Chapter 2
Turned out that Lady Cécille did, indeed, still get seasick.
But, fortunately, the reaction was milder than when she was just a baby. Apart from a bit of nausea, the rest of the trip went well after she took some medicine and her body got used to the sway of the vessel.
After four days at sea, it was with relief that they disembarked from the ship.
Cécille took in a deep breath and delicately stepped on firm land, “dear soul, I just arrived but I can’t help dreading the trip back home!”
Myrtille had a wobble in her steps as she followed behind her Lady, “I have to admit that I do too, Miss. It is quite destabilising to go from constant swaying motion to still land. My sense of equilibrium is quite scrambled right now.”
Lord Hugo let out a small laugh, “come now ladies! Do not fret about what is far way for now and enjoy the present! This is your first time to Euterpe! It is quite a different scene from our sweet home, isn’t it?”
Lady Cécille thanked her father as he helped her into the carriage. She waited until he was seated opposite her before replying, “ papa, pardon me, but right now the view is the least of my priorities. I am still a bit nauseous and am in urgent need of a bath and a soft bed. I can enjoy all Euterpe has to offer after I feel like I am not going to lose my meal again and stop feeling dizzy.”
“ Quite understandable, my dear. It will be a while until we reach the house. How about you close your eyes and rest a little. I shall wake you when we arrive. Maybe you will feel better by then?” Lord Hugo suggested with a hint of worry in his eyes.
Cécille gave her father a feeble smile to reassure him , “ I shall do that. Do not worry papa, after a little rest and refreshing I will be in peak health again to enjoy this trip. You should rest too. Myrtille is at the front and can wake us up later. ”
“I admit a little snooze would be greatly welcome, so I shall follow that advice too.” Lord Hugo obtemperated before making himself comfortable and closing his eyes.
Cécille mirrored him but, unlike her father who fell asleep after a few minutes, she could only rest her eyes. The sway of the carriage reminded her too much of the ship to allow a deep rest.
And so, for the next two hours, Cécille had a fretful rest whilst her father snored opposite her.
When the carriage finally came to a stop, Cécille immediately opened her eyes and got out without assistance.
Myrtille, with her skirts gathered in her hands, quickly reached her and admonished, “Lady Cécille! You could have waited for either the coachman or your father to help you out of the carriage! What would your étiquette teacher say?!”
“Oh Myrtille, I could not stay in that carriage any longer! Besides no one is around right now so allow me to be improper! And what Mrs Hudson doesn’t know won’t hurt her! I can find my sense of propriety tomorrow after I am in a better mood!”
Cécille ignored the rueful shake of Myrtille’s head to wake her father up.
“Papa! Papa! We have arrived wake up!”
Lord Hugo frowned in his sleep, smacked his lips and went back to sleeping.
Myrtille discreetly smiled behind her hand, “it would seem that the voyage has exhausted Lord Hugo too.”
Cécille hummed in agreement before stepping back in the carriage to gently prod her father, “papa please wake up!”
Lord Hugo jolted awake with eyes brimming with sleepiness, “we have arrived?”
“Yes. Come now papa, let us get inside quickly so you can rest properly on a bed.”
It was already late in the night so only a few servants were awake to greet them.
Without much fussing, everyone ajourned to their respective rooms and slept deeply through the night.
****
The next day dawned bright and sunny. Outside, an enormous golden bell engraved beautifully with angels, chimed habitually and gently roused the inhabitants.
The servants at the house were up since earlier and were already preparing breakfast.
Lord Hugo was surprisingly the first one up. After having taken care of his morning ablutions, he went to greet the servants in the kitchen before retiring with a cup of tea under the patio.
A few minutes later a servant quickly delivered his breakfast together with the correspondence.
“Thank you Martha.” He said while putting away his cup of tea.
“It is my duty milord.” Martha answered with a bow.
“Come now, Martha. We have been acquainted for years now! No need to be so formal!”
