The Butler

Grandma Lu said, "It was very late at night by the time Lady Kathleen and Lexie got back to their hotel. They had a lot to talk about. Lexie had said that her father's last name was Taylor. That upset Lady Kathleen and thought that Lexie was trying to trick her. When she saw a tear run down Lexie's cheek she didn't say anymore, but she would find out more about Lexie's parents or she would be a weak-kneed ninny landlubber, by George!"
"The first thing they would do in the morning would be to hire a carriage which was fairly new to England when these ladies were there. It was called a hansom and was drawn by usually only one horse. The driver would sit up high on the back and guide the horse with the reins. Before the hansom was invented shortly before the ladies got to England you had to either ride a horse or walk. There would be room for just two people in this carriage. The House of Taylor was much too far for them
to walk because it was on the outskirts of London.  The second thing that might be a bit tricky for them is to gain entrance into the House. Often the butlers of these huge old mansions decided who would get the okay to go in. They would often turn people away if it was too early in the day or if they didn't recognize folks they would ask for a calling card to introduce themselves. Usually in those days there was a little table or desk in the foyer just inside the door that the butler would place the cards in a silver tray for the lady of the house to inspect as she wished. Then she would either invite folks back to her home at another time or completely ignore the fact that they had ever been there.
Grandma Lu had a cartoon picture of a calling card for the children to see.
Grandma Lu asked the children a question. "What do you think the butler will do when he sees two strange men at the door? Will he immediately turn them away or ask for a card?
Harleigh raised her hand and said, "I think he will send them away." The children and Grandma Lu laughed and said, "I probably would too, Harleigh. Well let's see what happens."
"Lady Kathleen and Lexie got out of the hansom and walked up several steps. The mansion was just that. It was as big as Lady Kathleen's palace if not bigger. Now remember, Lady Kathleen was a pirate and not afraid of much except bad storms. She looked around and saw something she had never seen before. There on the door was a metal lion's head. She reached out for it and it banged against the door. She put her hand around it again and this time she banged it against the door. Just as she reached for it the third time, the door opened. There in the doorway was Lady Bonita's butler, Edward. He looked at them with a fake smile on his face and said, "What is it that you want at the House of Taylor, I might ask."
Lady Kathleen said, "We have come to see the lady of the house. I am her cousin, Lady Kathleen."
The butler tipped his head to the air and sniffed and said, "Madam is not home. Leave your card if you must."
Lady Kathleen said in a loud voice, "I haven't any old card. I want to see me cousin!" At that point, Edward, the butler, slammed the door in their face!
Lady Kathleen told Lexie that this was not the end of it. They would get in that house to see Lady Bonita one way or another. They had asked the hansom driver to wait for them so they got back in and headed back towards their hotel. What they didn't know was that Marlee was outside in the garden along with a maid playing with Stashia. She thought she heard a familiar voice and started running down the lane. She was too little to catch up to the carriage and watched it go down the road. Marlee cried out, "Cap'n Cap'n come back, come back!" But the horse kept on going and kicking up dust and rocks on the dirt road. No one heard little Marlee's cries. By the time the maid caught up with Marlee she was sobbing and carrying on something fierce. The maid had to have the butler help her get Marlee back in the house. By this time she was kicking and screaming. Nothing would quiet her. She just knew that her Cap'n had come to take her home to the island. She ran to the window just to see the hansom round the corner and go out of sight. Her Cap'n was gone once again.