Chapter 12
“I read in the reports that you eat fish, but no other meats, is that right?” Lady Bell sat at the head of the great, dark dining table in the most intimidating room that Harper had ever seen.
The flashes of familiarity were like lightning, they hovered in the air, making the tiny hairs on her neck and arms stand on edge.
The long table stretched the expanse of the room, the ceiling was painted dark blue and purple with clouds edging into twilight golds and dusk.
It looked as though it belonged in a museum but was no more grand than the carved wooden wine racks that lined the far wall, a small sommelier bar wrapped one corner.
The other wall was the same dark black wood with forest green trim.
Wall sconces jutted evenly into the room and encompassed the space.
They were all different, carved hands and arms protruded from the walls holding candles and lamps, all lit with amber Edison bulbs.
The effect was that you had walked into a vault.
It was equal parts fascinating and terrifying.
The windows were floor to ceiling framed in dark archways.
The view took Harper’s breath away. She could see the rolling expanse of the back garden of the manor.
A small patio lay beyond the windows, and Harper was hit with a memory of sitting on that patio, a warm wooden mug in her hands, a blanket around her shoulders.
She shook it off and looked to Lady Bell, who was watching her closely.
“Uh … yes, I eat fish, but no other meat. Is that alright?” Harper stumbled, shaken.
Lady Bell nodded slowly. “Of course. Are you alright dear? You look a bit stunned.”
“I am. This room, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” Harper took her seat to Lady Bell’s right; across from her was another place setting and she wondered who was joining them.
“It has gone through its transformations, but essentially remains the same. In the original design, the wine racks were hidden by a wall, as was the sommelier bar in the corner. The idea was that the servants were to stay hidden. But renovations were made in around 1915 to remove the walls and showcase those beautiful wine racks. The lighting fixtures were also added around that time.”
“Like the ones in the hallway,” Harper said softly. “Nigel said his grandfather carved those.”
“He did. As he did these. Lady Bell of that time had a very artistic eye and we are all the better for it.” Lady Bell turned her head as a young woman who had Nigel’s eyes and carved face entered the room with a silver tray.
“Kaitlyn, I am so excited to see what was such a surprise,” Lady Bell said with mock severity.
Kaitlyn nodded, matching Lady Bell’s tone. “I am full of surprises, my lady. Please enjoy, this is lobster bisque, it is excellent. Where is my father?” She looked around as she set down three steaming bowls of soup.
“He is on his way, I expect. He wanted a very particular bottle of wine from the cellar.” Lady Bell picked up her spoon. “I’m not waiting.”
“Nor should you.” Nigel entered from behind Kaitlyn carrying a bottle of wine. “Hello,” he said to his daughter, who winked at him and left with her silver tray. “May I?” He nodded to Harper and Lady Bell.
“Please. Harper?” Lady Bell looked at her expectantly.
“Yes, please,” Harper replied, feeling as though she were having an out-of-body experience.
Nigel made a grand show of opening the wine in proper sommelier fashion, turning the bottle just so, making expert swipes at the foil and seamlessly removing the cork before pouring the blood red wine into all three glasses at the table.
Only then did he sit down and lift his spoon.
Lady Bell had been eating already, and she waved at Harper’s frozen face.
“Eat, love, eat. If you wait for Nigel to finish showing off, it’ll be cold.” She smiled at Nigel, who gave her the slightest eye roll. His formal demeanor was already sliding off, and Harper could feel the familiarity between the two. They felt like family.
“This is not at all what I thought this would be,” Harper said in between spoonfuls of soup. Each bite brought out a slightly different flavor, a bit of saffron, a bite of garlic, a hint of chives.
“I imagine not,” Nigel replied as he finished and looked from Lady Bell to Harper. “You are also not what we imagined, but I imagine my lady has told you that already.”
“My roommate back in Boston was fascinated with Bell Island. She told me so many stories. I thought I would be stepping into a haunted mansion.” Harper jumped as a hand reached to take her empty bowl.
“Thank you.” This was a different woman, dressed in an apron with her black hair pulled away from her face.
“You’re welcome,” she replied as she circled the table. “Miss Kaitlyn says your entrée is nigh.”
“Nigh? She said that?” Nigel said with a hint of a smile on his lips.
“She did indeed,” the girl replied as she left the room.
“It is a bit of a haunted mansion, we have our ghosts like any other place, perhaps more than some. But the mystery that surrounds this place is part of our defense. We’ve fought for years now to keep the Port Authority from issuing tourist ferries to Bell Island.”
The girl appeared again with a tray of grilled branzino over seasoned bulgur and roasted carrots. Harper was overwhelmed with the crisp saltiness of the fish. She stared at Nigel, letting the flavors settle. “Your daughter is magic.”
“She is.” Nigel smiled. “She trained at the Culinary Institute, interned at Le Cinq in Paris, and was sous chef at No. 9 Park in Boston Commons.”
“No offense whatsoever intended, but how did she end up here at the manor?” Harper asked carefully.
Lady Bell took a sip of the wine. “She was born here, her family is here, many of our chickadees fly away but most return eventually.” She gave Harper a warm look as she spoke. “It’s home. Nigel’s family is our family, his many greats grandfather came here in what is it, Nigel? 1860s?”
“1850s. We have been here a very long time, and my daughter and her husband wanted their children to grow up on Bell as she did.” Nigel shook his head. “She really outdid herself on this one.”
