The school placed him in his first job with an earl who had a house in London, an estate in Norfolk, and a castle in Scotland. He was hired as an under-butler, with a large, somewhat disorganized staff. But he found them fun to work with. The earl was massively in debt and put all three properties on the market within a year, and Joachim was out of a job. But he had excellent references from the head butler and his employer.
Joachim went to a high-end London domestic employment agency after that, and with his training at the school and a year’s experience working for the earl, he landed a job as under-butler in the London home of the Marquess of Cheshire. The family had an estate in Sussex as well, with a butler there too. Their homes were beautifully maintained. They were distant cousins of the queen and the most elite members of the aristocracy came to the parties they frequently gave. Joachim learned a great deal while he was there. He honed his skills, and when the head butler retired four years later, Joachim became the head butler in the London house at thirty-one. He ran the staff with an iron hand by then and could spot a flaw in the table settings from a mile away. His understanding of the social hierarchy and etiquette was flawless. He was a perfectionist, and took pride in how well he did his job. And his discretion was legendary as to whatever he saw at house parties, among family or guests.
Joachim was equally discreet about his own life. The family he worked for was always his priority and his job. His personal life came last. There were brief affairs, when he had time, with domestics in other homes. He never dallied with the staff that worked for him, told no secrets, and although he liked pretty young women, he never made long-term promises or became too deeply involved. He felt he needed to remain a bachelor to do justice to his job. And he had little time for friends. It was a solitary life, which he accepted as part of his chosen career.
The Cheshires were quite old by the time Joachim was in charge. And the marquess needed considerable care when he fell ill. Joachim had a deep affection for him and frequently assisted him himself, although there were nurses to do it. The marquess was particularly fond of Joachim and trusted him. Joachim had been in the job for seven years when the marquess died. His children asked Joachim to stay on, continue to run the London house, and oversee the care of their mother, who had dementia by then. Joachim felt great concern for her and stayed for nine more years. He had been with them for sixteen years in all. The marchioness had finally died three months before. The children decided to sell the London house and the Sussex estate. Neither home suited their lifestyles, and they didn’t want to employ the huge staff that houses of that size and age required to maintain them. Their parents’ lifestyle didn’t suit them, and they didn’t want the burden or expense of great houses. They preferred to live more simply, and the family fortune was getting thin by then.
Joachim had helped them close both houses, sent the pieces they wanted to their homes, and helped arrange a massive auction at Sotheby’s for the rest. He had just finished and left for Paris before his trip to Argentina. He was staying with his mother in Paris, for a breather before returning to London to look for a new job. After sixteen years with the Cheshires, he felt he had earned a break, and it seemed the perfect time to go to Buenos Aires, after having dreamed of it for years.
There had been no news of Javier for many, many years. Another foray with a detective had confirmed all their worst fears. There was no doubt now. Javier was deeply embedded with men who ran a drug cartel, had been in and out of jail a few times, and was beyond their reach. They had no access to him, but Joachim still wanted to go back, see his own friends if he could find them. If he learned anything more about his twin, he could at least tell his mother. Joachim had no hope of seeing Javier, but they were always hungry for news of him after nearly twenty-three years of silence, interrupted only by upsetting rumors from old friends every few years.
Quite remarkably, Liese was still working, still hunting down major works of art, and returning them to their original owners or their heirs whenever possible. She was eighty-one now. She was physically a little slower, and looked frail, but her mind was as sharp as ever. She had been a widow for seventeen years, as long as Joachim had been working in England.
She was surprised when he told her he was going to Argentina for a visit. He was forty-two now, and they had left when he was seventeen. She no longer wanted to go back herself. She was content to stay in France. Paris was her home now, not Buenos Aires.