Mistress of the chateau - a fantasy Christmas

Dear Marsha at Splenderosa, has invited us to write about  christmas for this months By Invitation Only blog party.  We had an option for a fantasy Christmas, so with your permission,  I have imagined a short tale of a christmas party in a big chateau, that doesn't go quite as planned ....

Julie so wanted her first Christmas dinner as mistress of the château to be a great success.  She had ordered the finest food, the best champagne, supervised the laying of the table with the family silver, picked out the christmas decorations and pondered long and hard over the seating plan for her eclectic mix of guests.

....what could possible go wrong?  

Of course it hadn't helped that Bertha,  the cook, had reported sick that morning.  There was no dinner without a cook; Julie  called her friend Sophie in the morning, desperate for a solution "Don't worry my sweet", came the reassuring reply, " I'll send you over Grace, you'll see she is an angel.  Just keep her away from the bottle and she'll do you proud"  "Away from the what?!"  Julie had called down the phone, but it was too late, Sophie was gone, and anyway Grace was the only solution

 ...  it would be fine .....

Early afternoon she summoned the  housekeeper.  "Jeanette, I want you to check that the fires are laid in the green salon and the dining room, everyone will love to see roaring fires when they arrive"

"But madame",  " No, no Jeanette, no 'but madames' thank you very much!  I want my first big party here to be a great success, I know that I may not be doing things the way they have always been done, but you'll see it will be lovely"

Jeanette was ready to reply, but before she had time to express her misgiving the phone rang and Julie dismissed her with an authoritative smile.

Her husband Charles-Henri didn't return home until early evening "I'm so sorry darling to have left you with all the preparations for our little christmas dinner, but I'm sure that Jeanette and the cook have told you what we usually do"

Julie smiled "Don't worry darling, I wanted to surprise you with a very special Christmas dinner". Charles-Henri stopped in his tracks, he was about to say something, but thought the better of it.  He knew that his young wife had been doing her best to fit in.  And even if she had already managed to annoy his mother and the cook,   he was proud to have a young, dynamic and most pretty wife to drag his ancestors' home into modern times.

"All that you need to do, dear Charles-Henri, is change into your evening suit, and fasten this clasp  for me"  she smiled sweetly as she passed the necklace to her husband and turned her back, leaving him to gaze thoughtfully at the wisps of hair on her neck.

By the time Charles-Henri came downstairs, Julie was no where to be seen.  He noticed  the large number of champagne glasses prepared and ready for the evening,   nodded his greeting to the housekeeper and moved through to the kitchen.

Julie was talking in an animated manner to a woman dressed as a cook, who Charles-Henri  had never seen before.  "What do you mean, you don't know how to make a saffron sauce for the coquilles st jaques, how do you normally prepare scallops?!  For heaven's sake, Sophie told me you were an experienced cook",  Grace did not reply.  "Very well then, just a white wine sauce will do, but please don't make any other changes to my menu".

Julie turned tail and stormed out of the kitchen, Charles-Henri following to greet his first guests. But as he left the kitchen he had the most unnerving impression that the  new cook was swaying slightly from side to side.

Charles-Henri surprises had only just begun.  He found  an unusual bunch of guests.  Among them le Comte Joseph, a prominent member of parliament, and known to an elite circle as the greatest womaniser in Paris.  Behind him was a  small crowd, eager to come into the warmth and soft light and shed their elegant shoulders of perfumed cachemire and fur coats.

Gradually everyone moved into the green salon where a fire was blazing, music playing and champagne frothing into tall elegant glasses.  "Yes" smiled Julie to herself, "this is going to be wonderful."

And the first part of the evening was indeed wonderful.  Loud and happy conversation filled the château, as champagne chased down the finest amuse-bouches.   At nearly ten, Charles-Henri approached his dazzling young wife.  "Ma chérie, is it not time to start dinner?", 
"Oh my! yes, you are right",  she turned around looking for Jeanette and was surprised to find the housekeeper standing right behind her.  "Ah Jeanette, there you are. Please tell cook we are ready to dine".

Jeanette looked grave,  "May I have a word Madame", and without waiting for Madame to reply, Jeanette turned tail and left the room.  Julie looked at her husband perplexed.  He smiled reassuringly,   "Don't worry my dear, I shall handle this, you stay with our guests".

