Blackstone and Broken Things

Chapter 1

England 1820

The fields outside of Blackstone were an oddity, not because of what was grown there but because of their proximity to the estate itself, instead of well-tended lawns that painted the grounds in a multitude of colored flower beds with shapely topiaries strategically placed along elaborate walkways surrounded by a sea of brilliant trimmed green. There was an ocean of gold, wave after wave wafting in the wind from the front drive to as far as the eye could see. Or as far as the tree line along the north and east of the estate. Still, this golden abundance was a sight that pleased Lady Belgray greatly, for after this year's harvest, all would be set to rights.

Well, perhaps not all, she thought mournfully as she caught sight of her dearest friend's carriage, a cloud of dust kicking up behind its wheels as it approached. For nearly two decades, the ladies had been the best of friends, closer even than blood sisters. They had conspired together as schoolgirls until they had entered society and been provided husbands of their own. There had been nothing one would not have done for the other at that time.

The testament of such devotion surrounded her now, a reminder of what she had done for her chosen sister all those years ago and would do again and again.

At that time, their lives had been much the same: the youngest child of a well-established family with little love or time for them, they had been shipped off to school the moment it had been deemed appropriate. Once school could no longer see to their care, they had been married to equally appropriate husbands, though only one had been happy with their match. Now, they lived vastly different lives, though that had never stopped Lady Caster from making the journey to Blackstone each year.

A demand Lord Caster happily indulged as he declared his wife's visits with the Lady were the one and only thing she ever asked for. He deemed Lady Belgray a settling influence on his verbose wife and even joined her at Blackstone on more than one occasion, finding the fields and woods the perfect restful indulgence with which to conclude the social season.

It was always at the end of the season that Lady Caster would come—spending roughly a week on its grounds, regaling Lady Belgray with all she had missed while secluding herself here in the country. A choice she hardly regretted and far preferred to the bustle and masquerade of London during its social season. She had been exceedingly grateful she'd only had to suffer the Marriage Mart for one season when she had made her debut to society. And save for one or two things, there was very little in London that she could not find here in the country with which to entertain herself, as she had often told her dear friend each time she would try to coax Lady Belgray to return with her. Thankfully, there was always something here that needed her attention. Though perhaps not as urgently after this year.

When Lady Belgray had first arrived at Blackstone, the estate was in an entirely different condition. It needed a great deal done, and she had been given far too little to do it with. Much to the shock of her neighbors, first, in that she'd been brought to the estate as it had been and that no attempts to improve it had been made before her arrival. And second, that she had not been provided the means with which to see it attended to.

Her title had aided in accomplishing some of what she had needed to have done to the estate but, in the end, had served as more of an embarrassment. As a woman, and one of her station no less, she should not have been made to deal with such things, but with her husband decidedly elsewhere and no other man in her life to oversee matters, the situation had become hers alone to navigate. And for the last twelve years, she had done precisely that. And while the work had been long and hard, Blackstone was finally looking the part of a lordly estate once more. Even if that did mean the grounds would be reduced to a dreary muck in less than a month. Once the harvest had been collected and the current fair summer weather began to turn, Her home would take on the part of some bleak manner straight from a gothic novel.