Daughter of the Rebellion

Chapter 26

Sunlight streamed in the window, gently pulling me from sleep. I loved being in this place. There were no schedules, no appointments, no obligations, no callers. Richard and I were able to spend nearly every moment together and we were free to spend the day doing anything we wanted - riding horses, walking through the extensive gardens, sailing the lake in the rowboat, or we could simply spend the day inside, sitting together and talking or reading. We never planned ahead of time. Instead we would discuss it over breakfast and decide what we would do for the day. Mostly we stayed indoors due to the colder weather, but there had been nicer days that allowed for outdoor activities.

Yawning, I sat up, stretching and searched the room for Richard. Years of getting up before the sun had left him incapable of sleeping in very late, but he always let me sleep as long as I wanted. Usually when I woke, he was somewhere in the room with me, having breakfast or reading. Delicious smells of food had been responsible for waking me up most days. But today, I didn't see Richard. Instead, I found a note in his place on the bed.

Darling,
I'm sorry that I'm not here to greet you this morning. I was called away for a few hours on a matter that could not wait any longer. I do not know if I will return by lunch time. If not, please don't feel the need to wait for me. Have your meal and do anything you wish. I will join you as soon as I am able.
I had hoped to extend our vacation a while longer, but I'm afraid we won't have much time after today. Bradford assures me that he is unable to do without me for another moment and that several business associates are refusing to postpone our scheduled meetings any longer. Personally, I would love to tell the lot of them to go hang themselves. Alas, I do not have that luxury.
Have a lovely morning and know that I wish I could enjoy it with you.
Your loving husband, Richard

Smiling, I ran my finger over the last line, relishing how it sounded.

The fact that our beautifully perfect honeymoon was going to have to end, wasn't surprising. I'd known it would happen sooner or later. It just would have been nice if it was a little later. Although, I suppose I couldn't complain. We'd actually stolen three weeks more than the month Richard originally planned for.

Sighing, I got up and decided to take my breakfast in the dining room. After so much constant time together with Richard, eating by myself in the bedroom seemed incredibly lonely. At least the servants would be downstairs.

After dressing, I made my way to the dining room where I was served surprisingly quickly. Lavinia must have had the food ready and warming, just waiting for me to ask for it.

The petite brunette, Martha placed my food in front of me and then joined Nettie, the taller of the two with dark blonde hair, against the wall in her usual place at meal times.

Martha and Nettie weren't much older than me, and unlike Lavinia and Lucas, the aging butler, they didn't have specific designated areas to work in. They were supposed to attend to me whenever I didn't dismiss them.

Normally it was a little suffocating. The few times I'd actually done it, they'd seemed heartbroken. I assumed that they would like to be able to do something other than wait on my every whim - which were as few as I could possibly manage, but it was as if they thought that because I didn't want them doing every little thing for me, they had somehow failed. Usually I just allowed them to stay since it seemed kinder.

That was with Richard around though. I'd hoped that since it was only me at the moment, maybe they'd be able to relax a bit. However, despite my few attempts to engage them in conversation, they never slipped from their professional positions of servants.

I asked Nettie where she learned to do hair as beautifully as she had, and where Martha learned to fold napkins and paper into the most intricate little animals or flowers. I asked about their families and even their preference of the colder weather, but all I got in response were the shortest, most demure and vague answers. I would have pushed harder, but I wasn't sure what might offend them.