Chapter 65

The dining room looked like the wreck of a sinking liner that was settling on an even keel before its final plunge into oblivion. Flickering light picked up overturned candelabra, scattered glasses, spilled liquids, and overturned chairs. Jumbled cutlery was everywhere. Two or three of the footmen looked slightly injured from the glass. Almost everyone was on the floor except Malcolm, who was bending over the baron.

The wind now whipped the curtains inward, and the hiss of rain accompanied the dull rumble of thunder.

Stanley’s voice boomed out. “Ladies and gentlemen, a triage area is being set up in the drawing room. Make your way there. Simon, medical supplies. Jane, I need lights now! You, with the torch, give it to me.” Someone had come in with a flashlight, and Stanley seized it as he took charge.

I saw Bruni on her hands and knees nearby. I went to her and attempted to help her up. She looked ghastly in the bobbing light that Stanley was pointing here and there. “Don’t touch me,” she whispered angrily. “Don’t touch me.”

She got unsteadily to her feet and staggered toward the drawing room. It was what I feared, but I had no time for her upset. Anne was collapsed on the floor nearby. I moved quickly to her.

“Anne, are you hurt?”

“No, she said, “I’m actually just resting.” It was an odd response, and I wondered if she was in shock. “I suppose I’m a bit stunned, but no matter. What a mess. Help me up.” I did as she commanded. “We do need to talk, and very soon.” She sighed, reached for my face with both hands, and held it. “He loves you, you know. It’s why he’s so upset. That and the drink, but we’ll talk later. Now, I must see to my guests.”

I escorted her toward the drawing room. All the electric lights were out, but there was a line of flashlights making their way from the kitchen in that direction. Anne was under her own power.

As I turned around, Bonnie grabbed me by the hand and dragged me behind the Chinese screen and into the pantry just before the kitchen. It was dark but not pitch-black.

She wrapped her arms around me and held me so tight I could barely breathe. She was very strong. “Jesus Christ, what a night.” She pushed me away but still held me with her outstretched arms. I saw her only dimly. “You are a surprise! Yes, you are. That being said, you really drove a poor bargain on my behalf. You fucked yourself completely, and for that I thank you. We don’t have time right now I know, but listen. I have exactly six things to tell you:

“One, I really am your friend for life; know that. Two, if you ever need a safe harbor, call me, day or night. Three, talk to me before you see my curmudgeon of a brother. I know where all the bodies are buried. Four, I’m trained as a nurse, so I want to check you out.” Bonnie had a flashlight, which she had discovered in a pantry drawer. She blinded me for a moment as she turned it on and examined me.

“I had a lot of time on my hands as a spare wheel, so I put it to good use in emergency medicine. You don’t look like you’re in shock. That’s the usual with this type of thing. Outside of a racing heart, you’re fine. Wait one, for item number five.”

The light went out. I heard and vaguely saw her pull up her dress waist high in the gloom.

“Five, I’m always prepared.” She whipped out a flask that had been attached to her thigh with a garter. “Drink a shot of this, hombre. It will put you right. You just need to settle yourself.”

I drank a swig. It seemed to help.

“Better? Good. Now stand still.” She kissed me on the mouth. She knew how to kiss remarkably well. “Keep that in your file. Your girlfriend looks like she’s about to do a runner. Lastly, point six, you’re one hell of a man. Don’t let them get to you.” She took a swig herself. “I mean that. You got grit, and that’s more than I can say for most of the assholes out there.” She pulled up her dress and reattached her flask. “I’m off to triage. See you around. Stay sane.”

With that, she disappeared toward the drawing room. I stood thinking for a moment, when I saw a light coming toward me from the kitchen.

“Ha! There you are. What? Does it take a disaster for you to come see me?” It was Dagmar with a candle. “Thank my stars it happened after the last course. How’s it going out there?”

“A bit of a mess, but I don’t think there are any casualties.”

