Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Phoebe had intended to ignore her husband’s words about his aunt’s similarity to a serpent, because she had already met the woman and while she had found her to be intimidating, she and not perceived her to be any sort of great threat to her.
And for some reason, just like when they had gone to the ball, Phoebe felt reassured by Edward’s presence, so the journey to Lady Shadborn’s estate was a calm one that passed with pleasant conversation.
Of course, the matter was much different in the dowager’s estate, where she welcomed them in the garden with a cordial smile.
“Your Grace, good morning,” she greeted quietly.
Edward, who had looked amused all morning suddenly took on a serious air as he nodded to his aunt stiffly.
“Good morning, aunt Barbara,” he replied curtly, placing a hand on the small of Phoebe’s back.
She was not sure if he meant it as a show of where his loyalties lay to his aunt or perhaps as a form of encouragement to Phoebe, but her knees weakened nonetheless. Clearing her throat, Phoebe smiled sweetly.
“Good morning, Lady Shadborn. How do you do today?”
“Quite all right, thank you. I am…” the elderly woman paused slightly. “Grateful that you decided to honor my invitation.”
“I’m afraid my wife is more magnanimous than I am,” Edward sighed, long suffering.
Phoebe shot him a look and shook her head at the dowager.
“Thank you for inviting us. After the way we left things, I was hoping for another chance to converse with you again, and I am glad to see that you shared the same sentiment.”
Barbara looked taken aback by Phoebe’s response, likely expecting her to be difficult or gloat about the fact the older woman was the one who made attempts to make peace between them.
But Phoebe remained pleasant, intending to remain so, while also leaving no openings for Barbara to look down on her and insult her as she had previously.
“That is… rather generous of you to say. Please,” Barbara gestured to the table that had been set up with fruits, little sandwiches and tea. “Sit. My cook’s skills are excellent and it is always a pride of mine to show off his remarkable talents.”
Edward pulled out a chair for Phoebe and once she was settled in it, he took his place by her side and helped himself to some fruit. Phoebe picked up a sandwich and after a bite, she remarked,
“I can see why you are proud of his work. This tastes magnificent!”
Barbara smiled, clearly pleased by the compliment.
“I am glad you think so. Many households have attempted to poach him but he has remained loyal to me, and we are like family now.
And it warms my heart greatly because there is nothing more important to me than family.
Edward is my nephew and only surviving family member, just as I am his.
For many years, his well-being was my priority.
I endlessly worked hard to ensure that he was raised right and guided down the right part.
And through most of it, he has excelled greatly.
However, I was of the belief that I would also be responsible for finding him a bride.
Perhaps it is due to my age, but I am rather traditional and as such, I have a preference for things done a certain way.
And I was quite furious with the way he blatantly disregarded my advice, so I was not accommodating of you and your circumstances.
“Regardless of the choices my nephew made, I should not have been so quick to penalize you for his misgivings. At the end of the day, the cross his to bear and if he is certain that you are suitable for him, then it is not my place to disagree, or stand against his decision. I apologize, to you both,” she told them both sincerely.
Phoebe shared a glance with her husband, noticing that he, too, seemed impressed by what he had just heard.
“I understand, Lady Shadborn. You love him dearly and as such, you only wanted the best for him. I suppose it was only fair of you to be disappointed when things did not seem as planned. But I assure you, I have no desire to take advantage of him. I hope that you will come to trust me and perhaps… we will be like family too. I’d like that very much. ” Phoebe said gently.
Barbara seemed taken aback, almost as though she had half expected to be ridiculed or insulted in a bid to be given a taste of her own medicine. But when Phoebe’s face remained perfectly accepting, she smiled kindly.
“I would like that as well. Thank you, dear.”
“As long as my wife has forgiven you, the. I suppose you can be welcomed back into my good graces. But still… I am sorry that it seems as though I was too stubborn to heed your words. I might not be able to control much of my life and if this was the only thing I could do, I wanted it done right.” Edward stated, smiling gently at his aunt.
