“The Dinner Party”
The doorbell had rang and the butler made his way to the door as to see whom was ringing it. It was a dark night and for some reason, he felt some trepidation at opening the door. He peered through the window and looked out, only to be met with a stare from a dog. He looked further left to see a smartly dressed woman looking impatiently at the door. The dog let out a bark when it saw him, and the woman turned towards the window. The butler quickly left his position and dutifully opened the door. “Good evening to you Mrs.” he said as he opened the door. The woman walked in impatiently and then turned to look at the butler. “This is the Hancourts residence isn’t it?” she asked while partly glaring at him; “Yes it is and whom may I say you are?” “I am Lady Spencer and I believe Mrs. Hancourt should be awaiting me!” “Right this way my Lady” and as the butler leads Lady Spencer to an enormous living room, a voice calls out “Dorrine, how good for you to come.” Lady Spencers face opens up in a smile and she says out loud, “James, it is so nice for you to invite me.” The two met face to face at the doorway to the living room and exchanged pleasant kisses on the cheeks. James Hancourt held Lady Spencers hands in his, as he looked her into her eyes before being interrupted by Lady Spencer herself, who loudly said “Liz, how good to see you!” Lady Spencer broke from Mr. Hancourts hands and made way towards Elizabeth Hancourt, who had been observing them all along from a near doorway. The two exchanged kisses and some pleasantries before having Mr. Hancourt interrupt their short interlude. They both nodded at each other and as Liz Hancourt made her way back into the kitchen, Lady Spencer turned back to Jim, as she called Mr. Hancourt, and smiled again at him. “It’s been a long time now, hasn’t it?” he said to her, “it has” she responded while shaking her head up and down slightly. “Please do be seated, can I get you something to drink?” “Some vodka and orange juice would do fine thank you.” Jim Hancourt made his way into the small cocktail bar that had been set up at a corner of the living room, and got to making the drink. Lady Spencer looked around and marveled, it was obvious that the Hancourts were doing well for themselves. The living room had huge spacious windows that opened up to the inside, giving a welcoming view of the open field outside. The greens were well mowed and the trees and shrubbery well pruned. She looked around feeling a bit enviously as she looked up at the hanging chandelier, there were two of them, and the piano that lay at another corner of the living room. James Hancourt returned with the drink, which had an umbrella in it. Lady Spencer took the drink and swiftly pulled out the umbrella. She placed it on the small see through table on her left. Jim Hancourt sat by her and looked steadily ahead; he had changed, is what Lady Spencer thought to herself as she looked at him from the side. “So whats been with you lately?” he asked her as he turned towards her, “Nothing at all” she said, “I have just been wafting through life.” Jim Hancourt smiled at himself and nodded his head as if knowing what she meant. He and his wife had recently returned to England from America, where they had been living for some years now. It was the thirties and America had changed in many more ways than they both had realized. Unable to fit into the culture anymore, they had decided to return to England and live off the huge inheritance that Liz Hancourt had received from her dead uncle. Life in England had not been what they expected, “And what did you expect?” asked Lady Spencer as she looked at him seemingly; “I don’t know, I really don’t know but it was not this.” He was talking of the air of mundanety that clouded over England during a period which many believed, it was at its heights. “How is everyone else?” Jim Hancourt asked Lady Spencer as she looked quizzically at him wondering whom he might be referring to; she loved the way he spoke to her, as if they had been friends all along and had not been separated for many years. Jim looked at her as she gave him an expression that showed she had no idea what he meant. “The others” he said, before she realizing that he was talking about the forthcoming guests. The Hancourts had decided to hold a dinner in an attempt to reconcile themselves with their old friends, and with the country itself. “I believe everybody is fine” she said, she herself not knowing how they really were doing. Since their return to England, they barely spoke too much to each other anymore. It was not like in the past when they lived in different parts of the world and all met once or twice a year in India, for a celebration of some sort. He looked at her more closely for a moment, as she stared back with a smile on her face, before hearing a voice call out his first name in the kitchen seeking out his help. He patted Lady Spencer on her hand and quickly left for the kitchen.
