Temporal Exploring 101 - Deep Future

IV.19 Late breakfast and a fair warning

Perhaps as an aftereffect of having drunk so much cognac, Nancy, Natty and I slept late on the next morning, and, at least in my case, woke up with a mild headache. We took our time to get up, wash and get dressed.

"Somehow I don't feel all that hungry," Natty pronounced, as we made our way to the dining room where we usually had breakfast while we were staying Kerington Manor.

"Me neither, but I could use a strong hot coffee right now," Nancy replied.

From the adjoining living-room, we could hear raised voices. It sounded like Madison and Ms Cavernough were having an agitated discussion of sorts.

Madison sounded aggrieved. "I still think you are overreacting. I told you, I am totally allowed to drink alcohol."

"That may be so," Ms Cavernough conceded. "But I am fairly certain that your father would not permit you to break into his liquor cabinet, either."

This was greeted by what I assumed to be a sullen silence on Madison's part, as the governess continued to berate her. "And to think that you finished almost an entire bottle of cognac on your own, in the course of one night. A whole bottle! If nothing else, it is extremely bad for your health."

This time, we were relieved to note that Nancy's cousin made no reply. After all, she could have mentioned at that point that Natty, Nancy and I had shared the cognac with her.

"I shall have to inform Lord and Lady Kerrington about your abysmal behavior," the governess concluded, "and if you do not mend your ways, the next time something like this happens I shall have to administer a spanking."

That finally got Madison's full attention. "What?" she sputtered. "You can't be serious. If nothing else, I am too old for that."

"I am afraid that Lady Kerrington was quite specific in her instructions concerning what was to be done in the case of serious misdemeanor on your part," the governess told her, unruffled, "and in any case, you are merely one year your cousin Nancy's senior. I would rather advise you to watch your step, young lady."

"There really is no need to make a big fuss about this," Nancy's cousin retorted. "Anyhow, you can rest assured that I won't touch Uncle's precious alcohol again. I am certain you and I are going to get along just fine, Ms Cavernough," she added, on a more cheerful note.

"We shall see about that." The governess sounded less than convinced.

The three of us quietly took our seats as a maid set the table and proceeded to bring coffee, jam and porridge, as well as freshly pressed orange juice.

Only a moment later, Madison walked in, Ms Cavernough following close behind her.

"Hey guys," Nancy's cousin greeted us.

Judging from the look on our faces she must have realized that we must have overheard a good part of what had transpired in the adjoining room.

"Ms Cavernough and I had a little discussion, about stuff," she explained. "Didn't we, Ms Cavernough?"

"We most certainly did," the governess pronounced.

She offered Madison a stern look, which Madison ignored.

Nancy's  cousin smiled. "Will you join us for breakfast, Ms Cavernough?"

"Thank you, Madison. I already had breakfast two hours ago," the woman stiffly replied.

We all breathed a sigh of relief when she had left the room.

"She caught me as I was trying to fix the lock on your dad's liquor cabinet, Nancy," Madison told her cousin, as she sat down next to her at the breakfast table.

"Ugh. I am sorry to hear that, Cousin."

"Yeah, well. You win some, and you lose some," Madison declared, with a shrug.

Now, where had I heard that particular piece of wisdom before? Ah yes, Mallory Carmichael.

"Anyway, thanks for not telling Cavernough that we were drinking cognac together with you, last night," Natty said.

Nancy's cousin smiled. "Not to worry, I'd never tell on my friends. Or on anybody else, for that matter."

Which was good to know.

I was starting to like Madison. So did Natty. You could tell, from the way she kept glancing at Nancy's cousin.

"You better be careful around that woman though, Cousin," Nancy cautioned. "Trust me, Ms Cavernough  is not to be trifled with."

"The way I figure her, her bark is worse than her bite," Madison pronounced.

Nancy was looking dubious. "I wouldn't count on that if I were you, Cousin."

After breakfast the four of us walked to the nearby lake where we sat down and talked some more. Natty, Nancy and I were keen on learning about what was going on in the Bay Area, and at UC Berkeley in particular, and Madison clearly enjoyed telling us about the change that appeared to be happening all over the United States. 

We had packed a picnic, and Madison had brought her guitar. We spent a lazy morning and early afternoon at the lake. When the sun came out we went skinny-dipping. A bit later, as we were sitting around the campfire, Nancy's  cousin taught a fascinated Natty how to play a few basic chords on the guitar.

We returned to the manor house late in the afternoon.

While we were having five o'clock tea, the telephone rang

Ms Cavernough, who had been busy instructing two of the maids, took the call.

"Kerrington Manor. Yes. Could you repeat that, please? Yes, she is here." She turned to face us. "It's for you, Madison. Somebody calling from Berkeley."

"Truly? That's got to be terribly expensive." Madison rose from her seat, walked over to the phone and and took the receiver as the governess returned to her discussion with the staff.

"Ally? Why are you calling? That must cost you a bundle." There was a pause. "Who's paying? Oh, I see. So, what's up?"

Nancy's cousin  was silent for a bit, listening to information related to her from the other end of the line.

"That sounds great. Well yeah, things are fine here, too. Except ... Remember how I told you they have got a governess installed here, to take care of my cousins? Yes, exactly. Well, I drank some cognac last night, and guess what happened today? That dreadful woman threatened to spank me."

On the other side of the room, Ms Cavernough made an exasperated little sound, something like "Harrumph."

Madison turned towards her and smiled. "Don't take that personal, Ms Cavernough. It's just the way we talk, back home in California. Dreadful this, dreadful that. Doesn't mean a thing."

The governess glowered at her but made no further comment.

Madison returned to the phone call. "Anyhow." She lowered her voice. "Yes, that's exactly what happened."She frowned. "That is not  funny, Ally. Not funny at all. And no, I hadn't done anything wrong. Like I said, I just drank a bit of cognac, that's all." There was another pause. "Well, perhaps half a bottle. No, that is not  harmful to my health. You are sounding almost like her now, Ally."

The was a bit of silence as Madison listened to what was being said on the other end of the line.

 "Well yeah. I shall do my best." She grinned. "Anyway, thanks for calling. Right. And don't do anything I wouldn't do. Bye."

Madison hung up and returned to our table. She helped herself to another biscuit. "That was my girlfriend Ally. Wanted to know how I'm doing." She bit off a piece of her biscuit and chewed. "Ally's got an odd sense of humor sometimes," she added, without further explanation.

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A / N : Clearly, Madison is not used to life at an English manor house, much less to having to deal with an actual governess :-)

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