“Bennett True, stop standing beside me and take a seat,” Aethel Reddington requested him for the second time.
“But…”
“No but. You have put down my breakfast and my tea, and now please do me the favor and provide yourself with something from the buffet. Subsequently I expect that you sit down opposite me.”
Bennett was on the verge of contradicting her, but Aethel’s look interdicted it immediately.
With a brief nod, he headed towards the prepared food, and he selected his breakfast. Finally he took a seat as the old lady had requested him.
It certainly didn’t slip his attention that some of the hotel guests looked at them with irritation, but he was her butler and she was his employer, after all.
Bennett felt uncomfortable, and he stared at his plate. He was accustomed to have his breakfast in the kitchen in the mornings, and he usually ate alone, because Kate was always busy at this point in time. The fact that he was sitting opposite Aethel released his embarrassment.
“How is Jethro?” the woman asked casually, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to share the table with her butler.
“He could be better, I suppose. He is impatient and frustrated. Apart from that, he seems to realize the seriousness of his burn wounds to the whole extent for the first time...”
Bennett hesitated before he went on, “I guess it is eating him. He expressed it quite drastically yesterday at least.”
Aethel nodded, and she looked at him sadly, “Before he lost so much weight, he had set great value upon his physical appearance. I only can imagine how much he is suffering now. He was a handsome, young man, Bennett, he always had a smile on his face and he didn’t have these sullen cheeks as he has at the moment. He has been of slender built ever since he was a child, but he never was so thin.”
The woman went silent for a minute, and then she added in a low voice, “I should have taken better care of him.”
“He is your grandson, and he spent his life in London,” Bennett pointed out in order to comfort the old lady to a certain degree.
“I should have taken better care of all of them,” Aethel Reddington responded. Even before he could object something, she began to explain, “I loved Charles, but his obstinacy destroyed the family cohesion. You must know, Bennett, we used to have a small, but fairly well-established hotel chain. My husband had his plans for our children. He never took into consideration that the two of them might have other things in mind for their future. He took it for granted that they would take over his business, and he was taken aback all the more, when our two children wanted to take another path. When our daughter immigrated to Australia, her decision brought discord into our family to such an extent, that the contact broke off completely. Subsequently, Jonathan, together with Esther and Jethro, moved to London. My husband imposed on him to run only one of the smaller hotels for the time being. Charles always conveyed Jonathan the feeling that he wasn’t good enough in order to entrust him with the whole business.
Instead of retiring, Charles remained to be the old despot who couldn’t keep his hands off, and he believed to know everything better.
Sometimes I wonder, if this was one of the reasons why Jonathan began to drink. My husband was the iron fist in the neck of our boy, always ready to strike as if he was a naughty child that had played a trick. After Jonathan’s death, Charles behavior changed profoundly. He sold the hotel chain, and he gave to Esther a considerable amount of money. I assume he wanted to calm down his bad consciousness. Jethro casually mentioned to me years ago that Esther was more occupied with the content of bottles than with taking care of other things. I suppose as a result, I had the desire to give to my grandson everything he wanted. Charles disapproved, and he was disgruntled, of course. I had the illusion to bind a part of our family together again, even though only a minor part. I obviously have failed.”
Bennett had listened attentively. He was surprised at the frank words of the woman, and at the same time, he felt sympathy that the life of the Reddingtons had taken such a disagreeable course.
“But now you are there for Jethro, and in my opinion, it is the most important thing. Nobody can change the past, but you have the opportunity to help your grandchild in any possible way, and I am not talking about money. You are his family, and he urgently needs you on his side, more than ever,” the butler replied softly.
The woman nodded, and she asked him all of a sudden, “Your tasks have profoundly changed in the house of the Reddingtons, Bennett. Do you still want to stay with me?”
His eyes grew wide with surprise. “Of course,” he answered immediately, because nothing was further from his mind than giving up his employment.
Aethel Reddington nodded contentedly, but then he received the impression that she wanted to say something in addition. Absentmindedly, she shook her head and whispered to herself, “We will see how everything will work out.”