While gone, Lady Spencer continued to survey the room before getting up and walking towards one of the windows and looking out. She smiled at herself as a thought came into her mind, which was interrupted by the doorbell ringing again. She looked back into the living room and patiently awaited to see whom it would be. Some minutes later, two figures made their way into the living room that made her grimace. She quickly hid her expression as the two figures who were in the room already discerned a presence within their midst. Lord Denver and his wife Lady Denver turned to see Lady Spencer standing by a window nearby. “Dorrine” said Lady Denver upon spotting her, “what a pleasant surprise to find you here!!” She was referring to the fact that Lady Spencer or Dorrine as those who knew her called her, never left her villa for any occasion that was not of importance, and nobody ever really saw her anymore. Dorrine herself was not looking forward to seeing the Denvers as they had pastly been embroiled in a land dispute which had eventually turned favourably towards Lady Spencer, when the MP of the area had gotten involved in the matter. They all looked at each other and smiled favourably at each other, before the door to the kitchen opening up and the Hancourts coming into the living room. The Denvers turned to look towards the kitchen and immediately broke into smiles upon seeing the Hancourts, whom they went up to with open arms. They all exchanged kisses and greetings and began chatting with each other. Lady Spencer stood a moment regarding them and then turned back to the window she had been looking out of. Of all the people that evening she did not want to meet, the Denvers were at the top of her list. She was interrupted from her musings and thoughts when a hand slightly touched her arm and she turned to find Jim Hancourt standing there holding another drink for her. She gladly accepted it and gave back a smile while handing him her empty glass. The Denvers were seated on the couch, talking with Liz Hancourt. They were telling her of their desire to renovate their home to look similar to hers, which she took in with a surprise. Liz Hancourt listened with some interest, but was totally lost at what to say of their desire. She looked slightly at Lady Denver who simply sat still and did not emote any feelings with regards to the issue. The doorbell rang again and the butler made his way to open the door. A couple of voices rang out through the hall as two couples were shown in, the Quincys’ and the Davenports. They all eventually made their way into the living room after handing over their coats and belongings to the butler, and were met by Liz and Jim Hancourt, both whom had left their respective guests and set off for the gateway into the living room. Accolades were exchanged, which were then followed by greetings. Hands exchanged greetings too and even some waves at the guests already present. Everybody knew each other, but had not met in a while.
Dinner was announced an hour after the arrival of the last guests, the Quincys and Davenports. They had all milled around the living room, talking with each and reacquainting themselves with each others happenings. They all feigned surprise at discovering something new, as none of the new was really new to anyone. Mr. Quincy wondered how Lady Davenport had been faring ever since her recent car accident, which she downplayed as being a minor scrap. She feared that others might believe she had been drinking while driving. Sir Davenport asked Lady Spencer where she had been lately, as he had not seen her around. She replied by feigning ignorance at his query, and loudly proclaimed she had been around and about. He looked at her inquisitively but she simply looked away. It was not lost to too many out there, that Sir Davenport had an interest of sort towards Lady Spencer. Mrs. Quincy asked Jim Hancourt how his businesses were going along, he on the other hand simply brushed off the question with a side nod and shrug and muttered something aloud about them doing okay. Jim Hancourt was a failed businessman but that did not make him give up on trying. It bothered him to no ends that he could not succeed in business, but was a success in just about every other area of his life. Liz Hancourt questioned Lady Davenport about the whereabouts of her dog Lilly, which she responded by stating that she gave her away to another. This appeared to shock Liz Hancourt as Lady Davenport and Lilly had been inseparable. Lady Spencer moved around oftenly hoping to avoid any questions she deemed disturbing, and eventually found herself amidst a conversation between Jim Hancourt and Lady Denver. As this proceeded on, the butler arrived and announced that the dinner had been set. They all saw themselves to a seat, each choosing where to sit. Sir Davenport sat at the head of the table, while his wife, sat at the other extreme end. Jim Hancourt found himself seated next to Lady Spencer and both had Liz Hancourt facing them from the opposite end. Everybody was seated at a place they deemed appropriate and drank their wines and other drinks as they awaited the food to arrive. It was then that the conversation became much freer as the guests began to settle in more and the thought of the food appeared to relax them even further. It was not lost to anyone that Liz Hancourt was a most excellent of cook and the main reason many believed that Jim Hancourt had married her. He could have chosen from many in the playing field, but had finally settled with Liz. “Do you suppose that the Labour party, will raise taxes this year?” Everybody turned to look at Lord Denver when he had spoken but nobody readily replied. The guests saw each other as close friends, but not close enough to expose their political standings. It was also well known that Lord Denver was related to the standing MP of the area, and his views were known to be similar to that of his cousin Harold. Everyone simply nodded in their own way with Lady Spencer grimacing a little; nothing in the world bored her like political talk and especially at the dinner table. She quickly turned to Jim Hancourt and made a small quip that made him laugh out loud. Everybody turned to them to see what was so funny but the joke appeared to be private, and they let them be. Lord Denver rubbed his hands openly and part nervously and was glad to see the arrival of the food. “Where is Sam?” asked Lady Denver as she looked around the table. Sam was Lady Spencers dog and Lady Denver had the habit of feeding her pets or any other she saw, with bits of food. Lady Spencer looked not too pleased as she remembered Lady Denver once feeding Sam some bones that she had already partly chewed, and had left strict instructions with the butler not to let him out during dinner.
