Calling for the Footman

Like most men of the upper classes of the Duchy, Cadrill, Fifth Moran Duke had a pair of hair brushes. Like most of his class he kept them on the table in his dressing room. And though they were just an ordinary pair of hair brushes, admittedly a bit more ornately carved than most, they did more than ensure tonsorial tidiness. For these brushes served as a signal. Laid separately, side by side they indicated nothing, but put together with their bristles meshed they were a sign to the Duke's lover to join him in his bed that night. Since the Duke's lover was the footman who laid out the Duke's clothes for following day the message would be conveyed with no further need for compromising messengers and the footman could confirm that the assignation was still on before entering the Duke's inner chamber. This mechanism worked well for he would always brush his hair last thing before retiring and so, even if unexpectedly joined by the duchess he could inconspiciously cancel the signal at the last moment. A useful feature that more than once avoided the need for embarrassing explanations. And thus the affair proceded with discretion for three years until the duchess smelt a rat. Whether word reached her from a third party or not is unknown; she always maintained that one evening she noticed the difference in the positioning of the brushes when she visited the ducal chambers unexpectedly and one day had her maid put the brushes back together after the duke had brushed his hair one last time for the evening. This the maid did and then left to see what she could make of this little piece of gossip. Some time later the footman arrived and checking the brushes crept into the inner chamber and the ducal bed. Consternation all round - for it became apparent that the footman had been providing similar services to the duchess (some suggest that the same signal had been used which was why the duchess smelt that particular rodent but the truth of the matter is unknown. The footman died in mysterious circumstances some weeks later in the years since shy and distant couples have signalled their desires and intentions in the same manner - hair brushes in this arrangement are said to be "Calling for the footman".