Chapter One #2
“Thank you,” Harriet replied, following her host across the hallway to the stairs leading to the family bed chambers.
The house was exquisitely decorated with some of the wall covering looking brand new.
Her mother had mentioned Lady Daphne was quietly redecorating and updating the house slowly.
Whatever the outcome, the finished look was going to be beyond expectations.
“The house looks magnificent,” Harriet said.
“Thank you. The country estate is going through a similar transformation. I can’t wait to see the end results.”
Daphne stopped in front of a dark-stained oak door and opened it.
Harriet crossed the threshold and walked to the center of the room.
The walls were a warm and inviting shade of periwinkle with white trim work.
She walked around the room taking in the ambiance.
Going to the windows, she saw that the room faced out onto the gardens which were in full bloom.
“I’ll go speak with the housekeeper about assigning a girl and getting you settled in. If you need anything, just use the bell pull in the corner.”
“Thank you, and I must apologize for my mother’s rude behavior,” Harriet said.
“No need to apologize for her. I have the feeling we’re going to get along famously.”
“I hope so,” Harriet replied.
Daphne smiled. “We will. I’ll leave you to settle in.”
“Thank you.”
As Daphne was about to leave the room, a knock on the door to the dressing and bathing area caught her attention. “Enter.”
The door opened and in walked her housekeeper and a young girl whose mother had worked for Arthur’s family until her death last year. She had been assigned as a chamber maid and was quite efficient at her job.
“I apologize for the interruption,” the older lady said. “I noticed the Lady Harriet came with no lady’s maid, so I thought Miss Rex would be perfect for the job.”
“Your timing couldn’t be better,” Daphne said. “I was just coming to speak with you about the situation, and you’re right; Miss Rex would be ideal.”
“I’m glad you approve,” her housekeeper replied.
“Harriet? What do you think?” Daphne inquired.
“I agree with both of you. Miss Rex is an excellent choice.”
“Thank you,” the girl said. “I shall begin unpacking your trunks.”
The young girl was of average height with mousy brown hair.
Nothing extraordinary, but Harriet knew they were close enough in age it would be easy for the two of them adjust to each other.
The fact that she’d grown up in her parents’ household meant she was more attuned to how things worked and knew what was expected of her without being reminded.
*
An unfamiliar sound awoke Harriet with a start.
As she sat up, she noticed Miss Rex opening the heavy drapes.
It was then she realized she must have slept since yesterday.
Carefully climbing off the bed, she saw a tray which must have been sent last evening.
Harriet concluded she must have been a lot more tired than she first realized.
Then again, she wasn’t under her mother’s thumb, and her body must have sensed the calm.
“Good morning, Lady Harriet,” Miss Rex said as she finished opening the draperies on the last window.
“Good morning. I must have been more tired than I thought,” Harriet replied.
“You must have. You didn’t touch your dinner tray.”
“I’m going to take a bath and dress. Then I’m going to have breakfast.”
Miss Rex nodded. “I’ll start your bath.”
Harriet didn’t take as long as she normally would. Her mother insisted ladies took their time when it came to dressing. Today was an exception. She slept through the evening and night and missed greeting her cousin, Arthur. Hopefully, her cousin would be having breakfast when she arrived.
Taking one last look in the mirror, she nodded her head in approval.
Miss Rex was certainly going to be a wonderful personal maid.
First time dressing her, and her hair and she looked far softer than the way her mother preferred her hair done.
There was something to be said about yesterday’s events.
She easily found the breakfast room with directions from the maid and a footman she met at the bottom of the stairs.
Approaching the closed oak doors, Harriet smoothed the skirts of the plum day dress she’d chosen and nodded to the footman.
He opened the door, and she walked past him and into the small dining room.
The first thing she noticed was her cousin, Arthur, seated at the end of the table. Lowering her eyes to the ground, she walked farther into the room. It had been several years since she’d seen her cousin and she had never forgotten what a handsome man he was.
“Harriet, good morning,” his baritone voice boomed. He immediately stood and came to her side. One large hand gripped her elbow and began leading her to the table. “Sit here. You must be quite hungry. Either choose what you’d like off the sideboard or tell a footman, and he’ll bring it to you.”
“Thank you, cousin. What do you suggest?” She watched him through lowered lashes as he retook his spot at the table.
“I highly recommend the coddled eggs this morning,” he said.
Harriet lifted her head and told a footman standing nearby what she wanted. Besides the coddled eggs, she chose sausage, toast, fruit, and tea. Her mother would never have allowed that, but she wasn’t here and Harriet could make her own decisions.
“Have you settled in?” Arthur inquired.
“Yes, I suppose I have. I fell asleep and slept through the night so I would consider that settled in.”
He nodded, picking up a newspaper from a stack to his left. “Just know that you’re more than welcome here and should you need anything, just let Daphne or me know.”
“I will.” The footman brought her plate right then and she turned her attention to it, rather than Arthur. If she had been looking, she would have noticed the lopsided grin on his face.
The room went quiet as Arthur began reading one of his newspapers and Harriet started eating. She heard the door behind her open, and the soft sound of a woman’s foot walking in caused her to pause.
“Good morning, Harriet,” Daphne said. She was standing at Arthur’s side and walked around him and sat across the table from Harriet. Quietly she gave her selections to a footman. “Do try the scones. They are the best I’ve ever tasted.”
She stared at the plate the footman put down in front of her. She shouldn’t, but it’d been ages since she’d had a scone. “I really shouldn’t.”
“You’ll hurt Cook’s feelings. Besides, you’re making your own choices now,” Daphne said.
