The Mandie Collection (20 page)

“The North Carolina room and the Virginia room, Jens,” Lindall Guyer directed the butler with the bags. Turning to Mrs. Hamilton, he said, “Let's get inside. It's cold out here. I heard there is a possibility of snow today.”

Mrs. Hamilton went along with him as he led the way into the house. Mandie followed, clutching Snowball, and Celia came behind her with Jonathan. Both the girls looked around in fascination at the luxurious furnishings in the parlor that opened off the corridor from the outside door.

“Let's sit in here and have some coffee while your rooms are being readied,” Mr. Guyer told them.

At that moment a maid in a neat uniform popped into the room and stood attentively waiting for Mr. Guyer to speak.

“Please take the ladies' coats, Monet,” he told her.

Jonathan held Snowball while they removed their coats and hats. Mandie realized Mr. Guyer had included her and Celia as “ladies” to
the maid. This gave her a grown-up feeling even though she and Celia were only thirteen years old.

“And, Monet, coffee please, in here,” Mr. Guyer added as the maid hung the coats and hats on a clothes tree by the hall door.

“And something to eat for Snowball,” Jonathan added as he let the cat down on the floor and held the end of Snowball's red leash out to the maid.

Monet quickly stepped back and looked at Mr. Guyer, then at the cat.

“You will need to take him to the kitchen to feed him, Monet,” Jonathan told her, still holding out the end of the leash. “Come on. He won't bite you.”

Monet stood there without moving. Mandie sensed she was afraid of Snowball. “I could just take him to the kitchen if you'll show me the way,” Mandie offered as she looked at the maid.

“No, Monet will take him,” Mr. Guyer spoke up. “The cat will be staying here with us this week with our guests, Monet, so you will have to get used to him.”

Everyone watched as Monet silently accepted the end of the leash from Jonathan and started toward the door. Snowball decided to run, and Monet had to rush after him. As soon as they were outside the room, everyone laughed.

“I'm sorry, but she's afraid of all pets—cats, dogs, even birds. But we've never owned a pet, and Monet has been with us ever since Jonathan was born,” Mr. Guyer explained. “Please sit and relax. We'll have coffee shortly.”

Mrs. Hamilton stepped over to an upholstered chair by the fireplace where a fire was giving out warmth, and Mr. Guyer sat in the chair opposite her. The young people gathered on a settee nearby.

Jonathan brought the girls up to date on how he was doing. He was living at home and attending a private school on the other side of Central Park.

“Even though my father still travels around a lot, I am at home now when he does come back. We have finally got to know each other,” he told the girls.

“I remember you telling us about all those boarding schools you were sent off to,” Celia said.

“And never getting to really know your father because he was
always going off somewhere on business,” Mandie added. “I'm so glad things have changed for you.”

“He is getting up in age. Maybe he'll retire someday. You know, Mandie, he's as old as your grandmother. My mother was a lot younger, twenty years in fact,” Jonathan explained. “And by the way, why didn't your grandmother come with you?”

Mandie and Celia glanced at each other, and Jonathan looked puzzled by their reaction. Before Mandie could answer, he asked, “Did I say something wrong?”

“Oh no, not at all,” Mandie quickly replied. “It's just that my grandmother didn't want to come.”

“She didn't?” Jonathan asked, not understanding.

“No, you see, she has so many things to do, always looking after her business and everything,” Mandie tried to explain, but secretly she was thinking about the fact that her grandmother didn't even want her to visit the Guyers for some odd reason. She couldn't figure out why her grandmother acted like that every time Lindall Guyer's name was mentioned.

“Well, at least she allowed you to come,” Jonathan said.

“My mother gave me permission to come with Celia and her mother,” Mandie corrected him.

“I'm sorry. I know you go to school in the town where your grandmother lives and that you went to Europe with her, so I always forget that your mother is the one with the final say-so,” he replied. “Anyway, I'm glad both you girls finally got here to the big city of New York, and I'm anxious to show you around.”

Monet returned with a large silver tray loaded with sweet delicacies, and another maid followed with the coffee, cream and sugar, and the necessary china and silver. Monet set the tray she was carrying on a table near Mrs. Hamilton and Mr. Guyer, then she turned to help the other maid serve.

