Lina by Diane Baumer

Author:Diane Baumer [Baumer, Diane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-22T04:00:00+00:00

William, Lord Nottingham’s old butler imported from England, had exaggeratedly raised his right eyebrow to show his disapproval on the day the furniture had been unloaded. Physical therapists should take this guy to the International Court of Justice.

“I assume they come fully insured,” the butler said in perfect English.

His observation had not been entirely preposterous. In the dining room, furniture put the suffering guests through an ordeal when they tried to sit in those capsizing chairs! Not even the butler was able to flee indignity. Mercedes would make him use the insurgent dinnerware every time they had guests.

“Madam, my salary conditions don’t include doing juggling acts,” he had said one day, fed up, with his usual circumspection.

Unable to catch a glimpse of criticism in the butler’s grumbling, she had laughed out loud.

“You’re too funny, William! Get it ready on the little table.”

“On the unsatisfied oval? Remember it gives guests hiccoughs.”

Mercedes burst out laughing. How much she enjoyed the English humor!

“Oh, William – you create art with your mouth!”

“I need to change my toothpaste.”

“You make me laugh my head off! My actual head off!”

The living room was not much more comfortable. The two Tianmen winding chaises longues had been inspired by one of the curviest roads in the world. A set of dubious-back couches squared the circle of nonsense.

“Madam, one of these days we are going to have an air tragedy here,” the butler warned gravely.

She cracked up.

“How much I’m going to miss you when you retire!”

William had little time before leaving his service. He dreamed of returning to England. Loyalty to Lord Nottingham had brought him to Spain beside the aristocrat. Now, his dedication had been unexpectedly rewarded. The lord had bequeathed him a house in the idyllic Cumbria county. The old butler had patiently waited for the right time to leave eccentricity behind and pursue a rural life. Since he did not have a wife or children, his aspirations were limited to fishing in the lake, going for walks, and sitting by the fireplace with a book while listening to some folk music. He had the theory that every person came to the world with a predetermined sentence. His had been loneliness, while that of the lord could be found in the greedy people surrounding him.

Until the arrival of Mercedes, Lord Nottingham’s love affairs had been a total disaster. Her wives had approached him out of interest. Unexpectedly, he had found true love at the age of seventy-four – being in a wheelchair! Mercedes’ charisma had quickly captivated him. Lord Nottingham enjoyed being close to an educated, altruistic, fun, free woman who could not care less about social standards. He only regretted meeting her too late. I won’t go beyond the friendship boundaries. It would be an ignoble act for me to intend to tie her to a sick old fossil. Thus, he was not planning on proposing to her. One day, Mercedes took him in his wheelchair to a distant place in the middle of a cliff.

“I always said I’d never marry.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.