“It’s been pretty cold lately, and my home furnace isn’t working well either” said Mrs. Quincy to the others, who replied in the affirmative. England was always pretty warm this year round, but the recent cold weather had many surprised at what was happening. “Perhaps its an early winter” said out loud Mr. Quincy, and while some agreed, others did not seem to believe so. “I think its all the Welsh people we have here in England at the present” said Lady Davenport to the sniggles of a few. It was known that Lady Davenport did not think highly of the Welsh, and the arrival of many of them into England looking for jobs, apparently had her miffed. “Do you remember when we were in India, there was a fellow by the name of Paul Kernbridge who stayed with us at that fine hotel in Bombay” finished off Sir Davenport. Everybody turned to Sir Davenport a bit coldly and looked him a moment before returning to their food. The friends had first come to know each other in their sojourns around the world, when they occasionally twice a year met, in India. Everybody remembered Paul and hated him. He was a bigot, a fool and filled with arrogance unbounded. He was a Briton who had been born in Glasgow but presented himself as an upper class member of English society. In retrospect though, none wanted to remember their past years around the world as it had all been too complicated. “I believe he is still an administrator with the Government in India” said his wife in a manner that suggested that she or nobody else wished to speak about Paul Kernbridge. Lady Spencer raised her hand and cleared a speck of dirt from Jim Hancourts hair, which everybody seemed to have noticed but none showed any sense of recognition and simply went on eating. Jim had first met Dorrine in India, when he had been visting the country with his father. The two had taken an interest in each other and had been inseparable for the rest of the visit. They had even shared their first kiss during a celebration held at a Bombay hotel, for one of Lady Spencers friends whom was returning to England soon to get married. Dorrine had been greatly disappointed when Jim Hancourt had married Liz, but he had told her it was for the best. He had feared that he would not be able to provide for her and had wished for her a better man. That she had partly found in Lord Spencer, whom she had married on the suggestion of her late father, and both he and her father had passed away in a kayacking incident in Australia. The loss had been too painful for her, and many say she never truly recovered. Luckily enough, her husband her loved her greatly enough, to leave most of his estate to her. She had then told herself that she would never marry again, unless it was to Jim Hancourt.
Jim Hancourt had been slowly eating his meal. He could feel the eyes of his wife on him, and it made him feel unsettled. He dealt with it by mainly looking down while eating. He occasionally looked up towards Lady Davenport, to get a good look at her. He had heard the most interesting story about her, and wondered whether it was true. Jim Hancourt hated to gossip, and despised it to the utmost, but what he had been told had been of great interest to him. It was of an affair between her and another man, that very few knew about and had occurred pretty recently. He had known Lady Davenport, or Vicky as he called her, for some time now and had actually met her through her husband. They had appeared to be happy with each other, and the news had disturbed him slightly. It was said that she had an affair, with an African doctoral student from Nigeria and it was said had actually fallen in love with him. He looked at her again and wondered if she knew what disaster would strike her, if the elite British society ever got a hint of the relationship. She could easily lose the position she had at the Royal Archeological Society, a job that she duly loved and had taken her around the world, with her husband often following in suit. He looked back at his plate and went back to his steak. “There is a new play at the Royal Theatre this week, has anyone had the chance to see it?” had asked Liz Hancourt optimistically. She was a major theatre enthusiast but none other seemed to share her enthusiasm, which she found disappointing. She lived for theatre and Shakespeare, but her favourite playwright though had always been John Wilmot. To her, the world of theatre closely mirrored that of life, although she did feel that lately the two, had started to go apart. Theatre had always been her guide to society, but today, it felt like society found its inspiration in gossip and slander. She looked around the table and wondered if everybody was enjoying their meals, but she could not discern any look of satisfaction on anyone. “That is the problem with society in this day” she thought to herself, “nobody ever shows how they feel or say what they mean.” She looked at her husband and then at Lady Spencer. She knew that her husband still had strong feelings for Dorrine, but what she could not stand was how they poorly hid their feelings for each other. Everybody knew about their casual ways and she detested it for the most part. She loved her husband for the most part, and was even willing to allow him to have an extramarital affair to keep him happy. Though she loved him, she did not particularly enjoy making love to him. She would not have minded him having an affair with Lady Spencer, as she thought Dorrine an intelligent and classy woman; but they way they carried on publicly left her feeling partially humiliated. She wondered why people could not simply do things as they did them in the old days, when affairs were kept hidden. It was as if they wallowed in glee at having to almost expose their shortcoming. She had wanted to speak to her husband about his ongoings with Lady Spencer, but her pride would not let her. She simply wished he would be more intelligent in his dealings with her.
