making
the evening successful and were very aware of the work that they all put in
to reach that end.
Amelia and Nigel went up to bed and as they closed the door behind them they
looked at each other and smiled, with the knowing that the evening had been
a great success.
Now that the dinner party was over the household could revert to its normal
regime once again.
The next morning the whole household apart from the children were feeling very
tired but the duties for the staff were always there ready to be done and so
with lots of yawning going on they preceded with their chores once again.
The master and his wife were no exceptions, they too were feeling the effects
of last night’s gathering and as the children came down for breakfast
they asked them if they would mind being just a little bit quieter than usual.
As the children were feeling fine their exuberance was spilling over and they
were all glad when breakfast was at an end so that they could get on with the
things that they wished to do. This was quite unusual as normally breakfast
was a time for chatter and for all of them to discuss what was planned for the
day ahead.
Amelia and Nigel spent a quiet day pottering around the garden and talking to
Jimmy about certain things that they wanted done and the children were each
doing something different.
As evening approached, something happened that was to change their lives completely.
The children's parents had decided that as the children had not gone to the
dinner party the night before, they would have an early supper together as a
treat, Amelia and Nigel usually had supper together much later on in the evening.
The table was laid as usual but just as everyone was about to take their seats,
Megan said, “Can a place be made for my friend to join us?” Her
mother asked her, “What friend?”, as there was no one there; Megan
pointed her finger to the side of her, “This friend, my new friend.”
At this point everyone was paying attention but they all decided to indulge
her and laid another place for her imaginary friend.
Throughout the whole meal Megan was talking and laughing to ‘her friend’,
the family dismissed this as just another stage she was going through, but how
wrong they were.
As the days went on nothing much in the household changed, everyone went about
their business as usual. Amelia and Nigel entertained their friends for coffee
and drinks at certain times and this was nothing unusual as they both had a
wide selection of friends, although only two were very, very dear friends. These
friends they had known since their schooldays and their lives had crossed in
almost the same way. They all had four children, although the mix of sexes was
different.
Amanda and Raymond did not live far from them and so it was opportune for all
of them to meet up frequently, which they did with great enthusiasm. The children
loved being together and there was not too much difference between the ages.
Sebastian, the eldest, was seventeen and just that bit older than Emma and they
got along famously, they always had, the two of them had much in common, always
having something to talk about or discuss in great detail. Claire was the next
eldest and like Tom she was always looking for something new to do. She was
a bit of a tomboy and so when the two of them were together, the pranks and
mischief ran high. Next was Richard, he like Jane had a more serious nature
and the two of them went off together and discussed the serious issues in their
lives. Last but not least was Sylvia, she was a similar age to Megan and a little
bossy and tried to boss her about, but with Megan's lovely nature things rarely
got out of hand......
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