it a thought. We’ll have a few of the chambers abovestairs painted pink and blue for them. We’ll never know they are in the house. They won’t bother us in the least.”
It was precisely the way they would be raised at Menrod Manor, and precisely what I hoped to avoid. “The children are not a bother to me. I love children.”
“I’m fond of them myself.”
When Mama returned, Mr. Everett showed us some plans he was drawing up for a Chinese pagoda that was to serve the job of belvedere in one of his gardens, at a cost of £1,265. Mama said it was beautiful, very handsome indeed, and I assured him it would be a fitting addition to Oakdene. This done, we were returned to Lady Anne’s cottage, to view the new box stairs.
“Why don’t you come inside with us, and see the job?” I asked when he began to re-enter the carriage.
“I’ll be along tomorrow morning,” he answered.
It was unusual in the extreme for him to refuse any offer to enter our cottage. I sensed a skittishness in his manner, and chalked it up to disappointment at my refusing his offer. Just because he did not show his feelings was no indication he was less sensitive than others. I really felt badly about Mr. Everett, till I went into the hallway and saw what he had done to our stairs.
He could not overcome his bent for finery. Despite his promises, he had sent the carpenters up to install a large brass railing, terminating in a dragon’s head, with a ring hanging from it, like something used to tether horses. The spindles had been twisted into spirals, or perhaps what I stared at was snakes winding themselves around branches. It was perfectly hideous, and atrociously expensive. This was bad enough, clashing so dreadfully with the ancient timbers of the rest of the house, but there was worse. The whole side wall of the staircase had been painted white, with gilt rosettes attached at random intervals to embellish the whole.
“How lovely!” Mama said. “We are rid of the boxed-in walls at last, Wendy. I shall run up the stairs this instant.”
She did as she said, to return a moment later praising the feeling of airiness, the freedom and ease of vision that had been gained by the change.
“Menrod will kill us,” I moaned.
“He’s going to put a red carpet-runner down the stairs tomorrow,” Pudge said. He and his wife made free with us. If I did not mention it, the Pudges were there with us. “The lads didn’t have time to do it tonight. It took them forever to get the metal bannister installed.”
“There was enough noise to give you the megrims,” Mrs. Pudge added in tones of pique.
Without hearing a single blow of hammer, I found my head throbbing most painfully. Menrod was coming at ten o’clock in the morning. There was no way this monstrosity could be undone in time to keep it from him.
“Get the fire screen from the sitting room and cover up this thing at once,” I said weakly,
“Cover it up? It is the only decent corner of the house,” Mama objected.
In an extravagant, modern style, the stairs might have done well enough in an hotel. In our humble, small, dark cottage, they stood out like a diamond tiara on a scarecrow. The red carpet would be the coup de grace.
I arranged the fire screen at an angle that hid as much as possible of the job from anyone entering at the front doorway, as Menrod would be doing in eleven hours. I had a fairly sleepless night, comparing the efficacy of painting the whole with a dark brown paint, versus moving large clothespresses into a hallway scarcely wide enough to allow two people to pass. In the end, I took the decision to send a note to Menrod Manor very early, canceling the meeting. I disliked to have to ask Everett to undo his job, but if I did not, Menrod would surely do it for me, in a much less gracious way.
By morning, I had changed my mind. I went outdoors and came in at the front door myself, looking to see how visible the job was. If Menrod could be distracted as he
It was precisely the way they would be raised at Menrod Manor, and precisely what I hoped to avoid. “The children are not a bother to me. I love children.”
“I’m fond of them myself.”
When Mama returned, Mr. Everett showed us some plans he was drawing up for a Chinese pagoda that was to serve the job of belvedere in one of his gardens, at a cost of £1,265. Mama said it was beautiful, very handsome indeed, and I assured him it would be a fitting addition to Oakdene. This done, we were returned to Lady Anne’s cottage, to view the new box stairs.
“Why don’t you come inside with us, and see the job?” I asked when he began to re-enter the carriage.
“I’ll be along tomorrow morning,” he answered.
It was unusual in the extreme for him to refuse any offer to enter our cottage. I sensed a skittishness in his manner, and chalked it up to disappointment at my refusing his offer. Just because he did not show his feelings was no indication he was less sensitive than others. I really felt badly about Mr. Everett, till I went into the hallway and saw what he had done to our stairs.
He could not overcome his bent for finery. Despite his promises, he had sent the carpenters up to install a large brass railing, terminating in a dragon’s head, with a ring hanging from it, like something used to tether horses. The spindles had been twisted into spirals, or perhaps what I stared at was snakes winding themselves around branches. It was perfectly hideous, and atrociously expensive. This was bad enough, clashing so dreadfully with the ancient timbers of the rest of the house, but there was worse. The whole side wall of the staircase had been painted white, with gilt rosettes attached at random intervals to embellish the whole.
“How lovely!” Mama said. “We are rid of the boxed-in walls at last, Wendy. I shall run up the stairs this instant.”
She did as she said, to return a moment later praising the feeling of airiness, the freedom and ease of vision that had been gained by the change.
“Menrod will kill us,” I moaned.
“He’s going to put a red carpet-runner down the stairs tomorrow,” Pudge said. He and his wife made free with us. If I did not mention it, the Pudges were there with us. “The lads didn’t have time to do it tonight. It took them forever to get the metal bannister installed.”
“There was enough noise to give you the megrims,” Mrs. Pudge added in tones of pique.
Without hearing a single blow of hammer, I found my head throbbing most painfully. Menrod was coming at ten o’clock in the morning. There was no way this monstrosity could be undone in time to keep it from him.
“Get the fire screen from the sitting room and cover up this thing at once,” I said weakly,
“Cover it up? It is the only decent corner of the house,” Mama objected.
In an extravagant, modern style, the stairs might have done well enough in an hotel. In our humble, small, dark cottage, they stood out like a diamond tiara on a scarecrow. The red carpet would be the coup de grace.
I arranged the fire screen at an angle that hid as much as possible of the job from anyone entering at the front doorway, as Menrod would be doing in eleven hours. I had a fairly sleepless night, comparing the efficacy of painting the whole with a dark brown paint, versus moving large clothespresses into a hallway scarcely wide enough to allow two people to pass. In the end, I took the decision to send a note to Menrod Manor very early, canceling the meeting. I disliked to have to ask Everett to undo his job, but if I did not, Menrod would surely do it for me, in a much less gracious way.
By morning, I had changed my mind. I went outdoors and came in at the front door myself, looking to see how visible the job was. If Menrod could be distracted as he
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