Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
From somewhere in the house, Isabel could hear music and laughter.
Connie and Matt were having dancing lessons.
Freddy had produced some ghastly French dancing master and they had all adjourned to the ballroom.
The suggestion at breakfast that Sebastian may care to join them received a frosty response and his lordship had taken his broadsheets and retreated to the study.
As Isabel stood outside the door to the study, she wondered how many years it had been since laughter had rung down the corridors of Brantstone. Connie and Matt had brought life to the gloomy corridors.
She took a breath and knocked. At the gruff response, she opened the door.
‘Am I disturbing you?’ she enquired.
Sebastian shot to his feet, almost knocking his chair backwards in his haste.
‘No, not at all. Come in.’
She entered the room and stood before him, her hands clasped in front of her black skirts.
‘I came to tell you that I am planning to move to the dower house in the next few days.’
He stared at her for a long moment.
‘Oh,’ he said, followed by, ‘Why?’
‘I’m not needed here anymore. Your sister now takes precedence over me, and she will see to the running of the household.’
‘But she’s only seventeen. She doesn’t know anything about running a household of this size.’
A small smile played at the corner of Isabel’s lips. ‘She is a fast learner, and it’s not as if I will be far away if she needs advice.’
He cleared his throat. ‘Is there anything I can do to assist you with the move?’ he asked.
She shook her head. ‘No, thank you. It’s all organised.’
‘You will need transport. Please take the small coach and the bays.’
‘Sebastian, that is too generous...’ she began, but he waved away her protests.
‘Call it an indefinite loan,’ he said.
‘I will send for my saddle horse and Millie and the foal once I am settled,’ she said.
He nodded. ‘Whatever you wish, Isabel. You just have to ask.’
‘Thank you.’ She turned to go. As she opened the door, she stopped and turned back to look at him. ‘We have all received an invitation to attend a supper at Lady Kendall’s tonight. What shall I reply?’
Sebastian hesitated. If it were up to him, he would decline, but he thought about Connie and Matt and said with a heavy sigh, ‘I suppose we should accept.’
Isabel nodded. ‘I will send a response. The invitation includes Freddy and Fanny as well, but I will send my apologies. It would not be appropriate for me to attend while I am still officially in mourning.’
Sebastian gave her a sharp glance, but she schooled her face to complete impassivity.
It would never be appropriate for her to enter the home of Lady Georgiana Kendall. The period of deep mourning would end in a few months, and Isabel would be breaking it with the Brantstone ball. For now it served as a useful excuse to escape an awkward situation.
Sebastian said, ‘May I call on you when you are settled, Isabel?’
She turned to look at him and smiled. ‘You will always be welcome, Sebastian.’
As she closed the door behind her, she paused with her hand still on the latch.
She had anticipated the move to the dower house for so long but now the moment had come, she felt an unexpected sense of loss.
Brantstone had been her home for ten years.
There were memories here. Mostly unhappy memories that she had sought to escape but, since Sebastian Alder had come to Brantstone, the ghosts had begun to fade.
You are being ridiculous, she told herself.
Straightening her shoulders, she strode towards the stairs.
There could be no looking back, no regrets. The time had come for her new life.