Of Moths and Butterflies Page 5

  “Sure he will,” Harriet said. “If he wants the money.”

  “If I were her, I’d not be too quick to give up control of it. She’s better off as they are.”

  “But surely she would wish to marry rather than–” Imogen had begun the question but did not dare form the words to finish it.

  “She wants the status—the respectability. That’s what will make it worth it to her. As for him he’ll have the money, but I don’t think he’d like to bring her home to live with him. They get on like oil and water. But if you ask me, he’s got a grudge against women in general.”

  “He’s been very kind to me.”

  Becky laughed. “That won’t last long. You interest him. We all have done at first.”

  Harriet shook her head, and Imogen took it as permission to dismiss the idea. And she tried very hard to do it.

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  Chapter six

  ’D LIKE YOU to begin on the west wing bedroom suite, if you would, Mrs. Hartup,” Sir Edmund was heard to say, perhaps a week later. “Now you’ve got the public rooms in hand, you might turn to that part of the house next. Tomorrow, I think. Or as soon as you can manage it.”

  “I’m not sure I can manage it, sir.”

  Sir Edmund’s voice became more strained. “You’ve got extra hands now. I don’t see why there should be any difficulty.”

  “I’ve got extra hands, yes. But what kind is the question. She’s slow. She makes mistakes.”

  “It does not take great skill, I think, to pack up a room, to load and carry boxes. But I want the room done properly, the papers peeled, the walls washed. Slow or not, it must be done.”

  “But the young master returns home tomorrow and so we’ll have his rooms to prepare on top of everything else.”

  “I cannot comprehend, Mrs. Hartup, how it is you presume that every direction I give is open to debate. My nephew is not the master of the place yet. You will do as has always been done in preparation for his arrival. No more. No less.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Then see to it.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Mrs. Hartup returned to the drawing room. Her mood was a dark one if her features were any indication. “You heard that, I suppose?” she said to Gina.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “If I’m to lose your help tomorrow, you’ll make up for it today, do you hear?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She did make up for it, too. After finishing in the state and drawing rooms, she returned to the kitchen, where she saw to the day’s dishes before sifting out the latest collection of cinders and ash. She then cleaned the kitchen, scullery and pantry floors, the work tables and every surface with carbolic acid and water before retiring to bed, her arms aching and her hands cracked and bleeding. At least they were clean. But they were, by now, so rough that they caught and snagged against the woollen fibres of her blanket as she pulled it up around her that night. Yet she felt she had little to complain of. She was making her own way, earning her money honestly. Her work left her so tired that she fell into bed each night to sleep peacefully, free of oppression from the usual foul dreams and haunting memories.

  * * *

  Upon being shown to the bedroom suite by Mrs. Hartup the following morning, Imogen looked around in silent wonder. These rooms had clearly not been used in some time. The largest was the first of those shown her. Its fine and delicate furnishings, or what could be seen of them through the masses of clutter, betrayed the fact that it had been intended, at one time, for a woman’s use. Beyond that, was a sitting room, small, but very comfortable. Or had once been. Another door opposite led into a second bedroom, rather smaller than the first but grand in feel, with coffered ceilings and dark wood panelling.

  “You will begin by emptying the rooms of their more portable contents,” Mrs. Hartup instructed her. “Everything from the walls and windows to the floors and furnishings must be cleaned and aired, sorted, stored or repaired and returned to the room as its purpose requires. You’ll begin in the first room, and here you will remain until it’s complete. Someone from the stables will be sent, I believe, to help you with the heavy work.”

  With the closing of the door, a mixture of relief and dread washed over Imogen. The only way to conquer it was to set to work immediately. She made another round of the rooms, taking note of all that would need to be accomplished. And the list, half an hour later when her help arrived, had grown quite long.

  A knock was heard. The door opened tentatively, and Charlie poked his head in.

  She could not help but smile at the sight of him. She had thought to be working alone. To learn that one of the manservants was to be brought in had disarmed her a bit. But to find that it was Charlie pleased her very much.

  “Have you come to help me?”

  “Yes,” he said. “And old Tom from the stables has come, as well. Mr. Brown,” he said by way of introduction.

  It occurred to her only then that, though her help might perhaps be pleasant company, it might not be as useful as one might wish. She looked around at the room once more, the large wardrobe, the immense bed. These things would have to be moved, but her assistants, it seemed, had been chosen from among the very youngest and oldest of those at Sir Edmund’s disposal, with nothing in between besides her own strength and resourcefulness—though this was no small thing. Still, the work ahead of them was monumental indeed.

  They worked hard and steadily, and by the end of the day a good deal of clutter had been removed. Amidst the piles of disused furnishings and long forgotten personal effects, Imogen had found an old artist’s kit. When Charlie had gone home that evening and Mr. Brown had retired, she sat herself down and began to draw. Something about the room inspired her, though she could not explain just what or why it should be. Some watercolours too she found, and though they were stiff and dried out from neglect, she managed to make them work for her nevertheless. And within an hour’s time she had a fairly accurate and admirable likeness of the room as it might once have been. What it might be again, with the proper attention.