Phoebe thought there had been something strange in his tone when he had spoken and when she looked back at Barbara, the older woman seemed grief stricken or a moment. Then her expression cleared suddenly, leaving Phoebe to wonder if she was seeing things.
“I suppose it was also my fault for believing that you would make any of your decisions easy on my poor old heart,” the dowager sighed deeply.
“But that is why you love me, is it not? Because I keep you on your toes?” Edward blinked at her innocently.
In that moment, if looks could kill, Edward would have been sitting as a pile of ash, so Phoebe quickly changed the subject.
“You have a very lovely home, Lady Shadborn. I might have not seen much of the interior yet, but my mother said you could tell a lot about a person’s tastes by the stage of their garden and you have an exceptional garden,” she complimented honestly.
“Why, thank you, Your Grace. And please, call me Barbara. I put a lot of effort into ensuring that my flowers and plants are loved from the moment they are mere seedlings and even long after they have bloomed. There are times I have even taken on the role of gardener, just to get things looking the way I want.” Barbara exclaimed bashfully.
“You both are similar in that regard I would never have expected it,” Edward shook his head in confusion.
“Oh, you like to garden as well, Your —”
“Please, you may call me Phoebe, aunt Barbara. And yes, I do enjoy gardening. My mother was quite fond of our garden, when she was alive and I was the only one of my siblings who were less interested in the dirt and sticks and more so in the plants and flowers. I love the array of flowers at the Montford estate.” Phoebe confessed, looking shy.
“So much so, she decided to take the whole affair of their upkeep into her own hands. It was quite a sight,” Edward muttered unhelpfully.
The duchess looked shy, expecting the dowager to feel irritated by Phoebe’s actions but instead she nodded,
“I know that feeling all too well. It goes beyond the odds of finding good help, but is more along the lines of knowing that if it were up to you, everything would be done perfectly. That is a wonderful character to have, dear duchess. I suggest you do not let anyone tell you otherwise. Though maybe it is best to let the servants earn their keep, every now and then.”
Phoebe grinned and shuffled forward eagerly as she promised, “I will.”
Barbara hummed in satisfaction and gestured to the refreshments that had been ignored while they spoke.
“Please, eat! And do tell me more about yourself. I imagine that although it seems that a new duchess has much to do, you must occasionally find yourself at your wits end with boredom in that big house. I already know that my nephew doesn’t make ideal company.
How ever do you cope to pass the time?” the older woman questioned with a look of dismay.
“I am certain it will be a tricky thing to achieve, but surely you can make your point without dragging my name in the mud,” Edward protested indignantly.
Phoebe laughed and shook her head. “I know Edward is far too busy tending to other matters to fawn over me constantly, and I appreciate every moment we spend together…”
She trailed of suddenly, startled by how much she meant it.
‘Appreciate’ was even too loose a description of how she truly felt and it was startling how deeply she craved to know more about him.
Edward glanced in her direction when she stopped speaking but said nothing, returning his attention to his lukewarm glass of lemonade.
“Ah, excuse me,” Phoebe cleared her throat.
“I do find great company amongst the servants as well, and simply carrying out my duties with their endless support helps dull whatever loneliness I feel. And… I like to play the piano. My father taught me, before he passed and I was able to teach my sister a bit, in preparation for her debut – though I will admit that perhaps I was not an ideal choice for her tutelage. I often play during slow, calm afternoons and –”
“She draws as well. It is remarkable, the amount of talent she possesses,” Edward interjected suddenly.
Barbara’s eyes lit up almost immediately. “Is that so? How wonderful!”
Phoebe glanced at her husband, while trying to contain the surprise etched on her face as Barbara clapped her hands in excitement.
“I’m not very good –” she tried to proclaim but was quickly interrupted by Edward again.