Arthur folded his newspaper and put it to the side and pushed back from the table. “If you ladies will excuse me. I need to be in Parliament for a vote. I’ll see you both this evening.”
“That sounds exciting. I wish I could visit there and see how Parliament works,” Harriet said.
“I’ll be sure to take you if you’re truly interested,” Arthur said.
“Women can visit?”
“Yes,” he chuckled. “Have a good day.” He walked to Daphne and planted a kiss on her lips.
It was obvious these two were very much in love. The way they looked at each other said it all. Harriet hoped she would be as lucky as Daphne in finding such a caring man.
“We’ve got a busy day today. I’d like to go through your gowns and see if we can use any of them this season. I’m sure with some minor updating we might be able to give them new life.”
“Wait until you see them. You may change your mind when you do,” Harriet said.
“Besides your gowns we need to go through your undergarments. I’ll make a list of what you need to take with us when we go to my modiste.”
“Splendid idea. I suppose I can thank my mother for bringing me here when she did so we don’t have to rush around. She did that last season.”
“I see,” Daphne replied. “Does your mother always rush around?”
“Yes, she puts too many things on her schedule and then goes into a panic.”
“Sometimes I feel like I do the same thing.”
They continued eating in silence until the sound of a squawking parrot was heard outside the door.
Daphne nodded to the footman to open the door, while another one brought her a plate with cut-up apples.
Harriet watched as the parrot walked across the floor until he was standing next to Daphne’s chair.
“Good morning, Sam. Would you like some apple?”
“Yes!”
Daphne reached for an apple slice and bent over to give it to Sam. The bird snatched it with his beak before grabbing it with his talons. The only sound in the room was Sam chewing the fruit.
“More!” Sam squawked.
“Sam, we have a guest. Be nice,” Daphne scolded the bird.
“Sam nice.”
She smiled and gave Sam another slice, which he greedily took from Daphne.
“I can’t believe how hungry I was,” Harriet said. “I think I’ll go on ahead and begin to pull out the gowns from last season.” She blotted her mouth with her napkin and placed it beside her plate.
“I’ll join you as soon as I finish a couple of things needing my attention,” Daphne said.
Harriet rose from her chair. “Take your time.”
She left the room and easily found her way to the stairs and found her rooms. Miss Rex was in the dressing area putting away things she’d unpacked. The maid stopped what she was doing and greeted her mistress.
“Good morning, my lady.”
“I need to have you help me with something. Lady Daphne and I want to look at the gowns I wore last season. I’ll show you which ones they are. We need to put them out so we can go over each one and decide what needs go to the modiste for some updating.”
“Very good. Just show me which ones and I’ll bring them out.”
“Thank you,” Harriet replied. She decided to look and see how the dressing room was being organized.
It wasn’t hard to find the gowns. Most stood out as being ridiculous hideous.
No wonder she had no gentleman callers. Dressed in one of those creations would chase away even the most esteemed man.
How could her mother have even thought these were remotely pretty?
She had said and done nothing because her mother wouldn’t have listened to her.
She heard something behind her and whirled around to find her maid walking in. “These three are the ones I need pulled and placed in the sitting area.”
“Yes, my lady.”
She walked out to the sitting room to await Daphne’s arrival. Moments later Rex brought two of the gowns, laying them over the back of a chair. She took the top one of the two and laid it over another chair.
“Take the other three and lay them across the bed,” Harriet said.
“Yes, my lady,” Rex replied.
A knock on the door meant Daphne had arrived. Harriet opened the door and led her to the two draped across the back of the two chairs. No words were needed to describe either dress. Harriet knew they were hideous.
“What in the name of God was your mother thinking?” Daphne blurted out as she stood over the first of the two gowns.
“That’s a good question. You do know she went to her modiste who also has made most of my wardrobe and who has my measurements on hand and had her make these. Mother chose the style, fabric, color—everything.”
“You never had a voice in what was being made for your debut season?” Daphne gasped.
Harriet shook her head. “No. The first time I saw them was for a fitting the week before.”
“I do hope you let her know your dislike for them.”
“Yes, I did, though it did little good,” Harriet replied.
“I can imagine. Is this all you brought with you?”
“There are three on the bed. I believe one of them might be fixable for this year.”
“Let’s go look,” Daphne said.
Immediately Daphne focused her attention on one particular gown. She picked it up and began to look closely at the stitching. “I think this one could be modified and work for this year.”
“How so?” Harriet asked.
“Take a lot of this unnecessary beading and ribbons off. Make it a bit simpler, make it elegant. Right now, it looks like a child’s dress. It gives the wrong message.”
“I know. I tried to tell her that. She refused to listen.”
“Well, we don’t have to worry about that now, do we?” Daphne remarked.
Harriet grinned. “No, we don’t.”
Daphne put the gown aside and looked forlornly at the remaining two gowns, shaking her head. “Neither of these will do, though we could take this one with us just in case. There is no way the other could easily be modified. Too much work.”
“I agree.”
“How many dresses did your mother have commissioned for last season?” Daphne asked.
“I brought five and there are five more at home. If you think these are hideous, you should see them.”
“Thank you, but no. These were enough for my eyes.” Daphne laughed. “Come, let’s go over a list of balls we’ve been invited to already.”
“Good idea. Let me tell Rex to keep the two we selected separated from others so we can take them with us.”
Harriet found her in the dressing area folding some scarves. She told the young woman what they had decided on and made sure she thanked Rex for keeping things tidy and in order. She didn’t feel servants got praise when it was due, regardless of if it was their job or not.