Page 11 of The Earl Next Door
“I think you did the right thing in standing up to the duke,” Adeline said. “And how about you? Was the duke any kinder than when you were in London?”
Julia gave them a breathy sigh. “A trifle I suppose. I do hope it continues now that we’ve returned to get ready for the Season. I think he would keep me and Chatwyn at Sprogsfield forever if he could because it’s so isolated and difficult for me to break any of Society’s rules there. What about you, Brina?” Julia asked, turning to her. “We know what Adeline has been doing all winter, making sure Mr. Clements had everything accomplished. How was your visit with your family?”
“Lovely but wearisome,” Brina said respectfully. “They won’t leave me be. There was a steady stream of eligible gentlemen visiting. Some just for dinner, some for overnight, and others for several days, but all for me to consider as my next husband.”
“And you rejected every one,” Adeline offered as fact.
“Of course.” Brina smiled contentedly. “You twoseem to be the only people who understand I have no interest in ever remarrying. But enough about us for now. I want to know if all the girls are here.”
Adeline looked back at the school and laughed. “Yes, every one of them. Mrs. Tallon came over earlier and told me all nine are accounted for and waiting to meet us, so let’s go.”
Julia and Brina walked under the trellis and into the small schoolyard with Adeline. They stopped to stare at the name above the door.
“It sounds very quiet in there.”
“I’m thinking the same thing, Brina,” Julia agreed. “I would have thought with almost a dozen girls gathered in one place there would be a little noise.”
“I’m sure it’s because they are getting settled into their new home,” Adeline said, feeling a rare moment of trepidation herself. “Leaving their families must have been traumatic for them.”
“I didn’t want it to be,” Brina said compassionately.
“None of us did,” Julia answered softly.
“They need time to adjust to what is now going to be their normal lives,” Adeline offered. “We knew that. And they will. It’s best they are quiet for now and get to know each other.”
“I think part of my queasy feeling inside is that it isn’t just a dream any longer. It’s real now and the weight of knowing the girls are here because of us. Even though we won’t actually be taking care of them or teaching them, they are our responsibility. Before it was just an idea, planning and talking about them. Now we are going to put faces to their names.”
“But we all agreed this would be best for theirfutures,” Adeline added cheerfully, hoping to mitigate the concerns all of them were having now that the girls were on the property. “Many children go to boarding schools—mostly boys—and they do exceptionally well and so will these girls. Learning to read, write, and sew will be invaluable to them when they are old enough to earn a wage, which they will need to do one day, unless they are fortunate enough to marry a shopkeeper, silversmith, or some other tradesman who can take care of them.”
Both friends nodded.
“Besides, we aren’t forcing them to live here,” Adeline reminded her friends. “Their families made this choice for them. If any of them want to return to home they can. Mr. Clements assured me every family he contacted was grateful for this opportunity.”
“It’s just that I know how the mothers must feel about their daughters leaving home and living elsewhere,” Julia said wistfully. “They’ll miss them terribly.”
Adeline knew Julia had feelings and thoughts she and Brina couldn’t yet comprehend with any depth. Julia was a mother. She’d been awaiting the birth of her first child when theSalty Dovesank and took her husband’s life. Her son’s grandfather, the Duke of Sprogsfield, was constantly threatening to take responsibility for little Chatwyn away from her if she dared to stir up gossip about herself. They all knew the duke was powerful enough to do it, so Julia had to rein in her free spirit and acquiesce to the duke’s demands that she behave prudently at all times.
“Well,” Brina said in a softly dismissive tone. “Wewon’t think about any of the sad reasons for this school. Only the good ones. And whenever these girls leave, they will have more knowledge than they can possibly have reasons to use it. And the skills to be a superb seamstress.”
“Speaking of which,” Julia said, looking a little oddly at Adeline. “I wanted to tell you I went to see Mrs. Le Roe yesterday, and she was in a dither. She asked me twice if I had received a box of fabrics from her. She was quite fretful, saying that a disgruntled employee might have intentionally had some intimate samples delivered to the wrong clients in hopes of ruining her reputation.”
The earl came as easily to Adeline’s mind as slipping a linen chemise over her head and down her body. She had forgotten him for a few minutes while she talked with her friends, but the infamous box that had contained the crimson stays soared him and all that he made her feel back to the forefront of her thoughts.
“What’s wrong, Adeline?” Julia asked.
“Nothing,” she answered softly.
“I’m not believing you,” her discerning friend stated. “There’s something you’re not telling us. I can sense it.”
“No,” Adeline said absently, thinking she should have returned the fabrics to Mrs. Le Roe. But really, how could she after she’d—after he’d—
“Adeline, what are you trying to hide from us,” Brina said. “Something’s bothering you and there’s no reason to keep it a secret from us.”
“I think it has to do with a box from Mrs. Le Roe,” Julia declared. “Your demeanor completely changedwhen I mentioned her name. Has she done something to you or someone else?”
“What? No. That’s preposterous.”
Brina quickly removed one of her gloves and placed her palm against Adeline’s forehead. “How long have you been standing here in the sun waiting for us?”
