Page 34 of The Odd Riddle of the Lost Duchess
“Of course. Nothing will stop me from doing so,” Ann nodded. “Does Lady Alford know–ouch!”
The carriage hit a deep pothole and with a bounce, jerked the sleeping lady awake. Ann stopped speaking immediately as her aunt sat up, blinking furiously, and snapped her fan out.
“Dear me,” Lady Alford sighed, while fluttering the fan, “I fell asleep. I’m not as young as I believe myself to be. Have we arrived?”
“No, Aunt, we have not,” Emmeline replied while leveling a warning look to her friend.
Ann looked out the window, and smiled, “But, yes, Lady Alford, we are near.”
While the older lady was busy fanning herself, Ann and Emmeline exchanged loaded looks and mouthed some words silently. Ann had silently ordered them to speak before they got called to the evening meal.
Nodding her acceptance, Emmeline settled herself to wait for their arrival, and while doing so slipped back into her memories of last night. She hadn’t gone back to the assembly after she rushed out of Noah’s presence but stayed in the room until her aunt had come to check on her.
Seeing her distressed state–one Emmeline had played off as illness–the matron had ordered some calming tea and a bath for her. Not saying a word about Noah, Emmeline had accepted the offers, drank her tea, took her bath, and went to bed.
The next day as they were leaving, Emmeline experienced the unfortunate incident of meeting Noah’s eyes before she had gotten into her carriage, and the pain it carried had sent her spiraling back into the hurt from the night before. She did not know if Noah was still going to challenge her brother, but she prayed his mother would keep him from doing so.
“Ah,” Ann smiled, “Here we are. Home, sweet home.”
Looking out, Emmeline saw a line of meticulously-trimmed hedges leading to a sprawling country house. The domicile was two main stories with a gabled floor above, but it had wide eaves and additional structures dotted around the sixteen acres of land. The house was made of dark-gray stone, while beautiful slate work adorned the roof. The carriages approached a circular drive, with a magnificent Greco-Roman fountain, featuring a woman holding a large pitcher on her shoulder. The work was so carefully designed that the water came out of the pitcher in graceful arcs.
Two people, both dressed in black, were standing at the bottom of the stairs and under the arching eaves of the house. They were probably the butler and the housekeeper, Emmeline assumed.
“Donovan and Mrs. Gibbs,” Ann smiled in confirmation of Emmeline’s thoughts. “I’ve missed them.”
They were the first carriage to arrive and stopped to allow the coachman to dismount and lower the carriage steps, to aid the ladies down from the vehicle. Ann was the first to leave, and her servants immediately greeted her.
“Miss Benwick,” Mrs. Gibbs smiled and curtsied, while the butler was overseeing the removal of the luggage. “Welcome home.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Gibbs,” Ann nodded, “Is Mother resting?”
“Yes, she is, Miss,” the housekeeper replied, “she had to return early to see to the preparations for tomorrow night. She had faith that her companion could oversee you.”
Emmeline had to smile to that–Ann had spun circles around the woman that was paid to oversee her, keep her in sight, and check in on her.
“Of course,” Ann replied, “You do remember Lady Emmeline Grant?”
“Yes,” the woman replied and curtsied, “Welcome, Lady Emmeline Grant…and Lady Alford.”
Emmeline didn’t need to turn, as she had heard her aunt’s dainty steps on the crushed gravel of the driveway.
“Thank you, Mrs. Gibbs,” Lady Alford replied, with her fan busy fluttering in the air. “Is Mrs. Benwick in her parlor?”
“Yes, Milady,” Donovan’s deeper tones inserted, “Mrs. Gibbs will escort you ladies inside.”
Grasping her skirts, Emmeline climbed the broad stairs and entered the wide foyer. The room was light and airy, with thin tulle curtains over wide windows, and a line of dark carpet down the length of the room. Past it, they entered the central room and saw a wide staircase, situated to the left side, that went up to the second storey.
“You are staying with me, Em,” Ann pronounced. “Mrs. Gibbs, please instruct that her luggage be carried to my rooms.”
The three women knew that Ann was breaking protocol, but none cared, and they couldn’t refuse an order. Emmeline barely got to kiss her aunt on her cheek before Ann bade the two women goodbye, grasped Emmeline’s hand, and tugged her up the flight, across the landing, and down a few well-known corridors.
Ann’s suite of rooms had matured from the last time Emmeline had seen them. The wallpaper was a calm beige with a very subtle Florentine pattern, and a dark brown rug covered the floor. The first room was Ann’s sitting room and the furniture matched the colors around them–cream, beige, and dark brown.
Emmeline was surprised. How had Ann tempered her personality so much? The last time she was there, the colors were all specimens of the rainbow, vivid reds and oranges, dark greens and blues, and rich purples.
“Ann,” Emmeline exclaimed, “Why have you gone neutral?”
“Oh,” Ann pouted, “my mother is forcing me to act my age, be all ladylike, and that comes with a more ‘refined’ image.”
