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November 12, 1907
Rosewood House, Altadena
Dearest Margot,
I know that you will raise your brows in surprise, but I, dear cousin, am a woman who economizes now. That is why, when you receive this letter, it will be bundled with my last—and perhaps a few others as well. I must think of the cost of stamps these days!
I have spent the first days of my new life well. Two days ago, I managed to hitch my horse to the buggy and rode down into the valley to J. Herbert Hall to see about the sale of a few pieces of jewelry that I brought with me from the Gables. Mr. Hall gave me a good sum and assured me that if I had others to sell, he would be happy to assist me, which is fortunate, because I have an entire box of things up at the house. Then I went to Hertel’s Dry Goods to order an iron safe similar to what bankers use for smaller amounts of money to be delivered to Rosewood House to keep those jewels secure.
My expedition then took me off to Vroman’s on Colorado to purchase The Book of the Home, and Nash Bros. for groceries. My final stop was the post office, to ask that any letters directed to me be held for me to retrieve on my trips into town. Fully provisioned, I drove back up to Rosewood House and spent the afternoon reading The Book of the Home before attempting to make a simple supper of ham, boiled potatoes, and vegetables from the garden. It took me some time to light the stove, but after that I made a fair job of it. (Perhaps I have had a hidden talent for cooking that I have not realized until now!)
When you read my first letter, I have no doubt you will be worried, so I wished to write to you these little mundane details so that you know I am not doing without the essentials of life. I am learning, and I am determined.
Yours faithfully,
Adele
November 24, 1907
Rosewood House, Altadena
Dearest Margot,
I have a neighbor, and now I have met her! Every time I used to drive up to Rosewood House, I would pass a little bungalow tucked away in a clearing surrounded by oak trees about a quarter of a mile down the hill. I wondered sometimes who lived there, and now I know.
Mrs. Beacon came to call on me today with a basket on her arm. She found me in the front room, attempting to polish the furniture. As I had seen the maids do it often enough, I assumed I could manage the task, but I must have used too much beeswax, because I found myself in a terrible pickle. I came to the door with the rag in my hand, and Mrs. Beacon took one look at me and bustled inside to help.
She is the wife of a clerk for a lawyer in town, and although she has a girl come in the mornings to help her, she still does a great deal of the household cooking and cleaning herself. Since she arrived with her basket of freshly baked bread, she has been back to teach me how to keep the fireplace in the front room from smoking and other tasks that have defeated me. She also sat me down and gave me practical advice about sending out my laundry and hiring her girl for the afternoons. I was not going to keep a servant because I am economizing now, but I must admit that the housework is too much for one untrained woman to tackle on her own, and I risk Rosewood House falling down around my ears because of neglect if I persist on my own.
All of this means I have far more time to spend in the garden. I have no doubt this will prompt you to wonder what has happened to Macalister. He has gone home to be with his wife. They are to have a child.
I think I shall send you these three letters together. It is enough for now.
Yours faithfully,
Adele
P.S. Mrs. Beacon’s generosity is such that I have an invitation to join her and her husband for Thanksgiving dinner. I have already begun to think about what I shall wear.
December 5, 1907
Cranley Gardens, London
Dearest Adele,
I have been ill and unable to attend to my correspondence. You can imagine what a surprise I had then when, as I was finally feeling better, Mama called on me and told me that Aunt Jeanette is returning to London! I could not believe it, and I went searching for a note from you, finding your bundle of letters.
Is it really true that you have left Guy? Are you really staying alone at Rosewood House all by yourself? I am glad at least for the company of your neighbor, but what of all your friends? What of Mrs. Barnes? Surely she will have visited you by now.
Oh, please write to me and tell me that things are not quite so dire as they seem.
Yours faithfully,
Margot
chapter sixty-three ADELE
Adele’s first month living alone at Rosewood House had been an adventure and a trial all at once. After her first success, she had more failed meals than she wished to admit, and she became very well acquainted with the physical demands of housework that never seemed to be entirely done. There were many times when she wondered how women with husbands and children who could not afford help managed to do everything, and she vowed never again to take for granted the ease with which Mrs. Jarrett and her staff had run the Gables. Even with the help of her neighbor Mrs. Beacon’s girl and sending out her laundry, she found herself falling into bed every night exhausted.
