THUMP!
Phillip glanced up at the ceiling and grimaced. Romney Hall was old and solid and very well built, and if his ceiling was thumping, then his children had dropped (pushed? hurled?) something very large indeed.
THUMP!
He winced. That one sounded even worse. Still, their nurse was up there with them, and she always managed them better than he did. If he could just get his boots on in under a minute, he could be out of the house before they inflicted too much more damage, and thus he could pretend none of it was happening.
He reached for his boots. Yes, excellent idea. Out of earshot, out of mind.
He donned the rest of his ensemble with impressive speed and dashed out into the hall, making quick strides toward the stairs.
“Sir Phillip! Sir Phillip!”
Damn. His butler was after him now.
Phillip pretended he didn’t hear.
“Sir Phillip!”
“Curse it,” he muttered. There was no way he could ignore that bellow unless he was willing to suffer the torture of his servants hovering over him, concerned about his apparent hearing loss.
“Yes,” he said, turning around slowly, “Gunning?”
“Sir Phillip,” Gunning said, clearing his throat. “We have a caller.”
“A caller?” Phillip echoed. “Was that the source of the, ah ...”
“Noise?” Gunning supplied helpfully.
“Yes.”
“No.” The butler cleared his throat. “That would have been your children.”
“I see,” Phillip murmured. “How silly of me to have hoped otherwise.”
“I don’t believe they broke anything, sir.”
“That’s a relief and a change.”
“Indeed, sir, but there is the caller to consider.”
Phillip groaned. Who on earth was visiting at this time of the morning? It wasn’t like they were used to receiving callers even during reasonable hours.
Gunning attempted a smile, but one could see that he was out of practice. “We used to have callers, do you recall?”
That was the problem with butlers who’d worked for the family since before one was born. They tended to think highly of sarcasm.
“Who is this caller?”
“I’m not entirely certain, sir.”
“You’re not certain?” Phillip asked disbelievingly.
“I didn’t inquire.”
“Isn’t that what butlers are meant to do?”
“Inquire, sir?”
