“I am most honoured to meet the lady whotakes such good care of our Mr. Edwards,” smiled the elfinuncle.
“It’s been far too long between visits,”Robert said to Beth. “Your husband and I really must withdraw frompolitics and the law long enough to observe and enjoy the moreimportant things in life, mustn’t we?” Then by way of illustrationhe reached out and took a willing Maggie out of Marc’s arms.
“You mustn’t chide yourself,” Beth said,giving the baby an affectionate squeeze. “We’ve all been far busierthan we ought to. And you have four very fortunate children, whosee you every day.”
“Who are already in the back yard whooping itup,” Dr. Baldwin said. “We’d better see to them, eh?”
“And I hear more little rascals coming up thedrive,” Brodie said as shouts of laughter echoed through the openfront door.
“You good people go on through to thegarden,” Uncle Seamus said affably. “I’ll stay here and playbutler. Go on with you, Miss Diana. Eliza’s been waiting for yourarrival since breakfast.”
“Yes, yes,” Dr. Baldwin said. “Please do. Letus not stand upon ceremony.”
As Diana, Brodie, Robert (with Maggie tuckedunder his arm), Marc and Beth (babe in arms) moved down the halltowards the rear of the house, Beth whispered to Marc, “Robert’suncle seems like a proper gentleman, doesn’t he?”
“Disappointed, are we?” Marc teased, thensqueezed her hand.
Behind them a roar of laughter and acacophony of little-girl giggles erupted.
***
It was a children’s party all the way. Eliza wasRobert’s favourite, and he had spared no expense and overlooked nodetail to make the day as perfect as possible, given the whims andvagaries of nine-year-olds. Eliza’s older sister Maria and herbrothers William and Robert had been assigned various supervisoryand administrative roles, and carried them out with a lawyerly eyefor protocol and decorum. The birthday girl herself was supportedby a cast of almost two dozen of her peers, who included not onlyseveral cousins and the children of Robert’s friends and associates(Robert Sullivan, his law partner, Clement Peachey, the firm’ssolicitor, and Francis Hincks) but the offspring of neighbours intown and half a dozen youngsters from the nearby cluster of homeshousing several of the mill-hands who worked for the local miller,Seth Whittle. Even eleven-year-old Fabian Cobb had ridden out inone of the special carriages arranged by their host, seduced as hewas by visions of bonbons and prizes for the swift anddextrous.
For the first hour or so the children wereallowed to roam freely about the wide lawns, amusing themselvesnicely with improvised games of tag and Simon Says, punctuated byfrequent trips to the sweets table where peppermints, Turkishdelight and macaroons seemed to be in endless supply. (This lattermiracle was accomplished by three bustling, red-faced housemaidsattired in black uniforms with white caps.) Meanwhile, the ladiesand gentlemen reclined in garden chairs at the base of ahorse-chestnut tree, sipping punch and chatting idly. Marcus Juniorwoke up, of course, demanding to be fed, and Maggie waddled happilyin the direction of the nearest celebrant. In addition to variousaunts and uncles were Marc’s party of four, Robert himself, ClementPeachey, Francis Hincks and their wives. Dr. and Mrs. Baldwin wereinside supervising the parade of goodies. If Beth were puzzled bythe absence of Uncle Seamus, she was too polite to comment.
Marc was beginning to wonder how Robertplanned to corral the free-ranging youngsters, whose squeals andyips were growing more and more frantic, when the answer presenteditself. Chalmers, the Baldwin’s elderly butler, had emerged fromthe house carrying a wooden pail that resembled a miniaturebutter-churn. Behind him he was trailed by the two youngest maids -Betsy and Edie, if Marc recalled correctly – one with a smallerpail and the other with a large bowl of what appeared to be cream.Chalmers set the churn-like contraption on a nearby table andwaited for the maids to reach him. He gestured to Betsy and shecarefully poured the frothy contents of the bowl into the churn.Then he took the pail from Edie and tipped it up to the rim of thechurn. There followed the tinkle of ice-chips into the hollow spacebetween the churn’s inner and outer walls. What happened next wasas dramatic as a headmistress striking the school’s dinnergong!
“Ice cream!” a wee female voice trilled.
“Ice cream!”
“Ice cream!”
The cry echoed over the grass and through theshrubbery. A minute later every child, regardless of age or gender,had raced to the table where Chalmers was stoically turning thechurn’s handle. He was soon ringed by children, squatting orfidgeting or hopping from foot to foot. (Even the young maids sankdaintily to their knees and stared.) All eyes were on the magicbucket that they knew, or surmised, would transform ordinary creaminto a chilled ambrosia you could boast about for the rest of yourdays. And almost as magical was the sudden silence, so deep youcould detect a cricket stretching a foreleg.
“It’ll take some time, children,” Chalmerssaid.
“We know, we know. And we can help you churnif your hand gets tired,” offered young Fabian Cobb, who wasquickly seconded by several of his male companions.
“You’re a genius,” Beth said to Robert, whowas observing the scene with some satisfaction.
“It was Chalmers’ idea,” Robert said with hiscustomary modesty.
“Won’t ice cream spoil their luncheon?” saidthe ever practical Diana.
“By the time it’s churned and chilled, thesandwiches and cake will have been served and eaten,” Robert said.“That is if the candies haven’t dulled their appetiteentirely.”
“Surely they’ve run off those effects,”Brodie said.
At this point Maggie went tumbling to theground just beyond Marc’s chair. He jumped up, ran over to her,picked her up in both hands, and raised her over his head. She hadconsidered crying but decided to turn her protest into a squeal ofpleasure. Marc grinned over at Beth, but she seemedpreoccupied.
She was wondering why they had seen no signof Seamus Baldwin.
***
The luncheon went as smoothly as a barrister’ssummation: with the three maids serving up the sandwiches, meattarts, and gallons of fresh milk; with Diana Ramsay leading thechildren in song; and with Robert cutting the birthday cake withexaggerated strokes and numerous winks. Chalmers then carried theice cream over to the head of table, and Dr. Baldwin had thepleasure of doling it out as if it were goose and he were FatherChristmas.
Following such unalloyed excitement,Governess Ramsay concluded that a few minutes quiet time was inorder. So, while the adults partook of their luncheon – coldchicken, cucumber sandwiches and chilled champagne – the boys andgirls slumped down in the nearest shade and dozed contentedly inthe early-afternoon sun. Robert had just finished making a toast tohis assembled friends and neighbours when the first notes of a pipefluttered upon the breeze. The guests followed Robert’s gaze andthe source of the music. There upon a knoll at the far edge of theyard stood the piper. At first blush it appeared to be a leprechaunmaterialized out of the greensward itself, for the figure was shortand bandy-legged and loose-limbed and clothed entirely inKendall-green broadcloth. Its shoes were of green leather and aspointed as an elf’s foot, and they were hopping merrily to theethereal ditty his long, nimble fingers were producing on the Irishfife they held as lightly as a pheasant’s plume. Upon his head, butbarely covering the wild sheaf of his grey-white hair, there swayedin time to the other rhythms of his body a pointed cap, topped by atinkling bell.