Re: Full Disclosure
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2019 7:48 pm
Chapter 41:
A half-hour later they returned, both smelling of soap and a bit of scent.
Rosalynd was dressed as she had been when they walked to dinner in Halifax – a satiny blouse, chinos and her ever-present knee boots. Al was much the same – fresh khakis and the scent of his myrrh shaving soap adding to the scene.
Hew and Mill had changed as well – their garb was much like their visitors’.
“So, where are we off to, then?” Al asked, amused and ready for an evening out.
“Mind yer business, then – ye’ll see when we get there!” Hew replied. Al noted the merry aura around his emotions and relaxed – obviously whatever was on tap suited the genial farmer perfectly. Let him have his fun – I so missed him and his pranks. Al thought.
Donning their coats the two couples walked to the door and into the subdued light of the farmyard. Al and Rosalynd headed for the Bentley, the other couple just ahead. Reaching the car Al was surprised to see Hew and Mill continue walking.
“I thought we were taking the Bentley?” he asked, confused. Rosalynd looked at Al, just as confused.
”I was having ye on. Come on, now.” Confused but willing Al and Rosalynd caught up to Hew and Mill. As they did Al noted the door of the vehicle barn was open, and a warm light played over the ground outside from within.
In a few minutes they reached the open door, and the confusion cleared quickly.
The inside of the barn had been cleared and the equipment either moved to the side or put out behind. In the now open space long tables and chairs had been set up, with seating for fifty or more.
Along the wall the workbench had been cleaned, and covered with festive cloths. Topping the cloths were dishes of casseroles, salads of many kinds, and platters of meats. In deference to all present each dish was labeled with ingredients – preventing issues with allergies and preferences.
A second table was adorned with the bakers’ art – breads, farm butter, pastries, pies and the products dear to a Yorkshireman’s sweet-loving heart.
Another table groaned under the burden of a keg and tankards, with bottles of wine and mead accompanying it on the surface. Tubs of bottles were also there, nestled in beds of ice.
Al and Rosalynd stopped dumbstuck. “Hew, what’s going on here?” Al asked.
“Welcome to the monthly meeting of the Dales Highland Trust and their employees and friends.” Hew proclaimed proudly. “Once a month or so the officers get together to discuss business, and this usually happens over a meal at one of the farmsteads or another that’s a part of the Trust. This time, however….we expanded the list a bit.”
Raising his voice Hew addressed the crowd already present. “Friends, countrymen and women - welcome! Please make welcome my cousin and his wife – Sergeant-Major Al Richer late of Her Majesty’s Forces and his wife, Lady Rosalynd Alexander-Richer, of Maple Grove, Minnesota.
“By the grace of God in His wisdom they have found their way to my door – a miracle not to be turned away. So eat, drink and be merry – we have much to celebrate!”
The folks present, obviously expecting this proclamation, loudly cheered, clapped and catcalled the speaker, who paid little attention to it. Turning to the other couple Hew said “Dinna think this is all for ye – wouldn’t want ye getting a swelled head over the whole thing and all.” Behind him Mill opened and closed her hand in the universal symbol of a talking mouth, while wearing an expression that belied Hew’s statement. At seeing Mill’s reaction Rosalynd and Al chuckled – neither had taken it seriously in any case.
The four made their way into the barn, and the preparations for dinner, already nearly completed, continued. Walking to the drinks table Hew turned to Rosalynd and asked, “Glass of wine before dinner, Rosalynd?”
“Yes, thank you!” Serving her, he then poured a tankard of ale for Millicent and one for himself, then turned to Al and said “You can shift for yourself – lemonade in the tubs!”
“I say – rather short shrift I’m being given here! First a reminder not to get a swelled head, then ‘Find your own drinks!’ ” Al joked back.
Laughing, Hew pulled a ginger beer from the ice and poured it into a tankard, handing it to Al. “I do apologize, dear cousin…but I had to. I still remember some of the rows you and I used to get into when we were lads.” Raising his glass high, he said ”May we never have to address a serious word to another again.“ To that Al answered ”From your mouth to the Gods’ ears.” and clinked his tankard against Hew’s.