“It’s incredible,” Harper replied softly, savoring the flavors. Outside the wind whipped against the glass. “The storm seems to be picking up. I thought it was on its way out.”
“Oh no.” Lady Bell sipped her wine. “It’s just starting, I’m afraid. I imagine that doesn’t make your job any easier out there on the water.” She looked to Harper.
“No, it doesn’t.” Harper watched the deck chairs teeter unsteadily in the gusts outside the glass. “We haven’t been able to set out on the water at all yet, but it’s only been a week since we arrived, we quite frankly haven’t been ready till now.”
“You’ll be fine. But you’ll likely not find better conditions for another week with this swell.
Only the most hearty of the fishermen even go out when it gets this rough.
” Lady Bell looked up at the black-haired girl who had reappeared to take their plates.
“Carmen, please hold our dessert, will you? I think we should take it in the study. I would like to give Harper a little tour.” She looked to Harper. “Would you like that?”
“I would,” Harper said with honest enthusiasm. The manor was proving to be everything that it claimed to be and more.
“Nigel, are you coming?” She looked expectantly at him.
“I am not. You ladies need to talk and I have work to do. But thank you, my lady, I will meet up with you soon.” With that, he stood and gracefully exited the dining room.
“Come, I’ll show you around. You will forgive me if I save the upper floors for another day, but you really ought to see a bit of the place.
” Lady Bell stood and indicated for Harper to follow.
They crossed into the hall where Lady Bell led Harper back down the hallway toward the library.
She stopped at one of the imposingly impressive doors and opened it, standing aside for Harper to enter.
Harper walked into an expansive study/games room.
To the left was a pool table with a fully stocked bar in the corner.
A Foosball table and wraparound sofa surrounding an impossibly large home movie screen filled the opposite corner.
A great stone fireplace lined a wall with rich velvet chairs set before it, waiting for someone to enjoy a brandy.
“It’s … again, not what I expected.” Harper laughed.
“In the 1950s this room was remodeled from what had been two ground-floor bedrooms into this more modern games room. Lady Bell of that day had two sons and I imagine they found the island a bit dull. This was a proverbial man cave and has had updates such as that big screen over the years. Overall, it has proven to be a nice respite for all Bell Manor residents. The staff quite enjoy it, and I like a good game of pool myself.”
“Sorry, my lady! I didn’t know you were touring!” A voice made Harper jump as a young man popped up from the other side of the sofa. He had a book in his hand and looked as though he had been curled up reading.
“Please don’t mind us. I’m just showing Miss Harper around. Harper, meet Carl, he works with Anna on the grounds crew.”
“Hello,” Harper said, amusedly. This house was far less intimidating than she had presumed. The staff were more roommates and residents than Downton Abbey.
“Come, follow me.” Lady Bell entered the room as Carl waved at Harper and went back to his book.
“The fireplace is the original, built in 1685; the chairs are also original, but the rest has been remodeled, partially out of necessity. Keeping the mold out of a manor this size is a beast. Before technology came to the rescue, they were stuck with knocking down and replacing from time to time. Here, in this far corner, you will find a secret passageway that was part of the original manor. Right here, do me a favor and pull that green-backed book toward you, right there on the shelf, yes, that one, just like you are going to take it out and read it, that’s right. ”
Harper jumped again as the book resisted her tug and instead a panel clicked open. The bookshelves hid a secret door to a brick-lined passageway. Lady Bell flipped a switch and Edison bulb lamps lit the arched corridor.
“We had electric put in, of course. Well, someone did, not me, well before me. Come, this way. This was originally the family bedrooms, reserved for the original Lady Bell’s great relatives from Scotland who were to visit and perhaps even stay.
But that never happened, as it was, no family ever joined them, and these rooms were re-designated for other high-stature guests.
This passageway is a bit of a mystery, though, it doesn’t serve a great purpose to my eyes, but it connects to here.
” Lady Bell turned the knob of the heavy wooden door before her; on the other side was a more modern study with a grand, marble-topped desk and two modern chairs.
Lady Bell again flipped a switch and the room was illuminated in modern, comfortable light.
“Again, obviously remodeled. This is my accountant and lawyer’s office. Nigel told you his mother, Marie, was my personal accountant for years, yes?” Lady Bell looked to Harper, who nodded.
“Since her passing, I have a new fellow from the village; we’re adjusting to each other.
” Lady Bell sighed. “Come. This way.” She exited out the door and they found themselves in the hall again.
The double doors that led to the library were to Harper’s left.
They entered through a door immediately in front of them to a pristine and historically preserved bedroom, obviously for show, not daily use, or perhaps guests if there were such a thing in this place.
Harper’s head was spinning. The déjà vu that bit at her in the library and dining room had faded in the modernized rooms but was back full force here.
This place smelled familiar, the faintest hint of lilac.
The four-poster canopied bed had an elaborate rose and moss bedspread.
Harper remembered smoothing the linens and wiping dust from the window sill, which Harper knew looked out on a courtyard even though heavy velvet shades blocked the view.
Lady Bell cast curious looks her way from time to time but kept moving as she led Harper through the space and into the adjoining room, where Harper, again, felt she was returning to rather than being introduced.
By the time she found herself back in the hallway following Lady Bell back to the formal study across from the dining room, she was reeling.
“I believe it is time for dessert, and I could use a tea,” Lady Bell said in a tone that made Harper realize there was far more to this tour, the dinner, the very invitation than she could have imagined.