Page 21 of Brown-Eyed Earl

“We can gather our things later,” Archie said. “I want to show you the pool first.”

They followed Archie around to the back of the house. The garden was newborn, as evidenced by its extreme greenness and uniformity. At its edge, right before the manicured turf gave way to rougher grass, was a pool. One reached it via a gravel path. They followed Archie down it. From here, one could see—and hear—a brook in the distance, emerging from the woods that bordered the house.

“Oh, Archie, you’ve really done it,” Effie said.

“It isn’t much, and I’ve yet to have any flowers or trees planted—I thought to consult with Olive and Clem on that—but I am rather pleased with myself.”

Effie squatted at the edge of the pool, which was lined with slabs of limestone. He took off his gloves and dipped a hand in. “Oh my, that is chilly!”

“Well, it’s groundwater. It’s not like at Bath where the water is warm. Which is why …” He pointed to another path radiating out from the pool. “I’ve had that firepit constructed. We may warm ourselves here after immersion.”

“Perhaps also before,” Simon suggested. “It might provide a kind of inoculation against the shock of the cold water.”

“Oh, and we can cook meat over the flames!” Effie said excitedly, but then he looked at Archie guiltily. “Or, we can cook vegetables over the flames.”

“I am looking mightily forward to some roast lamb,” Archie said. “In making the arrangements for most of the servants to take a holiday, I did particularly request a leg of lamb for night one.”

Effie and Simon shared an amused gaze over Archie’s head. Archie had said the same thing last year but, once presented with the meat he’d professed to want, he hadn’t been able to eat any of it—his animal-loving wife, who herself eschewed the eating of meat, had influenced him even in her absence. Effie gave a little nod that seemed to Simon to say, We’ll believe that when we see it.

“Though I don’t think a leg of lamb can be cooked over an open fire,” Archie said. “At least not by us.”

“Shall we try out the pool?” Simon suggested.

“Yes, but first let me show you around inside, and we can decide on sleeping arrangements.”

Archie led them down another gravel path, a longer one, that eventually terminated at a small outbuilding. “This is new. A dormitory of sorts. I thought we could lodge here when the ladies arrive so they may have the run of the main house. The question is, would we prefer to sleep here this week, too, or to start in the main house and move here for week two?”

“Archie,” Effie said, “I don’t mean to be indelicate, but where will you and your lovely wife …?” He cleared his throat.

“Are you asking because you truly want to know or because you’re wondering where you and your lovely wife can …” Archie cleared his throat in the same manner Effie had.

“Oh, for Heaven’s sake,” Simon said. “You lot are besotted. How embarrassing for you.”

“Well,” Archie said, “the ladies shall have their own bedchambers in the main house.”

Simon wondered if that included Miss Brown, or if she was staying with Archie’s mother. Not that it mattered in the least.

“Hmm.” Effie wrinkled his nose as if the notion of visiting his wife in her bedchamber in the house did not appeal.

“There is also an old shack of sorts in which my father used to keep his hunting rifles,” Archie said. “But I’ve taken your advice to heart and had them all locked in the root cellar. So if you’ve a mind to tryst in a falling-down armory, have at it.”

Effie seemed cheered. “And where would one find this falling-down armory?”

“Behind this structure. There isn’t a path. You shall have to hack your way through the underbrush.”

“How thrilling.”

Archie led them through the front door of the outbuilding, which opened onto a small sitting area with a settee oriented toward a fireplace, a sideboard that appeared well-stocked with libations and glassware, a small dining table, and a side table stocked with a chessboard and several decks of cards. The whole place was rather dim, there being very few windows.

“’Tis a sort of gentlemen’s cave!” Effie exclaimed.

An archway in the middle of the large space divided the living area from the sleeping area, the latter of which was furnished with three beds. They were tucked closely together with only a few feet between them. Small nightstands stood between them.

“It is like being back at school,” Simon observed, and though he was not, generally speaking, nostalgic for their school days, he did think back fondly on some of the nights they passed whispering in the dark.

“It is like being back at school, except without the Nigel Nettle-fells of the world,” Archie said, naming a particularly odious classmate of theirs. “Of course, in the main house, we can each have our own bedchambers. So it’s entirely up to you two.”

“Let’s stay here in the gentlemen’s cave!” Effie said. “Hold up. What’s in there?” He led the way to the small room in question. “Is this a water closet?”