Chapter 9
Alice came down for breakfast early the next morning and was surprised to see Miss Beaumont already at the table, perusing West’s newspapers while sipping a cup of steaming tea.
“Good morning,” Nathalie said, a beautiful smile lighting up her face as she greeted Alice. Smiling in return, she took a moment to observe the new houseguest.
There hadn’t been much time for them to converse yesterday, as Miss Beaumont was busy catching up with her brother, but Alice liked what she had seen. Of an age with herself, Nathalie had a sweet disposition and appeared more reserved with everyone but her brothers.
And she was quite lovely. Alice took in her appearance this morning, noting that even though Nathalie was dressed simply, she was the picture of elegance.
A simple extra pleat along her hemlines served as the only adornment to her morning gown, but instead of looking plain, it provided a border, framing and highlighting her own natural, youthful beauty.
With porcelain skin any English woman would covet, Miss Beaumont also had reams of rich dark brown hair.
Once again, Alice felt rather overdressed and gaudy in comparison, wearing a dress with several rows of trim on the puffed sleeves which were coming into fashion.
Sitting down with her breakfast plate, Alice offered another small smile and shook her head when Nathalie silently offered a section of the paper.
“You’re more than welcome to take any section you’re interested in.
I know I can’t commandeer the entire paper, and I’ll most likely need to surrender it when West comes down.
I’m not sure which parts he usually reads,” Miss Beaumont said with a frown.
“But then again, we are still becoming acquainted with one another.”
Ah, yes. Priscilla had mentioned the long-term estrangement of the Beaumont family which West had only recently brought to an end. “When did you first meet your cousin? Surely you are too young to have met him previously.”
“Yes, it was only lately that we met. I was not yet born when the schism divided the family. It was my parents’ marriage which created it after all.”
Alice hadn’t known that, but in some ways, it made sense.
This confession certainly illuminated Lord Cumberland’s relationship to the Beaumonts, which had eluded her during Mr. Beaumont’s introduction of his stepbrother yesterday.
She hadn’t comprehended the connection in the moment, being too distracted by the earl’s golden features and charm.
“And is this your first time at Hampton House?” Alice was curious to know more about the family her own was now intertwined with.
“No, West brought us all here about a year ago once official mourning for the former Lord Hampton concluded. Since then, we’ve all spent time together in London, and of course there was the wedding. But I’m still getting to know my cousins.”
Alice assumed she’d crossed paths with Nathalie at Priscilla’s wedding but she’d been too caught up in all the finery of the event to notice.
Her mind had been focused on the status of the event and the impression it was making on society—it was the way she had been trained to read such occasions.
Troubled by this realization, she wondered what else she’d overlooked at the event and other similar settings throughout the years.
Now having met both Nathalie and Mr. Beaumont, she knew they were exceptional people from a good family that was not so different from her own.
So why had she never been properly introduced to them? Were they deemed below her regard?
“Is something the matter?” Nathalie inquired. “You’re frowning and have hardly touched your breakfast.”
Alice came back to the moment and looked at how her hands were gripping the teacup, ragged cuticles visible. Hastily setting it down and placing her hands in her lap, she offered an apology.
“Forgive me, my mind was wandering and I fear I’ve not been good company to you this morning. I was wondering why I never encountered you last season. I do hope I would remember you.”
Alice was not at all prepared for what Miss Beaumont said next.
“Oh, I didn’t participate in the season.” Natalie reached across the table for a pat of butter and nonchalantly scrapped it across her toast, as if her statement was not at all astounding. “I haven’t made my debut and don’t plan to for another few years, if at all.”
Alice knew she was sitting and staring but needed a moment to process and compose herself. Trying to decipher Miss Beaumont, she slowly closed her gaping mouth.
“Clearly, I’ve shocked you,” she said with a laugh. “I know most young ladies raised in a genteel fashion dream of their first season. I suppose I am a curiosity . . . but I don’t yet feel ready for marriage.”