Mr. Quincy slightly brushed his hair before looking around the table. He loved his hair and it wore very well on him. It was a mantle of distinction he thought. He had never truly recovered from the fact that of all his friends, he was the least successful. They had all been at the same level once, when they lived freely and happily in their outings around the world, but now everything appeared to have changed a lot. He rarely ever had the time to live like his friends did, as he often struggled to run his business, which although was doing well, did not provide him with the same wealth as that of his friends. He had attempted to learn his friends’ secrets, but none had been too forthcoming with any ideas. His wife Mrs. Quincy had not been too pleased with their state in life, despite providing greatly for her. She often edged him on to do better hoping that society would recognize his deeds and perhaps award him an honorary title of some sort. He looked around the table and began to wonder how they had all made their wealth, even if it had been by inheritance. He had spent the whole day at the office and was not too pleased to hear that Lord Denver had been out hunting while Jim Hancourt had been testing the new golf course that had been built recently. He sighed lightly, but appeared to have been heard by the others. They all felt sorry for him as he had missed the bus as some would say. They knew how much he wished to make a lot of wealth, and also understood the impossibility of doing so in todays society. Society had changed, and the rules were not favourable to anyone at all. They had been the lucky ones to either inherit great wealth, or make it at a time when British politics did not interfere in their lives. They all simply managed their wealth now and lived of it very satisfactorily. Talking about wealth and money had become taboo in modern England, with all the poverty around them and instead, the talk had turned to matters of sex, sexuality and the outside world. He looked at his wife disdainfully as recently, in a heated altercation with her, she had threatened to divorce him. Nothing in modern England was as troublesome to a man, as the threat of being divorced by his wife. Such men were shunned by society and had limited opportunities available to them. He had occasionally thought of throwing in the towel so to speak, but his pride would not let him give up. Lady Spencer suddenly spoke up and said, “Do you believe that the Labour party, will actually raise taxes?” Lord Denver who had been drowning down a glass of wine, looked up as if he had been personally addressed and then set about to make a reply. “Who is to say” he said while rubbing his hands that lay arms up on the table, “they just might.” Lady Spencer hated the way he expressed himself, like the members of the new bourgeois class that had arisen in London in the past decade, and had brought with them questionable business practises. It worried her that the Labour party sought to raise taxes for absolutely no valid reason and since she was not married, she knew the taxes would be set higher for her. The new bourgeois were of unknown origin and had come about living in London not too recently. Some had made their wealth there, while others had brought it along with them. They constituted of various ethnicities, from Turks to elite members of Indian society. They were despised by the other upper classes for their lack of tact and alien behavioural norms, that interfered with English society. “How would you know that they will raise taxes?” asked Mr. Quincy, starting to feel reproachful “isn’t that a confidential matter between parliament and the Queen?” Lord Denver let out a giggle and then somewhat rubbed his hand again, “Whether they raise taxes or not, land appraisals are still going to go up due to the big demand for land today.” The new bourgeois had accumulated a lot of their wealth by buying up land in England, sold to them by British MP’s, and since after, the value of land kept going up and up, as did the taxes for an unknown reason. Mr. Quincy frowned again at Lord Denvers apparent arrogance; rising taxes would hurt his business to unknown ends as finding new space for expansion was becoming more impossible by the day. He glared at Lord Denver and then at Lady Denver, as he felt that of all his friends, they were the most undeserving of their wealth. Lady Spencer turned back to Jim Hancourt and asked him to pass the salt, which he did dutifully. Liz Hancourt asked the Davenports when they were thinking of moving to Scotland. Lady Davenport wished not to speak of the matter but Lord Davenport openly did. “Probably by next year” he said, “we see no reason why to wait.” Many wondered if the Davenports were planning to move due to the fear of rising taxes. After all, they could leave their wealth to a Trust, and choose to reside in Scotland, despite the dismal social