Behind them, Hannish quietly walked away. No matter how badly he felt, Sassy had a way of making him feel better and he wished it would snow just so she could play in it. He had troubles, true, but nothing compared to what Sassy had endured. A spanking at twenty? How humiliating that must have been for her, and to stay in such an awful place for the sake of a sister was a devotion he had rarely seen. Indeed, he could learn a thing or two from her when it came to strength and endurance.
*
As the next week progressed, the butlers seemed to have worked out a schedule of sorts, where by each served as their employer's valet on alternating days. The other butler managed the dining room, the wine cellar, and the male servants. It allowed Alistair time to see to the spring planting of the gardens on his odd days and some early flowers were already beginning to bud. Prescot warned of a late freeze, which made Alistair watch the sky often, though there was not much he could do about the weather.
The valets, which included Keith, Shepard, Dugan, and Ronan, opened and closed doors, served meals, polished the silver, carried anything heavy and rearranged furniture for the maids. It was also up to them to provide a clean table and chairs when McKenna desired tea outside, usually with Sassy, since Hannish kept himself too busy.
As head housekeeper, Sarah was in charge of the maids, which included Charlotte, Blanka, Donnel and Sassy, when McKenna didn't need her. They would need more help eventually, but five were enough to keep the rooms currently being used clean. As far as Hannish knew, there were no problems with the housekeepers or the valets.
The cooks were another matter and normally one butler or the other hinted at disharmony in the kitchen. Even so, Hannish was at a loss as to how to solve the problem. Prescot reported that if something was not done soon, chaos would breakout in the kitchen.
Trouble was closer than they thought.