Christopher chuckled, digging into his meal. "He is a man of mystery. If he had it his way he would have everyone think that he was a shadow which comes and goes as he pleases, an enigma of the age. But he is plain as day and quite a buffoon at times."
The chef did his best, bless him, but it was not as good as the previous night. Christopher knew he had received bad news from home and that he was working against his master's wishes but Christopher hoped Therese did not notice. "A man like me takes an estate like this because he is tired of keeping up appearances he no longer wishes to adopt," he told her measuredly. "And I am not married because my father saw fit to refuse the only woman I wanted."