Albern

I opened the study door three minutes after sunset. Nothing urgent, I was just curious about the ledger.

• OsmonMy lord, I mentioned the dressing gown last night as well.
  AlbernOsmon, I told you, I was curious about the ledger. Clothes are a secondary matter.
• MartaIf curiosity about the ledger takes three minutes, our bakery tax review should take three minutes too.
  AlbernTaxes are a daytime matter. I handle the night.

I meant to write just one line before turning in, and rewrote it three times. What I finally sent read: Sleep well. Four words.

• PaulineCould I just see the bat fly off with the letter in its beak, just once?
  OsmonIt sleeps during the day. Even the bat is a member of this household.
• HabelThe mail tower wall by the water channel is wet.
  AlbernHavel has twenty years of unerring accuracy at steering the subject.

I wrote 'no night shifts' on the job posting. Since I sleep through the day, it isn't a lie.

• MartaNo night shifts? Isn't night the working hours in this house?
  AlbernThat's my shift. Dragging someone else's shift into the night isn't polite.
• GrahamPut 'staff house calls included' on the posting too. That's my livelihood.
  AlbernDoctor, when do you plan on taking that garlic syrup out of your bag?

These days the sun sets earlier. I'm probably the only one in this valley glad the day's grown fifteen minutes longer.

• OsmonYou'll be even happier once winter comes. I've laid out your coat.
  AlbernOsmon, the cold doesn't touch me. I'll wear it anyway.
• MartaSpend those fifteen minutes taking in just one more petition, my lord.
  AlbernThose fifteen minutes belong to the ledger. If you're offering to buy them with bread, I'll consider it.
• GrahamAs the nights grow longer, a man's face grows longer with them. Get proper sleep during the day.

On the landing, I revised tomorrow's daytime instructions three times over. Even as I said them, I knew full well they didn't need saying tonight.

• OsmonYou stood on the stairs for four minutes. I counted.
  AlbernDon't count. Does a butler have so little to do?
• ViolenThis is the first I've heard of a master of House Ardmar dawdling on a staircase.
  AlbernGreat-aunt, that staircase happens to be rather steep.

The cupboard at the back of the kitchen is sealed with wax. It isn't that no one's allowed to open it, it's that I can't, so if you need the silverware, break the seal and use it freely.

• PaulineEvery time I pass it, I find myself walking on tiptoe without meaning to.
  AlbernWax doesn't have sharp ears. Walk normally.
• MartaI'll bring the bread knife up myself. Cast iron.