Chapter 250 - 250

After the renovation had finished, Henry realized he had already stayed ten days of the break that he had given himself.  He had never taken such a long vacation as he had there at Stanford Hall without realizing the time that had passed behind him was not something he had wasted.  While he was checking emails in the revamped dining room. As proper wiring had been put in he could finally use wifi throughout the whole building. Rightley cleared his throat a couple times before handing Henry his requested morning drink. He lingered while Henry finished his email and set his drink on the table. Henry put the tablet down and made a quick remark. "Rightley. You can just tell me while you're giving me the drink. Each task doesn't need your full undivided attention." Henry braced for it, the worst part was the servant considered him to be a full fledged aristocrat now, even though Henry had admitted he would be leaving the Baroness soon for bachelorhood. 

Not that that even seemed to register with the servant as he spoke. "My lord, Baron Braye. It had come to my attention that you are not being as attentive to your wife as the previous Baron was, as you know is the lady's dearly departed father. Here we have our own traditions and culture which I know as an American you may have little idea of. So I have come to educate you on some common sense."

Henry looked at the manager with a violent look. "I'm not stupid. I'm trying the best I can.  I fixed the house to make it livable."

"You're missing my point sir. I'll speak plainly so you will be no longer confused. Excuse me for my rudeness in advance. You are a husband. Tomorrow is the birthday of your wife. You've done nothing to prepare as you stare at me over your American coffee. I'll leave you with your cool beans."  

Henry's hand froze as Rightley began to retreat. He made an irritated sound before calling the man back. "Ok. You can laugh. I'm an idiot who likes coffee beans to tea leaves. I have done relatively nothing as I was unaware. She did all that for me and she doesn't give a peep about doing anything for her. It's her quiet way as I know she doesn't like asking for things. It can't be helped. I have to put it in my calendar. Wow it is quite close to my own day. I know she is turning twenty five as Michael told me she is two years younger. It is my first birthday with her so you can't look down on me too much. I'm not that used to being a husband after all. But what do we give a woman who has everything inside and out?" He'd never really thought about these things as he had always known that their time together was destined to be short. 

"She'll probably just want a nice night in with you, I presume you do have some of the trappings of romance?"

"Well. Not really. Romancing a wife and romancing a less serious—"

"Don't compare the two as I've got my work handed to me now. What luck!  At least, I can say I've been a well-born gentleman my entire life."

Henry thought of something to retort but held it in. Rightley had good intentions in his gruff manner. He was not going to be pushed away by that. Also, this man would be vital in his quest to make this day memorable for his lady. But the quandary was what could she possibly want?  "I guess we could start off with the specialty of your which is food. As her childhood was in your time, I know that you can talk to some of the older service members to see what her childhood favorites were. Maybe you and Michael can team up to make a menu with a complement of former and current favorites. I know seeing old foods will make her feel nostalgic. Her parents' memories also bring her much joy."

Off of the top of his head, Rightley began to list off some dishes which Henry too knew were his favorites. He chuckled in his surprise as he noted down some things for an email to Michael.  The old servant would appreciate some ideas as quickly as possible as he was at the grocers. As he sent the email, Rightley still had not removed himself and loomed over Henry creepily. 

"Is there something else?  You can return to your morning work if this is all you wished to discuss. We may speak in the afternoon if you have any more concerns?"

"No sir, I have something that will be useful to you in making sure the Baroness has all the joy that she deserves. But it must be done discreetly so as to not alert anyone of what will be done." Henry nodded slowly so the manager continued. "It's in one of the outdoor sheds if you don't worry about dirty shoes we can just run over there in the shoes you have."

Henry looked down at the worn running shoes he had worn for his run. He shook his head and jerked to the window. "Can you point it out to me so I can change into something less irritating to clean for Michael. He's got a thing for maintaining military order in my things. I also should start doing my own laundry, but you know he's been around since I was a child so he doesn't like my way of doing things.  He'll always find a spot or something that wasn't bleached as white as he needs it for quality."

"He reminds me of the old manservant that we used to have around here.  He was the same when he came to laundry. The older ones just can't get anything white enough.  They want it to shine like the moon. But, I'll do the same and get into some Wellington rainboots so we can avoid the laundry room together."