What Becomes of the Brokenhearted (Dead Reckoning series - Part 11)

Continued from Episode 10 (My Girl)

The story so far:  Josiah's liaison with Jeanette DeVille goes from strength to strength.  Following a succesful dinner at L'eau Bleu, he arranged luncheon at a local tearoom.  Meanwhile, Archibald was surprised when Precious, Mrs. DeVille's daughter, turned up out of the blue and invited herself for lunch with him, when he was supposed to be accompanying Samantha on a spying mission.  The lunch break over, it's time to report back!:

Archibald Thurble staggered back into the premises of Oakshott and Underwood, with a digestive system full of doughnuts and a beaming smile on his face.  The smile could have been attributed to the doughnuts but might also have been strongly associated with the peck on the cheek he had just received from a departing Precious DeVille!

“You look pleased with yourself” Samantha observed, from her perch on a stool in the Stock Room.

“Do I?” Archibald grinned.

“You certainly do!” Samantha nodded, “Any connection with Ms. DeVille, by any chance?”

“We had doughnuts and coffee,” Archibald beamed, “it were great!”

“I’m sure it was” Samantha snapped, turning around and typing on her laptop, furiously.

“It’s just…well, it’s nice to have someone interested in me, for a change” Archibald said, in a hurt tone.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Archibald” Samantha sighed, “you’re quite right, I shouldn’t be mad at you.” She closed her laptop and smiled at him. “You’ve every right to have whichever girlfriend you want.  It’s just…well…don’t they strike you as a bit…I don’t know…‘Addams Family’?”

“Who?” Archibald looked puzzled.

“Jeanette DeVille and her daughter and that creepy butler of theirs”

“No, I know who you mean, I meant, who is this Addams Family?”

“Haven’t you come across them?  They’re a bit…gothic, and weird” Samantha tried to explain.

“Gothic?  Is that like being Goth-y?”  Archibald frowned.

“Well, in a manner of speaking, yes, I suppose it is” Samantha nodded.

“I don’t think Precious is ‘weird’” Archibald stated, loyally, “and she’s not a Goth”

“She wears black clothes and has black painted fingernails” Samantha pointed out.

“Yeah, but that’s just her style.  She’s not a Goth like them what hang around that Games shop in the town centre.  They look like they’ve lost a bob and found a tanner.  You can have a laugh with Precious…a bit”

“Well, ok, not her so much” Samantha conceded, diplomatically, “although just turning up like that, with her butler in tow, driving the limousine, that’s a bit…different, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know.  It’s never happened to me before!”  Archibald shrugged.

“Well, that’s my point!  You can’t imagine either of the Ryder sisters from the chip shop just turning up like that, now, can you?”  Samantha pointed out, referring to Archibald’s two previous girlfriends.

“No, and look where that got me!” Archibald folded his arms and looked fed up.

“Yes, that’s a fair point” Samantha nodded, “I’m sorry, Archie.  I’m honestly not trying to rain on your parade.  I just have my doubts about that family”

“You’re sure you’re not just…jealous?” Archibald risked a sideways glance at his colleague.

“Yes, quite probably” Samantha nodded, again, “Josiah and Precious’s mum seemed quite cosy down at the Country Manor tea rooms” She added, miserably.

“I wouldn’t know” Archibald shrugged, “we were in Fanny’s Doughnuts” A sudden thought struck him, “You didn’t go in, did you?”

“No, I just walked past…a few times” Samantha admitted.

“Look Ms. Knight” Archibald sighed, “don’t you think it’s perhaps time to, I don’t know, let go and move on? Eh?”

“Yes, I should, I know” Samantha agreed, glumly, “but I can’t!  Not just yet.  Not until I’m sure there’s no hope and this ‘Jeanette DeVille’ is definitely the one for him.  There’s just something not quite right about all of this, I can feel it in my water”

“Ah, me Nan has those” Archibald nodded.

“Has what?”

“Feelings in her water” Archibald explained, “she has to have pills for it, else her feet swell up like footballs.  ‘Course, on the other side of the coin, she knows every toilet in Merkin-under-Heathwood”

“A diuretic?” Samantha commented.

