by K E O'Connor
Sebastien kissed Lady Cordelia on the cheek; it was an oddly formal gesture. “I’ve been counting down the minutes since I left, just waiting to return to your side.”
“You’re such a romantic.” Lady Cordelia fussed over Sebastien’s jacket, a small frown on her lips. “I thought you were going to wear the new tweed jacket I got you?”
“I decided to have it altered,” said Sebastien. “The tailor has it. I’ll wear it another time.”
“It makes you look even more handsome,” said Lady Cordelia. “As if that’s even possible.” She giggled like a schoolgirl, not seeming to have noticed we were standing right next to Sebastien.
“I’ll fix you a drink,” said Sebastien, as he gestured towards the drinks cabinet.
I saw Lady Cordelia’s spine stiffen as she locked gazes with Montgomery, who was still pondering over the drinks. “I hope you haven’t been leading Sebastien astray again?”
“I do my best to,” said Montgomery, not raising his gaze. “But he’s a hard one to corrupt. He barely drinks, doesn’t smoke, and seems worryingly attached to you. I suggested we go to London and spend an evening at the Gaslight Gentlemen’s Club, but he didn’t think much of that idea, so we settled on a boozy dinner here instead.”
“Of course I didn’t.” Sebastien shook his head as he fixed Lady Cordelia’s drink. “What pleasure would I get out of watching scantily-clad women gyrating against a pole?”
“I can think of some pleasure.” Montgomery snorted a laugh as he fixed himself a whiskey.
“Sebastien would never want to go anywhere so coarse.” Lady Cordelia sniffed as she took a tall glass of gin and tonic from him.
Sebastien looked over at me and Helen. “Would you ladies like anything?”
“Oh, of course! Don’t stand on ceremony,” said Lady Cordelia, finally noticing us. “You can get your own drinks. Or Monty will fix you drinks if you want one.”
“What’s your poison?” asked Montgomery. “We’ve got it all here.” He gestured to the full drinks cabinet.
I decided to stick to something soft and Helen had a glass of champagne.
“We’ve been showing your new employees around the place,” said Montgomery, as he handed around the drinks before topping up his own.
Lady Cordelia nodded. “We’re short-staffed at the moment. I would have had the butler show you around if he hadn’t put his back out. I’m also busy planning a big charity gala, otherwise I’d have done it. I hope the boys haven’t been too much of a nuisance.”
“They’ve been very helpful,” I said. “I think I can find my way around without getting too lost down the corridors.”
“It is something of a maze,” said Lady Cordelia. “But it’s home and you’ll get used to it if you stay here long enough.”
Flipper and Big Ginge started following Leo around the room, staying a few paces back as he drifted around. Leo stopped by Lady Cordelia’s shoulder, and Flipper joined him and sat by her feet. Big Ginge remained a few steps back.
“Is your dog well behaved?” asked Lady Cordelia. “I did have my doubts about letting him come into the castle, given the amount of cats we have to have here, but was assured he is well trained.”
“He’s not a problem.” I tried to keep my attention on Lady Cordelia, despite the fact Leo was prodding her with a finger and frowning.
Lady Cordelia wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered. “Well, he can sit in the corner while we have dinner. I won’t have animals begging at the table. Leo always insisted on having a cat on his lap whenever he ate, and would feed little tidbits to it off his plate. It was so unhygienic.”
That comment earned her several more prods from Leo. He was not happy with his wife. I wondered if it had more to do with her involvement in his death than her cold comments about the animals.
“Flipper won’t do any begging,” I said. That wasn’t strictly true. He did, but only with people he knew. And he was guaranteed to get a treat off my plate whenever the opportunity arose.
I settled Flipper in the corner, Big Ginge seeming happy to come along as well. I stroked Flipper's head several times to calm him as he kept his gaze on Leo. “I think he’s a nice ghost,” I whispered. “Don’t go getting yourself too worked up that he’s in the room with us. He won’t do me any harm.”