Martha was the only child of Meridith, the maid that had served his mother for years and followed her after her marriage into the Romarin family. When Meridith died, Martha took her mantle at a young age and continued to serve his mother. And after his dear mother took her last breath, Martha chose to return to Euterpe to be closer to her son who was working as an accountant here in the capital. Much to the horror of the latter.
Due to her experience and integrity, she was appointed as the main head servant in the Romarin’s dwelling here, in Euterpe.
Having known Lord Hugo from a baby to the father he was now, she was privy to a lot of his ‘deeds’, so to speak, and had caught him in many compromising situations during the years.
Despite her strict demeanour, she had always covered for him all while giving him judging looks that didn’t need second guessing of their meaning.
She was the definition of harsh mannerisms but tender heart.
“And I have said it many times, Milord, that certain lines between servants and employees should never be crossed! Now, shall I wake up the young Lady and her Companion or shall I leave them to rest longer?” Martha questioned with pursed lips and a look that spelled exasperation.
Lord Hugo gave a gentle laugh, “ah Martha, you never change! And I think it would be better to let them sleep longer. The voyage has been quite harsh on them after all. But if they are still not up by noon, please make sure to wake them up. They didn’t eat much during the trip and it will not do for them to miss more.”
Martha gave a bow to acquiesce before leaving Lord Hugo to enjoy his breakfast.
A few hours later, Cécille awoke to a ray of sunshine straight to the eyes. She quickly closed them and rolled away, only to fall off the bed with a yelp.
“I forgot that this bed is smaller than the one at home...” She groaned while sluggishly getting up.
A knock at the door sounded before Martha’s voice echoed.
“Lady Cécille are you awake yet? Noon approaches and Milord has asked me to make sure you are present for lunch.”
“Good morning Martha and, yes, I am awake. Is Myrtille already up?” Cécille croaked out.
“A good morning to you too, even if not much of it remains. And, yes, Miss Myrtille is already up and is currently in the sitting room. I shall send the maids to bring your bath water and help you dress in a few. Lunch shall be served at noon sharp under the patio as per Milord’s instruction. Please come down as soon as you are ready.”
“I will. Thank you Martha.”
“It is my pleasure, my Lady.” Martha replied before her footsteps faded away.
Many minutes later and too close to being late, Cécille was finally feeling alive again. She walked at her fastest speed and reached the patio at noon sharp under Martha’s stern gaze.
She quickly greeted her father and Myrtille before taking her seat with a breath of relief.
Lord Hugo gave his daughter a gentle smile with mischief glowing in his eyes, “cutting it quite close, are you not Cécille?”
Cécille mirrored his mischief in her smile, “please desist papa! If you continue Martha is going to be quite cross with you! And a Lady is most certainly never late!....At least that is what mother tells me when she purposely takes her time in getting ready for events that she absolutely hates going to.”
Lord Hugo undiscreetly stifled a laugh behind his hand before Martha behind him cleared her throat loudly.
Conditioned during his teenage years, Lord Hugo quickly straightened his spine before giving the go ahead to serve breakfast.
The servants immediately sprang into action and quickly put a delicious spread of authentic Euterpian cuisine in front of them. After having done their duty, they wished them 'Bon Appetit' before retiring.
Lord Hugo waited until Martha's back disappeared from view before slouching back with a sigh.
Cécille gave him a droll look.
"You do not understand daughter! Martha has quite a bit of embarassing anecdotes concerning me! And when I was still a young man, I got used to being on my best behaviour around her lest my mother be made aware of some of them! Lord knows the lecture she would have given me! Now even though my mother is long gone, that habit still remains! And Martha is just one of those people that you have to behave in front of if you do want to receive her judging looks and sharp barbs!" Lord Hugo quickly defended.
"I do wonder just what kind of blackmail she has on you for you to behave as such. Maybe I should sit down and have a nice chat with her once in a while. What do you say Myrtille?" Cécille teased.
