The Butler(64)

“We don’t want to spend too much money maintaining it, mind,” Mount-Williams reminded him, “except what the tourists see.”

“I’m quite resourceful and can do a lot of it myself. A bit of paint, a hammer and nails, a good scrub and you might even be able to charge more for the tours.” His future employer clearly liked that idea. “And your horses are magnificent.” Mount-Williams beamed at that.

“Beauties, aren’t they? We have a breeding program and have had some very promising results with our racehorses. No huge successes so far, but we’re getting there.”

    “I’m sure you will,” Joachim said quietly.

“So do you want the job?” He hoped he would. He couldn’t manage the place himself and didn’t want to.

“Very much, sir.”

“Excellent! When can you start?”

“Tomorrow,” Joachim said with a smile. All he had to do was notify the agency, lock up his flat, and drive back to Sussex. “May I stay in a bedroom in the main house for a night while I get the butler’s cottage in order?” he inquired politely.

“Take any one you like, except mine.” He laughed heartily, and went back to the stables a moment later. Joachim thought he’d be an easy man to work for and wouldn’t interfere. On his way back to London, he thought about what he wanted to do, and the next day he drove back to Pembroke Manor, his new home. There would be lots to do, to keep him busy. He was looking forward to it. He had a job and could turn his mind to that instead of his recent losses, his dead brother, and the job he had given up to come here. But at least his mother and Olivia would be safe now, with him away. And cleaning up the house and property would be a challenge. It wasn’t as grand as the chateau, but it was enough for him. He was relieved to be employed again, and as a proper butler. He’d never been a butler at a tourist attraction before, which seemed a little undignified. But why not? The key to life was being flexible and taking on new challenges. It was going to be an adventure.





Chapter 16


Anatole, the assistant Olivia had hired, was a lovely, gentle person. He was polite to everyone on the phone and was sweet to Fatima. He was kind and helpful and showed up at work every day with some delicious pastry he had made earlier that morning, or croissants, and whenever she was at home at lunchtime, he made Olivia a delicious lunch. He kept her desk and his own impeccable, but he was terrified of the workmen, who bullied him and followed none of his instructions at the chateau. He was useless to her there.

What it took in the end was Olivia getting as tough as the workmen were, threatening to fire them in her basic French, checking their bills diligently and calling them on it when they cheated her, and occasionally replacing them. She was determined to complete the chateau on schedule for the employer. The checks from him were continuing to come in regularly, but he called her less often and she didn’t want to disappoint him. She wanted the chateau to be a showplace for him, and an accomplishment she could be proud of, so she could do another one if she wanted to. Joachim leaving her had almost made the task impossible, but she refused to be defeated by it, and she did his job and her own after he left.

    Anatole was virtually useless as an assistant. She was basically paying him to bring her croissants for breakfast, and make her lunch, which she didn’t have time to eat. She needed to be at the chateau every day now, getting each aspect of the work completed. The floors were perfectly polished, all the bulletproof windows were in, and replaced where necessary, most of the carpentry had been done, the plumbing was still in progress, the electricity seemed to be solid now. The technology was being handled by a subcontractor. The painting was almost finished, and she was storing the furniture and art she bought, rugs, and electrical fixtures in a warehouse set up for storage. It was coming together, and she was spending every waking hour on it.

It was far more stressful than the project had been when she had Joachim to rely on. But she no longer did, so she made the best of it, determined not to be daunted. She tried to give Anatole a little more backbone, but it was hopeless. He hated going to the chateau. All he cared about was cooking, and all he could think about were the two weddings he was going to do. He spent so much time on it, that when he left a week early to prepare the first one, Olivia gave him a month’s salary and let him go. He looked relieved when she told him. He said he didn’t know how she dealt with the workmen, they were so rude, and many of them were dishonest. It had grown familiar to her, and she didn’t waste time being gentle with them anymore. She met them on their own turf, and was as tough as they were, and then they did what she wanted. It had taught her a lot about human nature and how strong you had to be sometimes, but she was proud of what she was accomplishing. And she didn’t bother trying to find another assistant. It was too late now and the project was almost finished. They were coming in on schedule. She wanted the owner of the chateau to be thrilled with it, and was continuing to give him reports, although he hadn’t responded to her last three emails. He was probably busy. He was continuing to feed the account she paid the expenses from. Her bookkeeping was meticulous too.



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    Joachim’s victories in Sussex were more human scale than Olivia’s. In his first weeks there, he had managed to clean up the part of the house included on the tour. He got the two tour guides to help him, and the silver and antique furniture gleamed, with some help from the maids. Joachim had them put fresh flowers on the tables every day. He had done some minor repairs, improved the lighting, pulled back the curtains and let more sunlight in, moved some of the furniture, and rehung some paintings. It was housekeeper’s work, but he didn’t mind doing it, and the results were quite good.