  * * *

  “You’re home are you?”

  Archer handed his uncle the requested papers from Town and then poured drinks for them both. “Is that a problem?”

  “I’m not sure yet.” Sir Edmund nodded his gratitude and examined the papers, counting them first and then casting an evaluating eye over them as he stood before his desk.

  “What has you so interested in world affairs all of a sudden?”

  “London affairs will do at present,” Sir Edmund answered, and, laying one of the papers open across his desk, he began to look it over.

  “Such as?” Archer prompted.

  Sir Edmund glanced up. “Nothing that should concern you.”

  “Very well, then.” Archer, after handing his uncle his drink, took a chair a little distance off.

  “You didn’t go to the Edgefield party then, I take it.”

  “No.”

  “You’re wasting time.”

  Archer did not answer.

  “Nothing comes of nothing, you know.”

  “I’m in no hurry to marry, Sir.”

  Sir Edmund took a drink and set it down. “If it’s either you or me, I’d much rather it be you,” he said and went on with his examination of the paper before him.

  Archer stood and looked out of the garden door into the dark. He did not like these lectures. And he found, the more of them he heard, that his patience for them was wearing thin. What business was it of his uncle’s how he spent his idle hours? If he was not wanted here, well then, he might spend them where and how he liked.

  “Here it is,” Sir Edmund said, breaking the silence. He began to read as Archer turned to listen.

  FUNERAL OF MR. DRAKE EVERARD, LONDON

  The death of this highly esteemed gentleman, which took place at his residence in London after a brief illness, caused feelings of regret amongst a wide circle of family, friends and business associat
es. The interment was at Brompton Cemetery. The chief mourners were Mrs. Muriel Ellison, Miss Lara Everard, and Mrs. Julia Barrett, sisters of the deceased. Mr. Everard also left behind a niece, Miss Imogen Everard, who was in his care until his death.

  A long silence followed this. Then, at last and quietly, “What do you make of that?”

  “What am I supposed to make of it?” Archer asked.

  Sir Edmund then seated himself behind his desk and examined some indiscriminate object in the near distance.

  But to Archer, something did seem vaguely familiar. “Everard? Didn’t you have a friend by that name?”

  “Yes, once. Until I was foolish enough to borrow money from him. That’s when the man showed what he was really made of. ‘Esteemed gentleman’, to be sure. Feared, loathed, despised more like. He was as crooked as they come.”

  “You owe him, still?”

  “I suppose I owe somebody, don’t I? Let’s just pray whoever it is who takes over his business dealings has enough sense to know that interest compounded indefinitely becomes impossible to pay. Not that I have a choice, mind, but if…” Sir Edmund trailed off, as his attention returned once more to the article before him. “…in his care until his death…”

  “Sir?”

  “Hmm? Oh, nothing,” he said, and, folding the paper, he tucked it away in the top drawer of his desk. “It’s not too late, you know. If you were to go back into Town. Mrs. Ellsworth’s niece, I understand, is visiting. It’s no great fortune, granted, but it might not hurt to scout out your possibilities.”

  It was not, after all, his absence his uncle had complained of. Archer knew that. And yet he could not deny his disappointment. Was it unreasonable to suppose that Sir Edmund might consider the company of the nephew he had raised—and meant to raise higher—preferable to solitude? But his uncle would not be pleased with him, it seemed, until Archer had married a fortune sizeable enough to restore them to a footing equal to the station they rightly held but had only just barely managed to hold onto. Perhaps then… Archer glanced at his uncle.

  “I don’t want you here,” Sir Edmund said, as if in answer to the question Archer had not asked. “Neither do you need to be wasting what little you have. A respectable dinner party would suit you very well, I think.”

  “Is first thing in the morning early enough?” Archer answered, resentment thick in his voice.

  “It’ll do.” And Sir Edmund turned back to his work.

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  Chapter seven

  HE SUN'S RAYS, shining tentatively through the grime of her bedroom window, woke Imogen early. Sunday allowed her a half day off. With this one opportunity to be out of doors and on her own, she dared not waste a minute of it. Acutely grateful for the position God had granted her, she decided church was the place for her this morning. If only she had taken some time the night before to unstitch the trimming from her best dress. She hadn’t, and it was too late to think of such things now. It was all she had, after all, and it would have to do.

  The distance between the church and the Abbey was no great one, a mile perhaps, and the road that lay between them provided an easy if circuitous route. She avoided this. As it was still early, and not wishing to be among the first of the congregation, she took her time. The meadow, as she traversed it, was sprigged with autumn wildflowers, and the clouds, as they scudded across the sky, cast great shadows on the waving grass. Amidst so picturesque a landscape, open meadow all around, her heart cheered. Though the work she had engaged upon was far harder than she had expected, she felt invigorated by it. It was not quite possible to shrug off all her sorrows and anxieties, but in her labours they were greatly diminished. Perhaps she might one day cast them off entirely.