Mandie accepted a cup of coffee and noticed that Monet never said a word. The other maid inquired, “Sugar? Cream?”

As soon as the two women left the room, Mandie looked at Jonathan and started to say, “Monet doesn't—”

“Speak a word,” Jonathan interrupted, finishing Mandie's sentence. “Only when it's absolutely necessary will she talk. To her it's a waste
of breath.” He laughed as he placed his cup of coffee on a table next to the settee.

The girls looked at him and smiled.

“You see, a mystery right here,” Mandie said with a big grin.

“A mystery? No mystery about it,” Jonathan said. “Monet knows how to talk. She is French, you know, and from the upper class. But she has no money, so she humbles herself to work, for a fine salary from my father, I might add. However, she feels she is above the other servants, so she refuses to converse with them. And she thinks she is being proper when she doesn't converse with her employer, either.”

Mandie laughed aloud. “Oh, she should meet Liza, the maid at my mother's house,” she said. “Liza would have her talking in no time flat. You've got to visit us sometime and get acquainted with everyone down our way.”

“I'd like to,” Jonathan said.

At that moment a tall, buxom older woman in a housekeeper's uniform appeared at the doorway to the parlor and looked directly at Mr. Guyer.

“Your guests' rooms are ready, sir,” she said in a strong, no-nonsense voice with a harsh foreign accent. “Shall I show them upstairs?”

Mr. Guyer looked at Mrs. Hamilton, and she immediately said, “Yes, please, we need to get freshened up.” She rose from her chair, and he also stood up.

“And I imagine you need some rest before we dine tonight,” Mr. Guyer said. He looked at the housekeeper and said, “Mrs. Yodkin, please show them to their rooms and then have Monet bring them back down here at six o'clock. We'll dine at seven as usual.”

“Yes, sir,” the woman replied, waiting for Mrs. Hamilton and the two girls to go with her. “If there is anything you need pressed, I will have Monet do it for you,” she said to Mrs. Hamilton.

“Thank you, but we'll have to see. We haven't unpacked yet,” she replied.

“Monet has already unpacked your bags, madam,” Mrs. Yodkin said as she turned to lead the way out of the room.

“Well, thank you,” Mrs. Hamilton replied. Looking back at Mr. Guyer, she said, “Thanks for getting us out of that hotel. We appreciate your thoughtfulness.”

“My pleasure, Mam'selle Jane,” Mr. Guyer replied with a grin as he bowed slightly.

Mandie and Celia watched and listened in surprise. Jonathan stood by grinning.

“It has been many years since I was mam'selle, my dear monsieur,” Mrs. Hamilton mischievously replied.

“Ah, but you are still that beautiful young girl in my memory,” Mr. Guyer said, still grinning.

Mrs. Hamilton didn't answer but blew him a kiss with her fingers as Mrs. Yodkin, looking shocked and puzzled, continued on her way into the hallway.

“Jonathan, what is going on between my mother and your father?” Celia whispered to the boy.

“Evidently something interesting,” Jonathan said with a big grin.

“Your father must know everybody,” Mandie whispered as she and Celia followed Mrs. Hamilton down the hallway. Jonathan stopped and turned to go back into the parlor.

The girls got hasty glimpses into expensively furnished rooms along the way. They passed a huge library with hundreds of books covering the walls, a music room with two baby grand pianos in it, a formal drawing room, another parlor, and several closed mahogany double doors set in the wainscoting that seemed to be in every wall. They kept poking each other and exclaiming silently.

Then Mrs. Yodkin led them into a hallway that was as wide as the parlor they had been sitting in. Directly ahead of them was a carved stairway, split on either side and rising to meet again at a balcony above.

Mrs. Yodkin stopped at the bottom of the stairs and spoke to Mrs. Hamilton. “We do have an elevator over there,” she said, motioning toward the left where a door with glass window panes was set in the wainscoting. “We are only going up one flight, but if madam would prefer, we can ride up.”

“Oh no, thank you, Mrs. Yodkin. We need to walk, and the steps are so lovely,” Mrs. Hamilton told her.

“Then we go up the stairs, madam,” Mrs. Yodkin replied and started up the staircase.

