A Noble Cause

XVII - Preparations

Seventeen: Preparations

On the 27th, as intended, Isaac left Norwich to come back to Malmesbury. Olivia left Derry several hours before Isaac did Norwich, as she planned on avoiding the same inn she stayed at before and could use this time to seek a better place to stay and wait for the train Luckily for her, though, the extra time helped the situation altogether, and she managed to get to Liverpool in time for the right train, which lead her to meet Isaac in the station in Tetbury.

Whoever got to the station first was to wire the post office in Malmesbury, who would, then, deliver the telegram to the Cawleys, so Egbert would be there to drive them back to Bright Manor. Isaac had been waiting in Tetbury for about an hour when Olivia's train arrived. When she spotted him, she ran to give him a hug.

"Happy late Christmas!" he said. "How was everything in Derry?"

She smiled. "To you, too! It all went great — I have a nephew, you know?"

"Do you? I didn't know."

"Neither did I; my brother did not tell me. Or rather, he tried to, but... oh, long story! Anyway, John is his name. He is the sweetest little potato."

"Is that an Irish slang for toddlers that I'm not aware of?"

She laughed. "Oh, no! It's just because he does look like a potato with his freckled complexion and dark blonde hair... And there's another one in the oven."

"Another potato?"

"I hope for a girl this time, but I'll be happy either way."

"Hopefully you will be able to visit them once they are born."

"I hardly doubt it; my sister-in-law suspects he will come in two months... but we'll see: maybe Samuel will let me. And you? Did you see your parents?"

"Yes, I did. They were delighted to see me there. Papa spread the news to the entire family; we had fourteen people for Christmas in total."

"Oh my! We only had six and one of them was John. Was one turkey enough for you?"

"Uncle James has a ranch; he killed a big one," Isaac said, measuring it with his hands. "He must have been quite the animal when he was alive. Do you eat turkey in Ireland as well?"

"Some families do; the bigger ones mostly. We ate goose actually because a turkey is too big for us and ma doesn't really like the taste of it. She wanted da to kill a... Jason?!"

"What?" Isaac asked, looking around.

Jason approached the pair and picked up Olivia's luggage. He was the one who would drive them back; not Egbert, as originally intended.

"Come on, you both," he said. "It's a long way to Bright Manor and His Lordship needs you."

"Has his mother replied to the letter?" Isaac asked as he walked alongside him.

"Yes. They are coming on the 31st."

"Good!" Isaac said, smiling. "Thank you, Jason."

Jason nodded. They all took their respective seats and soon the ride began.

"Is Her Ladyship coming?" Olivia asked Isaac.

"They both are. Lord and Lady O'Cain will spend New Year's Eve at Bright Manor."

"You do know he's not an O'Cain, don't you?"

"No. What do you mean he's not an O'Cain?!"

"No, he's actually a von Oldenburg, from an old, German family of failed nobles. Something to do with the Holy Roman Empire, Napoleon and Bismarck; I forgot everybody's role in his family's story, but they all played one. Anyway, what matters is that Lady O'Cain is the only O'Cain in the family, but people call him Lord O'Cain because he married her and owns the O'Cain's lands with his wife through marriage and, in any case, O'Cain means so much more than von Oldenburg nowadays, from what I've gathered."