Ella’s father bowed. “Well, you are very welcome at Keatley Hall, Miss Sutton.”
Miss Sutton pivoted and fixed her coffee-colored eyes on Ella. “And this must be Miss Wilde. Oh, my dear, how I’ve heard your praises sung! From how Miss Hawthorne has described you, I know we are going to be the best of friends. I can tell already.”
Still unsure of what to make of the confident, unexpected guest, Ella suppressed her questions and returned a polite smile. “I sincerely hope so, Miss Sutton.”
A flurry of activity ensued as the footmen and stable boys began unloading trunks, and the other servants scurried toward the house to prepare it for the onslaught of guests soon to arrive.
Ella looped her arm through Phoebe’s, grateful for her friend, but her curiosity about the new lady tugged. During the next several days, as men dominated at Keatley Hall, any female might become a friend, and at the moment Ella would take all the friends she could get.
Chapter 10
PHOEBE PRESSED THEpalm of her hand against the crown of her straw poke bonnet, looped her free arm through Ella’s, closed her eyes, and drew a deep breath of the late-afternoon air. “I’m so glad to finally have a moment alone to talk!”
“Are you certain you’re up for a walk?” Ella inquired as they stepped from Keatley Hall’s east entrance toward a footpath that led to the rear gardens.
“Indeed! A walk is just what I need, especially after being confined to the carriage for so long this morning. La, what a drive!”
“Was it terrible?”
“No, not terrible, but the rain did plague us most of the way, which was unpleasant. Oh!” Phoebe exclaimed suddenly as the full garden came into view, and she reached out to touch a climbing rosebush as it arched over the walkway. “I’ve always loved these gardens. How beautiful.”
Ella inhaled, allowing the floral scent of roses and late-blooming lavender to wash over her. “We do our best to keep it tidy, but it’s quite a task. The gardens were always Mother’s domain. She always kept them so immaculate, but there are so manyof them! After the gardener left last autumn, we tried to have some of the students tend it, but over the summer I fear it’s been left to grow wild.”
“Well, I think it’s charming. I could spend all day here.”
They resumed their walk down the brick path, careful to avoid the puddles from the day’s earlier rain. “Were your companions much company on the drive?”
“Father slept most of the way, but Miss Sutton was pleasant.”
Interest surged through Ella. New men were common in the Society, but women were not. “Speaking of Miss Sutton, I can’t wait to learn all about her. Who is she exactly? How are the two of you acquainted?”
“I can’t believe I’ve never mentioned her before. Had you been in London more this summer, you would have undoubtedly met her. She’s been positively everywhere! She and my father have become very friendly over the last several months. I was not aware that she intended to join us until just two days ago; otherwise I would have written to let you know. I hope her attendance is not an imposition for you or Mrs. Chatterly.”
“Any friend of yours is welcome at Keatley Hall. That should never be in question, but where did they meet?”
“It was about seven months ago, just before the Season really began. They were introduced at a dinner at the Silvers’ home. I did not attend it, so sadly I don’t know many details, but they’ve been inseparable ever since.”
Ella cast a sideways glance toward her friend. Over the years Ella had become adept at reading Phoebe’s unique mannerisms. At the moment she seemed quite content and easy with the topic, but Ella acutely recalled Phoebe’s distress two years prior when her mother had died. Any talk of Phoebe’s father possibly remarryingwould send her into hysterics. “Do you like her? As a friend for yourself, not as a match for your father?”
Phoebe’s lip twitched before a full smile returned once again. “I do like her very much. She’s been nothing but kind to me, and she really has brought a new sense of life to our family gatherings.”
Sensing hesitation, Ella shifted the conversation away from Phoebe’s feelings. “And did I hear her introduced correctly as Miss Sutton? Has she never married, then?”
Phoebe plucked a small cluster of white yarrow and tucked it in her bonnet’s band. “No, she never did. Is that not a marvel? A woman of her beauty and wit. She’s not shared a great deal about her past, at least not with me, but I’ve gathered from comments that her father was independently wealthy—a merchant of some sort—and she felt no pressure to marry.”
The comment recalled Ella’s own situation. What would it be like not to have to force a matrimonial union? Determined to keep the conversation light, Ella continued, “I’m so glad to hear your father is happy.”
“He is. Very much so. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he were to make her an offer of marriage. Can you believe it? He was so devastated after Mother’s death that I wondered if he would ever smile again. And now, here he is.”
“I wish my father could find such a companion, but I fear he is far too set in his ways now.”
“It would help if he would venture to London every so often,” teased Phoebe. “How is he to meet anyone when he rarely leaves Keatley Hall?”
How often had Ella had the exact same thought? Many people filtered through the school, but mostly fathers and school-age boys. Never women her father’s age. Given his current health, shelamented that he likely would never find that sort of happiness again.
A chaffinch swept down from the boughs above the dirt path they were walking, and Ella glanced up in time to see it disappear in the branches of an ash tree. She then noticed the gathering, quick-moving clouds overhead. According to legend the bird’s song signaled a change of weather.
A sharp, decidedly cool breeze rushed in from a nearby meadow, thick with the scent of moisture. “I think we might get more rain. Shall we turn back?”
