"What a beautiful day!" I said to Ms. Wonder who waded knee-deep in suitcases and socks, like a goddess of the sea cavorting on the rocky shore. "Packing?" I asked as if the ritual was unfamiliar to me.
"Un-packing," she said for we keep no secrets between us. And it was at that moment that the dirty work of yesterday raised its ugly head and smirked at the joy that had greeted me when I woke.
"Un-packing," she said for we keep no secrets between us. And it was at that moment that the dirty work of yesterday raised its ugly head and smirked at the joy that had greeted me when I woke.
Every year, starting about the middle of October, there is a good deal of anxiety and apprehension among owners of the better-class country houses throughout coastal Carolina waiting to hear which one will get the Genome’s patronage for the holidays.
This year we had decided early, and a sigh of relief went up from a dozen stately homes, all listed on the Historic Register, as it became known that the short straw had been drawn by The Summerville Inn outside Charleston.
And yet, scarcely 10 hours earlier, this daughter of the Russian revolution and I sat at William's Gourmet Kitchen—"It’s not fast food; it’s awesome food fast" —and we agreed that the outing was off.
Once again, Shakespeare has put the finger on the nub when he said, it's when you're feeling really good about the way things are going that Fate sneaks up behind you with a blunt instrument. Not a direct quote but it conveys the sentiment nicely.
As if waking from a dreamless sleep, I gradually became aware that Ms. Wonder was looking at me as though waiting for an answer.
"Hmm?" I said.
"Did I hear you say something about aunts?" she said.
"Did I say that out loud?" I asked. She nodded.
"I was thinking about how the Aunts like to ambush and blackmail," I said.
What I didn't say was that I felt like Count Orlov must have felt after Katherine the Great told him she never wanted to see him again in this world or the next and then opening the cupboards he found there was no more vodka.
We had originally come to the decision to give the Summerville Inn our custom for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that we have visited and photographed the place for a number of travel articles back in the day when travel magazines paid for our vacations.
We had originally come to the decision to give the Summerville Inn our custom for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that we have visited and photographed the place for a number of travel articles back in the day when travel magazines paid for our vacations.
We knew the browsing and sluicing would be above criticism and I was pleased that the owner speaks native French because, as I’m sure you know, les Francais pensent aussi admirablement qu’ils parlent. It translates to "the French think like they speak. I suppose the same can be said for most of us, now that I think about it.
All this, along with the assurance that no matter how close to the holidays we get, there will be no pressure to join a party of strangers and tramp around the village singing, 'Oh Come All Ye Faithful.'
A deep silence ruled the next several moments after my crack about the aunts and blackmail. Then Ms. Wonder spoke. "Are you going to stand there all morning?"
"There are times, Poopsie," I said, with a small tremble in the voice, "when one asks oneself if there is any point in making an effort."
"The mood will pass," she said and I had to admit that she was probably right.
I nodded in response but it had no chirpiness to it. It was the nod that Napoleon might have given in the Paris coffee shop on a morning in 1812 when someone said, Back from Moscow so soon?
"You know how it is," I said, "I'm in agreement with the general principle but I seem to be in neutral gear and having a little difficulty following through.
"I understand," she said, "it was much the same with Hamlet."
"I mean it's no use telling me," I said, "that there are good aunts and bad aunts. At the core, they're all alike. Sooner or later out pops the poisoned apple."
"Can't blame Fate," she said.
"Maybe not but I can blame Princess Amy," I countered.
"Don't be a victim, abused by Amy," she said. "We may not be able to go out of town but we still have the time off and we can use it to refresh, rebuild, and reinvigorate."
"Poopsie," I said, "don't allow yourself to be lulled into dropping your guard. That's just what the Aunts want. Having a few days off isn't a gift, it's not a…."
"Amende honorable?" she said in the way this Russian spinoff has of wrapping things up in pretty packages with a French quote.
"I was going to say olive branch," I said.
"That works too," she said. "Virtually the same thing although the French expression may be slightly more exact since it carries the idea of remorse and restitution. But you can use olive branch if you prefer."
"Thank you," I said.
"Not at all," she said.
"I suppose you know that you made me forget what I was saying," I said.
"Oh, so sorry. I shouldn't have interrupted you."
"No worries," I said. "Because, whether an olive branch or whatever, it’s neither here nor there and doesn't matter a single, solitary damn."
"Still," she said, "there it is." And I had to admit that once again she was perfectly correct.
"I understand," she said, "it was much the same with Hamlet."
"I mean it's no use telling me," I said, "that there are good aunts and bad aunts. At the core, they're all alike. Sooner or later out pops the poisoned apple."
"Can't blame Fate," she said.
"Maybe not but I can blame Princess Amy," I countered.
"Don't be a victim, abused by Amy," she said. "We may not be able to go out of town but we still have the time off and we can use it to refresh, rebuild, and reinvigorate."
"Poopsie," I said, "don't allow yourself to be lulled into dropping your guard. That's just what the Aunts want. Having a few days off isn't a gift, it's not a…."
"Amende honorable?" she said in the way this Russian spinoff has of wrapping things up in pretty packages with a French quote.
"I was going to say olive branch," I said.
"That works too," she said. "Virtually the same thing although the French expression may be slightly more exact since it carries the idea of remorse and restitution. But you can use olive branch if you prefer."
"Thank you," I said.
"Not at all," she said.
"I suppose you know that you made me forget what I was saying," I said.
"Oh, so sorry. I shouldn't have interrupted you."
"No worries," I said. "Because, whether an olive branch or whatever, it’s neither here nor there and doesn't matter a single, solitary damn."
"Still," she said, "there it is." And I had to admit that once again she was perfectly correct.