Страница 37 из 61
He had to head off the scream. "That's just my new body, Milady. The Viscount thought it would go better with the decor. It's really still good old Fess inside here. Was he as bad as all that?"
"Who? The ghost? Oh!" The Countess went limp. "He was horrible! First only those spectral footsteps, coming closer and closer, and no answer when I called out 'Who's there?'—no answer at all, mind you, until that horrid moan broke out right by my ear, and that glowing cloud appeared, towering over the foot of my bed!"
"Only a glowing cloud?"
"No, no! Only at first. It gathered in on itself slowly, till it had assumed the form of a perfectly horrid old man, ski
"Saw you? What then?"
"Why, he… he winked at me! And began to come toward me, reaching out and gri
That, Fess could believe. The hologram of Whitey had been assembled from clips of him in the role of a vampire in a 3DT epic he had directed, and in which he had also starred.
"I am so sorry you have had such a fright, Milady. If you wish, I shall summon your chauffeur…"
"Oh, my heavens, no!" The Countess turned to blow into her handkerchief, then tucked it back into her bosom with a sniffle, straightening and turning back toward the room. "It was wonderful. I wouldn't have missed this night for the world." She stepped firmly toward the bedroom, then faltered and looked back over her shoulder. "I don't suppose he might come back—the ghost, I mean?"
"I'm afraid not, Milady," Fess sympathized. "Only one visitation per guest per night, you know."
"Ah. Well, I was afraid of such a thing." The Countess sighed and went back toward the bedroom. "I really must discuss the issue with your master, Fess. So paltry of him, to limit his hauntings in that fashion."
The door closed behind her, and Fess resigned himself to refereeing another bout in the morning. It was a compliment, really, but Ruthven just could not abide anything remotely resembling criticism. He was sure to bristle, and was likely to anger the Countess, jeopardizing a family friendship that went back a century and a half.
"If thou wert human, Fess, thou wouldst have been tempted to refrain from interfering. Ruthven would have had no more than he deserved!"
"True, children—but I am a robot, and was capable of pouring unlimited oil on the waters."
"E'en so, thou shouldst not have." Geoffrey folded his arms and lifted his chin. "He had not commanded thee to intervene, had he?"
"No, children, but when Lona died, she asked me to look after her descendants for her."
Geoffrey heaved a sigh, deflating, but Cordelia had a merry glint in her eye.
"I am sorry that you have received a somewhat unflattering portrait of your ancestors from me," Fess said gently.
"Unflattering, indeed! In Father's book of the family history, Ruthven appears a noble and generous character, renowned for his building and beautifying. Why is there no mention of his failings in that chapter?"
"Why, because Ruthven wrote it. And he did increase the glory of his family, in a way."
"In some way, mayhap." Magnus gri
"They had, Magnus," Fess sighed. "All applied for patents of nobility, and all received them—and most felt obliged to find some civic duty to do, as well as to gain some cultural refinement."
Magnus was puzzled. "Dost mean all who dwelt on Maxima were noble?"
"According to themselves, yes—and almost all of them are now worthy of the term."
"Yet even in Ruthven's time, they did know a monstrosity when they saw one?"
"I fear they did," Fess sighed, "and yes, they did look with contempt on Ruthven's 'masterpiece.' The ghost of Whitey redeemed him in their eyes, though."
"For that it brought to their minds the illustrious founder of our House?"
"No, because it was such great fun. Word of the apparition spread, of course, and within a fortnight, everyone wished to be invited to stay the night at Castle d'Armand."
"And therefore did need to treat gently with Ruthven and his wife."
"Quite so, Cordelia, at least to their faces."
"And each guest wished to stay in the 'haunted' room, I warrant," Magnus said, gri
"Yes, and there was considerable fussing when they found someone else was already there, fussing which descended upon the head of the majordomo."
"Thyself, of course."
"Correct, Gregory. Yet since it assured Ruthven that most of them would come back for another weekend, it worked to the benefit of himself and Matilda."
"And thou didst need to stand watch o'er the bedroom door o' nights?"
"I fear so. Everyone who stayed there wished to be frightened, so of course they all were, and it fell to me to calm them."
"And to intervene 'twixt them and Ruthven in the morning?"
"Generally, yes."
"But that could not last." Cordelia protested. "Soon or late, everyone on Maxima must needs have stayed in the haunted chamber."
"Aye," Geoffrey agreed. "There are not so many people on but one asteroid, after all."
"True, quite true—and I was never so relieved as when the Viscount tired of the hologram, and I could deactivate it."
"Did not their children wish it to stay?"
"No; they quite resented it, for their schoolmates had teased them about it unmercifully…"
"Jealousy, no doubt," Geoffrey muttered.
"Thou shouldst know, brother."
"… AND about the mansion," Fess concluded, overriding Geoffrey's response. "When they grew, they made sure to gain a thorough grasp of all the arts, including the study of aesthetics, and were much less concerned with social pretensions."
"Dost thou mean they became noble?"
"Well, they had certainly furthered the process. In fact, they eventually gained enough taste to see the amusing side of the holographic display, and would now and again ask to have the 'ghost' once more turned on for a while, then turned off again."
"Would we could so deal with the spectre within this castle," Gregory sighed.
"It would be pleasant, yes—though I suspect that these ghosts may be considerably harder to eradicate. And you must remember that there may be an element of actual danger involved."
"Dost thou truly think so?" Geoffrey perked up noticeably.
"I do. When your father first came to Gramarye, he was nearly frightened to death by the ghosts in Castle Loguire, until I pointed out to him that the cause was a subsonic harmonic of their moans, not their actual presence."
Magnus turned somber. "I misdoubt me an these ghosts will be a part with them."
"Aye, for those were nice ghosts," said Gregory, "as Father hath told it."
"Fair or foul, we shall vanquish them," Geoffrey said proudly. "The villain's not made that can stand against us, an we stand together.''
"Remember that, please, Geoffrey—it may become an important principle in your lives."
"And now?" Gregory asked.
"Most especially now. Please be very careful, children, to be sure you are never alone, in Castle Foxcourt. Now back to work! I feel my storytelling has slowed your cleaning."