Page 24 of The Colonist’s Petition (Heirs & Heroes #2)
Timothy’s brow wrinkled. “What should I call you then?”
“Whatever suits you.” George answered as she took the seat her aunt offered.
A thin woman with a long nose appeared with a tea tray that offered only tea and thinly sliced toast.
Aunt Hale poured out four cups of tea handing one to Timothy. “Take a bit of bread and go to the kitchen while I speak with your cousin.”
After Timothy left, Aunt Hale set her cup down. “I am afraid your trip is for not. Felton misunderstood my request. I do not need another mouth to feed. How dare he send you in his finest carriage to mock me when he knows I am desperate for funds?”
The scalding anger was hotter than the tea.
George spoke in the most soothing voice she could.
“The carriage belongs to my grandfather, the Earl of Whitstone. Father was determined to send me by postal coach. No doubt he would have paid for a ticket on top rather than inside and would not have sent a companion. My grandfather stepped in to spare me the censure such a trip would entail.”
Aunt Hale’s eyes softened, but her face remained pinched. “How long are you to be here?”
“Father says he wishes me to help you until the Season starts. I have a letter.” George pulled the letter from her reticule and handed it to her aunt.
Her aunt stepped over to the window to get better light for reading.
There were no candles burning in the room, nor was there a fire in the fireplace.
Whatever had Father been thinking? Was he aware of how humbly his sister lived, how little she subsisted on?
What ever financial woes Alex and Phil dealt with were nothing to Aunt Hale’s.
Where were the rents that the barony provided? Where was the food?
Georgiana sipped her tea, realizing at once that it was not a proper English tea at all, but made of some sort of berry, which was not at all unpleasant.
“Felton claims he sent you with twenty pounds?”
George took the money from her reticule and handed it to her adding an additional five. “There is also this that I did not need to spend on my journey, thanks to my grandfather.”
Aunt handed back the five pounds. “I will not take the money your grandfather gave you.”
George refused it. “My father’s insistence in sending me to you has caused you a burden. This will not lighten it much, but I believe it is your due.”
The money disappeared into a hidden pocket.
Aunt Hale turned to Mrs. Brown. “I am afraid I cannot lodge you, the coachman, nor the footmen for the night. I believe it is possible to reach Leeds before the sun sets. I would advise that you do so. I apologize for not being able to offer any hospitality.”
“I will let them know right away.” Mrs. Brown stood, arriving at the door just as the footmen entered with George’s trunk, bag, and the box of seeds.
“Do you have directions on where we should set this?” asked the taller footman.
“Yes. If you follow me, please.” Aunt led them up a creaky staircase and down a corridor. The door that her aunt opened squeaked with misuse. Dust covers draped every inch of furniture. “I suppose this will be best.”
The men set her trunk down on the edge of an old carpet with a thunk. A puff of dust swirled around the edge of the trunk.
The most senior of the footmen bowed to her aunt. “We shall take our leave directly.”
Mrs. Brown pulled a knit shawl from her bag. “You nearly forgot this.”
Before George could properly thank her, the chaperone left.
Alone with her aunt, Georgiana looked around the room.
Aunt walked over to the window. “It is not much, but at least, last I checked, the fireplace worked. I would not want you to get terribly cold. I have no maid other than the cook. Are you capable of cleaning after yourself?”
“Yes, quite.” Georgiana hoped her face did not register all the worry she felt. “I did not mean to be a burden to you. I had no idea?—”
“Of course you did not.” Her aunt sighed and lifted a dust cover from a dresser. “Felton has not come for some years. He barely appeared for his own mother’s funeral. So I should not be astonished."
George folded the cover on the bed.
“We eat an early dinner and retire with the sun. I hope you will not require many candles.”
“I will be most frugal. My sisters and I grew accustomed to economizing since our mother’s death.” Not to this extent, as Grandfather eventually stepped in and paid the servants directly.
“Yes, my condolences to you. I would have come. In fact, I expected to come, especially after Felton—well, especially.” Aunt pulled the dust cover from a chair near the window.
“I will let you get cleaned up, and I must return to what I was doing. If a door is closed, the room is likely closed off like this, and I ask you to leave it as such.”
“Yes, Aunt Hale.”
“If you are to live here, calling me ‘Aunt Hale’ all the time is going to get tiresome. My name is Elaine.”
“I am called George or Georgiana.”
“You still keep the names my brother used when you were young?”
“You know about them?” For once, she might not have to explain.
“Do you remember accompanying your father here when you were little?” Elaine smiled at George’s nod, “Your grandmother was scandalized at the thought of her granddaughters calling each other by boy names, much more by your father often doing the same.”
“He stopped the practices when our brother was born. We were too accustomed to our names to change.”
“I must know, does your use of the male version annoy Felton?”
George bit her lip.
“I see it does.” Elaine laughed. “I shall call you George then. We shall adjust to this situation the best we can. It is not your fault my brother is a dolt. Help me with this cover on the bed. This room may be a wee bit dusty but it is free of rodents. I keep a cat expressly for that. I imagine you’ll see Atlanta soon. ”
After the room was put to rights, George opened her bag. The letters sat on top. She was determined to finish them tonight and send them by post in the morning. If only she thought to send the partially finished letters when the coach left.