Marie Beguine returned to the maid’s chamber, attached
to Amelie’s suite of rooms in the wing of the Forrester Mansion that was reserved
for her and her guests, leaving her mistress alone with the young man her
father, the Colonel had brought into the house.
She wasn’t sure if she liked this Johnny
Holiday, though she had to admit that he was a handsome fellow, tall and strong
with a smooth complexion and a generous smile. He was just the sort of young-man
that Amelie was fond of, and because of this old-maid thought it was dangerous
to have him living in the house, even if he was downstairs in the Colonel’s guest
quarters.
Amelie had already asked Marie for the key to
his room, and she planned on giving it to her as soon as she could, even though
Nils, the head butler, would be upset with her if he found out. She would much
rather face a reprimand from Nils than Amelie’s anger.
Amelie
had been drinking heavily, throughout the day and into the evenings. There were
several times in recent weeks when she had come to Marie to ask her what time
she had come home, or with whom she had been out, what if anything had she might
have said about the things she was doing.
Her
blackouts were contributing to a deepening sense of paranoia, especially
concerning her father and her missing husband, Bjorn Elmquist, who had
disappeared around the time that she had begun to spiral out of control.
The other servants in the Forrester mansion had
noticed Amelie’s behavior as well, but none of them were as close to her as
Marie was. They enjoyed their gossip, but Marie thought of the girl as a
daughter, and she wanted her to be happy.
The other ladies in the household said that Amelie
had driven her husband away, but Marie believed that something terrible had
happened to him, though she did not know what it might be, and she was quietly
concerned that Amelie had something to do with it.
Bjorn was her second husband, her first
marriage ended in scandal and had been annulled on account of adultery, his not
hers, but Marie knew that she had been unfaithful as well.
Amelie had met Bjorn a short time later and
after a brief engagement the two of them were married. The old-maid believed
she had noticed a change in her mood and behaviors then.
Her husband was a gregarious and fascinating
man; Marie loved to eavesdrop when he was telling one of his stories to Amelie’s
father.
This new young man, this Johnny-boy, had been hard
on Amelie and Marie did not like that. He had excited her nerves causing Amelie
to spill her drink. Marie was happy to come in and clean things up, but she
could tell that her mistress was deeply embarrassed by the mishap, and it would
not have happened at all if Johnny Holiday had simply been more polite with her
during their conversation..
He must be something extra special to the Colonel
to think that he could get away with that kind of behavior in the Forrester mansion, Marie thought, and if that were the case all
of the staff should know to let the boy have plenty of space.
It
would be best if Nils handled his needs directly while he was a guest at the
mansion, Marie said to herself.
It would be best.
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