Hannah scurried up the stairs as they exited the dining room and Emmeline placed a hand on Caleb’s arm to halt him. She paused, watching her mother disappear into an adjacent parlour room, and then pulled him back into the dining room.
‘Brother; a word please…’
Emmeline closed the door behind them, much to Caleb’s confusion.
Emmeline released a sigh, running a hand down her face, and pulled up a chair to perch upon.
‘Whatever is the matter, sister?’ Caleb queried, still hovering by the door.
A myriad of possibilities crossed his mind – perhaps his sister was sick or she had heard rumour from the staff that they were unhappy with some aspect of the new addition to their residential situation. On occasion, Emmeline would experience acute bouts of grief regarding the loss of their father and he would comfort her through it; he worried that she was enduring bereavement intensely and needed his support.
‘I am quite concerned,’ Emmeline shook her head regretfully. ‘Dear Hannah is being utterly tormented by our intolerable mother…’
It seemed obvious to him now. Of course, this should be the issue his sister would bring to him. Hannah had been on edge and nervous at dinner, needing more drawing out than usual to raise a smile. It did not come as a surprise to Caleb that his mother should be the one responsible for her trepidation.
Caleb stepped forward. ‘Has something happened?’
Emmeline nodded ‘Yes. Today whilst you were at the coffee house; a most unpleasant row broke out.’
‘Arow?’ Caleb couldn’t imagine Hannah participating in an argument.
‘A rather one-sided altercation, in truth. Mother confronted Hannah.’
‘Regarding what?’
‘Initially, I believe it was regarding the parlour room that Hannah has converted into her art studio, but mother’s hostility grew until she was spewing all her repressed contempt at the poor woman…’
Caleb paced furiously. ‘And how did Hannah react?’
‘She was strong in the face of it – she did not weep nor run from the room. In fact, she ventured a defensive statement or two, but it was no match for mother’s malevolence.’
Caleb took the seat opposite his sister, with a heavy sigh.
‘Did you say that Hannah converted the parlour room into an Art Studio?’
‘I did.’
Caleb smiled, enjoying this nugget of information. ‘Good for her!’
‘Was that not your intention, brother?’
He had not taken on a wife to rule her and he wanted Hannah to be able to express herself creatively if that was the way in which she navigated life happily. He was not going to ask her what the room was being used for, not was he going to enter the room to check – he had felt that he’d stolen her privacy and autonomy by uprooting her from her family home and bringing her to his house on a business arrangement. It was only right that he should provide her with some private space to make her own and he had no authority to question what she chose to do with that space. If she had volunteered the information, he would have been happy but it was not in his nature to encroach upon that privacy. He felt outraged that his mother had taken liberty in this department.
‘Indeed I thought perhaps she might make the room an art studio, but I would not be so presumptuous. I offered the room for whatever she chose to do with it – I anticipated, of course, that she would choose to utilise the space for her artwork, for I hear she has a talent for it. I am impressed by how promptly she did so, though it has not allowed me time to speak to Mother – that is my failing; I should certainly have informed Mother of the potential that the room would be repurposed. Her shock at the discovery would not have been so turbulent, perhaps.’
‘Do not blame yourself, Caleb – it is my belief mother would have been as angry as she was, even if she had been informed in advance. It is less an issue regarding the room and more related to the fact that Mother was not granted her own way…’
‘Her own way?’ Caleb looked quizzically at his sister.
‘That you did not marry Lady Lucinda Fairfax, silly! And that she now has to share you with a woman who was not of her own choosing. And that there is another Duchess – a new Lady of the house. She does not wish to be replaced. In short, I believe there is a great deal of jealousy and Mother would have reacted with this tantrum at some point. It is simply the Art Studio was the ideal catalyst… And of course, she does not consider a Duchess should be painting.’
Caleb nodded sadly, accepting this was likely the case.
‘How smart of you, Emmeline. To see it so clearly.’
‘It is easier to take a clarified perspective when you are a neutral onlooker. But she really was very nasty to Hannah, Caleb. You must not underestimate her level of virulence.’
‘What did she say?’ Caleb did not want to know the details but thought it wise to be informed.