Moving to a table they sat at the center, Rosalynd and Al to one side and Hew and Millicent to the other. The next ten minutes was occupied in introductions – the other occupants of the table each being introduced in turn, and Al and Rosalynd making their acquaintances.
Farmers and their wives, sons and daughters, even one of the local vets and her assistant made themselves known. Soon, Rosalynd and Al were almost dizzy with all the names, and Mill laughed.
“Don’t worry – no one expects you to remember all of this. However, they will certainly remember you, Lady Alexander!” Mill laughed, and Al could feel the carefully quashed spike of irritation his wife felt. To the comment, though, she sweetly answered, “Oh, I will remember all of them. One of my duties, after all!”
Al could see it happening – the same queueing of the local ladies to be introduced to Lady Alexander. So, her ‘court’ is forming again…this should be interesting. he thought.
A few minutes after that a shout went up of ”Come and Get it!” Happily, the crowd queued up, men, women and children all jostling in the line. A buzz of conversation continued as folks queued for the seemingly inexhaustible bounty of the tables.
Al was kept busy telling and retelling his finding Hew and return to family. It seemed that the farm hands had spread the stories in various forms, and he was kept busy correcting assumptions and misconceptions.
Finally, with another tankard of ginger beer and a laden trencher he returned to his spot at the table. Hew and Mill soon returned with their plates, and Rosalynd soon after them. She, like he, had been kept busy telling their story, and this had slowed her progress to and from the buffet.
Sitting down, she said “Hew, Millicent – thank you! This is WONDERFUL!” Rosalynd’s eyes sparkled, and very little of that had to do with the sipped glass of wine she’d had.
Again, Al saw his wife falling under the spell of his home and the people who inhabited it. I can see that keeping our word to Tirion to come over once a year is not going to be a problem. I can see regular weekends in our future. Got to see about getting Rosalynd a proper helmet for going out in the Morgan! he thought. Falling under the spell of the picture of his wife in her present garb in the Morgan with the wind pressing her silky blouse to her contours, his eyes glazed over for a moment, enjoying the thought until Rosalynd smacked him back into congruence.
“Answer the man!”
“Answer what, dear? I’m sorry, I was woolgathering…what did you ask me, Hew?”
“Now that ye have a place and people to visit, will we be seeing ye?” Hew semi-bellowed over the crowd noise.
Al pretended to think hard, much to Rosalynd’s delight as she knew from his emotions quite well what the answer was.
“I have to say – yes. Definitely. As we said to Mill, Rosalynd and I would like to come over with our eldest and his family. Tentatively perhaps late August depending on schedules and school starting at home for the younger ones.
“As a general answer – yes. Most definitely. Now that we have the place in Fen Ditton – and it is suited to visitors quite well – we expect you to come down and see us, as well. A weekend away from the farm should be easy to arrange, I suspect.”
Hew looked alarmed. “Well, Al – it all depends on t’ situation at t’ time. A farm is a 24-hour a day business, as ye know-“
Al stood, and using a knife rapped on his tankard. The talk in the room quieted a bit, and Al turned on a bit of the Sergeant-Major’s abilities.
“SO, me cousin here – THIS MAN RIGHT HERE – is trying to tell me he is INDISPENSABLE to New Keep Farm and that NO ONE could possibly replace him and Millicent for a weekend if he came to visit me at my place in Cambridge! WHAT SAY YE!”
The roar in the barn was pleasingly loud, and composed of equal denials of his statement, laughter, and offers to take care of his lands for as many weekends as he might care to go and visit.
As the roar quieted Al spoke again, his words serious. “THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart, ladies and gentlemen. I now know that the miserable git has NO reason not to wind up that miserable old Ninety of his and come and visit me, or hop a train or find his way there somehow. THANK YOU. Now, go on about yer business – nothing to see here – back to yer plates….” he concluded, hand fluttering in dismissal.
As he sat the laughter began again, and a loud round of catcalls mostly directed at Hew bounced off the walls. After a bit they settled down and the buzz of conversation retuned to the room.
