It wasn't too long after Alice's entrance that the last of our guests arrived. Russell Llewod, his wife, his children, his grandchildren, and his sister's family all filed in with Mr. Llewod at the head. The Bowsby twins had their hands full, with one of them--Peter, I thought--tossing the youngest granddaughter up into the air and catching her in cycles of giggles. As the children said their goodbyes and were escorted away, the patriarch approached Andrew, leaning heavily on a diamond-tipped walking cane. "Mr. Llewod, we're so happy to hear of your speedy recovery," Andrew said warmly, clasping his hand.
"Come off it," the man said gruffly. Despite the limp and a slight tremor to his hands, there was vigor in his stance. "Everyone's been talking as if I was dying. It was a slight matter and I had the best doctors."
"Russ, don't brush off his concern," his wife scolded gently as she joined his side. "Young Mr. Khatri, it's a delight to be back. And what a wonderful idea to have a party for the children."
"You will have to thank our new housekeeper for helping it all come together, and Lawrence and Henri of course," Andrew said, gesturing to me for the hundredth introduction that day. "Mr. and Mrs. Llewod, may I present Claire Edwards. Claire, you may recall that Mr. and Mrs. Llewod are prominent restaurateurs."
"Of course," I said, shaking their hand. "I had the pleasure of dining at the River Lion shortly before moving here. I'm an admirer of your work."
Behind Mr. Llewod's shoulder I could see Taylor and Ursula. Ursula mostly seemed bored, but Taylor's face seemed to tinge red at my words. Before he could say anything Mr. Llewod laughed heartily. "You have good taste, young lady! We have collaborated with the Khatri family many times. I urge all my family to take their classes." Taylor's face got redder and I thanked my lucky stars for my strong poker face.
"Sir, I'm happy to announce that every guest has arrived," Lawrence said quietly as Andrew finished shaking hands with the adult children.
Turning on his heel, Andrew bowed slightly toward the ballroom. "Would you honor me by walking in together, then? I'd love to find Mr. Kennedy with you and discuss your joint venture in Dubai."
"Is Duke here, the old fellow?" Mr. Llewod and his wife fell into step with Andrew as they followed the melodies of the string quartet. "I'll have to remind him who can keep his whisky down! You remember how he was at your father's old parties."
Lawrence and I stood to one side, patiently allowing the family to pass. Once they had joined the throng of the party, we both glanced down at our watches. It was time for our next tasks. "Will the Bowsby twins be staying with the children's party?" I asked him as he tapped out a message to the front gate security.
"No, I will send them back to you," he replied. "The children are well-managed with the staff at hand, and I find the twins quite helpful when some of our...larger guests require assistance walking to bed." He put his shoulders back, took a deep breath, and clicked his heels together. "I'll have them report to Dylan when the children are settled."
I finished tapping my own message to the kitchen, reporting all guests were accounted for. "Timing is good, dinner should be served in ten minutes."
"My teams and I will finish bringing the belongings from the cars to the rooms," Lawrence stated. "We should return before dessert."
We each nodded and turned our separate ways, he to the stairs, I to the ballroom doors. Two of Lawrence's men closed the front entrance, and after I stepped in, a server and I together closed the ballroom doors silently. I turned, scanned the scene, oriented myself, and prepared for dinner.
Serving dinner went as smoothly as I could have requested. Seating was designed to be fluid and flexible, with servers accompanying families to various round tables, all of which had some empty chairs saved so guests could get up and mingle if they wished. This also allowed Andrew in particular to float from table to table, showing no favoritism to the guests. The musicians switched out on the bandstand while the meals were announced, giving the string quartet a break in exchange for a pianist and accompanying violin. I mostly stood alongside the door to the kitchen, giving direction to servers and pacing out each dish. In between courses I walked quietly along the wall, examining tables from afar, occasionally stepping in to provide assistance or answer a guest's question as appropriate. Doing so helped guests become familiar with my face, associating me more with the household, but more importantly I was able to keep a steady read on the room.
Overall the chatter was mostly in good humor, especially at the start of dinner. And each table Andrew sat at, the conversation would become particularly boisterous, making me smile when I heard his laughter over the murmur of conversation. As time passed, however, I noticed a change in the air. It didn't always linger, but after Andrew departed for a new table a cloud seemed to hover over the guests he had just been conversing with. Heads came together to discuss in whispers, nods and murmurs, then eating food silently for some minutes before usually resuming their more open conversations.