Alice took a large, slow sip of her now tepid tea as the idea sank in. Nathalie was not ready to be married—and really, what woman at nineteen years of age truly was?—but she felt able to voice that feeling. And most importantly, her family accepted her choice.
“You look puzzled. Believe me, I’ve had that reaction often.” Miss Beaumont tilted her head, studying Alice. “If you have questions, I’m happy to try and answer them.”
“I just never realized that was an option,” Alice offered after a moment.
“That what is an option?” Nathalie’s eyebrows pulled together in her curiosity.
“Not having a season. It’s never even occurred to me that might be possible. Making a good match, and early, is what has always been expected of me.”
“Oh.” Nathalie stared at her as if she herself was now trying to process a new paradigm.
“What does it say about me that I hadn’t even thought to question it or thought about the possibility of something different? That I couldn’t envision another life for myself?” Alice felt desperation creeping in for an answer about who she was.
Miss Beaumont pondered silently for a moment before venturing to answer, and Alice appreciated her for taking her sincerely and not simply laughing her off or thinking of her as an unserious person.
“I think . . . I think it may mean that you’ve never been presented with any other option. That you have not had an example of anything different and perhaps that you take your duty seriously. These are not bad things, Alice. Oh, may I call you Alice?”
“Please do,” she said through trembling lips. “And I’d very much like to call you Nathalie, if you’ll permit it.”
“I’d like that. And I’d like to be your friend as well, if you find that you’re in need of one.
As the youngest, I’ve always been rather on my own and never had much in the way of female friends my own age.
Lizzie, my sister, is five years older than I am and was always in the stables.
It might be nice to gossip about frivolous things a bit and get my head out of my books every once in a while. ”
Alice let out a laugh and wiped at the moisture that had gathered at the corner of her eyes. “I’m an only child, I’ve never had many friends either. I would very much like to be your friend. I just wish your brother was as easy to get along with.”
“Ethan is the kindest of souls, he’s simply going through a period of significant adjustment right now and doesn’t always respond to change well. Be patient with him as he finds his way, and I’m sure you’ll have no trouble with him.”
The fact that Mr. Beaumont might feel as uneasy as she did had never crossed Alice’s mind. He seemed so sure of himself.
“Maybe you can help me. Provide me with some guidance on how best to work with him.” Nathalie nodded as Alice continued.
“I’m afraid I didn’t make a very good first impression on him.
I was out of place and came across rather entitled,” she said, cheeks heating up at the confession.
“I tend to fall back on demands, feigning control when I feel insecure. I think he believes me to be cold.” She had never enjoyed the idea of being disliked, which is why she always tried so hard to fit in.
But for some reason the thought of Mr. Beaumont resenting her, believing her to be someone else, sank a stone into the depths of her stomach.
“Ah—well, you have that in common. There is nothing Ethan hates more than feeling out of control. And he strongly believes that no one person is superior to another, so if it seemed like you were talking down to him, he would not take kindly to it.”
Alice swallowed around a lump in her throat.
That was exactly what she had done, because her entire life she’d been told that as the granddaughter of a marquess she was superior, even if she’d never felt it.
Still, she needed time to think through what it would mean if everyone were equal, as Mr. Beaumont believed.
But she also needed to find a way to work with him in better harmony than they’d been able to achieve up to this point.
“Do you have any suggestions on how I might gain his trust?”
Nathalie leaned forward and grasped her hand. “Be a part of the work, don’t just oversee it. Show him through your actions that you care about the project and are not merely doing as your cousin has asked of you.”
Be a part of the work. That was something Alice could do.
Striding into the dining room, Ethan was glad for the break the meal would provide. He’d spent most of the day in the office getting things organized before Johanssen started as the new steward in a few weeks’ time, and he was feeling twitchy for not having been out helping with the labor.
“My apologies,” he said as he came up behind his chair, knowing he was a few minutes late. Ethan felt some relief noticing that Miss Pembroke, too, was running late and he was not solely responsible for holding up dinner.