Myrtille quickly chewed and swallowed before replying, "oh no Miss! It wouldn't be appropriate for a Companion to know such private matters about her Lady's father!"
"Come now Myrtille! You are practically family! And you have our trust! I wouldn't share father's dirty laundry with anyone else!" Cécille immediately assured.
Lord Hugo looked baffled, "darling daughter, I am quite glad that you hold Myrtille to such great esteem and I do agree with you about her trustworthiness, but would it be possible to leave my 'dirty laundry' out of the equation?"
"No way papa! I am quite curious about the shenanigans you were up to when younger! Does mother know about them all? Was she part of some of them?" Cécille questioned with innocent curiosity.
Lord Hugo spluttered comically before casually trying to change the subject.
"Ahem! Anyway, I have perused and sorted all the invitations that I have received. Here are the ones that are appropriate for you to attend. I am sure that other personal invitations will come your way once the younger Ladies get wind of your presence here." Lord Hugo said whilst pointing to a small pile of letters a little further away.
Cécille gave him a look that said that this matter was not over before turning her attention to said pile.
"Which ones do you think I should attend?" Cécille asked.
Lord Hugo hummed pensively before rummaging in the pile. With an 'Aha!', he quickly pulled out a letter embossed with flowers, in a muted shade of pink.
"This one, I think, shall be the most appropriate!" Lord Hugo said whilst presenting it to his daughter.
Cécille blinked at the unexpected choice before carefully taking it to check the name of the sender.
"The Duchy of Avalon?"
Myrtille nearly spit out her tea at the name. She swallowed with difficulty before spluttering, " Duchy?! AVALON?!"
Cécilled blinked with extreme surprise before turning to her father, "papa........are you sure this is not an error?"
Lord Hugo gave her daughter an admonishing look, "I sure hope that I can write and read my own name by now. It is written right there, black on whit- uh, I mean pink. And I am well acquainted with Duke Avalon. We bonded over our worry for our daughters and share a passion for trekking. So little faith in your father! How you hurt me Cécille!"
"Father! You know that was not my intention! But you have to admit that our standing and circles are worlds apart! 'Tis not a reach to doubt the credibility of this invitation a little!" Cécille defended.
"There is no need to be so worried. Lord Avalon is the most down to earth and pragmatic man I have ever met. He has always said he wanted to introduce his daughter to you."
Cécille gave his father an incredulous look before getting distracted by Myrtille's muttering.
Lord Hugo fixed a wary gaze on Myrtille before carefully addressing her, "....are you quite okay Miss Myrtille?"
Both daughter and father jumped as she lifted her head to show her manic gaze, "no! Nothing is okay!! Everything we brought is not adequate!"
She stood up abruptly and fixed her eyes on Cécille, " I have to go gather intel immediately. I need to know who is the best tailor in town that can work magic in just a few days! Shoes too! Oh and hairstyles, jewellery, perfume, handkerchief and gift!!!!"
Cécille cautiously said, " come now Myrtille dear, surely one of those gorgeous dresses I brought is adequate? And I already have enough jewellery. The hairstyle is not that important too..?"
"NO! It is not enough!! A DUCHY! I have to make it so that everything will conform to those standards or you will be the laugh amongst all the Ladies here!! Do not worry Lady Cécille! I will not let you down! Please excuse me! I have to make haste and consult Martha!"
With that said, she quickly gathered her skirts and left the table in a whirlwind under the stupefied gazes of both Cécille and Lord Hugo.
Daughter and father shared a glance before silently agreeing to make themselves scarce for the next few hours.
"I am starting to think that this was not such a good idea..." Cécille muttered.
"What a coincidence daughter. I was just thinking the same." Lord Hugo muttered back whilst staring into space.
A.N: If you liked the story please follow and share. It really does help. Cheers
Comments
Post a Comment