Free Unholy Alliance by Don Gutteridge Page A

shrewd politician with a steady, almost inhuman,
grip on his emotions.
    Marc could hardly wait for the next
encounter.

     

FOUR

    Garner Macaulay had arranged the room assignments of
the delegates so that the four Quebecers had spacious chambers on
the upper floor of the two-storey northwest wing of Elmgrove. An
ornate, marble staircase, situated in a rotunda at the far end of
the central hall, wound its way up to them. On the lower floor of
this wing separate bedchambers were assigned to Robert, Marc and
Hincks. A fourth room, the master’s suite, was now occupied only by
Macaulay, his wife Elizabeth and her maid having gone off to
Kingston for the month. Each floor had a water-closet at the end of
its hall, but a special feature of the manor was its bathroom,
located next to the master bedroom and accessible from there or
directly from the hallway.
    Macaulay’s unique bathroom was celebrated
(and envied) throughout the city and neighbouring townships.
Inside, there stood a large, cast-iron stove, whose constant heat
fed into an adjacent boiler, from which a pipe carried hot water to
a gleaming copper tub. Here a spigot allowed a Macaulay maid or the
bather himself to fill said tub to the luxurious brim. Fresh towels
hung perpetually on a nearby rack, and a shelf, reachable from the
tub, held a variety of oils, powders and perfumed soaps. The guests
this day were encouraged to avail themselves of this modern marvel,
either before the formal supper at seven-thirty or afterwards.
Priscilla Finch was to be informed, and a time established for her
to make the appropriate preparations and to alert Austin Bragg of
the need to stoke the fire with fresh hardwood and top up the
boiler from the cistern above it.
    As Marc was heading to his room to freshen up
and rest before supper, he noticed that the butler’s quarters were
on the main floor next to the entrance to the northeast wing, which
housed the Elmgrove servants. This wing was a single storey and sat
four feet below the grander wing opposite it. While it was unusual
for a butler’s quarters to be on the main floor, Marc remembered
that the deceased Alfred Harkness had also been Macaulay’s valet,
and so his rooms catty-corner from his master’s made sense.
Although Marc and Beth could easily afford to build themselves a
gentrified house like this one, they were quite content to live in
Briar Cottage and the extensive addition they were planning to
accommodate their expanding family. Still, he had to admit, as he
washed his face and hands in the warm basin of water promptly
supplied by one of the kitchen maids (Tillie, was it?), that
Elmgrove was proving an ideal setting for the negotiations. Further
thoughts of this nature were cut short when he fell asleep on the
thick feather-comforter.
    ***
    Mrs. Blodgett lived up to her reputation (and
augmented it) by offering the delegates a feast fit for a king
(should he be a gourmet). The quail and leek soup, the rabbit stew
simmered in claret, the whipped turnip and potato, the perfectly
roasted venison, and the delicate meringues were merely the
highlights of a multi-course meal, enhanced throughout by wines
from Macaulay’s renowned cellar. The service, too, was prompt and
professional, though Marc noticed once again an undercurrent of
tension between Chilton and his assistants, Austin Bragg and
Priscilla Finch.
    Following the meal, it was agreed that
delegates were free to use the rest of the evening as they saw fit.
The billiard and games room offered them a chance to relax; the
front parlour (or drawing-room) was a comfortable place to sit with
a brandy and cigar while taking in the winter scenery through the
French doors; and the library would be conducive to anyone who
wished to make notes on the day’s proceedings or read quietly. And,
of course, there was the attraction of a long, warm bath.
    Marc was pleased to see Hincks and Bérubé
head into the billiard-room and pick up a cue. Robert went into the
library with