“No, she can eat sweet stuff all she likes” Archibald shook his head, “just as well, considering the amount of lager she gets through”

“You know, there are times when I can see why Josiah is, like he is” Samantha grinned.

* * * *

The object of their discussion was humming a merry little tune, when Archibald arrived with the tea and biscuits a little later that afternoon.

“You sound chipper, Mr. O.” Archibald observed, with a grin.

“I would be forced to agree with you, Archibald” Josiah took an appreciative sip of his tea, and nodded, “things are definitely on the up!”

“This you and Mrs. DeVille is it?” Archibald asked, flopping down into the visitor’s chair.

“Not entirely,” Josiah frowned at his employee sitting down without invitation, “the other aspect that has pleased me is that we have seen a definite uptick in trade over the past week or so, with more enquiries coming in on a daily basis.  If this trend continues, then I think we could legitimately hope to see a return to our former trading position”

“So, no redundancies then?”  Archibald asked, hopefully.

“I would sincerely hope not, Archibald, no” Josiah selected a biscuit and munched, thoughtfully.

“But this Mrs. DeVille business, that’s got to have perked you up, hasn’t it?”  Archibald asked, slyly.

“I would be less than honest if I did not admit that my meetings with Jeanette…Mrs. DeVille, have, indeed, had a positive effect on my demeanour”

“I saw her daughter, this lunchtime” Archibald admitted, a little bashfully, “we went for a bite to eat”

“Ah, Precious!” Josiah nodded, “How nice.  I had no idea you had extended an invitation, Archibald”

“Nah, I didn’t” Archibald shook his head, “she just turned up.  I took her up Fanny’s”

“You did what?” Josiah looked aghast.

“Fanny’s Doughnuts” Archibald explained, “I took her up there for lunch”

“Oh, thank goodness!” Josiah said with considerable relief, mopping his brow with a handkerchief, “I think I may have misconstrued…never mind, I’m delighted you have made acquaintance with Miss DeVille, once more”

“Yeah, she’s alright, is Precious” Archibald nodded.  “You planning to see any more of her mam then?”  He asked, archly.

As this question coincided with a particular train of Josiah’s thought, he blushed deeply before replying.

“As a matter of fact, Mrs. DeVille has invited me to dine with her at the Hall this Saturday evening”

“Oh, smashing” Archibald grinned, “do you need me to drive you up there, or owt?”

“Thank you, but that will not be necessary, Archibald” Josiah sipped at his tea, “Mrs. DeVille has made arrangements to send a car for me”

“I s’pose that’ll be that butler of theirs, that Hames, don’t you reckon?  He seems to do all sorts!”

“I have not enquired” Josiah surveyed the biscuit selection.

“I reckon so.  It was him what brought Precious down today, to meet her mam.  They’re off shopping, aren’t they?”

“I understand they had plans of that nature, yes” Josiah confirmed.

“A bit of posh nosh then, is it?  On Saturday, I mean”

“I believe her table is justly renowned” Josiah said, smugly.

“Oh, right” Archibald looked perplexed, “antique, is it?”

“I mean that the standard of cuisine, emanating from her kitchens, is known and famed throughout Cheshire”

“Is it?”

“So I am reliably informed”

“Well, that’ll be nice then, won’t it?” Archibald brushed some biscuit crumbs from his trousers (much to Josiah’s annoyance) and stood up to go.

“I thought I may have glimpsed Mrs. Knight passing the tearooms, earlier” Josiah ventured, “would you know if that was the case?”

Archibald, who had reached the office door and was just about to make his escape, hovered in the doorway.

“Erm…” He replied.

“Has she not spoken with you concerning this?”

“Well…” He began, waiting for inspiration to strike.

“In fact, I thought that I noticed her on more than one occasion” Josiah mused.

“Did you?”  Archibald was aware that he was breaking into a cold sweat, “I erm…ooh, I think someone shouted me!” He improvised and made a speedy exit.

“Must be desperate, whoever they are” Josiah mused to himself, archly, snaffling another biscuit.

For the background to all this, hie thee to 'Bring Out Your Dead' (link is external) available now in both Kindle and paperback versions.

Now read Episode 12