rumors

Chapter 53 – On The Other Side Of The Gate: Lies Or Truth?

by butlersgloves

James wasn’t just in a brown study as he followed Sylvia. He was in a whole brown house.

Is there a way I can honor my father’s wishes and still be friends with her? No, the two are mutually exclusive. It is one or the other. Him or her. My father or my best friend. It is not and cannot be both. It just is not possible.

Yet, I wish it were.

Maybe there is a way.

Maybe we could find a way. How? How could we do it without sneaking around behind his back? Yet, is he giving us any other options?

Yes.

One.

Stop being friends with her.

“I have heard some rumors about Mr. Arden.” Sylvia said. She opened the white metal grille gate separating the sleeping quarters of the lower classed servants from the rest of the house.

“Rumors like what?”

She stepped aside and let James walk through the gate. “Many rumors.” She followed after him. “Rumors about him and Lord Farlington.” She closed the gate. “Rumors about him being behind Nellie’s dismissal.”

James stopped and turned to face her. “That is a lie. My father would never—”

“Your father was trying to protect his own skin.” She smirked. “So to speak. I know what she said. I know why he had her dismissed.”

James shook his head. “You are wrong. My father would never behave dishonorably.”

“Oh, I’m sure he believes that he is in the clear. He believes that he is innocent. He believes that—”

“Stop it! My father is innocent. I can prove it.”

“No, you can’t. Mr. Aloysius Arden is clever. He’s smart. If you ask him if he had any part in Nellie’s dismissal, he will answer it in such a way that will neither be an admission nor a lie.”

“You are wrong. My father would never lie to me. He will tell me the truth.”

“No. He’ll tell you a fabrication, James Arden. A perfect pinpoint needlework embroidery of a fabrication.” She stepped aside. “As a matter of fact, you should go to him and tell him what I said. Let’s see if I get dismissed next.”

James ran to the gate and opened it. He stopped. “Why? Why are you saying such things about him? How do you hope to benefit from it?”

“Nellie was my friend.” Sylvia’s shoulders slumped. “She was a very good friend and I miss her. I miss her more than I’ve missed anyone. I didn’t get a chance to say good-bye to her. Believe me, James Arden. It is your father’s fault that she is gone. I will not believe anyone who tells me otherwise.”

There was a subtle wrongness in her words, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. It unnerved him and made him feel ill at ease. He ran through the open gate without another word.

Chapter 32 – The Truth About The Rumors

by butlersgloves

James finished the handkerchief and quietly gloated over its perfect smoothness.

No rumpled corners.

No scorch marks.

It is beautiful.

He set the iron down just as his father had shown him. The hot end was up in the air. Nothing was touching it. Nothing was even near it. And it was not sitting on top of anything that could burst into flames.

Why would they let Nellie go?

He tried to imagine a reasonable explanation, but his seven-year-old imagination failed him completely.

It does not make sense.

Aloysius entered the room with a full stack of rumpled handkerchiefs. “I found a few more you can practice on.”

James looked up at his father. “Sir? Is it true, then?”

Aloysius set the wads of white linen on the ironing board.

“Is Nellie no longer May Rose’s personal maid?”

He laid each one as flat as he could in the tidiest pile he could manage. “It is not my place to discuss such matters.”

“I know, sir. Still, I would like to know.”

Aloysius tugged the top one until it was perfectly in place. “Yes.”

“Why? I do not understand it. Why would they let her go? She has been May Rose’s maid all her life.”

“She was also spreading unsavory rumors about Lord Farlington…and myself.” He kept his gaze lowered. Maybe he was looking at the handkerchiefs. Maybe not.

James frowned as he tried to make sense of it. “Is there any truth to the rumors?”

“Lord Farlington is my master. I respect him. I care for his reputation. Beyond that, there is nothing.”

“So, it is not true?”

“No.”

“Then, why would she—”

“I am sorry, James.” He looked up at his son. “There are some things I cannot share with you.”

James took a step back as if a door had been abruptly slammed in his face.

“I am sorry. Perhaps one day I will be free to do so.” He shook his head. “That day has not yet arrived.”

“Is it something shameful, sir?”

“No.”

“Then, why can you not speak of it?”

The expression in Aloysius’ eyes softened. “I have not the right to do so. For it does not involve just myself.”

“Lord Farlington?”

“Yes. If he gives me leave to speak of it, I will.” He put his hands on his son’s shoulders. “You will be the first one I tell it to, I promise.”

James bowed his head. “I understand, sir. Thank you.”

Aloysius released his shoulders. “Very well. Let me see how you iron.”

James perked up. “Yes, sir!”

 

Chapter 30 – Salacious Rumors

by butlersgloves

Aloysius finished his tea. “I am sorry, James. This whole entanglement between you and Miss Farlington is all my fault. I have been too lenient with you. I should have trained you from the start to see the differences between us and them. That was my failing.”

“Sir! It is not your fault.”

“Be as it may, I will make things right.  I will train you so that one day you may be able to take my place as the Farlingtons’ butler.”

James bowed his head. “It would be an honor, sir.”

***

“Nellie? Do you ever wish you were someone else?”

“Only on my bad days, miss.” She fussed with flattening May Rose’s collar.

“Who would you want to be?”

“It all depends on why I’m having a bad day, miss. Some days I wish I weren’t a maid. Other days I wish I were Mr. Arden.”

“Mr. Arden? Why him?”

She finished fussing with May Rose’s collar and set her attention on braiding May Rose’s hair. “Because he is in a good position. Unless he disgraces himself and the family, he is untouchable. But. I’m sure you already knew that?”

May Rose didn’t respond to that.

“He and the Lord Farlington are terribly close. So close that some of the servants have said that there is something more between them. They say that the Lord Farlington and Mr. Arden have formed an attachment.”

“That’s absurd. My father is old and Mr. Arden is even older than him.”

Nellie looked puzzled. “Is that your only objection to such salacious rumors? I expected you to become irate and declare his innocence.”

“Why should I become irate over such silly rumors? Everyone knows that my father isn’t like that.”

“What of Mr. Arden?”

May Rose scoffed. “Mr. Arden is in love with propriety. He’s practically married to it. When he dies, he’ll be buried with it. He would never behave in such an unbecoming manner, certainly NOT with my father.”

“Of course, miss. I simply wanted you to be aware of what the rumors were.” Nellie tied up the braid with a plain yellow ribbon. “There!”

May Rose frowned as an uncomfortable thought occurred to her. “Are there any rumors about me and James Arden?”

“No. Not yet. You are fortunate that you are both children. It keeps you below everyone’s notice unless you’re caught doing something outlandishly unfortunate.”

“Outlandishly unfortunate? What does that even mean?”

Nellie blushed. “It is not my place to say, miss. Come. Let us present you to your mother.”

“I don’t want to. She’s going to teach me how to be a proper lady and it’s a bother I don’t want to deal with.”

Nellie thought it over. “Well, miss. If I may say, when there is something I need to do and I don’t want to do it, I just go and get it done.”

“That’s easy enough for you. You’re a maid. This will be something I’ll have to do every day and I hate it already. Because it will not be a simple lesson that I can learn and forget about. I will have to apply it to my life and live it. And THAT is what I hate the most.”

“That may be so, miss, but Lady Farlington is waiting for you. We mustn’t keep her waiting.”

“I know. But I wish I could.”