Yours Truly

Chapter Two

After a few hours filled with hurried packing, Adelaide finally loaded her luggage onto the wagon that would take her to the train station. Her mother handed her a wrapped parcel tied with string and Adelaide took it with surprise.

"What is it, Mother?" she asked.

"Just a small gift. Open it once you have reached Margaret's house, Adelaide." She hesitated for a second, seemingly overwhelmed with feeling. After a long pause, she continued. "Goodbye and have a safe trip, darling."

Adelaide nodded warily, unused to her mother displaying so much emotion. She climbed onto the back of the wagon and let it carry her away as she watched the receding figure of her mother just outside the shadow of their home.

She watched the scenery around her. The vibrant colours of the houses, the grass, and the sky. She itched to paint it, to see the picture come together in front of her eyes. She hadn't painted since her father had forbidden her to. The paint was too expensive to be able to afford it without tipping off her father. So she had contented herself with drawings but graphite and paper could only go so far. She pushed down her impatience. It helped to tell herself that once she made enough money, she could afford the most vibrant paint available.

The rest of her journey to London was unremarkable but a growing sense of anxiety built inside her as she drew closer and closer to her aunt's house. Adelaide had never met the woman. Would her aunt be cruel? Worse than Adelaide's father? Would she mistreat her and lock her in her room? Perhaps it would've been better to stay home, to face her father's anger.

She reflexively shook her head. No, she had to stick to the plan. Convince her aunt that she was going to museums or gardens, make money by drawing or painting for people, and save up enough money to disappear. She steeled her resolve as the train pulled into her stop.

It was bustling with children running around, men and women hurrying in many different directions. There were more people in the train station than there were in her entire village! She braced her shoulders and tried to follow the flow of the pandemonium. When she hurried outside, she saw a grand carriage waiting at the bottom of the steps among other cabs and bikes. A woman was standing in front of the carriage looking down at a timepiece. The woman looked like she belonged to the nobility. She had a dress finer than Adelaide had ever seen and black hair twisted into an elegant arrangement. The only concession of her age that Adelaide could see was the few strands of grey in her hair. She turned to go back inside when she heard her name called.

"Miss Fairfax!"

She spun around, her suitcases clutched tightly in her hands.

The woman had raised her hand in greeting. A welcoming smile stretched across her aristocratic face.

"You are Adelaide Fairfax, aren't you?" The woman asked, raising her brow.

"Yes, madam." Adelaide paused, "And you are?"

"I am the Dowager Countess of Yorkshire, but you can call me Aunt Margaret, darling."

Her brown eyes, which looked just like Adelaide's twinkled with a surprisingly mischievous gleam.

"Very glad to make your acquaintance, my lady." Adelaide swept a deep curtsy, feeling the Dowager Countess studying her closely.

When Adelaide raised her head to me the Dowager Countess' gaze, she found that her lips were pursed in consternation and the glimmer in her eye had faded.

Was Adelaide's curtsey not low enough? Had she already revealed a defect in her character so soon into their relationship?

Before she could open her mouth to apologize, the Dowager Countess turned back towards the carriage and gestured for Adelaide to give her meagre luggage to the coachman that had appeared out of thin air.