The Manager's Office, The Next Morning
Elizabeth had never been happier. Ok, so they were still in danger of having their rents raised and the Inn could still be purchased by someone else. Victor was home. With his help, they'd think of an idea together that would save the Inn and its residents.
The was one nagging thought in the back of her head. Scott. It was assumed that Jeff and Victor would resume their original duties once they returned from Boston. Scott was no longer needed in either the plays or the kitchen. And what would happen when Victor found out how Scott got his job in the first place? Strangely, Elizabeth found herself disappointed at the idea of him leaving. Maybe they could find something for him to do, attend to the chimneys or the garden when the winter ended.
She and Scott had been asked to meet Victor in what was once more his office. Scott met her at the door, dressed in brilliant blue. “Good morning, Liz. Sleep well?”
“Like a baby.” She smiled. “Isn't it beautiful today? It's never felt so magical.”
“Yeah.” Scott took her hand. He noticed she didn't pull it away. “About what I said yesterday...”
Elizabeth blushed. “I think...well, you said that in the heat of the moment. You didn't really...”
But I did mean it. I meant it with all my heart. All he could say was “I couldn't...I mean, I...”
The door to the office opened. Victor Comstock, wearing a subdued brown suit, watched them in amusement. “Good morning, Mr. Sherwood and Miss Roberts. I believe I'm ready to discuss the Inn with you.”
Elizabeth, whose face now resembled the flames in the cooking fireplace in the kitchen, ducked into the office, followed by Scott. They both sat in chairs opposite Victor. He looked more like his old self, tall and thoughtful in his heavy dark chair. “Now, I've been going over the logs for the running of this Inn for the past year, and I have to admit, I'm very impressed. You've been coming up with some incredible ideas. Starting a small general store here to sell our own products and increase revenue! Running our very own in-house publication! Holding an outdoor play in conjunction with the local spring festival.” He smiled proudly. “Elizabeth, I never thought of these things! These are truly ingenious notions.”
Elizabeth looked embarrassed. “I didn't think of them, either. They were Scott Sherwood's ideas.”
Scott shook his head. “Oh, we worked on them together, Vic. Elizabeth did more with them than I ever could.” He sighed. “But I really need to tell you how I got here in the first place. Neither Elizabeth nor anyone else at the Inn had anything to do with it.”
Victor nodded. “You haven't told me what it is that you do here. You work as a...kitchen laborer?”
“I do now.” He looked right into Victor's eyes. “Before that...I ran the Inn.”
“You...ran the Inn?” Victor quirked an eyebrow. “Based on what qualifications?”
“Based on...my forging a letter and lying that I knew you well to get the job.”
Elizabeth looked from Scott's worried face to Victor's unreadable one. “Miss Roberts,” Victor said slowly, “could you leave us alone for a few minutes?”
“Um, yes.” She stood up and hurried out...but the moment she left, she leaned her ear against the door.
“You're a very bright fellow, Sherwood,” Victor was saying. Elizabeth could hear chairs scraping on the wood floor. “Using the sides of our own Inn to hang advertisements large enough for a crowd to see them. Brilliant thinking. I just wish I could remember meeting you in Boston. Now, where do you want me to...”
“Wherever you'd like, Victor.”
Elizabeth heard the smack, the groan and the fall backwards. She jumped away from the door just in time to see Scott and Victor walk out, talking animatedly. Scott held a hand over his right eye. “Why don't we discuss ideas for running the Inn while we find some ice for that eye?” Victor was saying.
“I think a good steak will do the trick.”
“That's a fallacy. It only works because it's been in the ice house. A friend of mine told me...”
Elizabeth just shook her head as the duo made their way to the kitchen. The last thing she expected was for them to be friendly, even after Scott revealed his deception. Gertrude and Mr. Eldridge joined her in the hallway. “What was that all about?”
“Oh, they just, uh, had something to discuss.” She saw how excited the Inn's two oldest servants were. “What's going on? Mr. Eldridge, you look as if you've won a thousand dollars!”
He grinned. “Oh, I have! Actually, three thousand, but that's just the addition of a few extra zeroes, isn't it? Mathematics can be amazing.”
“He won the town raffle!” Gertrude squeezed his arm. “He has money to burn!”
Mr. Eldridge went through his jacket. “Or, I had money to burn. The ticket was here a minute ago...”
Elizabeth, Mr. Eldridge, and Gertrude were still searching all over the lobby when Lady Hilary and Lord Jeffrey stormed into the room. “Hilary, why are you still ignoring me? I told you why I did it yesterday, in front of everybody!”
Hilary flounced towards the main desk. “You seem to forget that not only did you abandon me, a fair flower of one of the noblest houses of England, but your harlot of a nautical sea-tramp had me abducted in cold blood! I could have been killed!”
“She wouldn't have killed you! She was holding you for information.” He held out a packet of letters that were sitting on the front desk. “Hilary, just read these. I wrote them weeks ago, explaining everything.”
Elizabeth went up to the bickering pair. “Have you seen Mr. Eldridge's raffle ticket?” She turned to Mr. Eldridge. “What did it look like?”
He opened his fingers. “Well, it was on blue paper, just about the size of a long rectangle...though how you can wreck a tangle is beyond me...”
Hilary held up a packet of blue papers. “These are all I care about.”
“Hilary, if you'd just read them....”
“No! I'm through with listening to you!” She started towards the fireplace.
Gertrude shook Mr. Eldridge's arm. “Tom, didn't you say the ticket looked sort of like those letters?”
Mr. Eldridge nodded. “Yes, exactly like them.”
Elizabeth groaned and reached for Hilary. “Oh no! Your Ladyship...”
But Hilary threw the letters into the fire before anyone could stop her. “There's what I think of your letters and your explanation!” She stormed off, with Jeff on her heels.
Elizabeth, Mr. Eldridge, and Gertrude watched the papers burn. “Oh, well,” signed the old man. “Easy come, easy go.”
The Lobby, That Evening
“Are you sure you want to buy this place, Uncle Thomas? It's just a little inn. I could find you something much better.”
Mr. Eldridge smiled at his great-nephew. “Oh, I'm sure, Harold.” He looked around. “This place is like a home to me. In fact, it is my home.”
“I'm glad you found that ticket in your room. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to make the bank before it closed.”
He patted the young man's hand. “Understood completely.”
The Adventures of the Crimson Blade
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