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« Last post by Maki-chan on June 25, 2010, 04:58:50 PM »
About an hour or so later, Maki was walking down one of the corridors towards the kitchens of Castle Henheart. She and Miss Anselle had chatted for a little while of which most was simply small talk, but somehow these little distractions had gotten Maki's mind off of the rather depressing day she had just had. Since there were no other staff available, Maki had excused herself to prepare some tea and supper for the two of them. At the same time Miss Anselle had gone to one of the guest rooms to settle in for her stay. Later they would meet in the dining room for supper. As she walked along carrying her coat folded over on one arm, Maki flipped through the mail to see what had arrived that day. It was rather mundane stuff - bills, advertisements, some reminders to renew magazine subscriptions, and of course no personal correspondence. Mistress Washu seemed to have no friends outside of the castle that were concerned about her absence, and if there were they did not communicate by the mail.
One letter did grab Maki's attention however, and it was enough to make her stop in her tracks. The letter was addressed to her - to Miss Maki Tokitou rather than the lady of the house or the estate in general as all of the other mail was. In the village post office Maki owned a post box to which she had all of her personal mail sent. Never did Maki have personal correspondence sent to the castle, so this letter worried her. The return address made her worry even more: it was sent from Sir Charles Martin, Esquire - Lady Washu's attorney. In the past he had periodically sent letters to the castle so Maki had a very good idea of what this was all about. A few minutes ago Maki was feeling rather okay, but now she hung her head and groaned. For some unknown reason the Henheart Estate was being sued again, and maybe even Maki herself this time since the letter was addressed specifically to her. Now rather concerned, Maki hurried off to the kitchen.
As soon as she entered the room, Maki put her coat and the other mail down on the table in the middle of the kitchen. Immediately she saw that someone had already left a note there for her and again Maki groaned as soon as she realized who had left it. "Oh dear, I'm so sorry Angus" Maki lamented at breaking her promise to make tea and snacks for him after the burial earlier in the day. There was nothing in the note to indicate that Angus was upset over it and in fact he was very understanding and merely indicated he would look forward to their next meeting. If you were to stand Angus and Maki next to each other, on the surface there would be absolutely nothing in common with them, yet there was a very gentle understanding between the two of them. Maybe in another life they could have been more than just friends, but Maki was happy just to have one person she could count on. After the note from Angus, Maki opened the letter from Mr. Martin. Unlike his previous correspondence, this message was rather vague and mysterious:
"Dear Miss Tokitou,
There is a matter of importance that I must discuss with you. It concerns Lady Washu Hakubi, Mistress of Castle Henheart. Please make an appointment to meet with me on Thursday, the 9th of April. You may RSVP via telephone. Thank you for your kind attention.
Sincerely,
(signed) Sir Charles A. Martin Esq.
Overcome with dread, Maki dropped the letter on the table. Maki had often wondered what had become of Mistress Washu in her long absence, but now Maki feared the worst.
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