When they got upstairs, Mrs. Yodkin led them from the balcony to
a corridor. She showed Jane Hamilton to one room and then the girls to an adjacent room.

“Girls, get some rest and then be dressed and waiting at five-thirty,” Mrs. Hamilton told them from her doorway.

“Yes, madam, five-thirty I will send Monet to direct you back to the parlor,” Mrs. Yodkin said before the girls could reply. “If there is anything you need, you will find the bell rope over next to the window by the bed. Now if that is all, I will go and let you rest.”

“Oh yes, Mrs. Yodkin, thank you,” Mrs. Hamilton said. “And we'll be waiting for Monet.”

Mrs. Yodkin slightly bowed her head, turned, and went back down the hallway.

Once inside the huge bedroom, Mandie and Celia flopped onto the two huge four-poster, canopied beds.

“What a house!” Mandie exclaimed. “I knew Jonathan's father was rich, but I didn't expect all this.”

“Neither did I,” Celia said. “But you know, Mandie, some people like to show off their wealth. Look at the difference in this house and your grandmother's house. She has a mansion, but nothing like this. However, I would imagine your grandmother has a lot more money than Mr. Guyer.”

Mandie frowned and thought about that. “I just don't know, Celia,” she said. “I know every time I turn around I find out about something else my grandmother owns, like that shipline we went to Europe on, but this house must have cost an awful lot of money to build and furnish.”

Celia smiled and said, “Just think what would happen if your grandmother and Jonathan's father should get married.”

Mandie sat up quickly on the bed and said, “That will never be. My grandmother doesn't even like Mr. Guyer.” She paused to grin and added, “Besides, looks to me like your mother and Mr. Guyer are interested in each other.”

Celia quickly shook her head and replied, “Maybe back in the old days but not now. My mother still loves my father even though she lost him last year.” Her voice slightly quivered.

“I'm sorry, Celia,” Mandie said. “I know it was terrible for her and for you to lose your father, just as it was for me to lose my father last year, also. But I wanted my mother to get married again, only to
my uncle John, though, since he was my father's brother and I knew that my father would never be back.” She paused to wipe a tear from her blue eyes.

Celia quickly jumped over to the other bed and put her arm around Mandie. Mandie straightened her slumped shoulders and asked, “Don't you think we might find some mystery in this great big house?”

Celia laughed and said, “If you're dead bent on finding one, you will.”

Mandie suddenly looked around the room and asked, “Oh, where is Snowball?”

“He's probably still in the kitchen,” Celia said as she, too, glanced about.

“But he should have been finished eating by now. Oh, I wonder what they've done with him,” Mandie said with a frown. She slid down off the high bed and shook out her long skirts. “Maybe I'd better go see.”

Celia got off the bed, too, and said, “But, Mandie, we'd never be able to find the kitchen in this house.” She glanced at the windows and said, “Maybe we have one of those bell ropes like the one in my mother's room. We could ring for someone.”

Mandie quickly said, “But we couldn't ring for a servant to come all the way up here just so I could ask about Snowball. No, I think I'm going to find the kitchen.” She started toward the door.

“Wait, I'm going with you then,” Celia told her as she rushed to follow.

The girls found their way to the staircase without any problem, but once they got to the main floor, they couldn't agree on which direction they should go.

“I'd think the kitchen would be to one side or the other from here,” Celia said as they stood in the hallway at the foot of the stairs.

“Oh no, Celia, it would be at the back of the house, somewhere beyond this staircase,” Mandie replied, then she walked over to look around one set of stairs.

“But, Mandie, this staircase is at the back of the house when you think about how long the hallway is leading up to it,” Celia told her.

“Come on. Let's look in some of these rooms,” Mandie said. She stepped over to a closed door in the narrow piece of corridor that went past the staircase.

“Mandie, what if we open the door to someone's private room?” Celia asked in a whisper.

“Then we can just say, ‘excuse me,' and ask whoever it is where the kitchen is,” Mandie replied in a loud whisper. She cautiously pushed open the door and peeped inside. Long mahogany tables were piled high with fabric, and two sewing machines stood by the double windows across the room. She pulled the door shut. “Nobody there. Just a sewing room.”