The morning sun glimmered softly through the sheer curtains, warming the still room. The unmade bed lay empty, as its most recent occupant awoke with ideas that needed to be liberated onto paper. Ella could always make better sense of her thoughts once they were written down.
She sat over her desk, her copper blonde hair, pulled back into a braid and the light permeating her white muslin nightgown, which was now, like her hands, stained with ink. Sarah had come in nearly an hour earlier to dress her and prepare her for breakfast, but as Ella was in the middle of thought, she with a flick of her wrist, promptly sent her away.
She was just finishing her stream of thought when her mother entered. Already dressed; her blonde hair perfectly coiffed, her elaborate morning dress worn with fine elegance. She shook her head in disapproval seeing Ella at her desk, scribbling away, still in her nightgown.
"Why must you always be writing? Such a useless pastime, your sister and I have been waiting near an hour for you," Mrs. Rutherford scolded, frustrated as their day was starting quite late due to her daughter's worthless pursuits.
Ella did not respond to this, she merely laid down her pen, in silent frustration, her thoughts disrupted, gone before she could get them committed to paper.
"And look at your hands, all ink-stained," Mrs. Rutherford tutted, fully opening Ella's curtains allowing the full light of day stream in. Ella blinked at the bright light, uneager to start her day in full, especially with promenading and fittings.
"Get dressed dear, we have appointments to keep," her mother instructed coolly, leaving Ella to her unfinished contemplation.
As soon as Mrs. Rutherford left, Sarah entered and in less than thirty minutes, Ella descended their grand staircase, joining her mother and sister as they prepared for their outing. The three Rutherford ladies took leave of their stately Federalist manor, along the cobblestone path which led to Jersey Avenue. From the avenue the Capital building could be seen standing tall and majestic against the green and wild landscape of the newborn Washington City; much like roads to Rome, all avenues led to the Capital.
Washington City along with Alexandria, which lay on the opposite side of the Potomac River, comprised the District of Columbia, the newly designated seat of the United States government. Though Washington City was yet quite small and growing slowly, amassing less than 10,000 inhabitants since it became the Capital city nearly fifteen years prior, it was home to the most important seats of the government. The nearly finished Capital Building was nestled in the Chesapeake Bay just east of the Potomac River, and just down Pennsylvania Avenue the President's mansion was also being erected, nearly finished in its construction. The magisterial new buildings rose above the rest of the modest city in grandeur.
The evidence left behind by a spring rain were inescapable, with the avenue pockmarked in puddles. The three ladies strolled on to their destination, the newly established Modiste. Mrs. Rutherford used these errand walks as an opportunity to promenade along the city avenues. The young Washington city certainly did not have the grand cobbled streets of Philadelphia or New York, but Mrs. Rutherford insisted no matter the street, a lady should always walk and carry herself as such.
Ella could not gait like her mother, or at least she could not in seriousness, finding it all a little silly. Betty toddled behind the two elder Rutherford's, barely keeping up with the ladies, and often becoming distracted as they went on their way. Ella preferred staying back with her little sister, but her mother insisted that she keep step with her, a lady should not dawdle she would say. Mrs. Rutherford certainly missed the paved streets of Philadelphia. Strolls were for the genteel there, unlike the avenues in Washington City. It was much like living in the country, her daughters often looked as if they had played with the pigs once their calls were finished.
YOU ARE READING
When Washington Burned
RomanceElla Rutherford longs for independence. She has spurned all would be suitors and despite her mother's best efforts, finds herself all but settled on being a spinster. However, when tragedy strikes, Ella's hope for independence all but vanishes, leav...