Charles-Henri followed Jeanette into the next room "Really Jeanette, I know that Madame is doing things differently, but I don't think she merits this rudeness".

"Monsieur, I am afraid there is a problem in the cuisine" 
 "A problem?!  well why are you telling me, let the cook sort it out"

"Monsieur, the cook cannot do anything about the problem:.... the cook is  the problem. I am sorry to tell you that she is drunk.  The meal is only half prepared, and the cook is asleep in your wine cellar!"

"Oh my word!  We have all these guests to feed!    Do your best Jeanette.  Find some other members of the staff to serve the meal with you as best you can.  I shall return to our guests."

He left Jeanette and strode back towards the dining room, where he found his darling wife trying to persuade the Count to take his allotted seat and to release her arm.  All around the table guests were searching for their places, "Ah mon dieu!'  he heard an elderly duchess gasp " she's placed me next to that dreadful man - so vulgar", Charles-Henri looked over her shoulder at the handwritten place names and understood that the elderly duchess was seated beside an actor of uncertain reputation "please excuse me, dear Duchess, I think there was a mistake, come over here, you will be more comfortable"

After fifteen minutes of shuffling guests from one seat to another until each and everyone seemed happy, Julie finally reached for the little brass bell beside her plate.  It tinkled gently, and she smiled confidently.

Into the dining room came Jeanette and two young maids, carrying trays heavy with white and gold plates.  They progressed slowly around the table, leaving a plate in front of each guest, while a waiter followed pouring wine.

When everyone was served, Charles-Henri raised his glass "Welcome my friends, bon appetit and a very happy Christmas to you all!"

There was a murmur of satisfaction as glasses were raised, then quiet conversation struck up as guests tasted the delicious looking scallops in a creamy sauce.  As the first morsels were raised to pouted lips, there was an audible gasp, then silence.

The meal was lukewarm and the scallops practically raw.  Julie leapt to the rescue,  "I'm so sorry, we had a problem with our cook today.  Please leave your plate to one side, we'll move straight on to the main course"

"What a shame my dear not to have lit the fire", pronounced the duchess loudly, " at least that could have made up for the cold meal!" 

"Of course, Madame la Duchesse, you are right, I wanted this fire lit."  Julie signalled to a maid to light the fire, already laid.  The maid hesitated, but Julie insisted, visibly stressed,  "straight away please",  a match was lifted to the paper and kindling wood;  the  flames took instantly, and there was an audible sigh of pleasure at the warm light from the fireplace ..... followed immediately by startled cries as smoke started billowing into the room.

Jeanette came running into the dining room "Madame, I tried to tell you, this fireplace cannot be used, there is a big birds nest .....", By now all the guests were coughing and spluttering, and moving out of the dining room while Jeanette stifled the flames and managed to extinguish the fire.

The doors were pulled shut on the dining room, Julie looked close to tears and Charles-Henri could not help but smile.  He picked up a bottle of champagne from a nearby table, and collected a handful of glasses then turned to smile to his guests.

"My dear friends, My darling Julie wanted to give you a memorable evening and that is what you will have; this evening you will experience a Christmas dinner like no other.   The dining room is out of bounds, the dinner is not yet completely ready and  the cook lies snoring in my wine cellar!"  There were murmurs of delight and disapproval to be heard around the room.  

"I invite you all to follow me into the kitchen.  We have all we could possibly want to eat and drink, there is a warm fire burning and a long table for us to sit at. We shall prepare and eat and enjoy the meal together,  we shall simply move our party from one end of this old château to the other!"

A split second of stunned silence was broken by the booming voice of Le Comte Joseph "Madame la Duchesse, let us lead the way"   The duchess peered down her nose at the Count, and everyone waited for her to answer.  Her face broke into a broad smile as she  took the arm of the Count, and lent over to whisper in his ear "I am very good at blending sauces; what dear Sir is your speciality?"

From that moment on the evening was a wild success: one fine course followed another.  With different wines for each dish, a magnificent venison stew, a positively royal cheese board and desserts to die for.  

The last guests left in the small hours of the morning, swearing this was the only way to celebrate Christmas.  Indeed I have heard that at the Château, the christmas 'diner dans la cuisine' became a house speciality that  friends would beg to be invited to.  I know I would!