Flipper gave another whine and nudged me with his nose, before sitting down. Big Ginge curled up next to him. Both of them were watching Leo.
Leo was watching the group in the dining room with interest, shaking his head when Montgomery became too loud, but his gaze kept returning to Lady Cordelia. Perhaps he missed his wife, and was sad he hadn’t had an opportunity to say goodbye to her before he died. I could be making assumptions about his death, and this could be the reason he was here, and it had nothing to do with the way he died.
I walked back to Helen’s side and turned away so no one could see me talking, pretending to inspect a painting on the wall. “Leo is very interested in Lady Cordelia. See how she’s shivering, it’s because Leo keeps prodding her.”
“She’s got a lot to gain by him being gone,” whispered Helen, as she pretended to look at the painting as well. “Having your very own castle must be quite tempting.”
I turned back to the group and watched as Lady Cordelia continued to fuss over Sebastien. He didn’t seem to be enjoying it. Although there was a smile on his face, it looked strained, and his eyes were narrowed as Lady Cordelia picked imaginary pieces of fluff from his jacket.
“Someone needs to watch out, being clingy is not attractive,” muttered Helen.
The dining room door opened, and a tall, narrow-faced man with a mess of blond hair entered. He was closely followed by a plump blonde woman with brilliant blue eyes and a pouty mouth.
“Darlings! You’re just in time for dinner.” Lady Cordelia hurried over and kissed them both. I could instantly see the family resemblance. This must be Julius and Tabitha Babington.
“We weren’t sure we’d make it, Mommy,” said Julius. “Tabitha insisted on stopping off for a drink with some of her awful friends. I only just managed to drag her away in time.” His hands fluttered over his chest before he jammed them in his trouser pockets.
Tabitha yawned and looked around the room, boredom clear on her pretty face. “I arranged to meet my friends weeks ago. I couldn’t let them down. It would have been rude if I hadn’t turned up.”
“You’re both here now, that’s the main thing,” said Lady Cordelia. “Let’s all sit down, the food will be served in a moment.”
Helen and I waited until everyone sat in their usual seats, before picking our own chairs. I ended up sitting with Sebastien on my right and Helen on my left. She had the misfortune of being next to Montgomery who was already turning up his flirting abilities and pouring her a large glass of white wine.
“Children, this is Helen Holiday and Lorna Shadow,” said Lady Cordelia as she gestured towards us. “They’re starting work for the estate. Helen will be our seamstress and Lorna will oversee all of the administration I require doing.”
Both children barely acknowledged us, Julius managing a brief smile before turning to speak to his sister.
Sebastien leaned down towards me. “In case you haven’t figured it out, that’s Tabitha and Julius Babington. They live here some of the time, and Julius considers himself in training to take over the estate at the earliest opportunity.”
“What are you whispering about?” Julius glared at Sebastien from the other side of the table.
“I was just telling Lorna who you are,” said Sebastien. “Since you can’t be bothered to tell her yourself.”
“She should know who we are,” said Tabitha. “Since she’s working here.”
“That’s no way to welcome our new employees,” said Lady Cordelia. She was sitting at the head of the table and leaned over to pat Sebastien’s hand. “They’re being high-spirited, darling. Don’t pay the children any attention.”
Sebastien’s eyes narrowed
but he nodded. He leaned back to me. “More like they’re being rude. It’s their default setting.”
“I heard that,” said Julius. “Why don’t you go and do something useful. What is it you do again for money?”
“Asks Mommy for it.” Tabitha tittered a laugh and shoved her napkin over her mouth.
“Now don’t go teasing Sebastien,” said Lady Cordelia. “You know he does a lot of work for charity. He’s very dedicated to his passions.”
“None of which he gets paid for,” said Julius. “I’ll be having some work done on the estate soon, you can always join the work crew. I’m thinking of having a new swimming pool installed and we need some extra hands to dig out the hole.”
“That won’t be necessary,” said Sebastien. “Thanks for your generous offer, though.”
