MFMM Inktober Day 27: Coat
A good old-fashioned drabble for today. 😊 Enjoy!
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Mr. Butler was the very eyes and ears of Wardlow. He was, of course, of the utmost discretion, but he believed there was nothing going on in the house that could get past him.
He watched the parade of men to Miss Fisher’s boudoir with fatherly concern, always staying close by when she had a man over, until he could be sure that she was safe in the arms of her companion of the night. More often than not he would stay up until it was time to let the visitors out of the house sometime during the night, at which point he would bid Miss Fisher goodnight and finally allow himself to go to sleep.
The nights where Mr. Butler could retire without any worries about Miss Fisher’s wellbeing were the ones Inspector Robinson visited. What had started out as short meetings after cases had turned into long late-night talks between the Inspector and his Miss and those were the evenings where Mr. Butler went to bed early, knowing Miss Fisher was as safe as she could be. He had, of course, noticed that his employer seemed particularly smitten with the Inspector, a choice he greatly approved of, though he’d never dare to speak the words. There had been notably less overnight visitors over the past several months as the Inspector dropped by more often. However, as far as Mr. Butler could tell, nothing romantic had transpired between his employer and the Inspector. Every morning after one of their nightcaps Mr. Butler found the coat hanger in the foyer empty, the Inspector having taken his leave sometime the night before, a fact acknowledged by the old man with a slight shake of his head.
Even greater was the joy and surprise (though who was he kidding, it had been a long time coming) on the old man’s face when one morning he turned the corner and spotted a familiar looking hat and coat hanging on the hooks in the foyer. Mr. Butler regarded them with fond eyes, thinking to himself that the garments looked like they belonged there, as if Wardlow was the home they had been waiting for.
He smiled and walked as calmly as he could manage, given his current state of glee, to the kitchen, an extra spring in his step. He whistled quietly to himself as he prepared two plates for breakfast.
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