The next morning, the air was colder, as if the tension of yesterday had settled on the stone walls.
A knock came at my door– lady Storm, the lady of the house walked in.
She entered the room with calm grace that belied her age. Her eyes, though tired, held none of the harshness her son had shown.
"I hope you slept well," she greeted.
I nodded, "I am well rested."
"Well, they're some things I have to teach and show you as the new lady of the house.... Come with me,"
Her tone was warm but cautious.
As we walked through the manor, she gestured towards ledgers and rooms, weaving between duty and kindness. Her steps were deliberate, her explanations clear.
Eventually she stopped, her hands gently touched my arm, " About Darell, he'll warm up to you soon enough. You both were thrown in this marriage. But I do apologise for how he's been treating you."
Before she could respond, another voice chimed in–a younger brighter one.
"Good morning ,lovely ladies."
It was Coral, looking radiant under the sun's glow and unmistakably pregnant. A subtle bump round her midsection. How had I failed to notice it yesterday?
She noticed my eyes lingering on her bump.
"I wanted to tell you myself," she smiled sheepishly. "But all that tension yesterday ruined it."
Lady Storm chuckled, "You will be taking over the household duties from next week. So do start familiarising yourself with everything."
I smiled.
She excused herself, leaving us in the sunlit drawing room.
The drawing room was flooded with soft light. Floral curtains shifted gently with the breeze, and the scent of honeysuckle drifted in from the garden outside. The room lacked the coldness that echoed through the rest of the estate. Here, it felt.....loved in.
Coral eased in a cushion seat with a soft sigh rubbing her belly.
"I've been craving nuts crushed in bananas for days. My sister says it's disgusting and won't let me eat at the same table as her," she said.
She chuckled ringing the bell. Moments later a maid appeared, and tea was ordered , a long with a tray of sweets and fruits.
"I don't remember you being this quiet," she observes.
"I feel a little bit awkward," I laughed nervously. "Being back and seeing how everything has changed has quite affected me. I don't know if you're the same people I knew back then."
"I am still me," she said. "I picked flowers with you, teased Darrell together. That young kid is still here."
I studied her searching for that young girl beneath the glow of impending motherhood and gentle poise.
"You've grown to be the woman you've always wanted to be," I said.
"What woman?" She asked sipping her tea.
"A poised, elegant woman. You would stare at the ladies who came for garden parties and pick the elegant of them all,"
"And then later drag both of us into a mud pool," we burst out laughing remembering how chaotic we were.
"I also admire how you've adapted to everything," I said honestly. "Marriage. Motherhood."
"Well," she said reaching for a sugared cookie. "Adaptation is a polite word for surviving with grace."
I watched her bubbly exterior crack. She sounded tired. It made me sit straighter.
"You don't sound happy,"
She waved it off, but her fingers tightened slightly around the edge of her teacup. "I'm content. Anyone enjoying all this luxury and servants at your beck and call..... won't you be content?"
I wanted to ask what she meant but she now felt distant. But I had approach her some way.
"You should have sent me the wedding invitation," I tried to chase the tension away.
"We eloped," but I had made it worse.
And then....the door to the drawing room slid open with a muted scrape, admitting Darrell himself.
He paused on the threshold, coat half buttoned and hair still damp from a morning ride. Whatever words he'd intended dried on his lips when he saw Coral's hand resting a top mine. For a heartbeat the three of us hung in a fragile stillness.
"Good morning," he said at last. The greeting was Civil, but the tension beneath it coiled tight.
Coral's bright composure returned like a curtain dropping. "Morning brother. Have you come to steal my company or maybe the last of the sugared biscuits?"
"I came for the ledgers," he replied stepping farther in. His gaze flicked to me, then slid away. "Mother said they'd been moved here."
"They're on the escritoire," I said gesturing with my teacup.
Darrell picked up the stack of leather bound books, thumbed their worn spine and set them down again as though they'd grown heavy.
"Did you go through them?" He asked.
"Not yet, but I was planning to," I answered.
"Brother do spare as a minute, we were reminiscing," Coral said.
He glares at me, "Reminiscing can wait, duties don't."
"You speak as though we've never known duty," I ventured. My voice was softer than intended, but the challenge was there," Your mother has just shown me half the estate and explained all my duties at dawn."
He lifted a brow, " and found it lacking?"
"No," I said. "Found it magnificent..... and in need of care. The sort of care a household grants when it works together, not at odds."
Something flickered across his features–hurt or was it annoyance? – before he masked it with indifference. " A lecture already? We've only been married for two days."
"It isn't a lecture, Darrell," Coral interjected easing her swollen feet onto a footstool. "It's a suggestion –learn to listen for once."
A muscle jumped along his jaw. He gathered the ledgers once more. But before turning he addressed me directly:
"After luncheon the steward will bring you the household accounts. If you wish to help start from there."
With that he strode out.
"I feel stiff. Let's take a walk in the gardens."