Chapter Two
I don’t believe I drew a breath until the following morning, when we boarded the train and began wending our way through the countryside.
In addition to packing, we had had to procure train tickets and coordinate the servants, who now had significantly more time off for the Christmas season, so the house would not stand empty.
Once I had the opportunity to relax, I realized this visit might be enjoyable, after all.
We had managed to obtain all our seats in one of the first-class carriages, with plush seats and curtained windows.
The three young people sat across from the three adults.
Rose, who had visited Hadley Grange before, had been telling the older two about the place and had moved on to Fiona and Robert’s children.
Christine and Lissette had spent their lives around adults, so I wasn’t sure what they’d make of the children, but they always treated Rose like one of their own, so I saw no reason for concern.
In fact, they were all likely to have a wonderful time.
Lissette turned to me with a look of confusion. “If Cousin Robert and Cousin Fiona’s surname is Nash, then who were the Hadleys of Hadley Grange?”
“Protestants,” I told her. “At an unfortunate point in history. Under the reign of Queen Mary, they lost their property to the crown.” There was also the possibility that they were burned at the stake, but I left that detail out.
“Later, under Elizabeth, one of Robert’s ancestors performed some noble feat that came to the attention of the queen, and she gifted him the estate. ”
“Was he made a baronet then?” Rose’s eyes were round with wonder. I believe Robert had climbed a few notches in her esteem simply by being related to this exceptional fellow.
“No, that came at a later date.”
“That means another ancestor did something heroic,” she told Christine and Lissette. “I love learning history.”
“That means your governess is teaching it well.” That brought another point to mind.
“Rose, didn’t Miss Pettigrew give you and Grace an assignment to work on over the holiday?
” I asked. “Did you bring it with you?” Fiona and I shared the cost of a governess, who was part of Fiona’s household, so every day Rose joined Grace for her lessons.
Between the two of us, we were able to provide an attractive salary, and we were both pleased with Miss Pettigrew.
Hetty looked aghast. “What sort of governess assigns work for her students over the holiday?”
One who knew that children could often be at loose ends during a long break from their lessons. If Rose and Grace didn’t need the distraction, Miss Pettigrew had confided to me, then she wouldn’t count it against them if they didn’t complete the assignment.
“It’s a fun assignment, Aunt Hetty,” Rose said with a grin. “We are supposed to write a Christmas story. We both started on our own, but now we shall write it together.”
“You must tell us about your story,” Christine said. The three girls began talking among themselves.
Everything seemed to be working out smoothly. The trio was occupied. George had rested his head against the window and dozed off. I turned to Hetty. “Did your departure go smoothly?” I asked. “Were you able to get word to Gilliam?”
“I did. He said he’d do his best to join us by Christmas Day. I told him that would be fine.” She looked at me in question. “I didn’t think Fiona would mind not having a firm answer.”
“I’m sure she won’t. After all, she was delighted to hear that she’d managed to convince the six of us to come. I can’t imagine one more will make a difference.”
Hetty made a noncommittal sound.
“I feel badly about the change in our plans taking you away from London. Will you mind very much if he doesn’t make it?”
Hetty gazed ahead for a moment before answering me.
“I would like to spend the holidays with him. We had only just begun our friendship when last Christmas came around, so there was no question of spending it with anyone other than our own families. I had thought this Christmas would be special for us.” She gave me a cautious glance.
“It may be still, but he and I are older, and our lives are complicated.”
Complicated? “Are you and Gilliam having some difficulties?”
Hetty gave me a smile. “Nothing you should worry about.”
Perhaps not, but I was likely to worry nonetheless. Hetty was quite independent and wealthy enough to be so. If Gilliam was talking to her about marriage, she might lack the confidence to believe he wanted her for herself and question his motive.
If he was talking about marriage, that is.
“Whatever your troubles,” I said, “you and Gilliam care enough about each other to work through them.”
“I’m sure you are right.” Her reply rang hollow, but at that point she retreated to a book she’d brought with her, forestalling any further questions from me. I had to content myself with sitting quietly and watching the scenery stream past the window. Fortunately, George woke up at that point.
