So I thought this might be a fun way to keep each other amused with our goings on. We'll see.
It also occurred to me that we had better keep names out of this which is why I've taken the liberty of picking some descriptions and names that will hopefully make sense to us but not necessarily to anyone who might happen to see this.
Anyway you expressed some bemusement as to how I fitted into that particular group so I thought I'd include a bit of background.
I have known the Ever-so-capable Evelyn since school. We both come from fairly affluent families who, for very different reasons, didn't feel the need to send us to the usual schools where one might send young ladies whose parents aspired for them to move into an income bracket even higher than their own. Ever-so-capable Evelyn is a generation or three away from titular relatives and sprawling estates. My family made their money in the days of Empire, in business, but they had great expectations. Some came to fruition but many did not.
Our parents had both settled in the rural North; hers in what one might term The Manor House with land attached where we would both spend many a school holiday exploring and running wild; mine in a converted farmhouse which has had so many alterations over the years it is a real warren of a building but still manages, I think, to feel homely. The acres of land that might have once been associated with the farm had been parcelled off well before my parents bought the place but it still has a generous amount of garden though not as vast and exciting as Ever-so-capable Evelyn's. So we tended to spend the warmer, drier days running wild at her house and the darker, colder days in the reading room or huddled by the Aga at mine.
As an aside I think both of us had families who despaired of our parents' life choices. Certainly Grandma (my mother's mother) would, when she was alive, constantly send my mother press cuttings and magazine articles on the grim North with appeals to return home to the civilised South. There would often be details included of some property or other in the area which was for sale and which Grandma thought far more suitable for her daughter. Granny (my father's mother) is still trying to persuade my father that he is far more suited to a professorial post at some red-brick university rather than his lectureship at 'that establishment'. But my parents love where they are and what they do and are unlikely now to be persuaded.
By the way, my father is a botanist and my mother lectures in law. I think I told you that but just in case I didn't. It did mean that summers were often spent in far flung places for father's research. Or at least they did until I reached my teenage years when I would opt to stay with Ever-so-capable Evelyn and her family. Which is how I met her extended family with their ancient titles and even more ancient homes.
Summers with her family exposed me to a completely different world to the one we inhabited. Her parents were perhaps more indulgent of their grand relatives than mine would have been. So we would often spend a week or two of the summer holidays with her cousins (they may be second cousins actually) on their huge estates in their huge houses. I think the idea was that as we were of similar ages we would keep each other amused. And in the most part we did. There would be teasing and things, generally because or our geographical situation, but overall we got on.
... I'm wondering what to call her cousins ... actually they are very much part of the background so I'll not give them names unless they come up again.
I only mention this because it was how I met the Convivial Count (chosen for alliteration rather than accuracy by the way since we don't award the title of Count in Britain anymore - I think it may be a German or European title though - I digress). He was a couple of years older than us so seemed very sophisticated and Ever-so-capable Evelyn had a huge crush on him even then. His family were some way down the genealogical line related to the cousins and so we were all corralled together for the duration of our visits. The age gap meant that this only lasted for a few years before he was off doing his own thing but he would often pop up at some party or event or other and so we developed an easy acquaintance.
As I mention above, it was a very different world. The cousins, and the Convivial Count, had 'staff'. There would be maids and cooks and a butler and a driver and gardeners, etc. It really was, is, like some period drama in terms of how their homes operated. They were invisible unless called upon and, whilst I don't think they were treated unkindly or unfairly, they were, unless needed, largely ignored.
My parents have both of them always worked full time so we had, by necessity, help around the house. As a very small child I recall we had the Bustling Betty who acted as housekeeper and nanny to myself, and then later, my little sister the Luscious Lydia. She cooked and cleaned and collected us from school and kept us fed and amused until our parents were home from work. Then they would take over and it worked. Her husband, Grumpy Gerald, would do odd jobs around the place and run errands. But they were never 'staff'. My father insisted, and still does, that he is employing skilled people. He provides a decent salary and working conditions and therefore expects competence and conscientiousness. He once told me that if the people he employs cannot afford their own home and a decent pension for their retirement then he has failed. Which also meant that Bustling Betty and Grumpy Gerald lived in the village in their own home rather than having to 'live-in'. Bustling Betty still lives in the village and will often come over for coffee and a chat although Grumpy Gerald passed a few years ago now. As it is only my parents at home now they make do with Fastidious Faye coming in twice a week to do cleaning and suchlike. She is also rather a dab hand at DIY so doubles as odd-job man when required. When we are all at home she pitches in to cook with mother and is an absolute hoot when you get a few glasses of wine down her. Fastidious Faye's wife, Very Serious Sue, works in the city for at least a few days of every week so Fastidious Faye keeps herself busy by being, it seems, on every village committee going. I think she is also in the WI (Women's Institute) and knows all the local gossip.
So I find it very difficult to ignore 'staff'. I like to know their names and I have been brought up to be thankful for everything they do that makes my life easier or more comfortable. I was brought up to say 'please' and 'thank you' and to know that I am no better than anyone else. Not all Ever-so-capable Evelyn's relatives were so minded and some of the cousins were, it appeared to me, downright rude. A consequence of this was that I was indulged by many of the household and would be made welcome in the shelter of the kitchen with endless supplies of tea, cake and company. And that is how I built up a relationship with Jovial James and Merciless Mary, the Convivial Count's butler and housekeeper. They had worked for an Aunt but later joined the Convivial Count's household. I include this because you seemed rather bemused by my relationship with Jovial James.
Anyway the long and the short of it was that Ever-so-capable Evelyn and I maintained our friendship all the way through school and (separate) university and out the other end. And to be fair to her family they continue to invite me to 'events' as if I was the adopted sister and we have much fun and merriment together. Neither of us have, so far, married or entered into significant relationships that might otherwise hinder our mischief and freedoms. And due to the generosity of elderly relatives (usually in death) we both have a degree of financial security which give us options. We are trust fund kids and are extremely lucky. We both work but we have choices. I know many people who don't and I am forever thankful for my lot.
Okay I digress. So that is how I happened to be at the party that weekend. Ever-so-capable Evelyn, still ever so enamoured of the Convivial Count, had been invited to a gathering at his that weekend and asked if I would come along. The Convivial Count had himself been invited to some do or other and, in an attempt to avoid it I believe, had told them that he had friends over for the weekend only to have the offer extended to his whole party. So that meant he now had to gather together a band of people that would, hopefully, make the evening a tolerable affair and who he wouldn't mind entertaining for the weekend.
I'm going to stop there and then you can write something.
Comments