Barbara Wilkes approached the door to Alison Farrell Montgomery’s bedroom suite with great trepidation. She had been warned by Mrs. Taplin to knock twice, count to five, enter the suite, turn right, walk to the last door at the end of the hall, knock twice, count to five, and enter the sitting room where she would find Mrs. Montgomery. After that, Barbara would be at the whim of the lady of the house before going down into the staff room where the staff answered calls, collected mail, and handled the day-to-day scheduling for members of the family. Barbara was assigned to Mrs. Montgomery for the duration of her trip to Kingsport. Every bone in Barbara’s body told her that she had to excel with Mrs. Montgomery while ensuring she never put a foot wrong. This was her moment.
When Barbara stepped into the bedroom suite, her mouth fell open. She stood into a corridor which seemed to go on forever with doors leading to one room or another. Had she not been told exactly what to do by Mrs. Taplin, Barbara would have been terrified about what to do next. She took a deep breath, screwed up all of the courage inside of her, and approached the door to the sitting room.
Barbara knocked twice on the door and waited for what seemed like hours. Finally, a firm voice said, “Come.” With that, Barbara deftly opened the door to the sitting room to find Alison Farrell Montgomery sitting on a love seat with a spread of newspapers in front of her. “Good morning, Mrs. Montgomery,” Barbara said, softly.
Alison extended a finger towards a table which had already been set for breakfast. Fresh flowers, silver salt and pepper shakers, and sterling silver cutlery sat on a linen tablecloth she had no doubt pressed weeks ago. “There will do,” said Alison, evenly.
Barbara took a quiet breath as she placed the tray on the perfectly laid table. “Enjoy your breakfast,” Barbara said, quietly.
“What is your name?” Alison snapped as she watched this unknown maid walk across the room like someone who’d just shoplifted.
“Oh, I’m Barbara.”
Alison eyed this young woman carefully. What she saw didn’t frighten her or intrigue her. Alison found her to be a perfectly unassuming woman who seemed to try too hard to be just right. “Barbara.” Alison let the name linger in the cherry blossom scented air. “I suppose Mr. Hurley has informed you that you’ll be assisting me as needed while I’m in town for my son’s wedding. Please call Mrs. Davenport’s office to arrange a cocktail hour with her at the estate or her mansion at six o’clock this evening. The location isn’t important to me. Also, call my house in Paris and tell Marianne to arrange with my dressmaker to be flown out by next week for the initial designs for my outfits for my son’s wedding. Tell Mr. Hurley to inform the family office that flights and accommodation will need to be made for this trip. I’d like my car brought around by ten o’clock; I will not need a driver. Lastly, I’ll need a copy of my schedule and my husband’s schedule emailed and printed out for me every morning. Oh, and Barbara, do bring a pen and notepad as I do not repeat myself.” Alison rose from the loveseat, a vision in an expertly tailored dress, and sat at the breakfast table. “You may go.”
Barbara nodded, walked quickly towards the door, and stepped into the corridor as she tried to fight back tears. While Alison hadn’t been horrible to her, she wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of demands from this intimidating woman. Barbara tried to recall everything Alison had told her. She had to remember it all because if she didn’t, she’d be back in the bowels of the mansion folding linen with Ada. The more Barbara thought about it, the more she swore something like that would never happen to her again. She made it upstairs. She wasn’t going anywhere.
“What is the point of this meeting?” asked Dylan Davenport to no one in particular. He crossed his legs while removing his sunglasses. Dylan had plans to leave for Greece this morning, but due to Eli calling an emergency meeting with the family, he was now seated in the conference room of the Davenport’s family office in Kingsport. “Eli, I do not appreciate being summoned.”
“Neither do I,” sniffed Lisa. “Mom, do you know anything about this?”
Sheila Davenport sat at the far end of the table, her gaze averted from Eli’s. “No,” she said, quietly.
Eli Davenport glanced at his family with mounting irritation. For all of their education, money, status, and power, they weren’t the brightest people. “I called this meeting because of Nick.”
Nicholas felt his stomach do a triple flip. “I didn’t ask for a family meeting,” he huffed. “I’m supposed to be in the Hamptons right now, Eli.”
“I’m aware everyone has plans, but this is important,” began Eli. He stood before his family, shoved his hands into his pockets, and stared at them. “Nick came to see me in San Francisco on Wednesday. He wanted me to buy his stock in Davenport Technology in order to free himself from the family.”
“How could you?!?” shrieked Sheila. She turned to her youngest child with fury in her eyes. “This is why you aren’t in control of your trust fund!” hissed Sheila.
“I’m not having this fight with you again, Mom!” Nicholas said, hotly. “It’s my stock!”
“I didn’t want that to start a fight,” said Eli, calmly. “Mom, you’re upset with Meredith about the way she’s running the company. I don’t blame you. Luckily for us, she didn’t go ahead with the stock buyback, but she still has the board’s approval to do so which gives her an immense amount of leverage. Ever since Dylan quit as the CEO of Davenport, we’ve all been a little anxious about the future of the company.”
Dylan shot Eli a terse look. “Thanks, bro.”
“He has a point,” added Lisa. “None of us have been overly thrilled with Meredith’s vision for the company. She seems to have big ideas without the team to execute them.”
Eli nodded in agreement. “Exactly. The dividend is what keeps us from making a ruckus, but I think it is time to make a lot of noise. Davenport Technology is our legacy. Jeremiah Davenport founded the company one hundred years ago with a hope and a dream. I think it’s time for the company to return to its roots.”
Sheila looked at Eli with a mixture of anger and intrigue. While she and her son had a rocky history, she didn’t trust him; however, she respected the fact that he was a brilliant businessman. “What are you suggesting, Elijah?”
“I think the first thing we need to do is nominate Nicholas to the Davenport Technology’s Board of Directors. Patrick Petersen is stepping down at the end of August. The search to replace him has yielded subpar results. Nick is a Davenport, he has some media cache, and it’ll get us press. ‘Davenport Scion Sits on the Board’! It’ll boost the stock price,” Eli said without missing a beat.
Nicholas shifted uncomfortably as all eyes turned to him. “I don’t want to sit on the board,” he whined, listlessly.
“You do need something to do,” reasoned Dylan. “It’s not like you have a real job or anything.”
“I think it’s a very good idea,” Sheila added. “Nicholas, it will be good for you. It will be good for the family.”
“I’ll mentor you as best as I can.” Eli took another deep breath. “Actually, having Nicholas on the board will give us an ‘in’ we haven’t had since Dylan quit the company.” Eli took in a sharp breath as he eyed his family carefully. In a low voice, Eli added, “I want to take the company private again. We can assume control, ditch our shareholders, and make Davenport a company of the future. We can invest in the future while doing what we do best. No more stock buybacks. We won’t have to fight with a CEO we hate. The Davenports will be in control of their company and future once again. Who’s with me?”
The Davenports looked at each other with masked faces. Each of them knew that Eli’s proposal was a risk, yet the reward it entailed could transform their lives. On the other hand, if Eli’s proposal failed, it could destroy the Davenport fortune along with the legacy of a great American family. No one knew what to say, yet everyone knew whatever was said next would change their lives forever.
In our next installment, Dylan remembers the past…
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