Brief Hours

Chapter Two

The carriage ride to the Fernsby's Castle was terribly boring, the only view was miles and miles of rolling hills which I could seen from my bedroom window if I really wanted to look at them. Mother was leaning heavily against the back wall, fanning herself, the murky green of her dress mixed well with her grey brown hair that Rose had styled perfectly. The carriage was little, with only four seats and a window on each side; trust me when we visit the Greystones in London we use our large carriage and it's most impressive.

"Do not let yourself drop Emma" Mother badgered me, I pulled back my shoulders and sat straight. Once again there would be possible suitors at this dinner and Mother would never pass up an opportunity to introduce me and drag me around like a show dog. "Lord Cartridge's son will be there, I heard he is looking for a wife"

"Mother I thought he was married?" I fiddled with a loose thread on my dress, anything was better then making eye contact with my mother on this subject.

"Oh he was, terrible accident! Last year she passed in child birth and their poor lamb too" Mother tanned herself faster and I sighed, "He says he's ready though, to do it again"

"Let me meet him Mother" I replied, I was entirely sure that Lord Cartridges son was older then me by at least fifteen years and I couldn't recall if he was the man with a bald spot or the lazy eye, perhaps it was both.

"Don't be naive Emma, you don't meet suitors before marrying them, you just marry them" She droned on, "I met your father once before I married him, I was not interested in courting. I was nineteen and he was twenty-three, it was the perfect match. That's what we are looking for for you Emma"

"I know Mother, I will try" I murmured.

"Speak up Child!" She hollered and I flinched, she had leaned forward in her seat to glare at me in the eye, "Do you think your husband will be as forgiving as I?"

"Of course not Mother, I'm sorry" I spoke clearly and she leaned back, I swore I could hear her hiss a little but I turned to watch the road and ignore her pathetic insults.

Almost half an hour later we rolled up to the driveway of Featherwood Castle, it was a beautiful building yet spooky with a single turret on the left that stretched six stories while the rest of the castle was five. The windows were misty and small but endless dinner parties here in my youth reminded me how visible the world is from those windows. I remember playing hide and seek with Cousin Dorothy and Cousin Cordelia before they turned into spoilt brats, we would discover the hundreds of rooms and hide behind the enormous beds or inside the beautifully crafted wardrobes. Featherwood Castle was not so different from Brickston Manor, it was just larger and more extravagant. The only place I had never seen was the turret, Lord and Lady Fernsby's daughter was terribly shy and spent her days upstairs hiding from the company, not many people had met her and I was no luckier. Mother claims to remember her as a child running around with the Fernsby's son Bertie, he was sociable enough for the both of them and seemed to appear at every event that was thrown in Western Bymere.

I was never a fan of the boy, he was particularly arrogant and small minded which made him almost impossible to have a civilised conversation with.

The castle loomed over our carriage and a quick tap on the side told us it was time to exit, I got out first and took Charlie the footman hand to help me down the steps and I turned to face the doors that were probably double height and a dark shade of brown. The butler stood at the entrance with a straight face, another man stood with him ready to escort my mother and I inside.

"Good evening Lady Whitebridge" The boy smiled, I returned the gesture but my mother was not so kind. "Good evening Lady Morley"

"Yes. Don't waste time boy let's go" She extended her arm and he cast a frightened look in my direction but took her arm and offered his other to me.