She’d never be able to take a spotless floor for granted again, now that she knew what it took to get it clean.
“A rest,” she repeated absently, then shook her head.“Oh no, I couldn’t.I need to go check on Mama.She is behaving so unlike herself, I’m truly concerned.I wonder how we could tempt her to come downstairs.”
“What about a party?”Bess suggested, plunging her arms into a trough of flour, water, salt, and yeast to be folded and pounded into shaggy, sticky bread dough.“That would be a good way to introduce your family to the village, and meet everyone all at once.And today is Rogation Day, after all.”
Gemma bit her lip.“Can we afford a party?And what exactly is Rogation Day?”
“Some people call it beating the bounds.The men of the parish walk the boundaries of the land and hit certain landmarks with sticks, to remind everyone where the boundary lines are.They start from Kissington Manor, make the big circuit around the county landmarks, and end here at Five Mile House.It used to be that everyone in the village brought what they could contribute to make a big feast, and there was a lot of merry making!I remember it taking all day and the party lasting well into the night.But that was a long time ago.When I was a very little girl.”
“That sounds like a lovely tradition,” Gemma exclaimed.“Why did it change?”
Bess’s pretty face darkened for a moment.“People haven’t had the funds, or the heart, to contribute to a fête of any sort.The last Duke of Havilocke raised his tenants’ rents so high, people struggled to put food on the table, much less put a celebration together.But the new duke has made some changes, and I think folk around here are feeling a mite less pinched.I reckon if we put out the word that the Five Mile will host and provide the ale and cider, and maybe a roast, the people will come!”
Gemma thought it over.In her blessedly brief experience of physical labor, she already felt deeply that people who worked hard ought to have every opportunity to enjoy themselves.
She disliked the notion of a greedy landowner squeezing all the fun out of the village.These people deserved a little fun, more than anyone she’d ever met.Perhaps the budget could stretch to cover it, especially if she dipped into their meager savings from the sale of Mama’s ruby bracelet.“I’m glad the new duke is proving to be less of a villain than the last one.”
“Well, as to that, he’s got his flaws,” Bess hedged, brushing hair out of her eyes with the back of a floury hand and leaving a white streak across her forehead.“But he’s trying, and that’s something.”
A plan was beginning to take form in Gemma’s mind.She stood and brushed her hands down her skirts.“Well, regardless, I think the people of Little Kissington deserve a rotation to remember!”
“Rogation,” Bess corrected her with a laugh.“But how will we let the villagers know the plan so we can get all the food here in time?”
Fired with excitement, Gemma pondered it with glee.What a perfect way to introduce herself and her family to the locals that would ensure the popularity of the Lively women and announce the new management of Five Mile House to the countryside at large.
“Don’t worry, Bess.Lucy and I will make the rounds and invite the whole village!By the time Hal and the other men are back from whacking things with sticks, we will have such a surprise waiting for them!”
ChapterNine
Gemma and Lucy set out at once from the yard of Five Mile House, dressed in their nicest walking outfits and ready to charm some townspeople.
Henrietta had declined, yet again, to leave her rooms.Gemma was beginning to worry that her mother would have lost the strength to stand by the time she was finally ready to try it.At least Henrietta had roused herself to exclaim over her daughters’ appearance—that was perhaps some evidence of improved spirits.She hadn’t previously seemed to notice that her daughters were no longer wearing black.
“You’re not in mourning,” she had cried, black lace fluttering and jet beads clacking in her agitation.“Lucy, go back to your chamber at once and put on something black.”
Gemma had wrapped a staying arm round her sister’s shoulders.“Mama, that is not possible.Lucy has outgrown the one black crepe gown we managed to fit for her before horrid Nathaniel cut off our funds, and we haven’t the money yet to buy more.Besides, it’s been nearly three months since Father passed away—that is a perfectly respectable time for Lucy and me to move into half-mourning.You can go the full year if you wish, of course.”
“I shall wear nothing but black for the rest of my days, to honor my beloved Benedict,” Henrietta declared, waving her black-edged handkerchief at them as though bidding them farewell.Her brief moment of animation was already passing, sinking her back into the deep waters of her grief.“But I suppose you may do as you like, Gemma.Just as you always do.”
Gemma had ground her back teeth in frustration, but had managed to keep from bursting out with the truth: that of course she might wish to take another three months, or even longer, to wear solemn black and abstain from social engagements of all kinds.
But they hadn’t the time for that.
Gemma was keenly aware of the need to be engaging socially, so she could find an acceptably wealthy, well born suitor and convince him to propose.The sooner she began her search, the sooner she would forget all about her ill-advised attraction to Hal.
She needed to keep her mind on her stratagems, and not on the contents of Hal’s tight buckskin trousers.
“There is to be a party here this afternoon, Mama, and I hope you will come down and greet our guests,” Gemma said, laying the groundword.She steered Lucy toward the door, but Lucy broke away from her.
As Gemma watched from the doorway, Lucy knelt by their mother’s low chair and put her arms around Henrietta.“Mama, please, won’t you come with us?The fresh air would do you good, and we could show you all the work we’ve done on the inn since we arrived.It looks quite different outside these walls, you know!”
But Henrietta had only shaken her head slowly.With one trembling hand, she absently patted at Lucy’s arm.“Goodbye, dear.Have a nice time at the party.”
Lucy got to her feet.“Say you’ll come to the party, too, Mama.Please.”
She waited a moment for a response Gemma could have told her was never going to come, then trudged over to the doorway with her shoulders slumped and her head drooping like a wilted tulip.
With the resilience of youth, Lucy had perked up and led the way to the main village thoroughfare.They put on bright smiles, shook hands, and issued invitations to every man, woman, child, and shopkeeper they encountered.Most received the news of a Rogation Day celebration with real pleasure, and promised a cake or buns or other treat to add to the feast table.
