Dawn on a Distant Shore
Page 133

"Aye, mem. Pardon me, mem."
"If there is any tea to be had, a cup would be very welcome."
"Och, aye, mem. There's coffee and hot chocolate, as weel."
"Tea is all I require." And Nathaniel, she might have added. In good health.
"Is there aught else, mem?"
Elizabeth said, "Yes. Tell me, whose chamber is this?"
"It was the laird's mither's, Appalina she was, the auld Leddy Carryck. But it's stood empty these many years since she passed on. That's her likeness, hanging there." She pointed to the portrait that hung over the mantelpiece.
"The earl's mother?" Elizabeth asked.
"Aye, she came ower fra' Germany tae marry the auld laird."
"And the earl's wife, where is she?"
The girl's brow lifted in astonishment. "Leddy Carryck's been deid these fifteen years, mem. There's a bonnie likeness o' her hangin' in His Lairdship's own chamber, and anither in Elphinstone Tower. But those chambers are locked."
"Elphinstone Tower?"
Mally nodded so that her white cap slid sideways and had to be righted.
"Aye, mem. The northeast tower, called Elphinstone for her faither. She was Marietta, a French leddy. Dauchter tae Lord Balmerinoch wha lost his heid after the Rising. Ye'll ha' heard o' Lord Balmerinoch?"
But Elizabeth had not, and so Mally went away, no doubt to tell the entire staff how poorly informed these visitors were about their host, while Elizabeth leaned back to study Appalina, once of Germany. A dark-haired woman in yellow brocade with Valenciennes lace at her wrists. She wore no jewels at all, but her arms were filled with long-stemmed tulips of such rich deep colors that Elizabeth thought the artist must have taken some liberties. But he had done Appalina no favors, and perhaps she had wanted it that way, insisting that he paint her as she was, neither beautiful nor plain. The extravagance of flowers in her arms drew a strong contrast to the resolute expression in her eyes, a firm and unflinching gaze the color of good brandy.
The earl had inherited his eyes from his mother. But how was it that his father had taken a German bride?
Elizabeth had time now to look at her surroundings, and the answer was all around her. It was there in the fine molded plasterwork of the ceiling, in heavy mahogany furniture, in silver candle sconces and Turkish carpets, in Chinese vases and marble mantelpieces. This was not the home of a Scots earl impoverished by years of revolt and warfare. No doubt Appalina had brought her new husband a handsome fortune.
A breeze from the open windows made the embroidered silk of the bed hangings flutter, stirring the roses and lavender that stood in a vase on a small table and spreading their scent through the room. She wondered if Appalina had seen to the planting of the garden, and if it had been a comfort to her in those first years so far from her home. Sometime soon after she arrived as a new bride, the earl's twin brother--Hawkeye's father--had gone off to seek his own fortune. Leaving his home as she had left hers, to look for a new life, a farther shore.
"Your great-grandfather was most probably born in this very bed," she whispered to her children. "But you were born in the endless forests, and that is where you will grow up."
Lily yawned in agreement, and Daniel followed her example.
Mally brought her tea and a tray crowded with scones, jam and cream. And she brought a word from the housekeeper, Mrs. Hope.
"If it pleases ye, mem, she'll be by shortly. Tae show ye the nursery."
"Will she?" Elizabeth hid her face in her teacup while she considered. In a great house where the lord had lost his lady and remained unmarried, a housekeeper's authority was likely to grow to formidable proportions; this one, Mrs. Hope by name, was testing her to see what she was made of. Aunt Merriweather would be gratified to know that all her training and counsel were finally to be put to good use.
She swallowed the last of her tea, and getting up from the little bow-backed chair, Elizabeth smoothed her rumpled skirt as best she could. She smelled of horse, but this was not the time to worry about such things.
"The children will sleep here with me, so I have no interest in the nursery. Right now I will go to see my husband, if you will stay and watch over the babies?"
Mally lowered her eyes and nodded her agreement, but not before Elizabeth saw something flash across her expression--pleasure, and perhaps a little apprehension.
"You need do nothing but make sure they do not roll from the bed in their sleep. I will return before they awake, or I will send my stepdaughter."
The cheerful round face bobbed up toward her. "The red Indian, mem?"
Another truth she had forgotten: news spread among servants at an unthinkable speed.
"My stepdaughter is Miss Bonner," Elizabeth said firmly. She thought for a moment, knowing that whatever information she passed on now would make its way to the entire household, and would influence Hannah's stay here for better or worse. "I trust you will do all in your power to make her welcome, Mally. If she is unhappy at Carryckcastle, so will the rest of us be. Do you understand me?"
Mally's cheeks, already ruddy, flushed even darker. "Oh, aye, mem. I meant no offense, mem."
"I'm sure you did not. Now I must go see how my husband is faring."
"And what shall I tell Mrs. Hope, mem?"
Elizabeth paused at the door. "Is there a chamber that connects to this one?"
Mally nodded eagerly. "Aye, mem." She pointed to a closed door. "Through the dressing room."