  The breeze, which had so far been a gentle one, suddenly grew more determined, rippling the grass and tossing the flower heads until it seemed the stalks must break. Was this Boreas, the meddlesome god of the North wind, come to mock her in her resolve? She laughed at him in spite. Still, she was not impervious. The mantle she wore was a light one, and though sufficient to keep her warm, it would not protect her should the clouds make good on their threat of rain. She drew it tighter and continued on.

  Others could be seen now approaching the church. Though she had waited long enough to ensure that she would be among the last to arrive, still the novelty of her presence aroused a certain amount of attention. Quietly, she looked around for a solitary seat quite out of the way, and found one just as the parson arose to read the first scripture.

  It had been some time since she’d been to church, having gone on occasion with one or another of her aunts. She had not paid much attention then. But now she listened to the words, understood them in a way she had never before been prepared to do.

  Almighty and most merciful Father; We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.

  It was quite true, for it was her vanity which had led her down the path to destruction. Those of her uncle’s patrons who had come to the house had certainly seen in her an attractive young woman. She had made sure it was so. And, as she had encouraged Roger, she had encouraged others, to pay her what compliments they might. If she had only known to what it would lead. If she could only have known how she would come to despise herself.

  Restore thou them that are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake; That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life.

  This was precisely what she had determined to do. She had lowered herself to a station more befitting her worth, and there she would remain, working away for her own redemption. Whatever it took. However long it took. Here she was content to remain so long as God would preserve her.

  The hymn now. It was then, as the congregation arose that she began to truly reconsider her decision to come this morning. New and alone, she was a novelty impossible to ignore. They watched her as they sang, their faces turned towards her. Children’s faces, quite innocent but provoking in their unbridled curiosity. Gentlemen’s faces, some kind, some leering—or so she imagined. And the women, their eyes narrowed, examining her face, comparing her manner of dress to theirs and mentally weighing—and perhaps with some difficulty—in what manner they should regard her. Or if they should regard her at all. She felt the weight of their oppressive scrutiny. And shrunk from it.

  As the hymn ended, she turned to look toward the door, to evaluate the possibility of an early escape. It was just possible, if… But the door was suddenly blocked from her view. As if from nowhere, a well-dressed gentleman appeared quite unexpectedly at her side.

  She sat down.

  “May I?” he asked, gesturing toward her pew.

  Uncertain what to say, she nodded.

  There yet being ample room on the bench, there was little need for him to sit so close to her as he did. She made more room.

  “You’re sure it’s not an imposition?” he consequently asked.

  “Yes, of course,” she answered, meeting his gaze for an instant before turning back to the parson.

  It seemed she had no choice now but to stay, and so determined to listen to the sermon, shutting all other distractions out. The gentleman’s apparent preoccupation with her, however, proved an insurmountable obstacle.

  “He’s new.” He said it almost as if it were a question.

  In return, she offered the simplest answer she could think of. “Oh?” And only considered afterward that he might take it as encouragement to continue the conversation.

  “That is, I believe so. It’s been some time since I was last here.”

  She acknowledged his statement by a glance only, not intending to encourage him further but neither wishing to be rude. She no longer felt quite so awkward as she had a moment ago. The heads that turned in her direction now did so in consideration of her companion as well. He returned these gestures with a polite nod and an expression that
bespoke both kindness and dignity, and too, something of a challenging air, as though he meant to defend her from the judgments they had moments ago been prepared to cast upon her.

  When their privacy had been somewhat restored, he turned to her again. “The congregation has grown as well, though it’s perhaps a bit of a lopsided one.”

  She gave him a puzzled look, and he answered her unspoken question as though he’d intended to induce it. Likely he had.

  “There are considerably more young ladies in attendance this morning than I remember there ever having been when old Parson Bailey had the living.” His gaze swept around to present his proof and then landed on the parson as the cause.

  She laughed and then blushed at the irreverence of his statement, and of her own reaction, but she was quick to recover and quicker still to observe that they were not the only ones distracted in conversation. In fact, a significant amount of tittering could be heard in the adjacent rows, providing further proof of the accuracy of his statement.

  “It’s not his oratorical expertise that has brought them, surely.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” she answered, indicating that she had not come for the purpose he had suggested, and, at the same time, pointing out that she was hardly being allowed the opportunity to decide if his supposed powers had any merit.

  “Forgive me,” he said, and squared himself in his seat. He remained silent for many minutes before he cleared his throat to speak again. “You are a stranger here.”

  “Yes.”

  “You have come to visit family, perhaps?”

  “No.”

  “Friends?”

  She shook her head.

  “Then what, may I venture to ask, has brought you here?”

  He seemed truly curious to know. And he was charming. Too charming. She felt a surge of that old vanity rise up as if to challenge her newly formed resolve. She answered him as honestly as she knew how. Yet, and almost as though it were beyond her control, that lilt of former flirtatiousness carried in her voice and wove itself within her simply chosen words.