“I pay above minimum wage.” Julius’s blue eyes narrowed as he glared at Sebastien. “Not sure what your experience is. Have you ever worked before?”
Sebastien thumped a hand on the table. “You know I have.”
“There’s no point in annoying each other.” Lady Cordelia patted Sebastien’s hand rapidly, a look of concern on her face. “Let’s all get along and have a nice dinner together. No squabbling allowed.”
Sebastien huffed under his breath a few times, but didn’t say anything else.
The food arrived a moment later, providing a welcome distraction. There was a rich tomato and basil soup with crusty homemade bread to begin with, and after the soup bowls were cleared, we all had a generous portion of salmon and balsamic roasted vegetables.
The whole time the meal was being eaten, I was keeping an eye on Leo as he drifted around the table, occasionally pausing to listen to what people had to say, before drifting back to Lady Cordelia’s chair and resting his hands on the back of it. I could see he was very interested in his wife, which made me all the more convinced she was involved with his demise.
“We had a record number of visitors today,” said Julius. “I checked the log before coming here.”
“It’s good we’re so popular,” said Lady Cordelia. “It will mean we can get the new heating system put in before winter sets in.”
“It will take more than a few extra grubby tourists to pay for that,” said Julius. “We need to find at least another forty thousand pounds before we sign off on that project.”
“The money will come in,” said Lady Cordelia. “So far, autumn is proving to be lovely, and the sunshine always brings the tourists here in droves. Another few good weekends with lots of visitors, and we’ll be able to get the heating done.” She rubbed her hands over her arms. “And I feel the need for it tonight, this room feels so cold. I must be sitting in a draft.”
I bit my bottom lip. It wasn’t a draft causing the problem, but her husband’s ghost.
“This doesn’t feel like home anyway,” said Tabitha. “All those strangers traipsing around, getting in the way.”
“They don’t come into your private quarters, darling,” said Lady Cordelia. “We do have our own rooms we can retreat to when the tourists get too much. And they never see the real castle, not what goes on behind the scenes. And you know we need to keep the tourists coming in.”
“And I have an idea for that.” Julius adjusted the collar of his shirt.
“No, I don’t want to keep talking about business over dinner,” said Lady Cordelia. “This should be family time.”
“If it’s family time, why are there two staff members and your boyfriend sitting at the table?” asked Tabitha.
“Castles don’t pay for themselves,” said Julius. “And they definitely don’t pay for your expensive taste in clothes for your toy boy.”
“I am not a toy boy.” Sebastien spoke through gritted teeth. “And didn’t your mother recently buy you a brand new car?”
“It was a business expense,” sneered Julius. “I need to look presentable when I go out to meet potential new clients. The Babingtons have a reputation to maintain.”
“Daddy would never have wanted the castle to turn into this.” Tabitha stabbed at a piece of carrot on her plate. “He would be embarrassed to see what was going on. With the castle and with you and your man friend.” She gestured across the table at Sebastien.
Helen kicked me under the table. This family discussion was getting out of hand.
“Your father would be happy I’ve found somebody else,” said Lady Cordelia. “He wouldn't want me to be on my own. And I do hate to be lonely.”
“He wouldn’t want you to be with him,” said Tabitha. “I should be dating him, not you.”
“I didn’t know you cared,” said Sebastien.
“I mean you’re more my age,” said Tabitha. “I would never want to go out with you. I have no idea what your background is. I doubt it’s anything good, though. The first time I met you, you were wearing worn-out leather shoes and a second-hand jacket.”
“Children, please! You know I’m fond of Sebastien, and he’s staying here,” said Lady Cordelia. “I want him around; he makes me happy.”
“What about our happiness?” Tabitha pouted. “Don’t we get a say in what goes on in our own home?”
“If you did, you would close the doors to all the tourists and we would lose everything,” snapped Lady Cordelia.
“Daddy didn’t like the tourists coming in and staring at us in our home,” said Tabitha.
“Your father didn’t care what happened to the castle,” said Lady Cordelia. “He only loved his cats.”
