May 23, 2020
Review, Edit and Update:
An introduction to James Edward Digby, the butler at the Beaufort Estate with few repairs to be made for this episode. Some additions made for clarity.
Digby
The Invisible Menace. Digby had used those words once. If he had known that they had stuck, he would have been embarrassed that he had ever used them. At the same time, the more he learned about this virus, it truly was a menace and only visible by scientists. When he looked back on the day that he, Martha, Brigitte and the rest of the staff abruptly left Mrs. Beaufort, he was ashamed. To leave his post in such a manner was unforgivable, and yet Mrs. Beaufort had forgiven all of them.
James Edward Digby, tall, clean shaven and very tidy, was making his supper from ingredients from the groceries Mrs. Beaufort and her sister had delivered. As he chopped onions, carrots and potatoes for the stew he was making, he reflected on his past many years in employment at the Beaufort estate. Before him, his father had been the Beaufort butler. Digby, Sr. had taught him everything about being a butler, lessons for young James when he was very young. As a boy, he had watched his father dress in his butler’s uniform, straighten his bow tie, put on the black shoes that young James polished very night, and go to work. James was in awe of his father. When he came home in the evening, he transformed into just his dad. Relaxed and always ready to help him or his brother with homework, play catch or just talk with his sons. Digby’s parents had both been gone for many years, and his brother lived on the other side of the world. His mother and father had been deeply in love for whole of their sixty year marriage. He and his brother talked regularly over first telephone, then Skype and now FaceTime. They had not seen each other for.....what was it....23 - 26 years?
Being a butler, and more importantly the Beaufort butler, was all Digby had ever wanted. He had taken over the position of Beaufort butler when his father retired. He had, until then held other outside positions as butler, however was most pleased when he could come home. Not only was he able to make sure his parents were cared for in their senior years, he was employed where he wanted to be. As a boy, on evenings when there was to be a party, he would sneak over to the mansion, hide in the shrubbery close to the front door and watch as guests arrived. His handsome father, in his formal butler attire, greeted them all and ushered them into the mansion. Those guests that had known him for years greeted him ‘Hello Digby. Good to see you. How is your family?’ It was on those evenings that James knew what he wanted to be when he grew up. Some of his friends wanted to be firemen or policeman, doctors, nurses or lawyers. They laughed when James said he wanted to be a butler ‘Just like my dad’.
Now here he was. At home. Restless and wanting to get back to work. Concerned about Mrs.Beaufort. Since Mr. Beaufort had passed on, she had been very lonely, relying only on himself and the rest of the staff to take care of her. There were days when Digby felt that they were only propping her up. Then she would have a dinner party and she would be bright and cheerful. Seeming like her old self. He didn’t know how she would be able to manage. It must have been very frightening to wake up one morning and find there was no one at all in the house. Digby was grateful to her sister for stepping in, even though it was completely by chance. He had not even known that she had a sister. She never talked about her family, at least around the staff. Such an odd name…..Desperanza. She seemed quite different from Mrs. Beaufort. There was a family resemblance but their personalities seemed very different. Digby had only met Desperanza over a surprise video chat connection, so really had very little to inform his opinion but intuition.
~~~~~
“Hi Digby, it’s me Emelina ~ I mean Mrs. Beaufort. My sister is here with me and helped me figure this video chat thing out. Desperanza, meet Digby, my faithful and wonderful butler. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
“My goodness, Mrs. Beaufort. What a pleasant surprise. How are you? I do apologize for leaving you the way I did. What can I do for you?”
“Digby, it’s about what we can do for you. Dez and I have been cooped up Downstairs for two weeks. I put her in Martha’s room; I’m staying in your room while we get past this situation. Now that we are finished our two week isolation, we decided that you and Martha may need help getting groceries. For the most part we’re staying home, but today we’re going into town. We’ve checked with Martha, Giles, Brigitte and the rest of the staff to see what we can do. We’ll be picking some things up for Martha. Everyone else is ok.”
“Well, I do need some groceries if you don’t mind. How is Martha? I do hope she’s taking care of herself. And you! You look so well and sound very upbeat, Mrs. Beaufort.”
~~~~~
Digby had given Mrs. Beaufort and her sister his short grocery list. He was pleased to hear about Martha. He did like the solitary life he led, but so enjoyed working with Martha. She was a very kind woman. They each had their own rooms, as there were many nights when one or both of them were required to stay overnight. That was one thing that troubled him, as there didn’t really seem to be such a need. Because of that quirk, each room was appointed with a bed, desk and easy chair, his room really was more of a private office, as it was for Martha. She had been in his thoughts several times over this last couple of weeks. Working with her for many years, a strong friendship had been established. Were there times when Digby wished it were more? But he was a professional, so anything more was out of the question. As he considered the tragic possibilities of this virus, he did worry about her.
A solitary man, in a neat as a pin home, was it really to Digby’s liking? Is that all that he wanted in his life? He had watched Martha with her grandchildren. He listened to Cook talk about her family. He heard about Brigitte's many young men. And Giles. His life was rather mercurial. Was it his busy family life? Did he want any of that or was he content with his life as he had designed it? Digby had time to mull over these things when he wasn’t reading a historical novel or working in his small garden. Each night, when he hung up and folded his clothes, put his neat and tidy pyjamas on, he still had no answer. Content, he fell asleep as neatly as he folded his clothes.
“In quiet places, reason abounds.”
~ Adlai E. Stevenson
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