The Clerembeax’s arrived in Downshire
following the Norman conquests and stayed for a thousand years before the name
died out following the death of the reclusive Marcus Clerembeax at the age of 96.
He had lived
alone, apart from a butler and a cook, for 50 years after the tragic deaths of
his two sons in the hedonistic sixties as a result of an excess of drugs and
alcohol.
His wife
chose to deal with the loss by taking her own life the day after the funeral
while Marcus decided his best course of action was to turn his back on the
world and hide himself away.
Following his
death in the autumn of 2015, with no direct heirs it took the Clerembeax
solicitors, Beaumont, Villiers and Goodfellow, more than a year to find a
legitimate Heir to inherit the estate, and that was 50-year-old distant cousin
Yvonne Labuschagne,
and she took up residence in the January of 2017.
She was by profession a masseuse and had
worked for many years along with her late husband at the Dancingdean
Spa Hotel in Childean, but with her inheritance she had the means and the
venue to open her own Spa at the Clerembeax Palace, but the house needed work.
The exterior was fine as the reclusive
Marcus had been sensible enough to keep the fabric of the building well
maintained.
She wasn’t
sure about keeping the word “Palace” in the name because the building didn’t
really look very palatial, mainly due to the fact that the original Clerembeax
Palace burned down in the 19th century so the present manifestation
was in fact a rather gaudy Victorian monstrosity in comparison, though it was
not without its charms.
The interior
had stood the test of time far less well and needed at the very least a lot of
TLC.
The 19th
century plumbing certainly wouldn’t stand the rigors of a 21st
century Spa and the electrics needed a complete rewire.
While the Library
was both a blessing and a curse, the latter because it took up so much space
and the former because it was full of valuable old books which was where
Jennifer Bardsley and Paige Turners came in.
Her skill at
seeking out the illusive and the obscure meant that Paige Turners were the “go
to” people if you wanted something different, special or that which had eluded
you.
So, it was in
her role as book expert extraordinaire that she was the first guest to stay at
the Clerembeax, albeit a nonpaying one, while she catalogued the books and
documents in the Library.
When she had
completed her cataloguing and appraisal of the library she gave Yvonne a ball
park figure of what she might expect at auction from the rarest volumes and she
nearly fainted.
The understanding
when Paige Turners undertook the appraisal, was that they would have first
refusal on the contents at the market value, but they recommended O’Sullivan and Springthorpe to sell the really
valuable items at auction and Paige Turners would take a small commission.
Fifty-year-old
Yvonne was a small dark-haired woman who had maintained her figure well over
the years, and was widely considered to be attractive, but despite that she was
on her own since her husband’s early death, and it was the one regret she had
in her life, however she hoped that would change when the Spa was up and
running.
But as part of
the process Jennifer Bardsley introduced her to Account Manager, Gareth Fackrell from Paige Turners, who was
handling the sale of the books through O’Sullivan
and Springthorpe.
While the
renovation where in full swing, Yvonne and Gareth had regular meetings over the
months, and at their final meeting, which was at the “Palace” on the eve of
World Book Day, Gareth revealed to her the latest balance sheet including all
of February sales, which was a significant figure, far exceeding expectations.
“My God I
didn’t realise there were so many Book Worms in the World” she said and then
she began to jump up and down, squealing with delight, and then she threw her
arms around Gareth and kissed him.
Which initially
took him by surprise, but he soon gathered himself and joined in, and as it was
the first time she’d kissed a man other than her husband since she was at University,
as well as being the first since her husbands died, it was one hell of a kiss.
Unfortunately,
they both got caught up in the excitement of the moment, and the resulting
embarrassment felt by both parties, so it was agreed that he hand the account
over to a colleague for the duration.
But that aside,
in the end it there was enough
to cover it all with some left over.
At the outset
Yvonne hoped that a combination of her inheritance, her savings and the revenue from the book sale would go a long way to
paying for the renovations and the refit.
Her first
action once she knew what her general budget was, was to decide how to spend
it, as her background was as a masseur and she had spent her whole working life
working in Spa’s she knew what services and treatments she wanted to offer, as
well as being able to find the people to work there.
However, she
had no inkling on how to manage the renovations or to run a Hotel so the only
course of action open to her was to employ people who could.
Her first hire
was Hannah Morgan, who Yvonne knew from
her time at the Dancingdean Spa Hotel in Childean, where
she was a very underappreciated Assistant Manager and a great organiser, and
the second was Stephen
Hood as Project Manager, who she knew by reputation only.
But
when his car pulled up outside the Hotel a distinguished
looking gentleman of around fifty years of age got out of the driver’s side she
hoped to get to know him better.
But when she
actually met him she discovered to her disappointment that he was an arrogant
arse and not the sort of person she could have a relationship with, but as a
Project Manager she had no gripe with him at all and he certainly lived up to
his reputation.
Although the
library proceeds more than covered the refurbishment and equipping, the
proceeds from the Spa, once it was fully up and running, wouldn’t be enough to
keep the Palace solvent indefinitely, so they needed a steady flow of hotel
guests.
In addition,
she had a sizable Ballroom at her disposal which Hannah Suggested could be
utilized on a regular basis throughout the year, which would boost the numbers
of Hotel guests and Spa visitors at the same time.
Under Stephens
stewardship the renovations went very well and were completed on time and only
marginally over budget, and while he was achieving that, Hannah used all of
organisational skills and planning to get the Hotel staffed and prepared for
the grand opening, but the staff for the Spa were recruited and interviewed by
Yvonne.
At the end of
June Yvonne had a meeting with Stephen, as his contract was up at the end of
the month.
“I am very
pleased with the job you’ve done for us, so I have included a little bonus in
here” she said as she handed him an envelope.
He took the
envelope an opened it, withdrew the cheque and nodded after reading it.
“Excellent,
thank you” he said
“But I was
thinking that I should stick around for a while, at least for a few month until
everything is running smoothly”
“That won’t be
necessary” she said, not wanting him around even a day longer than was absolutely
necessary.
“Well if you’re
sure” he said
“Very sure”
“Get your CV up
to date Hannah you need to start looking for another job” he announced
“I give this
place a year at best”
“Nonsense,
we’re in good shape” Hannah retorted
“Well I think
she’s completely out of her depth” he retorted
“She
can’t run this place on her own”
“She’s
not on her own” Hannah said
“This
place is too big to be run without a man at the helm, I offered her my services,
but she threw it back in my face”
“Rubbish,
what century are you from?” Yvonne is a strong woman, an independent woman, and
she has other strong independent women around her and this place has a great
future” she retorted angrily “Now I suggest you leave”
“You’re
as deluded as she is” he shouted and went out and slammed the door behind him
“Well
said Hannah” Yvonne said as she suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs
“Thank
you, for your loyalty”
“No
need for thanks” she replied “I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true, and
besides us independent women need to stick together”
Fittingly
the
Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa opened fully for business on July 4th,
Independence Day, without a man at the helm.