“Not needed, Ethan, we know you’ve been working hard.” Priscilla smiled at him before turning to the butler. “You may begin now that we are all here.”
Ethan was shaking out his napkin when Priscilla’s words registered. Looking up, he quickly asked, “But Miss Pembroke is not here, should we not wait?”
“Alice is still finishing in the garden. She asked us to proceed without her this evening and will dine in her room later,” Priscilla relayed this completely neutrally, as if it should not matter that her cousin was working this far into the evening.
“She’s doing what?” Ethan stood abruptly from the table, his thigh hitting the mahogany on the way up in his haste, causing the dishes to rattle. Startled, all eyes turned to him.
“Relax, Ethan. She’ll be finished soon. She wanted to finish getting all the borders outlined before the end of the day. I’d think you would applaud her dedication,” West said.
“It’s not Miss Pembroke I’m concerned about.
If she deigned to lower herself enough to do the work on her own, I’d have no objection.
But I’m sure she is not the one unfurling the string and staking lines.
No, I’m more concerned for whichever of my men she has held after hours without a thought for their concern. ”
“Ethan . . .”
He didn’t hear what else Priscilla had to say, as he was already out of the room and surging toward the back garden.
“What on earth are you thinking?” he roared as he neared two silhouettes outlined by the torchlight.
Miss Pembroke visibly started at his bellow and looked a tad alarmed to see him descending upon her. Ethan didn’t intend to frighten the woman, but really, he was at the end of his rope with her thoughtlessness.
“We’re . . . we’re finishing plotting,” she managed to get out through trembling lips, gesturing toward David. “I thought you’d appreciate having it completed early. I was trying to show you that I care about our progress.”
“Yes, you were once again thinking about yourself and how it would make you look. But did you think at all about David, who should have been off work and back home with his family hours ago?”
Her mouth fell open in shock as she tried to defend herself. “I . . . I . . .”
“That’s what I thought, you didn’t think about him at all.” Shoving a hand through his hair in frustration, Ethan turned to the workman. “David, thank you for staying late. You are done for the day. Go home and please make my apologies to your wife.”
David gave a quick nod of acknowledgment before handing Ethan his long spade and turning away.
Hearing quick footsteps behind him, he turned to see Nathalie approaching. “Ethan, stop. She didn’t know any better.”
“Maybe not. But she should have,” he finished, turning back to look at Miss Pembroke.
“You can’t simply keep men here to work according to your will and do your bidding.
David’s responsibilities don’t end here—he has a wife and children who depend on him and need his help at home.
They expect him to be there in the evenings.
Now his wife has been forced to manage without him for hours.
But you didn’t think of any of that, did you? ”
“Ethan—enough!” Nathalie urged, pulling at his arm. But he hardly felt it, his frustration boiling over.
“This is not the way to get into my good graces, Miss Pembroke!”
Ethan finally registered Nathalie’s attempts to abate his tongue when she gave another forceful tug. “Leave her be, can’t you see how badly she feels? You can help her understand in the morning. But for now, please. Leave. It. Be.”
Snapped back to the present moment, his anger began to abate. Having said his piece and seeing David off, Ethan refocused on Miss Pembroke who, to his horror, had tears streaming down her cheeks.
Nathalie rushed past him and wrapped her arms around her. “He’s just frustrated, it’s alright. You were only trying to see the project finished.” His sister sent him a glare. “There’s nothing wrong with working diligently and seeing a project through.”
“No, but he’s right. I should have finished it myself and not asked David to stay.
I’m sorry,” Miss Pembroke said with a sniffle, trying to remain as dignified as possible through the tears and shaky breaths, but she did look Ethan square in the face as she said them.
Seeing her earnestness, and his rushing blood slowing, he felt like a monster for having reacted so strongly.
“I’m sorry I upset you,” he said, raking his hand through his hair. “Nathalie is right, we can finish in the morning with cooler heads prevailing. Goodnight, Miss Pembroke.”