The Purpose of Miss Shepley

Chapter Six (part I)

Earnest laid his quill aside, and we scanned over his work. Miss Goodwin smiled warmly, and I clapped for him, telling him, "Nicely done, Oakhurst."

This drew Lady Oakhurst's attention. She drifted toward us, her brows raised in an uncertain kind of amusement. "What's this about...?"

Earnest handed the paper to her. "Miss Goodwin is educating me."

Lady Oakhurst looked it over with narrowed, rather calculating eyes. "Didn't Mr. Thornfield try to teach you the runes...?"

Earnest shrugged and grinned, admitting, "Well, he tried..."

She handed the paper back. "I think Miss Shepley would enjoy our library. Don't you, Earnest?"

"Oh, yes." Earnest beamed at me. "Father collected all sorts of old books and things. We could lose you for years in there."

I tried to not smirk. Lady Oakhurst had been taking good advantage of the Ansley's absence to undermine their competing invitation.

Indeed, she grew less and less subtle about it over the days, until at last, on the eve of her own departure, she became outright disparaging.

As I sat beside her at dinner that last night, she filled my ear with longing descriptions of Oakhurst and all her eager thoughts on preparing for the Midsummer shortnight.

At length, she asked, "And can we expect the pleasure of your company, my dear?"

I answered, "Well, perhaps. Forgive me, I'm still waiting to hear if there is a more convenient time for me to visit the Ansleys."

"Oh, no, no. If you ask me" -- which I hadn't -- "Midwinter is the time to see Ethelsburg, not Midsummer. It is quite dry there year round, which is such a novelty during the Winter months, but it has no charms at all in the Summer. Not in a city that size.

"Now, Northpoint or Farport you might consider, for the fog there is quite amusing, but for Midsummer, I would stay at home. Which is to say my home, my dear. Not here. It is too hot down here. And we do Midsummer properly! It can't be done properly in Ethelsburg, or a city of any size, really. No, my dear, you must come to Oakhurst. Once you see it at Midsummer, you'll understand there is no better place."

I nodded and assured her I was most seriously and gratefully considering it.

She brought it up again over cards, talking with Earnest about how much cider they had in store and where the bonfire should be built -- the east grounds were rather cramped, but there'd been so much wind on the north grounds, last year...

I excused myself early that night just to get away from it. Earnest glanced at me in a way that indicated he was entirely sympathetic.

I went up to my room and rang for a maid. Mrs. Burke appeared just as I'd guiltily picked up the guide for young brides. She brought a letter with her -- one last delivery for the day.

I sat at my dressing table and looked it over while she brushed my hair. The Blackwells had been hinting about inviting me to visit them at Colburg Park, but Lady Colburg's hand was large and florid, and the pen strokes on this letter were tight and angular.

The seal on the reverse was stamped with the image of an ewe's head in profile, nearly identical to the mark my grandfather used.

"Well?" Mrs. Burke prodded. "Aren't you going to open it?"

I realized I was afraid to. I already knew who it was from, and I suspected I already knew what it would say -- and I knew its arrival meant I had failed in my simplest and most urgent task. I had utterly forgotten to write and invite my cousin to visit again, and so he had been forced to invite himself.