“Now that we have that settled my good man, what were you saying?” Al said, fully aware of his cousin’s discomfiture and amazement at Al’s handling of the crowd.
Millicent was still trying to catch her breath – and she finally did. “He’s shown YOU, Hew Whyte! He’s enlisted your friends and hands to MAKE you take a weekend off and go and visit. I do NOT want to hear any excuses from you, now, when yon cousin invites you to his home in Cambridge!”
Hew knew when he’d been beaten, fair and square. First the actions of his mad cousin, enlisting his friends against him, then his wife putting him on notice…he gave up.
“Yes, my love. Of course we will.” Putting on his best martyred expression he sat there trying to look aggrieved – and failed dismally.
Millicent burst out in laughter. “Oh, do NOT even THINK about acting put-upon here. You, my good man, have family who’s returned to you after many years – family you mentioned often as the years went by. He is putting you on notice that you are expected to come and visit him as he will come and visit us. Do NOT think for a SECOND that any of us actually believe that you are feeling put upon.” She stared at him, and he straightened, took a deep breath, and promptly dove onto his wife, enveloping her in a giant hug and kissing her firmly on the lips.
The kiss went on and on, and Al AHEMed loudly, accompanied by Rosalynd snickering.
Finally, Hew broke the clutch and Mill, seeming a bit dazed, sat back in her chair. Al could sense more than a bit of honest lust in both of them, and Hew with the glee of having gotten the last word in the discussion.
Hew spoke smugly. “If I have said it once I have said it a hundred times – there is sometimes only one way to win an argument.” He put his arm around his wife and hugged her gently, and she did the same to him. Letting go, both of them turned to their plates, and Hew asked innocently, “D’ye agree, my dear cousin?”
“Absolutely, dear cousin.” Al turned to his wife, who held up a hand. “Not now, tiger. I’m hungry, and you and your theatrics have slowed down my appreciation of this fantastic spread. Eat now, neck later.” She turned back to her plate, but Al could feel the love in her heart as if it was his own – which it was.
A half-hour later they returned, both smelling of soap and a bit of scent.
Rosalynd was dressed as she had been when they walked to dinner in Halifax – a satiny blouse, chinos and her ever-present knee boots. Al was much the same – fresh khakis and the scent of his myrrh shaving soap adding to the scene.
Hew and Mill had changed as well – their garb was much like their visitors’.
“So, where are we off to, then?” Al asked, amused and ready for an evening out.
“Mind yer business, then – ye’ll see when we get there!” Hew replied. Al noted the merry aura around his emotions and relaxed – obviously whatever was on tap suited the genial farmer perfectly. Let him have his fun – I so missed him and his pranks. Al thought.
Donning their coats the two couples walked to the door and into the subdued light of the farmyard. Al and Rosalynd headed for the Bentley, the other couple just ahead. Reaching the car Al was surprised to see Hew and Mill continue walking.
“I thought we were taking the Bentley?” he asked, confused. Rosalynd looked at Al, just as confused.
”I was having ye on. Come on, now.” Confused but willing Al and Rosalynd caught up to Hew and Mill. As they did Al noted the door of the vehicle barn was open, and a warm light played over the ground outside from within.
In a few minutes they reached the open door, and the confusion cleared quickly.
The inside of the barn had been cleared and the equipment either moved to the side or put out behind. In the now open space long tables and chairs had been set up, with seating for fifty or more.
Along the wall the workbench had been cleaned, and covered with festive cloths. Topping the cloths were dishes of casseroles, salads of many kinds, and platters of meats. In deference to all present each dish was labeled with ingredients – preventing issues with allergies and preferences.
A second table was adorned with the bakers’ art – breads, farm butter, pastries, pies and the products dear to a Yorkshireman’s sweet-loving heart.
Another table groaned under the burden of a keg and tankards, with bottles of wine and mead accompanying it on the surface. Tubs of bottles were also there, nestled in beds of ice.
Al and Rosalynd stopped dumbstuck. “Hew, what’s going on here?” Al asked.
