The Reluctant Marchioness

Chapter 1

"How we need another soul to cling to, another body to keep us warm. To rest and trust; to give your soul in confidence: I need this, I need someone to pour myself into." Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

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Chapter One

A week had passed since Emmett had announced that an American hotelier father and son had purchased Pendleton Park from Ascot. It was also the day that they were supposed to be arriving for their stay.

Rose sat idly in the library, pretending to be immersed in a novel while she watched maids scurry about dusting surfaces that had already been dusted. Even she had to admit, it was quite exciting to have two foreign guests come to Ascot. It was even more exciting to think that the once beautiful manor house, which was now quite tired, would be turned into a beautiful hotel. Perhaps, as the previous owners, she and her family might be permitted to dine there every once in a while.

"Oh, Rosie, there you are!" exclaimed Bess as she pulled Alexandra and Imogen into the library by their hands. "Could you mind Allie and Imogen for me? I need to go and speak to Mrs Weston about the menu tonight and Emmett is taking Davy to Pendleton Park to meet our guests. Lord, everyone is so frantic. Poor Mr Hartley. I fear he may have a coronary!"

Rose loved caring for her nieces, and she hoped it would fill the void as she grew to be a spinster. It saddened her at times, knowing that she would not become a mother. Although Bess, her mother Marie, and her sister Charlotte often laughed off these fears, Rose knew them to be true. She'd had a London season. Three months of balls, assemblies and dances. She'd been in rooms filled with eligible gentlemen, and the only one to ask her to dance was one who knew of her dowry, and only because Emmett had told him. Though Emmett had only been trying to appease her, it brought her to the true realisation that she was not tempting to men. Not like her beautiful sister.

While Charlotte was statuesque, slim, and beautiful, Rose was small with unremarkably plain features. Her lacklustre height overemphasised her hips, which was just another feature about herself that caused her to be self-conscious.

Bess looked unusually dressed up. Her usual loose, wavy hair was pinned up and away from her face in a neat knot. She wore a lovely sky blue gown and some beautiful jewellery pieces — a matching blue bauble around her neck and a sapphire encrusted tiara on her head. She couldn't help but think that Emmett may have insisted that she abandon her usual simple attire for their special guests. She'd never looked more aristocratic.

"Anyone would think we were hosting the King," Rose joked.

"One would think that," Bess said, smirking, "with the way Emmett is behaving. Anyway, girls, be good for Aunt Rose." With that, she left the twins and made her way swiftly from the library.

Alexandra and Imogen were very attractive children. Alexandra's hair was dark and curly, like Emmett's, and she had big hazel eyes. She was taller than Imogen, who had wispy blonde hair, but the same hazel eyes.

Alexandra, as the taller and slightly older of the two, often took charge of Imogen. She had Bess' boisterous personality. Imogen didn't seem to mind though.

"Aunt Rose, what is happening?" Alexandra asked Rose.

Rose lifted Alexandra and then Imogen up onto the settee with her, both girls getting comfortable on Rose's lap. Rose wrapped her arms around both of them. Yes, this could fill her void. "We have some very important guests joining us," Rose replied. "So you have to be on your verybest behaviour, Allie," Rose warned. "You, too, Imogen," she added, tapping her niece on the nose, making her giggle. To entertain the girls while their parents were elsewhere, Rose decided to order some sweets from the kitchen. Maids were still going about their business, walking throughout the rooms of Ascot cleaning and cleaning again. "Excuse me?" she asked, to get one of the maids' attention. Unfortunately, Rose only knew the names of a handful of maids. They came and went ever so frequently, leaving to get married and start families. She silently cursed herself for feeling envious.