"Oh, my," Laura sighed as
she caught sight of Ashford Castle for the first time. "It
really IS a castle."
Remington grinned, looking more than a little pleased. "Not
bad. Not bad at all," he said, examining the stone facade
with a prideful air. As the cab drew to a stop, the front door
opened and a line of servants, all wearing the appropriate livery
for their station, formed. "It would appear that we're expected."
"I'm sure Mildred told them that we would be here. They've
probably met every car just in case," Laura told him with
a worried frown. At times, her husband was hard to live with.
This was going to make him downright impossible.
The cab door was opened and they exited, coming face to face with
Mildred and a short little man. "Mr. and Mrs. Steele,"
Mildred said. "Any luck finding Murphy?"
"A bit, Mildred," Laura said. "We'll discuss it
later."
Mildred noticed her glance at the man. "This is Mickeline
O'Flynn," Mildred explained.
Mickeline smiled widely. "Major domo, Head factotum, Chief
of Staff, at your service, your Lordship," he said. Remington
grinned, Laura rolled her eyes in disbelief as Mickeline turned
to the others and announced, "The new Lord and Master has
arrived." He clapped his gloved hands together, and the others,
all smiling, followed suit.
Taking Laura's arm, Remington began to move down the line. "Thank
you. Thank you." Bending close to her, he said, "I think
I could get used to this."
"Don't expect me to call you Your Lordship," she warned.
He smiled down at her with a wink. "Of course not. We'll
save the pet names for the bedroom," he assured her, relieved
when she returned the smile.
Inside, Mildred watched as her employers took in the opulent interior
of the castle. "Kinda gets to you, right?" she asked.
"Uh, yes, Mildred," Remington agreed, as Mickeline beamed.
"I'm sure your Lordship would like to freshen up after his
drive from Dublin. Would y'like for me t'show you and your lovely
wife t'your chambers?"
"Yes, Mickeline, that would be nice," Remington said,
holding out an arm for Laura to take.
"We'll be back down in a few minutes," Laura told Mildred.
"Maybe more than a few," Remington corrected, smiling.
"Uh, one question, Mildred," he asked, glancing at Mickeline
as the man was halfway up the stairs. "Have you seen Daniel
or Murphy since you got here?"
Mildred frowned. "No, I haven't, Chief." Remington nodded
thoughtfully as he and Laura continued after Mickeline.
As soon as they were out of sight, Mildred raced to the study
door. "Okay. They're gone." The door opened to reveal
Murphy Michaels and Daniel Chalmers. "I can't believe that
I just lied to Mr. Steele about your being here. This had better
be good, Daniel," she said, glaring at both men.
Daniel placed an arm around the woman's shoulders as he glanced
at Murphy. "I think it's safe for you to go back to Dublin,
now, Murphy."
Murphy shook his head slowly. "And leave you to go back on
our agreement? I don't think so, Chalmers. I'll stay right where
I am until you follow through on this."
Daniel sighed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Laura's eyes widened when Mickeline opened the door to the "master
bedroom". It was as big as a football field, as ornately
furnished as the rest of the house, with a huge four poster bed
ensconced on a raised platform. "Very nice," she exclaimed.
"Yes," Remington agreed. "Yes, it is."
"It's a bit chilly in here," Laura told the man.
"I'll see to it right away," Mickeline assured her as
Remington steered him gently toward the door. "You'll be
sure to let me know if there's anything else you need, now?"
"Oh, you can be assured we will," Remington said, smiling
as he closed the door. "You know, Laura, maybe we shouldn't
be so quick to think about selling. I mean, what better place
to come for holidays, hmm?" he asked, leading her toward
the bed.
"It does grow on a person," she mused, turning into
his arms as he tossed his coat onto the bed. "Very romantic
setting."
"And you know how much I approve of romance," he said
as he slid her coat from her shoulders, tossing it to join his,
then sat on the edge of the bed, patting the velvet covering beside
him. "Come here, Mrs. Steele," he said, pulling her
close.
"And what would you be hankerin' after, you swift talkin'
American?" Laura asked in a fair Irish brogue.
"Only a few moments alone with my lovely wife," he told
her, his lips meeting hers. They laid back on the bed, lost in
each other.
Knock! Knock!
Remington lifted his head with a frown. "Mildred?" he
wondered.
"Only one way to find out," Laura sighed.
Patting her leg, he rose from the bed. "Don't lose the mood,
love." He went to the door, and opening it, found a smiling
stranger. "Yes?"
"Liam O'Malley, your Lordship. Senior Steam Engineer."
"Steam Engineer?" Remington questioned, confused.
"Well, it sounds a little bit grander than furnaceman,"
Liam explained with a grin. "Mickeline O'Flynn was tellin'
me it's heat you be needin'-?"
"Yes," Remington confirmed, wanting to get rid of the
man so that he and Laura could finish what they had begun. "It
is a little bit nippy in here."
"I'll be glad t'stoke up the furnace, your Lordship, if you'd
just tend to this little heating bill."
Remington sent Laura a nervous grin as he opened the slip of paper.
"Ninety eight thousand pounds?" he questioned, glancing
from the bill, marked "overdue" to Liam.
"Aye. A lot of rooms in the castle."
Remington gave him a coin. "Here you go, my good man."