“Welcome to the monthly meeting of the Dales Highland Trust and their employees and friends.” Hew proclaimed proudly. “Once a month or so the officers get together to discuss business, and this usually happens over a meal at one of the farmsteads or another that’s a part of the Trust. This time, however….we expanded the list a bit.”
Raising his voice Hew addressed the crowd already present. “Friends, countrymen and women - welcome! Please make welcome my cousin and his wife – Sergeant-Major Al Richer late of Her Majesty’s Forces and his wife, Lady Rosalynd Alexander-Richer, of Maple Grove, Minnesota.
“By the grace of God in His wisdom they have found their way to my door – a miracle not to be turned away. So eat, drink and be merry – we have much to celebrate!”
The folks present, obviously expecting this proclamation, loudly cheered, clapped and catcalled the speaker, who paid little attention to it. Turning to the other couple Hew said “Dinna think this is all for ye – wouldn’t want ye getting a swelled head over the whole thing and all.” Behind him Mill opened and closed her hand in the universal symbol of a talking mouth, while wearing an expression that belied Hew’s statement. At seeing Mill’s reaction Rosalynd and Al chuckled – neither had taken it seriously in any case.
The four made their way into the barn, and the preparations for dinner, already nearly completed, continued. Walking to the drinks table Hew turned to Rosalynd and asked, “Glass of wine before dinner, Rosalynd?”
“Yes, thank you!” Serving her, he then poured a tankard of ale for Millicent and one for himself, then turned to Al and said “You can shift for yourself – lemonade in the tubs!”
“I say – rather short shrift I’m being given here! First a reminder not to get a swelled head, then ‘Find your own drinks!’ ” Al joked back.
Laughing, Hew pulled a ginger beer from the ice and poured it into a tankard, handing it to Al. “I do apologize, dear cousin…but I had to. I still remember some of the rows you and I used to get into when we were lads.” Raising his glass high, he said ”May we never have to address a serious word to another again.“ To that Al answered ”From your mouth to the Gods’ ears.” and clinked his tankard against Hew’s.
Moving to a table they sat at the center, Rosalynd and Al to one side and Hew and Millicent to the other. The next ten minutes was occupied in introductions – the other occupants of the table each being introduced in turn, and Al and Rosalynd making their acquaintances.
Farmers and their wives, sons and daughters, even one of the local vets and her assistant made themselves known. Soon, Rosalynd and Al were almost dizzy with all the names, and Mill laughed.
“Don’t worry – no one expects you to remember all of this. However, they will certainly remember you, Lady Alexander!” Mill laughed, and Al could feel the carefully quashed spike of irritation his wife felt. To the comment, though, she sweetly answered, “Oh, I will remember all of them. One of my duties, after all!”
Al could see it happening – the same queueing of the local ladies to be introduced to Lady Alexander. So, her ‘court’ is forming again…this should be interesting. he thought.
A few minutes after that a shout went up of ”Come and Get it!” Happily, the crowd queued up, men, women and children all jostling in the line. A buzz of conversation continued as folks queued for the seemingly inexhaustible bounty of the tables.
Al was kept busy telling and retelling his finding Hew and return to family. It seemed that the farm hands had spread the stories in various forms, and he was kept busy correcting assumptions and misconceptions.
Finally, with another tankard of ginger beer and a laden trencher he returned to his spot at the table. Hew and Mill soon returned with their plates, and Rosalynd soon after them. She, like he, had been kept busy telling their story, and this had slowed her progress to and from the buffet.
Sitting down, she said “Hew, Millicent – thank you! This is WONDERFUL!” Rosalynd’s eyes sparkled, and very little of that had to do with the sipped glass of wine she’d had.
Again, Al saw his wife falling under the spell of his home and the people who inhabited it. I can see that keeping our word to Tirion to come over once a year is not going to be a problem. I can see regular weekends in our future. Got to see about getting Rosalynd a proper helmet for going out in the Morgan! he thought. Falling under the spell of the picture of his wife in her present garb in the Morgan with the wind pressing her silky blouse to her contours, his eyes glazed over for a moment, enjoying the thought until Rosalynd smacked him back into congruence.
