"Welcome, Sirs. We have been expecting you," he said, tone low and steady.
Greg felt John give him a gentle push in the back...
Greg felt John give him a gentle push in the back...
*
The castle had a butler, a housekeeper, a cook, and maids in varying degrees. John was not grasping the subtleties of their ranks. There were also several gardeners lined up and looking as deeply uncomfortable as John felt.
John shook the head gardener's hand and, desperate for something to say, asked, "What, no gamekeeper?"
"He's down in London having surgery," the man said. "Gamekeeper's thumb. Serious condition. Comes of killing rabbits."
The butler gave the gardener a sharp look for that, and John didn't dare inquire further after the gamekeeper's rabbit-dispatching technique.
Eventually, he and Greg were led upstairs and shown to separate rooms, which was about what John had expected. A few seconds after the door closed, though, he heard a knock on the wall, and a section of panelling slid away. Greg stood on the other side. He looked faintly pale.
"I thought I could just sell it!" he said. "But I'd have to fire all of them! I can't do that."
"Maybe you can find a buyer who'll keep them on."
"All of them?"
It did sound unlikely.
"Let's go and have a look at the gardens. And then you can ring for tea. M'lord."
Greg rolled his eyes. "Git."
"Do you get a title with this pile?"
"Yeah. Lord I Can't Bloody Afford This, of West Money Pit."
"You could have weddings here," John said, as they stepped out into the gardens. It was fairly bleak, but it should be beautiful in summer. "You could do the flowers for them."
Greg looked slightly more cheerful at that. They walked down an arched tunnel of thorned climbing roses and out into the light of the main gardens.
19 comments:
Yay more Greg the Florist \o/
Boo! for separate bedrooms, yay! for secret connecting doors enabling late-night shenanigans :-)
weddings, huh?
Why not? There must be loads of people who want to get married in a castle.
Yay indeed for more Greg the Florist.
Serious condition that gamekeeper's thumb - at least it was only killing rabbits that had caused it - I believe gamekeepers can be involved in quite a lot of things.
Indeed.
And yes, SH, I believe gamekeepers have their fingers in all sort of...er...pies.
eeeeeee, more Greg the Florist! John, this is from several posts back, but when I said looking for a treasure map?, I wasn't talking about the case with Mary, but rather wondering if you were hoping for a map to lead you to those charmed galleries where delightfully naked Lestrades lined the walls. Who knows, maybe the castle has one shining example of that type of art?
You all are so much fun.
Hee!
Innie - don't encourage him :)
Actually, you'd never really recognise me. For one thing, I'm younger and leaner, and also my face is very rarely on show. Well, John might recognise me, if he thought about it, but I don't think your average punter would.
L, if he still doesn't believe in his own appeal when he's slicked-up and swearing, then surely Danger needs all the encouragement he can get? Plus I'm sure pics of you at any age are worth hanging on walls.
Sherlock - how are you doing, cupcake? Did you deduce anything from that map?
Innie - ah, I did wonder, and yes I would follow a treasure map to nude photos of Lestrade, although I suppose I don't really need to.
L - should hope I would recognise you! I've put in hours of study!
You have, but only for the antique version :)
Pfft, antique. You look even better now than you did then.
Lestrade - you're being awfully coy about what exactly is on show in these photos...
Well I feel better now than I did then, so that's rather good, right?
Nameless. I've been as anti-coy as I could possibly be, just for you. If you care to visit my blog.
You have! That's extremely generous, thank you :-)
Oooh, sliding panels! What fun!
Yay, Greg-the-Florist! (Love the idea of having weddings/events there, practicality be damned!)
Yes, Sherlock (in the morning, when you see this)--what do you make of the map? Does it fit in with those directions Mary got?
So, John, Sherlock--what have you been doing today? Something fun, I hope?
Probably the most sensible thing to do with a castle in this day and age, though if it was any kind of old (say, pre-1600) I would probably go for turning it into a historical reinactment location instead, refurbish everything to a certain date, and use it as a living history spot.
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