Manor of Convenience

One Year

The anniversary of our weddings rolled around rapidly after the opening night of the play and I had many plans of how to celebrate the year we'd all been living together. The idea I finally came to was met with giddy approval and for the weekend of our anniversary we had agreed to give our entire staff two days off and fend for ourselves for the festivities. In truth, the idea of no servants for the weekend was rather liberating though I'd come to care for them deeply.

That weekend we stood by the front garden on the gravelly path as our household stood packing up the cars we'd ordered to take them to the station for their trip to the seaside. Sophia and I linked arms as Fettis placed some luggage into the boot of one of the cars. The other servants stood by the first car, side by side, excitably chatting to one another, looking somewhat different in their ordinary clothes. I then spied young Christopher Marks coming into view, a large smile beaming across his face. We'd allowed Christopher to take the trip with them just as long as he and Eleanor were chaperoned at all times!

I watched like a proud father as he greeted our Eleanor, took her hand gently and helped her into the car. There were no wedding bells yet where this young couple were concerned but there was certainly a deep romance blossoming. They'd been inseparable since the play and whenever Eleanor had time off, there she was meeting Christopher for a date at the tea shop.

As our loyal servants climbed into the two cars, Sophia and I waved our goodbyes and watched as the cars disappeared down the street. They were gone. We were alone. How would we fare without them? In honesty the trip was as much for our benefit as it was a break for them and I confess a selfishness in my decision to arrange the trip to the seaside and hotel. You see, our wishing to fend for ourselves for the weekend did not come from some desire to appear more forward-thinking nor to be more courteous to our staff but rather because their absence in the manor meant my plan for our anniversary surprise could work much better with the staff out of the picture.

It may have been the anniversary of my wedding to Sophia but it was now going to be my 'wedding' to George. Naturally a lawful and traditional ceremony was not possible and sadly we had never consecrated the union we shared with one another. Neither had the girls and we felt strongly that those two unions, the unspoken kind, deserved a celebration of their own. I arranged that we would invite our friends in the know and finally have the 'weddings' we wanted. We would gather in the conservatory, confess our love and devotion, and then dance, eat and be merry. It was a secret that we would enjoy and never reveal except to our loyal few. We would then resume our normal lives the following day with the knowledge that those unions were just as sacred and important than our other ones.

Mrs. Warman had supplied us with all sorts of food from the larder before she left and I admit it was fun looking after ourselves as the four of us ventured down to the kitchens, placed the food on platters and carried it all up to where we would feast on a fine buffet when the guests arrived.

We first had to get ready for the momentous occasion. This wasn't an ordinary day— we needed to look the part. So, there we were in our bedrooms, putting on our finest evening wear to make the grandest impression.

George sat on the bed trouser-less, doing up his shirt and playing with Bartholomew simultaneously, whilst I stood at the mirror, tucking everything in and wondering whether I had put on weight in the year since I had become a married man. I breathed in, fastened nearly everything and then asked George to do up my cufflinks. I noticed that all of his buttons were done up wrong.

"Do you think the girls are doing this quicker than us?" I said, knowing they were. "The guests will be here soon."

"Hush, Toby. This is our time. If we choose to be late, it is our choice to do so. Besides, these are not ordinary guests attending an ordinary party."