It might have been the tiny jab I’d given him with my elbow.
He moved his head from the window to my shoulder. I felt him nod in the direction of the trio. “Look at them,” he said in a quiet voice. “Doesn’t it look like they’re plotting some mischief?”
“Your imagination has taken a turn to the devious,” I said. “Rose is simply telling them about her story or perhaps Hadley Grange.”
“I’m starting to think you might have been right about leaving so soon.” He tipped his head to look up at me. “Two full weeks without any structure—no governess or nanny. What if they become restless? They could plot a coup. We could be at their mercy.”
I shifted so that his head slid back against the seat. “First of all, you are giving me credit for something I don’t recall saying. My concern about leaving so early was that we’d all be stuck with two weeks of rain.”
George straightened his slouch until his head was a few inches above mine. Those green eyes bore down on me. “They are expecting snow, not rain.”
“I hope they are correct. Secondly, you needn’t worry about a coup. We are bigger than the children, and we outnumber them.”
“I accept your first premise, but how do you figure the second?” he asked. “There are three of them and three of us.”
“Come now, George,” I said. “Christine will be an adult in little more than a week—legally, that is. She’s been taking on adult responsibilities for years now. I definitely put her in our camp.”
“Hrmph,” he said noncommittally.
“Lissette is somewhere in between, but she hardly needs a minder.”
“She needed one last summer,” George reminded me.
“She had just lost her mother, and she didn’t know us. You can hardly blame her for not trusting us back then.”
He slipped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his side. “Agreed,” he said, his breath warming my cheek. “Lissette has been remarkably resilient in so short a time, but she still has nightmares. Did you know that?”
I pulled away enough to face him. “I didn’t, but I’m glad she felt comfortable enough to tell you about it.
” Lissette began our association resenting me, in part because her mother died and I lived.
She was beginning to warm up to me, but I wasn’t surprised that she put her trust in George instead. “What did you do?”
He pulled a blank face. “Gave her a brandy and sent her back to bed.”
I raised a brow, and he grinned. “We talked. She said she felt better. You are right. She’s not likely to initiate a coup.” He narrowed his eyes. “But what about my sister’s rapscallion son, Gregory?”
“By then we will have added Fiona and Robert to our ranks, so we will still outnumber them.” I patted his hand. “You needn’t worry about the children getting into mischief. In fact, I can picture you playing in the snow with them. Your biggest concern should be keeping up.”
George drew back and looked down his nose at me. “I take that as a challenge, madam.”
We changed trains in Norwich for the second part of our journey to the village of Badenworth, nestled between Aylsham and Cromer.
When we finally reached Badenworth, we found Robert’s coach waiting to whisk us to Hadley Grange, where our arrival was cause for much excitement.
Cold and damp from the mist in the air, we hurried through the door.
Happy voices rang out, echoing off the stone walls of the cavernous entry hall.
A casual observer would never have dreamt that Fiona, Hetty, and I had had luncheon together only ten days ago and that Rose and Grace had concluded their lessons for the year only a week ago.
Instead, we greeted one another as if it had been months rather than days since we’d last been together.
Rose had barely removed her coat before she and Grace skipped off to the drawing room, leaving us with a view of two sets of plaits, one fair, one dark, bouncing against their shoulders as they escaped the grown-ups.
Christine and Lissette had yet to visit an English country estate, and Hadley Grange, the country home of Robert and Fiona Nash, was something to behold even to the jaded eye.
The original buildings dated back to the fifteenth century, including the moat, and had been improved or enlarged by every generation of the Nash family since they obtained the estate one hundred years later.
Though it was not as dramatic as Chartres Cathedral, near where Christine and Lissette grew up, the sheer size of the Nashes’ home had them goggling.
The girls had spent plenty of time with Fiona and Robert in London and had already met Grace, but Gregory, their ten-year-old son, had been away at school and had yet to meet the young ladies from France.
He bore a remarkable resemblance to his cousin Lissette: thin and lanky, with chestnut hair and dark brown eyes.
He maintained his manners long enough to bow to each young lady.
Lissette scoffed and whispered something to him that had him sputtering with laughter.