I looked at Leo and he gave an embarrassed shrug and then nodded.
“He loved me,” said Tabitha.
“Only because you spent so much time with his wretched animals,” said Lady Cordelia.
Tabitha stroked a hand down what looked like a suspiciously real fur collar on her fitted black pullover. “That had nothing to do with it. I was his only daughter. Of course he loved me.”
Leo gave another shrug and looked down at his hands.
“He wanted an enormous animal sanctuary in the grounds,” said Julius. “That’s hardly going to make the estate enough money to keep going.”
“The sanctuary we have is large enough,” said Lady Cordelia. “From now on, I’ll be looking to get rid of the cats, not take any more.”
Leo shot into the air and spun around the table, causing an icy cold draught as he did so.
Flipper jumped to his feet and barked, and Big Ginge's ears flattened against his head.
Lady Cordelia glared at me. “I thought your dog was well behaved?”
“Something must have startled him,” I said, gesturing at Flipper to lie down. “I’m sorry to hear you won’t be helping any more cats. Especially since it was your husband’s passion.”
“His passions have no importance here anymore,” said Lady Cordelia. “He spent far too much time and money on those creatures when he should have been focusing on the estate.”
“Without filling it with tourists,” said Tabitha.
“We need them,” said Lady Cordelia. “If it weren’t for the visitors every year, we would have to sell the castle.”
“Father was on the right track when it came to animals, but he was thinking too small,” said Julius.
“You want more cats here as well?” Tabitha shot an incredulous look at her brother.
“Not cats, you idiot,” said Julius. “The damned things make me sneeze. We need big animals. We should turn the grounds into a wildlife park. People pay big money to drive past dangerous animals.”
“That’s a ridiculous idea,” said Sebastien.
“You don’t get to have a say in how the estate is run,” said Julius. “Mommy, can’t you keep him under control?”
“I’m not a dog,” said Sebastien.
“You do remind me of one,” said Tabitha, her blue eyes narrowing. “The way you chase around after Mommy, begging for handouts all the time. That does have a dog-like quality to it.”
“He doesn’t do that,” said Lady Cordelia. “Ignore them, darling.�
� She smiled at Sebastien.
Leo kept spinning around the table, his agitation clear, and I shook my head as I began to get dizzy. He needed to calm down or everyone would soon be affected.
“All this talk of business is making me bored,” said Montgomery. “Why don’t we play some after-dinner games?”
“Games are for children,” said Tabitha.
“We could play cards for money,” said Montgomery.
“I wouldn’t mind a game,” said Julius.
“How about you, Sebastien?” asked Montgomery. “You might have a score or two to settle after this evening's fun dinner. You can do that with a card game.”
“I’m leaving.” Sebastien pushed back his chair and stood.
Lady Cordelia grabbed his hand and jumped up. “There’s no need for you to leave. Why don’t we go for a walk around the grounds?”
“Either he goes or we do,” said Julius. “We’d never have come to dinner if we’d have known he was going to be here.”
“Sebastien will remain as my dinner guest for as long as I wish it.” Lady Cordelia’s eyes narrowed as she glared at her children. “You will learn to like him.”
“So long as you don’t go marrying him and we end up having to call him daddy, I really don’t mind.” Tabitha tittered out another laugh. “Can you imagine that, Sebastien as our stepfather?” She nudged Julius with her elbow.
“We are not getting married,” said Sebastien.
“Well, not yet, darling,” said Lady Cordelia. “But maybe one day.”
Sebastien looked at Tabitha and then Julius, cold fury clear on his face. “It’s time I left.”
“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” called Julius.
Sebastien reached the door at the same time as Leo, who was making another dizzying circuit of the room. He shot straight through Sebastian without stopping. I grimaced, knowing how bad that would feel, having experienced ghosts passing through me. It was like you’d been dumped in an ice bath and then left to drip dry in a freezer.
Sebastien staggered back several steps, before shaking out his arms and shooting a surprised look over his shoulder.