“Nonsense,” he scolded. “She is quite excellent and passionate about art. I am many things, but I do not lie.”
“Oh, that is splendid! I am something of a collector and I have curated a fine collection of stunning pieces from around the world. Come with me, duchess, let me show you.” Barbara exclaimed, rising to her feet and takin Phoebe by the hand.
The duchess looked to the duke for assistance, but he simply waved them off, much to Phoebe’s annoyance, smiling as Barbara began to tell her all about the artists she adored.
“It was my late husband who began the collection. He truly valued and appreciated each piece that came his way and at first, I couldn’t understand what made them so special.
I knew it they might be worth something – and that the mix of different colors and shapes made for a good spectacle, but it never really felt…
as special to me as it was to him. Art. And then he passed away, leaving me in this large house with no children, just more paintings and sculptures than I knew what to do with.
And one day, I sat in front of one the pieces he had hung in our bedroom, staring at the strange combination of blues and greys that made up the sky and sea.
In that moment, the grief I had been suppressing for so long came pouring out of me.
It was then I realized why he loved that piece so much, why his collection was so vast. And then I began collecting as well. ”
She told her story and she gave Phoebe a tour of the estate, pointing at all the pieces she loved, adding why occasionally.
Phoebe had been right when she commended on the dowager countess’ tastes, because not only were her rooms decorated stylishly enough to belong in a catalogue, but she was also completely enthralled by the amazing works of art that hung on the walls.
“One of the greatest honors I have received was to meet and obtain some of these pieces from the artists themselves,” Barbara told her proudly as they walked to a different room.
The room had large windows that took up an entire wall, which filled the room with lots of light, seemingly making every object around glow.
She admired the sculptures that had been arranged in an orderly line in two rows, her steps faltering when she spotted a painting on the wall that was unlike the others they had seen so far.
At first, she was curious, but as she drew closer, she realized it was a family portrait of a man and woman, and a boy who was likely their son, because he had his father’s hair color and his mother’s eyes.
The same eyes Phoebe had seen nearly every day, ever since she was married to Edward.
“Is this… are these Edward’s parents?” she asked slowly, turning to face Barbara who had been trailing behind her quietly.
“Yes. My dear brother and his wife. And the little boy they loved more than anything – who grew up to be a good man, but quite a handful,” Barbara chuckled slightly.
Phoebe returned her attention to the portrait, wondering if it would be rude to want to know more about them. Eventually, her desire to know more about Edward won and she parted her lips to question,
“What happed to them?”
Barbara hesitated for a few seconds, then she sighed deeply.
“Edward’s father died from a disease that had plague him for years.
We thought his medicine would keep it at bay for as long as possible, but his health had its good days and bad ones.
He was so young, too and Edward was only fifteen when he passed.
It was something none of us had seen coming and something we could not face, because he died so suddenly, and…
his poor wife… She had been so devastated by the loss, the grief caused her to lose her mind.
She fell ill, not long after and when Edward was eighteen – three years later, she died as well.
And he has been alone, ever since. I do what I can, to help and support him, but for the most part, he has taken control of all his affairs by himself.
It makes me worry, every time I think of how much his has undertaken by himself. ”
Phoebe felt disheartened as she listened to the dowager’s words, because she knew that it was like to lose one’s parents, but in her case, she and her siblings had each other for comfort and support.
It was not the same for Edward, and given how much he had to shoulder, she knew it must have been difficult for him.
“I know that your situation is not idea, and that I have no right to ask anything of you, given my initial reaction to you on our first meeting, but I would like to ask you to please help him. He can be rather stubborn – as I am sure you have noticed – and quite determined to do things his way, but he means well. Still, he needs a lot of support, and whilst he might refuse to receive what I offer, he might be more inclined to accept yours. So, please… take care of him,” Barbara requested, reaching out to hold Phoebe’s hands.
Without hesitation, Phoebe squeezed the older woman’s hands and stated,
“I will. You have my word.”