Page 75 of Sweet Siren
Chapter 17
August,1879
Brighton
Liv climbedthe hill to the construction site, Camille close behind her. As it was a brilliant Saturday morning, Liv had promised her daughter a day on the promenade. Ices in a cup, fresh steamed shrimp from a monger's stall, perhaps even a sail on the boat in the city regatta that set out each afternoon for a short sail along theshore.
Camille was eager to get out of Liv's tiny rented townhouse. For the past week, she'd been cooped up there because of rain or dreary cold mist. At last at dawn, sun had broken through the clouds and Liv was eager to show her daughter a happy day and to check on progress on Killian'shouse.
Liv shaded her eyes with a hand to the straw brim of her hat, smiling at the two men on the scaffolding. "Hello,there!"
"Hallo, milady!" One of the carpenters waved to her from atop his ladder leaning against the framework for the roof. "Hot to be outtoday!"
"It is. But we've come for thesunshine!"
"Oh, Mama. It'smagnificent."
Liv turned to Camille who had a hand to her heart, her mouth agog as she gazed up at the expanse that was to be the grand county home of the American millionaire, KillianHanniford.
The Manor gave the appearance of sitting into the eyebrow of the hill. The curving drive added grace to the approach. The friendliness and open terrain added a charm that shimmered in the white stone, delineated by pale bricks in herringbone at hip height. The chimneys for the many fireplaces dotted the roof at regular points and gave punctuation to the Palladian order of the serene front and eachside.
Inside, she had ordered Italian marble tiles for the rotunda foyer and for the grand staircase. The entry was a peaceful circle that opened so that one room led grandly to another. Each room was of a dimension that could accommodate twenty in conversational groups. The dining room could hold thirty. The breakfast room held ten. The drawing room looked out over the west lawn and in the large nook in the floor were colored tiles laid into a design of the map of the world. All floors were fireproofed, double-framed with concrete and iron. The kitchen, in so many houses situated far from the dining areas, in this house was a few steps away. Food would be delivered hot and fragrant to theowners.
A pleasant benefit for the staff, a nearby kitchen meant footmen need not run from yards away to serve course after course—and deliver them still warm as cook intended. Those employed at the house could count other advantages. The servants quarters on the third floor were a full height, not the three-quarters of many manors, which meant they could stand upright in their own rooms. Even the kitchen quarters downstairs for cook and her maids was extraordinary in size. What the owners and family of this house would have in size and care would be shared in many ways by those who waited upon them. Even the carriage house, the stables and the kitchen garden and stillroom were dry, cool, heated with a fire place and also wellventilated.
The modern amenities that Killian had demanded tried the expertise of the masons and the plumbers. But they improvised and they learned new techniques. They used new techniques to secure flanges on the elbow joints and experimented with copper for the drainage and the septic systems. If at first they laughed over Hanniford's requirements, now as they implemented new safety for the electrical wiring and bigger water tanks for the w.c.s, they were very happy they did. What they learned here, they could use elsewhere. They talked over their pail lunches of how they'd gain fame and fortune in the longrun.
But all of her time here had not been totally focused on thehouse.
These past three weeks had allowed Liv breathing room to consider her actions. She was not proud of herself. She'd been less than honest with Killian about her rejection of him. And the ache in her heart reminded her with every step she took that she missed him. And she lovedhim.
That revelation burst upon her the day after her meeting with Roger. She recalled Killian’s laughter, his kindness, his joy in his family and his charming pursuit of her favor. For herself and him and what they might share, she buried her old fear of others, their critiques, their cruelty. Had any one of the lofty One Hundred aided her? Other than David who had married her, and Remy and his mother who had sent her family funds, who among those whose favor she had honored, had been kind and helpful to her? Who among them had smiled upon her in her poverty or in her travail to keep her parents clothed and fed? Who had treasuredher?
None.
To whom did she owe her loyalty? Her respect? Herdevotion?
David was dead. Remy and his mother were alive. They were as thrilled to see her as in the days when she was an innocent girl visiting with her mama—and she treasuredthem.
Aside from that, she had saved herself from despair and poverty. She had married David, not for romantic love, but she had been not only loyal but also honest to him and herself about hermotives.
She could now free herself of her fear of society to accept the possibility of happiness with a man who had in his own way changed for the better. A man who had decided—soon after the horrid negotiation with her father for his company—to be a betterman?
If she could find her way back into his good graces, she hoped to ameliorate the sins of her past, just as he had his. In that vein, she had worked diligently on this house. This edifice which would stand as a haven for the Hannifords she hoped might also serve as a window to how people might resolve to build new futures forthemselves.
She had written to him. In a note separate from her usual updates on the buildings’ progress, she asked to see him soon. She was polite, informal. She offered to go up to London if that was convenient for him. Or she’d welcome him to her home in Brighton. She did not say that if he did not wish to see her, she would understand. Whatever his view of her since Paris, she must offer him her apology in person. It was the only way to go on with her life with anyintegirty.
He had replied the next day. “’I have a pressing matter I must investigate. After that, I will come to Brighton to meet withyou.’”
Disappointed that she had no definite date from him, she noted his polite tone…and his agreement to meet her. She had to accept that. In the meantime to occupy her, she had her work…and herdaughter.
"Can we go inside?" Camille's jade green gaze danced over the rafters, down along the alabaster columns. "I need to see it. I shall use it in my nextnovel."
Liv laughed. "I thought you liked gloomy castles with spider webs dripping from the curtainwalls."
Camille stuck out her tongue. "I'm tired of brooding heroes. I'm up for a romp of the Regencyperiod."
"Dear heavens." Liv put a hand to her heart like an over-dramatic actress. "Aduke?"