“Answer the man!”
“Answer what, dear? I’m sorry, I was woolgathering…what did you ask me, Hew?”
“Now that ye have a place and people to visit, will we be seeing ye?” Hew semi-bellowed over the crowd noise.
Al pretended to think hard, much to Rosalynd’s delight as she knew from his emotions quite well what the answer was.
“I have to say – yes. Definitely. As we said to Mill, Rosalynd and I would like to come over with our eldest and his family. Tentatively perhaps late August depending on schedules and school starting at home for the younger ones.
“As a general answer – yes. Most definitely. Now that we have the place in Fen Ditton – and it is suited to visitors quite well – we expect you to come down and see us, as well. A weekend away from the farm should be easy to arrange, I suspect.”
Hew looked alarmed. “Well, Al – it all depends on t’ situation at t’ time. A farm is a 24-hour a day business, as ye know-“
Al stood, and using a knife rapped on his tankard. The talk in the room quieted a bit, and Al turned on a bit of the Sergeant-Major’s abilities.
“SO, me cousin here – THIS MAN RIGHT HERE – is trying to tell me he is INDISPENSABLE to New Keep Farm and that NO ONE could possibly replace him and Millicent for a weekend if he came to visit me at my place in Cambridge! WHAT SAY YE!”
The roar in the barn was pleasingly loud, and composed of equal denials of his statement, laughter, and offers to take care of his lands for as many weekends as he might care to go and visit.
As the roar quieted Al spoke again, his words serious. “THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart, ladies and gentlemen. I now know that the miserable git has NO reason not to wind up that miserable old Ninety of his and come and visit me, or hop a train or find his way there somehow. THANK YOU. Now, go on about yer business – nothing to see here – back to yer plates….” he concluded, hand fluttering in dismissal.
As he sat the laughter began again, and a loud round of catcalls mostly directed at Hew bounced off the walls. After a bit they settled down and the buzz of conversation retuned to the room.
“Now that we have that settled my good man, what were you saying?” Al said, fully aware of his cousin’s discomfiture and amazement at Al’s handling of the crowd.
Millicent was still trying to catch her breath – and she finally did. “He’s shown YOU, Hew Whyte! He’s enlisted your friends and hands to MAKE you take a weekend off and go and visit. I do NOT want to hear any excuses from you, now, when yon cousin invites you to his home in Cambridge!”
Hew knew when he’d been beaten, fair and square. First the actions of his mad cousin, enlisting his friends against him, then his wife putting him on notice…he gave up.
“Yes, my love. Of course we will.” Putting on his best martyred expression he sat there trying to look aggrieved – and failed dismally.
Millicent burst out in laughter. “Oh, do NOT even THINK about acting put-upon here. You, my good man, have family who’s returned to you after many years – family you mentioned often as the years went by. He is putting you on notice that you are expected to come and visit him as he will come and visit us. Do NOT think for a SECOND that any of us actually believe that you are feeling put upon.” She stared at him, and he straightened, took a deep breath, and promptly dove onto his wife, enveloping her in a giant hug and kissing her firmly on the lips.
The kiss went on and on, and Al AHEMed loudly, accompanied by Rosalynd snickering.
Finally, Hew broke the clutch and Mill, seeming a bit dazed, sat back in her chair. Al could sense more than a bit of honest lust in both of them, and Hew with the glee of having gotten the last word in the discussion.
Hew spoke smugly. “If I have said it once I have said it a hundred times – there is sometimes only one way to win an argument.” He put his arm around his wife and hugged her gently, and she did the same to him. Letting go, both of them turned to their plates, and Hew asked innocently, “D’ye agree, my dear cousin?”
“Absolutely, dear cousin.” Al turned to his wife, who held up a hand. “Not now, tiger. I’m hungry, and you and your theatrics have slowed down my appreciation of this fantastic spread. Eat now, neck later.” She turned back to her plate, but Al could feel the love in her heart as if it was his own – which it was.