Chapter 19

Charlie

Before my mother left we had a phone call from Bill informing us that he had provisionally arranged a meeting with his Architect and Surveyor to discuss the restoration work on his mansion for Saturday morning.

"They are both skipping their Saturday morning golf matches for it so I thought I had better phone you early so that we can cancel if you can't manage." He told me.

"I will get a flight from Edinburgh on Friday night and I will hire a car for the weekend so we will be with you sometime that evening. I will let you know the approximate time of our arrival when I have fixed the flights."

When I put down the phone I told my mother and Lucy what her dad had said and arranged.

"Well at least we are flying for this trip," Lucy said. "We seem to be commuting nearly every weekend just now. It's a pity we don't own and airline."

"You know that is not a bad idea, I don't mean buying an airline, but we could learn to fly and once we got our pilot's licence we could fly between here and Castle Fortune and to your place," I said. "Once we are married and even when we have graduated we are going to be commuting between the two places pretty regularly to supervise what is going on with the restoration."

"Just one thing," my mother said, "there is no airport near our place."

"No but we have plenty of room for an airstrip. In due course we can install lighting in case we need when night has fallen. The type of plane we would have could land on grass. It would be the same kind of plane as the ones that Jockeys hire to land on race courses."

"Do you mean you would want me to learn to fly as well?" Lucy asked.

"Yes I would, when we have children it would be nice to know that we had two pilots on board just in case something happened to one of us when we were up in the air. I have often thought of learning to fly and it seems to me it would be of great advantage in our situation and anyway it is much safer than driving."

"Well I would be up for that," Lucy told me. "It would certainly make things easier when we have two estates to manage. When do you think you would like to start?"

"After the wedding, so we can begin arranging things early in the New Year. I don't know how long it will take to get our pilot's licence, but I will make enquiries."

"Good," Lucy said, "In the meantime I will go and put the kettle on and make some supper."

When she left my mother turned to me,

"Do you think I could fly down to Bill's place with you as well?" My mother asked. "I would like to see Lucy's home before the reconstruction starts so that can compare it with the finished article? "Besides I would like to finalise the wedding plans with Lucy's mum."

"I don't see why not, I will let them know you are coming when I finalise the time of our arrival," I told her.

"Then I will phone Dave and let him know I will be delaying my return to castle fortune and that he will be in charge if things for another few days."

"You know, he is more like your estate manager than your head game keeper," I told her.

"Well he has been with us so long that he has a better idea of the workings of the estate and it needs than anyone else. Everyone including the estate manager knows that he is my number two and is in charge when I am not there. I trust his judgment more than that of anyone else."

"I agree," I said, "And he has the respect not only of our workers but also many of the local people too. It is strange he never married after his wife left him for another man."

"Oh it's not so strange," my mother said. "He was badly hurt and even after ten years he still has difficulty trusting any woman.

"That doesn't seem to apply to you, he respects and works closely with you all the time and is obviously fond of you."

"Yes he is and yes he cares for me but he is always formal in his discussions with me. That is his way of keeping his distance now that I am a window. It is his way of reminding himself that I am out of his league. I don't consider that he is right in thinking that way, but I respect it."

"Have you ever thought it might be more of a defensive reaction?" I asked her. "It might be that he cares for you more than you think and it could be his way of trying to avoid expressing that concern in ways that he might deem inappropriate. That would be especially true considering he regards there is a large gulf between your stations in life."

"Yes," my mother replied, "I think that is another reason why he keeps up his formality of address when we are together. But sometimes he lets slip that he may think of me in ways he considers inappropriate. You saw how embarrassed he became when he addressed me as Chantelle when you brought Lucy home for the first time."

"For what it is worth, if you ever become interested in taking things further, I want you to know that you would have my whole hearted approval and I would free you from the role with me you have now accepted."

Just at that point Lucy re-entered carrying with her the supper tray and laid it on the coffee table.

"What are you giving your wholehearted approval to? My Lord," she asked with a smile, "And why would you wish to free your new handmaiden so soon?

Lucy

When I heard the tail end of a conversation between Charlie and his mum, I thought that perhaps Chantelle was having second thoughts about her relationship with her son and I asked if this was the case in a roundabout way.

"My mum wants to stay on with us for another few days and fly down with us when we visit your mum and dad." He told me. "She is going to phone Dave and let him know he will have to continue to fill her shoes till she gets back. This led us to discuss our relationship with him because she depends on him quite a lot."

"That is a good idea. It will give you a firsthand knowledge of the problems which sparked of our whole romance. You will also have the chance to finalise the arrangements for the wedding with my mum."

"That's was what lay behind my request," Chantelle said with a smile. "As for the other matter with Dave, he has been a devoted servant to both my husband and me. He takes charge of the estate when I am gone, and although officially he is the head gamekeeper, with the demise of my husband he is my second in command and I rely on him heavily for guidance and advice."

"From what Charlie has said about him, he seems to have been a second father to him and is almost regarded as a member of the family."

"That is how we see it, though I doubt if he does," Chantelle replied. "In his mind, conditioned as it is by his army experience, there is an even bigger difference between him and me than the very distinct division between an officer and a soldier from the ranks. Which is a pity for I think he loves me but he would never do anything about it."

"Well if you were interested in pursuing that matter, if I were you, I would ponder the words of the Centurion in the New Testament, especially in the light of your recent experiences," I told her.

"Why should I do that?" Chantelle asked.

"If I remember rightly when he came to Jesus and asked him to heal his servant and believed he could do it without even seeing him, He explained, 'I am a man with authority, I say to this man do that and he does it, I say to another go there and he goes.' Because of this he believed Jesus had only to say the word and the afflictions would be gone."

"That's all very well Lucy and showed the man had great faith as Jesus pointed out, but I don't see what it has to do with me and Dave," Chantelle said with a laugh in which Charlie joined in.

"It's like this" I told them, "The centurion was an officer, and when he gave orders to his soldiers they obeyed him. Dave is a man who has been under orders all his life and has obeyed his superiors. He regards you as his superior and he already obeys you in terms of the workplace. So why not take it a step further?" If he is already in love with you and you did that, he might even be more than a little disposed to accept your orders in any relationship with him."

"That thought had occurred to me in the light of my son's experience with you. Now having experienced it first hand it does have a certain attraction," Chantelle said with a grin. "Whether I would have the courage to try it out on him is another matter entirely."

"If you have feelings for Dave, mother, then only you can take that step," Charlie informed her.

"That is true," I agreed, "But I might be able to help," I told them.

"How would you do that Charlie?" Wanted to know

"Before all this came up I had decided I was not going to hide what I am from the people who were close to us. In the light of Dave's closeness to the family, I had already decided that he would be the next one I would let into my secret. If mum then decided to take matters further, then at least he would know where she was coming from and to some extent what it entailed for him."