"Fifty p?" Liam said.
"Consider it a downpayment," Remington told him, closing
the door quickly. Glancing again at the bill, he stuffed it into
his pocket as he rejoined Laura.
"Trouble in the boiler room?" Laura asked.
"Yes, well, I've always liked a brisk castle."
"We could always generate our own heat," Laura suggested.
"Excellent idea, Mrs. Steele. Now," he said, pulling
her close again. "Where were we?" he asked, his lips
nearly on hers once more.
Laura pulled him onto the bed with her. "Right here, I think."
"That's one of the things I love about you, Laura. You have
such a wonderful memory."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remington came downstairs and wandered into the dining room, where
a young maid was busy tidying the already spotless room. She curtseyed.
"Bridgette O'Leary , Your Lordship. Senior Domestic Co-ordinator."
"Would you happen to know where Miss Krebs might be?"
Remington asked.
"In the library, sir," Bridgette said, then pulled a
slip of paper from her apron pocket as he started to turn away.
"Before you leave, your Lordship, there's a little matter
here which calls for your immediate attention."
Another bill. Remington glanced at it. "Twenty seven thousand
pounds for polish?"
"A lot of silver in the castle," she informed him.
Remington handed her some coin. "Try stainless," he
suggested. "Where's the library?"
As he headed down the corridor, Mickeline appeared again. "The
Chief Electrician asked me t'give you this, sir," he said.
Remington took the paper he held out. "Ninety six thousand
pounds for electricity?"
"Lots of lights in a castle, your Lordship."
"Yes, well, remind me to look into solar energy," Remington
said, continuing on his way, carefully avoiding any more servants.
They all seemed to have bills ready to present to the new owner.
Mildred was sitting beside a table, a large book open before her.
"Ah, there you are, Mildred," he said with false brightness.
Mildred jumped nervously. "Steady on, Mildred," he told
her, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder.
Her hand to her throat, Mildred said, "You startled me, Boss,"
she accused, her eyes searching his face. "Where's Mrs. Steele?"
"Resting. Bit of jet lag. All this flying about seems to
have been too much for her."
"Understandable. Flying from London to Los Angeles and back
again would be hard on just about anyone."
He put his hand into his pocket and found one of the bills. "Uh,
Mildred, about this place-."
"I found this book about the castle. Did you know it's been
here since the 12th century?"
"Really?"
"But it's a real money pit, Boss. I don't think they've paid
the bills here for fifty nine years. Mickeline told me that the
servants haven't even been paid."
"Then why do they stay? And where's the money been going?"
"They stay because they've at least got a roof over their
heads- and some of them were born around here. Their families
have worked at the castle for generations. Mickeline says that
they figure having a job that doesn't pay is better than not having
a job."
"Interesting perspective. And the money?"
As for the money, from what little I've been able to tell from
the books, most of the money from the estate's small farms goes
to paying taxes. You wouldn't believe how much taxes are here,
Mr. Steele."
"What are the chances of selling?"
"It's been on the market since 1532- no takers."
"Perhaps it's time to change brokers." He went to stoke
up the fire. Watching the flames, a thought occured. "How
about burning it down?"
"Excuse me?"
"If it were to burn- accidentally, of course, how much could
we get from the insurance?"
Mildred laughed. "Sorry. It's been tried. In 1856. It's stone
walls, Boss. Stone doesn't burn."
"I see. Well, we have to come up with something. At the rate
I'm collecting duns around this place, I'll be a pauper inside
of a week." He handed her the three he had already received.
Mildred looked at them, then showed him another stack of bills.
"From Terrance the chauffeur, from the gardener- I lost track.
Once they found out that I worked for you- and I happened to mention
that I take care of the bookkeeping- I don't know how these three
got past me. I'll see what can be done, Mr. Steele."
Remington noticed that she was looking at him again. "Is
there something wrong, Mildred?"
"Oh, no. What could be wrong?"
"The way you keep looking at me. I have to talk to Mickeline,
see if he's seen Daniel around the place."
"Why would Daniel be here?" Mildred asked.
"I'm beginning to wonder why Daniel does anything or goes
anywhere."
"What did you and Mrs. Steele find out about Murphy?"
Mildred asked.
"He came to Glen Cree to meet someone who claimed to know
something about my father," Remington explained. "They
were seen leaving the village together- in this direction."
"Coincidence?" Mildred suggested.
"I don't think so. The bartender at the pub in town identified
the man he met there. Said it was Daniel."
"Daniel? You're sure, Mr. Steele?"
"Very sure, Mildred. If they were here and left before you
arrived, I'm sure Mickeline or one of the other servants saw him."
He turned toward the door, pausing as something caught his eye
outside the windows. "Excuse me, Mildred."
Mildred frowned as he took off, then went to the window. Murphy
was hiding behind a rose bush, and she motioned for him to leave,
but he just frowned in confusion. As she watched, Remington came
up behind the blonde detective and tapped him on the shoulder.
"It's all going to hit the fan now, I'm afraid," Daniel
said from just behind Mildred. "Where's Laura?"
"Upstairs resting," she told him. "Why?"
"Because I have a feeling I'm going to need her on my side
when Harry finds out the truth. If you'll excuse me, Mildred?"
he said, leaving the room and heading for the stairs.
To Be Continued. . .