At Stenwulf House

Chapter 6: Fighting Fear

Chapter 6: Fighting Fear

It was slightly after lunchtime, when Calden was looking through the ledgers, that there came a knock on the door. Without looking up, he gave his permission for the person behind the door to enter.

"Yes?"

"Mr. Stenwulf."

His head jerked up from his writing. "Miss Everild," he exclaimed. His eyes wandered to her neatly tied up hair, with a few deliberate strands framing her face, to the brown dress she was wearing, adorned with golden leaves along the bodice and hem. Her bright blue eyes enraptured him, and her polite smile more so. He immediately bit back a satisfied grin. "The dresses have arrived, I see. Good." Then he took a moment to calculate. "It has only been three days since, has it not?"

"I suppose so."

"Why, they finished them earlier than I had expected. Dr. Baines has yet to pay a visit."

Miss Everild nodded. "Not yet. He told me he will pay a visit either tomorrow or the day after."

"All five dresses have been delivered, then?"

"No. I– I didn't think it was possible for Mrs. Amanin to complete all orders. It usually takes three to five days to complete one dress." The hands that had been clasped in front of her tightened. "I told Mrs. Amanin to send the other three dresses on a later date. I presume they will arrive in the next week or so. I didn't think it would be very nice to put her through such pressure."

Calden recalled the time he visited her shop – well, not exactly her shop, but she was the woman who took charge while the Ekel family who owned it shook their legs away. He recalled how he had been received well with utmost respect. A constant smile was on the woman's face even when he asked for a tailor to follow him home immediately in his carriage.

"Mrs. Amanin graciously accepted my orders." He frowned. "Did the woman say something to you to make you think otherwise?"

"No, she did not," Miss Everild said quickly but firmly. "She did her job very well, even answered in the affirmative when I asked if it was all right for her, but I understand from my past experiences that a dress takes a minimum of three days to make, more if a lot of orders have been made by others on the same day. Mrs. Amanin looked positively distressed." She lowered her eyes, seemingly nervous. "I— I hope you don't mind it."

Calden sighed. "You think it's my fault?"

"No! Definitely not." She dipped her head, her fingers fidgeting.

"Don't worry about me. Say what you have in mind. My feelings are not so easily damaged." Unlike so many others he knew.

Miss Everild hesitated for a moment. "If... you are at fault for not asking, then so is Mrs. Amanin for not telling you straight away when you made your orders, but we must all understand that it is not right in society's eyes for someone of lower-rank to... disagree."

"So it is my fault, then," Calden muttered. In retrospect, he rather thought it was. How it was that the thought never entered his mind at the time was a wonder to him, for this lady was able to detect something he had not, and it had seemed so easy for her. But well, to be fair, she had known how long it took for a seamstress to finish making a dress. He didn't even know how long it took for a seamstress to complete men's clothes, for he hadn't hurried an order for his clothes before, and he most certainly had not been the one to collect the orders from his front step and send them to the washers.

"I'm sorry."

"It's all right. Like I said, my feelings are not so easily damaged." He shifted in his chair. "What brings you here?"