The Purpose of Miss Shepley

Chapter Eight (part I)

I grew hotter and stiffer and crosser til I thought I should scream, and then, at last, the road rose up. The vast expanse of flat and flat and flat suddenly gave way to a little ripple of earth, and then another, and another, and then the ripples grew, til they were rolling hills. Sometimes, the driver put the brake on, and the horses still had to trot downhill to keep ahead of the carriage.

At midday, we stopped to eat and stretch our legs. I took a few bites of some bread and cold mutton, but I felt more cramped and restless than hungry, so I climbed through long grasses to the top of a nearby hillock.

I stood there a long while, slowly turning in a full circle, taking in the peaked mountains still farther west, the round green hilltops in every other direction, like great garden walls all round me. A cool breeze wrapped my skirts tight round my legs. A cloud drifted overhead.

I chuckled, though there was no one to hear me. Half a day's journey from home, and the world was this different.

Mrs. Burke called me back, and we stuffed ourselves into the carriage again, more cheerful now as we drove deeper into the shade of green oak and walnut. In turns, the road took us down into cool woods, and then brought us up again into sunny meadows. Twice, Mrs. Burke stopped to empty her bladder and returned with hands full of wildflowers. Miss Ward braided them into a crown.

We drove past an orchard as twilight fell, and then a cottage. Just as the last glow of the sun gave way to true night, we reached a little town, and then the road brought us to Oakhurst, at last.

Servants came out to meet us. I paced round a few steps, stretching my legs and looking up -- even in the dark, I could see the great white house of Oakhurst Court was truly an edifice. It was at least twice the size of Ewert Hall and probably half as old.

My maids were directed round back to the servants' door, and I was led through a great entry hall and up a grand staircase to a suite of rooms on the third storey. Mrs. Burke and Miss Ward were already there -- apparently the servants' door put them on a more direct path.

Mrs. Burke directed a company of footmen bearing all our trunks, telling them what to put where.

She opened one of the trunks and unearthed my nightgown and my hair brush. "There'll be hot water and refreshments sent up soon," she said.

"But what about the Grimmonds?" Equal portions of excitement and apprehension swirled in my belly -- I could only hope Earnest would still be glad to see me.

"Tomorrow," she said, "when we are rested, and you are beautiful."

She pushed the nightgown and brush into my hands, and then she promptly put herself to bed.

Miss Ward stayed up, making half-hearted attempts at putting some things away. After a few minutes, she sat down, just to rest a moment, and was snoring more or less immediately.

I washed my face and hands -- I couldn't bear to wait for hot water -- and then I explored my borrowed rooms.

The Grimmonds had been generous with our accommodations. We had a bedroom, a sitting room, a dressing room, a maid's room, and a maid's sitting room, all connected to each other by doorways, like some sort of oak-clad warren. I wasn't sure how much I should be flattered by this, since the Grimmonds could well afford to be generous, but it was certainly delightful having almost a little house for myself.

I poked about the dressing room, taking in the chests and the wardrobes, feeling increasingly perplexed by what a strange and redundant room it was. The bedroom proper was hardly too small to serve, and the sitting room was already perfectly adequate with chairs and a writing desk and room for my spinning wheel...

There was a knock at the door -- one of the doors. I wasn't sure which. I called, "Yes, come in," and followed the sound back to the sitting room. There, Earnest Grimmond stood in the doorway with a silver tray and a shy grin.

"I waylaid Clover in the hallway," he explained, pushing the tray toward me. He seemed oddly small, humble and chagrined-looking, wholly unlike the Earnest Grimmond I knew. "Forgive me, but I thought I should welcome you personally. I did drag you halfway across the Northerns, after all."

"I should thank you for that. I finally got to go somewhere." I waved him toward a chair. "Come and sit."

Earnest shook his head. "I've imposed on you too much already, I think."

I almost asked him, Since when have you cared about imposing? but I thought better of it. Instead, I said, "Oh, not at all. I'd welcome the company. I'm not a bit tired, yet."

"Well... If you're sure."

He followed me through the room and set the tray down on a low table between chairs.

I sat and surveyed it. There was bread, cold ham and boiled eggs, cheeses and butter, and a little dish of some glistening brown orbs that might have been onions, once. I skewered one with a fork and frowned over it.

Earnest watched me, grinning in his mischievous way -- it was a relief to see the Earnest I knew again.

"That's a rare delicacy in these parts," he said. "We call it an onion."

"I know it's an onion, Oakhurst, but what on earth have you done to it?"

He leaned back in his chair, still grinning. "Ah... Now that is a family secret I cannot reveal to you, yet."

"Yet?" I tossed him a smirk. "Are you proposing to me, already?"

Earnest's grin collapsed into a stiff little smile. All merriment drained from his eyes.

I gasped, appalled by myself, then I slapped my hands over my mouth and moaned, "Moon above, what an ass I am..." through my fingers. My heart pounded, squeezed with such desperate regret, I could almost cry. "I beg your pardon, Lord Oakhurst. Forgive me... I must be tired, after all."

"Oh, no..." Earnest waved one hand rather frantically. "No, please, Miss Shepley, there's no need to fret... I am, actually. You're quite right."

"You are...?"

"Well. Yes and no..." Earnest wore a ring on his right hand, and he fiddled with it now. "It should be no mystery why we've asked you here... There's more to say, of course. Much more, I'm afraid, and I hadn't meant for it to go quite like this... But in short... For now..." He shrugged and fiddled with his ring. "Welcome to Oakhurst. Stay as long as you please, and... And when you've had a chance to come to know us better, please consider becoming my wife."

"Well." I blinked at him a moment, thoroughly bewildered. "Thank you. I shall."

"Thank you." Earnest smiled at me -- his smile warm, eyes twinkling -- then he stood and bowed deeply.

"Good night, Miss Shepley. Enjoy the onions."