Kapitel 3: THE GRETEL GRAVEN INN
As soon as I saw the door opened, I alighted the coach with the caul covering my entire face with the black veil ending at my chest but I was careful enough not to let my black gown stuck in between the door which was too narrow . Then I passed it to him after I got down from the carriage.
"Here take this and keep it in the bag."
"Yes, Milady."
He received the chest without asking questions and went into the carriage to take the bags down. I was waiting for him by the time he got down from the carriage bringing the bag along with him. One of the attendants, whom I had seen at standing by the door, left the door ajar and trotted over to take the bags insides from Sir William. I watched him as he returned back to the house, carrying the baggage on his shoulders. The attendant seemed rather quite handy in his work like the man with the hat who was keeping close watch by the side of the doors together with his cohorts.
Their gaze were apparently fixed on us during our wait for the innkeeper to return back and seemed to engross in watching out for any slightest move we would make as though they were a stray pack of hungry dogs lurking in the shadows while waiting for the right moment to gnaw their prey with their razor sharp teeth but I was no less afraid of their continuous stare as well as their ominous presence near the entrance of the inn nor Sir William was intimidated by the scary way they kept looking at us standing near the carriage.
Like I had been groomed by Aunt Perry in Wales to uphold the most esteemed gracious act of nobleness befitting lady of high nobility during my twenty years study in Wales, I kept my composure the very best I can to avoid the eyes of the men watching us as I stood beside Sir Williams who seemed more eager to see Bertrand relay him the signal for us to venture inside the stout but attractive inn.
Two minutes later, Bertrand appeared at the open doorpost leading into the tavern which turned out to be brightly lighted from the inside and beckoned on us to come inside the inn. Led by Sir William, we both obeyed as though we were under his spell and walked softly to the doorpost without paying too much attention to the eyes accompanying us on both sides to the main entrance of the building. Sir William was the first to step into the house while I followed behind him but he briefly stop by the doorway and took me by the hand before I could even phantom his gusty show of warmest gracious salutation I hardly could find in most men I had cross paths with.
Right in front of Bertrand and two of his staff attendants, who had been standing behind the door to welcome the guests inside, Sir William led me by the hand with his head slightly lowered down, expressing his gentle manly of worthy servitude and graciously guided me into the inn of which at first sight, was by far more glamorous in its appearance than the exteriors parts that formed every nook and cranny of its sturdy walls.
"I humbly implore thee to carefully tread into this shamble room made with the poorest barks built with poorest hands." He said avoiding eye contact with Bertrand who I could clearly see from the veil that covered my entire face, was infuriated by Sir. Williams's kind words but he somehow managed to composed himself and refused to act rashly.
"Thanks for your warm hospitality though it isn't your place to utter such kind demeaning words", I replied as I walked a few meters inside the fairly spacious cubicle and at once, I felt the crispy warmth that gracious filled the every corners of the ventilated room. There was a total mixture of dry crisp with a lovely scent of petal perfume in the humid air which greatly added more moist to thickness of the air weighing down heavily on my nose and it was until I had shifted of the black caul I wore away from my face that I felt a bit of harshness of the dry fragrance that filled the entire air. Unlike the taverns Sir William and I had stopped by to pass the night during the quarter half of our journey from the docks at Cyprus, the interior part of the inn was by far spectacular in its humble orderliness of furniture inside the compartment compared to the inns encroaching further from the countryside into the larger developing cities especially a little red luster chandelier dangling on the roof in the center of the fairly large room. I knew deep down inside that Lord Lorenzo had a rather controversial taste of conflicting Italian antiquities and furniture for a rather much Castilian setting but I must say he did much to make himself a mastery of his own contemporaneous way of erecting a stylish humble interior décor with less fanciness but rather more glamor in its ordinariness perfectly made prominent with the few odd antiques that were found inside.
Another notable feature was a narrow counter glowing underneath the chandelier not too far from where Bertrand was standing with his hands crossed. The owner of the inn had erected the counter at the rear of the first floor right in front of colossal wooden shelves which housed a collection of red brandy.
The counter was made of wood furnished to beautify its apparel but lacked a proper sense of order since it was poorly built without enough room for and it was quite peculiar that the entire liquor inside each of the brandies I saw were glittering crimson red underneath the chandelier in the old-fashioned counter which lacked a prominent structure at its base particularly the area where the attendant ought to pass freely to serve the guests at the broad section of tables arranged at every corner in the room but it was done in a fancy manner that somewhat earned the inn a distinctive feature over the few local taverns that I had stumbled across due to unforeseen circumstances surrounding my unfulfilled visit to Sagres.