scene there. The others were of the belief that England was their rightful home, and nobody would force them out in any way. “My lawyer called me today” began James Hancourt, “he wanted to know if we were considering consolidating our wealth.” Jim Hancourt had then looked around the table in a perplexed manner as if he had not understood what his lawyer had meant. Elizabeth Hancourt had wished that Jim had not mentioned that, as she did not want them to appear as being unsavvy in managing their wealth. Lord Davenport took the opportunity to answer the query by saying, “it means that one registers all their wealth under one name, by claiming residence outside England.” Jim Hancourt shook his head again and wondered why anyone would do that, and was met partly by looks of disbelief from Liz Hancourt and Lady Spencer. “I trust my lawyer with everything” he said, “he is one of the best.” The lawyer was an American Jew by the name of Tom Goldsmith, and had moved from America to England with the Hancourts. His family once had lived in England, before moving to America in the mid eighteen hundreds. He considered the Hancourts to be his biggest client and had not wished to lose them in any way, as he was close friends with Jim Hancourt too. “Managing money is becoming a big problem these days,” began Liz Hancourt, “too many laws that don’t appear to make any sense to us.” “I am not surprised that you feel this way” had said Lady Davenport, “even our Oxford Law trained cousin, has problems fully understanding what they all mean.” Everybody looked down somewhat at the revelation, as if reveling in some new and telling gossip and then went back to chatting easily.
The dinner came eventually to a close and the guests alongside the Hancourts made their way back to the living room and a whole new conversation began. They began to talk about their past more openly and what they missed about it. Jim Hancourt broke out in laughter when Lady Davenport related a story about Jim having once fallen into the Ganges river, while attempting to catch a duck for her that was walking closeby. Jim had felt a bit embarrassed about the whole ordeal and had not given up on chasing the duck until it virtually flew away. Liz Hancourt reiterated a story of having seen Lord Denver apparently sleepwalking in his underwear, once in a hotel near New Delhi that found some gaggles and a few stares. Mrs. Quincy remembered when Lord Davenport had once been very drunk and attempted to seduce her while holding an arrow and thinking it was a teaching stick. He kept pointing it at her, and at himself, while peering at her physiognomy and attempting to read her face. Later on, as the night proceeded, and everybody was at their freest, Liz Hancourt asked Lady Spencer if she would mind following her for a private chat. The chat had began almost as soon as the door to the library that Lady Spencer found herself in, closed shut. “What are your intentions towards my husband?” had asked Liz Hancourt. Lady Spencer had been caught totally by surprise and hesitated before replying; “What do you mean?” she said almost coldly. “Exactly what I just said” she said. “I don’t exactly know what you mean Liz” had said Lady Spencer with a somewhat perplexed look on her face. “Look, I know you both have some interest towards each other and that’s a given fact, everybody can see it from how you both handle yourselves when close to each other.” She paused a moment and looked Lady Spencer right into the eye; “Look” she said, “I am willing to cut you a deal of some sort. I don’t mind you having an extramarital affair with Jim, as long as that’s as far as it goes.” Lady Spencer had looked upon Liz Hancourt in a state of shock, as if not knowing what to say or even think. She had stood a while and then without much of a word, turned around and excused herself. Back in the hallway outside the Library, Liz Hancourt watched Lady Spencer walk away in a stupor like walk and she made her way back into the living room. Fifteen minutes later, Lady Spencer reappeared while holding Sam and mentioned that she would be leaving soon. Everyone looked surprised as she was not the earliest of birds when it came to leaving a party. She gracefully excused herself and made way for the doorway to the exit. Soon after, the party started to dwindle in numbers, with the Davenports being the first to leave thirty minutes after Lady Spencer had left. The Hancourts eventually escorted the Denvers to their vehicle and wished them a happy trip home. They were glad to see them off as the Denvers appeared to not want to leave and return to their abode, which was a pretty distance from the Hancourts. At last, the butler shut the door behind him after the Hancourts had gone back in and went on to shut down the lights in the mansion. Finally he too went off to sleep, there would be plenty of cleaning to do on the morrow.
End of Part 1.............
