What the Butler Winked at by Eric Horne

Author:Eric Horne [Horne, Eric]
Language: dan
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter VIII

Now I had to scout round and get another place; It was not long before I got hooked on to a Noble Lord - in disposition quite different to my previous Bos, Sir Cayenne. This one turned out to be of a surley disposition. One seldom saw a smile on his face. He was director to several companies, and the employees had cause to keep their eyes open when he was about. Many a man he got sacked, for he was without mercy, a hard-hearted man, and well hated by everyone.

Which reminds me of a little story. At a certain works or factory, two of the men got round a corner to have a few draws of their pipes in working hours. They were busy at it, when they saw a strange man come along. They said: "Come round the corner, mate, or the foreman will see you!" "Well," he replied, "I happen to be the new foreman."

Everybody seemed to hate the sight of this Noble Lord. In the villiage, which belonged to him, the inhabitants never used to touch their hats to him; in fact, never looked at him, or ever had a good word for him. The houses were old and out of repair, the farms also; they could not get repairs done. All the dirty work was done by the estate agent. One thing he did not forget was to collect the rents punctually. The estate agent was dressed smarter than the Noble Lord, and had more "Swank." In fact, one would take him to be Bos of the show, and as it may be imagined no one liked him either. The servants in the house, or out of it for that matter, did not like him. He remarked to the butler one night, "If this lamp does not burn better there will be a vacancy for a butler shortly."

The Lord and I used to travel a great deal. The servants hated the sight of our faces when we returned home; in fact they treated me like an unwelcome lodger. If we happened to arrive from a long journey between the times for meals, I could not get anything, but had to wait till the next meal time came round, though I had missed my dinner. The house was fourteen miles from the railway station.

His Lordship did not go in for fox hunting, but was keen on shooting and salmon fishing. His Lordship's god was his clothes, and himself. He had about sixty suits of clothes. On Sundays he would make me carry them all downstairs, and spread them out in a large bedroom on the ground floor. When they were all down, I had to go and tell him they were ready. When it pleased him he would come and begin to try them all on, in front of a long glass, one suit after another, which took hours. When he had finished there was a waggonload of clothes to brush, fold up, and take back to his dressing room, and stack away in their different classes and places.

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