To confirm my suspicions, I placed myself beside a pillar within hearing distance of Andrew's next table, where the Morgans, Astors, and Alice Mbaye were seated. Shortly after Andrew made his polite excuses and took his plate with him to a few tables over, where Mr. Saji was waving for his attention. I kept my eyes firmly on the servants' door as if I was monitoring the employees, while my ears were trained on the table. After a moment of quiet, I could hear Mrs. Astor--old, austere, but not unkind--speak up. "He seems to be well."
"Of course he does." That was the voice of Mr. Astor, gruff and no-nonsense. "Why wouldn't he be?"
"Don't be like that Earnie, we were all worried." That would be Mrs. Morgan, young and warm. "None of us had heard from him for years."
"There's no need to treat him like a child." Mr. Morgan, clipped and brusque.
"I don't mean that, dear."
"No, you're quite right, Arnold," said Mr. Astor. "He's been doing what he needs to do. Built quite a strong start for his new ventures in that time, been focusing on his family. There was never any reason to be so concerned."
"We're not saying he couldn't handle things," Mrs. Astor cut in. "Of course he could. But there's more to life than the business, and of course he's a good father, but..."
There was a pause, then Mr. Morgan spoke. "It was bloody sudden."
"Yes."
"Yes, yes it was."
"Oh, yes, of course."
Another pause, then Mrs. Morgan spoke up. "I miss her dearly. It's so strange to see him all alone."
"If he's alone," Alice's voice cut in, taking me by surprise, "it's because we abandoned him." Mrs. Astor started to speak, but Alice cut her off. "Oh we all came when he called us back, but who of us reached out to him these past two years?"
"Andrew and I speak quite often--"
"Oh hush, Earnest, I don't mean about business. I mean about him. Who actually spoke to him outside of an office? I know I didn't." In my peripheral I saw her gesture, and a nearby server appeared with a prepared beverage tray. When the servant walked past again, I saw she had chosen Millennium Rum Atlantis from the options. "Of course Andrew seems well, he'd never reach out to us to show us how he was really feeling in that time. He wants us to believe all is well. He can invite us back in, greet us with open arms, but what did we do to earn that?"
"Now Alice, that's quite enough--"
"Shove it, Beatrice." After shocking Mrs. Astor into silence, Alice stood--I could hear her chair slide against the floor. "Well, party and be merry. The master of the castle has given us a feast. The queen is dead, long live the king--and his business partners."
I quickly circled around the pillar fearing Alice would march by and see me. A pause, then I calmly stepped out to walk along the wall again and casually scanned the room. Alice had removed herself to the opposite wall and was sitting on a chaise lounge, sipping on her glass as she watched the room through narrowed eyes. After a few moments, I saw one or two young women about her age also rise from their tables and walk over to her, drinks in hand. They began to chat with familiarity, and although Alice gave the occasional reply, her shoulders and her grip on her drink remained tense.
Composed, I walked over to the kitchen doors and lifted my watch to my mouth to text-to-speech a message to the serving staff. "Please encourage Alice Mbaye to drink water for the remainder of the night. Do not forget to bring a separate tray of desserts to the ladies at the far wall." I included a few other notes based on my observations, looked the message over, and hit send.
Dessert trays soon emerged to applause. I proudly watched my servers go out in a steady flow just as Lawrence, the Bowsby twins, and a few other suited gentlemen and gentlewomen entered through a separate servant's door. We exchanged nods, and they took up discrete stations at various corners of the room. Besides acting as security, Lawrence's staff would step in to help ensure there were no wallflowers or awkward social encounters as the guests returned to the open floor for dancing and socializing.
I felt my wrist buzz and, looking down, found a message from Henri that read, 'Would you ask Andrew for a moment of his time, please. The children would like to say goodnight.'
Smiling, I made my way to Andrew, where he was having an enthusiastic discussion with Mr. Llewod about wineries. He saw me approaching, and held up a hand to acknowledge me. "Pardon me," he said to his guests, "I believe Claire needs my attention."
"Your children would like to say goodnight, sir," I said so his guests could hear. The women all cooed, placing hands on their hearts.
"Of course. I hope you don't mind, sir," Andrew turned to Mr. Llewod.
"Of course he doesn't," Mrs. Llewod cut in. "You tell those little ones we can't wait to see them tomorrow at brunch."
Andrew stepped away expressing his thanks, and together we walked toward the main doors. I opened the door for him, which made him stumble a bit. "Ladies first?" he said hesitantly.
"Don't be silly, sir." I winked as I gave a slight bow, indicating he should go through.