Compared to my curiosity, Sir William didn't seem to bother about the appearances of the inn. Even the antiques and the artistic horrible paintings on the wall which ran up to the room upstairs were insignificant in his sight but I was sure that he must have thought that the lanterns intently hung at every strategic places in the main hall to adorn to main hall and the fancy fireplace that was built at the right far end of the compartment, were the only thing that seemed magnificent to him though he knew their appearances had compelled him to loathe the words he said to me prior to my remarkable entry into the house.
Bertrand gestured at one of his companions to head for the room upstairs most likely to complete one final round of checking if the other guests were actually sleeping in their room and drew closer to lure me away from the doorway.
"We earnestly welcome you to our humble abode." Bertrand said with an aura of false smiles written on his face and quick-witted, Sir William was quick to stop him from making any further impression of false pretense.
"Save us the formal greetings and relay to us where the lady Mira's bedchamber is." Sir William said daringly and Bertrand took a step back.
"Like I earlier said, the only room unoccupied is the last bedchamber upstairs."
"Lead the way then." Sir William retorted and moved to leave while followed him but Bertrand stopped him before he could go any further by confronting him even before he could take a step forward.
"How do you explain this beguiled affront?" Sir William asked, not too amused about Bertrand obstructing his way up the stairs.
"With sincere modesty, my good man… it's honestly not in your place to take the lady upstairs."
"I don't see why I shouldn't escort the lady to her chambers unless it has been ethical to leave the guest to be guided by strangers since Lord Lorenzo built this Inn."
"I beg to correct thy misconceptions",
"My misconceptions are but true indeed."
"No, they are not." Bertrand retorted and feigned angrily. It became clear that he was about becoming stern in showing his true colors.
"You are clearly mistaken here." Sir William replied, believing things were about to go ugly though Bertrand hadn't pose a real threat of coercing Sir
William to succumb to his will. It was clear to everyone watching the two men argue including myself that it was brutal tussle for two rivals to bend the other to his will and by far, Bertrand had the upper hand against Sir William who had barely had a strong footing in the territory of the innkeeper
"I'm not the one who's mistaken but you are. Lord Lorenzo never constitutes a rule for whoever wanted to accompany their guests to their private quarters."
"Then why commit such a bold affront against a valuable guest?" Sir William inquired feeling agitated by Bertrand's persistence to block his path.
"It is the usual duty of our attendants to see to it that every guests that travels here from far and nearby receives our services of comforts without any sort of objection to what we offer to give them." Bertrand explained but Sir William was still not satisfied with the explanation he had received from the head innkeeper.
"And you want me to comply with your demands?"
"Absolutely, yes and know this, we aren't strangers in front of our guests." Bertrand replied.
"Good to know you won't act strangely with us but itseems rather harsh and tyrannical in your dealings with sojourners."
"Be as it may, things ought to be done rightly to avoid conflicts in a place where a lot of antiquities are used to adorn the entire place and it is up to our duty to also protect it as well." Bertrand explained further without backing down. Above everyone else, I was a bit exhausted because of the nonstop irksome ride through the deserted plains from the docks at Cyprus and deemed it necessary to intervene from wasting more time than it has done already.
"If I may intrude", I said and took a slight pause to decipher their reaction which surprising was hard to decode, "I really won't mind if things are done your way, Bertrand."
Bertrand felt elated by my decision to obey his bidding and smirked maliciously at Sir William who felt betrayed by my words. He turned to face me and wanted to speak but the attendant who had left earlier on Bertrand's errand suddenly appeared at the top of the Staircase.
"My humble lady, Maurice will greatly help you to find your way upstairs and take you to the bedchamber where he had kept it", Bertrand turned to face Sir Willliam who was still fuming with anger, "Seems fair, right mate?" Bertrand asked.
"Sounds fair to me." I said in Sir William's stead and climbed upstairs to meet Maurice standing at the upper end of the stairs. Sir William watched me ascending the stairs and wanted to say something but he hesitated and decided to call for truce with the head Innkeeper who seemed more engrossed in his little show of victory against whom he thought was far more willing to challenge his authority. After disappearing into the corridors upstairs along with Maurice, Sir William lost every bit of chance to persuade me to reconsider having him accompanying me to the room upstairs and he despondently retired to the counter as soon as I was out of sight.
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