“But I do not carry a burden now, Mama. I am quite convinced that the Earl and I shall get along in these next few weeks and that we shall both come to the conclusion that a marriage of convenience would suit us both very well indeed.”
“I am glad that Algernon Rochester will be there,” Rose said as if to disrupt the conversation entirely and spare her mother and daughter from simply going around in circles. “I do not know him particularly well, but I have always found him very amusing. He is quite light-hearted, I believe.”
“Yes, I think he is,” Emmeline said, grateful to her sister for her intervention.
By the time they arrived at Addison Hall, the Earl’s butler was already waiting at the top of the steps to receive them. He smiled warmly at them and was not anywhere near as austere as Emmeline had expected him to be.
“Good afternoon, ladies. His Lordship is expecting you in the drawing room if you would care to follow me.”
“Thank you kindly,” Emmeline said, thinking so warm a welcome deserved an acknowledgement of some sort.
She had never before been to Addison Hall, and the building was barely visible from the outside world as the house and grounds were surrounded by the densest woodland. The sheer size of the house itself was something that she had not expected. Emmeline had been to a social event or two at the home of an Earl before now and had been greatly impressed by such grand surroundings. However, she had never seen a mansion quite as big as Addison, or such extensive grounds.
“I think this must be the largest estate in the county,” Rose whispered into her ear as they made their way through a long, oak panelled corridor.
The floor of the entrance hall and corridor was tiled in an immaculate black-and-white chequerboard pattern which she could easily see was made of marble. It shone to perfection, and there was not a trace of dirt or a speck of dust upon it anywhere.
When they finally entered the drawing room, Emmeline had to guard against looking so impressed. The ceiling was so high that she felt as if she were in a ballroom, rather the drawing room, and she could not help comparing it to the small and homely drawing room at Tarlton Manor.
There were four fireplaces, although it was too warm a day to have any of them lit, and she imagined that they would have been greatly needed in the winter to warm so large a space. The windows were so tall that she thought them as tall as Tarlton Manor house itself. In fact, the deep red curtains were so immense that she could hardly imagine how complicated a thing it must have been for the seamstresses to make them up.
“Good afternoon, Miss Fitzgerald,” the Earl said and bowed deeply. “I trust you are well?”
“I am very well indeed, Lord Addison, I thank you,” she said and bowed in response.
“You are acquainted with my cousin, I believe?” He smiled and raised his eyebrows.
“Yes, of course.” Emmeline turned to smile at Algernon Rochester. “Good afternoon, Mr Rochester. What a pleasure it is to see you again.”
“The pleasure is all mine, my dear lady,” he said with a bow.
“And please do come in and make yourself comfortable, Mrs Fitzgerald.” As the Earl showed her mother and sister to a seat, Emmeline thought his manners very nice indeed.
He was an Earl, of course, and likely raised with the utmost care. But title was not always a guarantee of good manners, and she knew that well. She had not known the old Earl but thought that he must have been a very steady and sensible sort of a man to have raised a son to have caring manners, rather than simple etiquette for etiquette’s sake.
“What a very fine drawing room, Lord Addison,” Constance said, and Emmeline was pleased to note that her mother seemed perfectly well at ease in Addison Hall. “The plasterwork on the ceiling is quite exquisite.”
“Thank you, Mrs Fitzgerald.”
As they all settled themselves down, two maids and a footman brought in a very extensive afternoon tea. There were cucumber sandwiches and small savoury pastries. There were little cakes and sweets and two immense teapots.
The maids immediately set to work pouring tea and handing it around, and Emmeline took the opportunity to look about her a little more, albeit surreptitiously. The drawing room really was spectacular. On every wall, there hung portraits in oil, immense portraits so much bigger than the sitters must have been in life. And the frames were gilt and gleaming, giving the whole room a very grand and impressive air.
The walls, where there were spaces between the numerous portraits, were painted a simple cream, as was the ceiling, albeit the scrollwork on the ceiling was picked out in as rich gold as the picture frames.
Together with the great windows, the pale walls gave the room a sense of vastness, even though it was well filled with much furniture. There were countless couches in cream and deep reds and armchairs and low tables everywhere.
“Perhaps after we have taken tea, you might all care to be shown around the place?” Lord Addison said in a light and friendly manner.
“Oh yes,” Constance said with such enthusiasm that Emmeline almost laughed.
“We shall have to hold one another tight, I am afraid,” Algernon Rochester said with a broad grin. “I have been coming here since I was a child, and I still find myself lost on occasion. I should not like to think of any of you ladies wandering the place lonely and searching for the exit.”
All present began to laugh, and Emmeline was very grateful for the break in tension that the Earl’s cousin seemed to provide. And when she looked at the Earl himself, she could see that he was similarly pleased.
The afternoon tea had gone very well and, with the help of Algernon Rochester, the conversation had never fallen flat for a moment. Clearly finding herself most comfortable, Constance had also spoken at length and been most interesting as well as interested. All in all, Emmeline was beginning to think the thing a resounding success.
When they had taken to walking around the house, Emmeline smiled to herself when she realized that Algernon Rochester was doing what he could to keep her mother and sister well entertained.
“And there, you see, is a portrait of my cousin as a very much younger man. I think you will agree, he is now quite unrecognizable.” Algernon laughed, and Emmeline could hear her mother and sister laughing also.
“You hear how my cousin mocks me, do you not?” the Earl said with a smile as he and Emmeline walked ahead of the rest of them.
“Mr Rochester is very amusing, Lord Addison. I think my mother and sister are most at ease in his company.”
“In truth, that was why I invited him this afternoon. I suppose our circumstances are so unusual that I was concerned that your mother and sister might feel dreadfully uncomfortable.”
“That is very thoughtful of you, and I thank you for your care.”
“And I must thank you for agreeing to give this most unusual courtship a chance. If I am honest, I had expected that you might come to think better of it. I had worried that I had perhaps been a little blunt about it all.”