“Well, that’s a blessing. So, you’re the new master, just like she said. Her ladyship said it would be you and Stan in the end. He hated that part, but she spoke truth. I know it. She had the eye. Not all the time, mind, but you know it when you hear it. It’ll take some work and a great deal of drink, but you’ll both see she was right in the end. I’m making some tea for everyone. Join me. You won’t be doing any good out there. You’ll just be part of the confusion, and I have some words for you.”

With that, she led me into the kitchen. Candles had been lit and just because the lights were out and the dining room was in shambles didn’t mean that work had ceased. There were maids cleaning dishes and men drying, while others were putting them away in velvet-lined cases. This was Dagmar and Stanley’s kingdom. It was a parallel world to the one I experienced on the other side of the pantry door. Both were mutually dependent. Without the other, neither could exist.

“So, what have you been up to these days? We’ve time,” she said as she set a small service and two teacups on a side table that had two chairs. A larger service had already been set out and prepared for the drawing room. She poured me some tea and sat down to listen.

I told her about my life and drank the tea.

Although Dagmar and I rarely had extensive conversations, we were quite familiar with each other. In my early days, I would often sit on a stool and watch her as she worked. As Johnny and I grew older and the magnitude and frequency of our crimes increased, we were put to work polishing and cleaning. Those in authority were pleasantly surprised by the marked reduction in the number of our transgressions, and yet we became regulars in this area of the house by our own volition. Outlaws were always tolerated by those lower down the social ladder, and it was here that we had finally found a ready acceptance. More importantly, we were accorded status based solely on the merit of our work. Under the demanding tutelage of our laboring peers, we prospered, grew to embrace a job well done, and learned to give orders by learning to follow them in the first place.

It was an unintended blessing. Both Johnny and I held those in service and our time spent here in high regard. It was a sanctuary for us from the far more demanding and consequence-laden tasks of social interaction.

Dagmar simply listened to me. It was her gift, and it was this ability that was prized by those in the servants’ quarters. The amount of information that was amassed and analyzed about their employers, along with their guests, was worthy of any intelligence service.

Dagmar sat at the center of a network of gossip, commentary, and service that exchanged information in small but continuous packets. She and Stanley were able to monitor the house’s emotional pulse at regular intervals and respond as needed. From here, all movement was regulated and controlled.

Rhinebeck was, in sum, a living and breathing entity. The building was its body. Stanley and Dagmar, along with their helpers, formed the sinews, nerves, and systems that made it work, but Alice was the soul, and I would be its mind, given time. The others, those otherworldly creatures that never slept and moved about unseen, were the watchkeepers, with something else hidden, powerful, and mysterious at the center that energized the whole. Together they formed an organism that had a life of its own.

To be responsible for it all was both a joy and a burden. I told Dagmar this and all the recent developments. Those downstairs probably knew already, but I needed to regroup and revive from the thrashing I had just received. Telling her unburdened me so that I could be rejuvenated and made whole.

“Well, I’ve been receiving a blow-by-blow, and it seemed to me you received a bit more than you gave. Not to worry. It will all work out, you’ll see. You are the master, and her ladyship meant for you to take it. She didn’t say it would be easy. Transitions are usually bumpy, but you’ll get the hang of it. You’ll need to talk to Stan. I’ve told him the same. Both of you, no matter the hour, are to report here and then to the office, when all the commotion has died down. I’ve put aside a rare brew, some smokes, and some savories. I’ve told him, and I will tell you the same, I don’t want to see either of your faces until you make your peace. I won’t tolerate discord, and that’s final. We’ve known each other long enough, and Stan more so, that I mean business. Her ladyship is gone, but she’s still mistress here, even if only in spirit, and neither she nor I will be denied. I mean it. Now get along. I’ve said what I needed to say. I’ve got work to do.”

I was dismissed.

She was not a particularly large woman, but she carried a great deal of weight. She always seemed larger than she was. I said thank you to her back. She was already in motion. That she had said that much to me was an indication of the depth of her feelings and determination.