I glanced at my mother’s grave, feeling the sharp stab of grief anew.
The old woman caught my hand in her own. Turning it over, she studied my palm then glanced at the grave. Was she checking if I was dirty? When she looked up, she captured my gaze with a shrewdness that contradicted her age.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” she said softly.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Never mind me.” She shook her head slightly. “Distractions are good when grieving, but don't forget these rules. Feed him lightly but once a day. He has been overindulged his whole life. If he continues to be over indulged, he will certainly die a horrible death. Do not trust him. He is an animal who would sacrifice you to gain his freedom. Walk him through the forest twice a week. You never know what he will find for you. He knows how to earn his keep.”
She pressed the rope into my hand.
“If you need me, you can ask for Rose at the Brazen Belle in Towdown.”
“I thought you were headed to Adele.”
“I am. But, I believe there is business here that I must address first.” She started past me, her stride surprisingly agile for her age.
“Take care, Eloise, and mind the pig.”
As soon as she disappeared, the pig started nosing the base of my skirts.
“None of that, now,” I said. “If you misbehave with me, Hugh will take over your care. And, Hugh does not care for pigs.”
The pig grunted and followed me willingly enough as I started toward the house. I decided not to notice how he was more docile with me than he had been with the old woman. Or the way he kept glancing at me. Instead, I focused on the encounter with the old woman. Rose.
Why would she ask if I practiced magic? As my father had warned me, it was dangerous to even utter the words, ignorant or not. But more than that, why would she ask it of me only hours after burying my mother whom I suspected had been killed by magic?
After tucking the pig into the vacant pig pen, I fetched water from the well and quickly washed my hands and face before going inside. Neither Judith nor Anne were in the kitchen.
While I nibbled on a bit of roast I’d found set aside for me, I considered the circumstance in which Kellen and I found ourselves. The expectations we’d once held for our future, to care for our ailing parent, had drastically changed. We could no longer hide away at the estate like we had. We were of an age where most girls were either betrothed or already wed. Although Mother had wanted the same for us, I knew the next trip to the market wasn’t going to undo the impressions that had already been made.
Thankfully, the need to follow society’s expectations to find a suitor would need to wait. Propriety demanded seven days of full-mourning. After that, a minimum of thirty days of half-mourning.
Kellen and I had four more days of peace.
“That’s all you get,” I said when the pig looked up at me. “The old woman is right. You’ll die if I continue to overfeed you. Remember, pigs who still need fattening avoid the butcher’s block.”
The rattle of a carriage drew me away from the pig’s pen and his displeased grunts. Instead of passing by, the sound seemed to draw closer. I moved to the house and paused on the steps, waiting to see who it might be. Behind me, a swath of black material hung from the door, an obvious reminder that we were a house in full-mourning.
I hoped it wasn’t an over-eager gossipmonger. Whatever shred of patience I’d possessed for snooping people no longer existed.
A carriage rolled up the drive. Nondescript, it certainly looked like the type easily rented from a smith in town. I watched the contraption slow to a stop as the driver nodded down to me. Before he could move from his perch, the door to the carriage flew open, and a woman garbed in black stepped down without assistance. The laced veil obscured her identity only a moment before she flipped it back.
Her black hair stunned me as much as her face. With her soft brown eyes, dark hair, and pale skin, she looked just like Mother.
“Eloise, my darling.” She came toward me, a smile on her lips while tears gathered in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.” She wrapped me in her arms and held me tightly to her bosom while her hand smoothed over my hair.
Comfort enveloped me, and I hadn’t realized how desperately I’d needed it. I only wished it was from someone I knew.
“Thank you,” I said, hesitantly returning the hug. When she pulled back and gave me another tearful smile, I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “Who are you?”
“Of course, Margaret wouldn’t have mentioned an estranged cousin from her mother’s side. How silly of me not to introduce myself. Call me Maeve. Consider me your fairy godmother. I’m here to set the world to rights.”
She hooked her arm through mine and led me toward the house.
“When I heard your father planned to leave immediately, I offered to stay with you and Kellen. The two of you shouldn’t face what’s to come alone.”
“Father mentioned making arrangements for someone to stay with us.”
She stopped walking and looked at me with concern.
“He didn’t tell you who?”
“No, ma’am.”
She waved a hand in the air, a dismissive gesture Mother had often used.
“None of this ma’am nonsense. Call me Maeve or Auntie Maeve, if you prefer. I cannot believe that father of yours.” She clucked her tongue and carefully removed her veil. “That’s men for you, though. They don’t deal well with grief and can’t think clearly.”
I opened my mouth to ask…well, anything, but a scrape of noise from the stairs drew our attention. I looked up to see Kellen, paler than usual, standing on the first landing. She was staring at Maeve. Given Maeve’s resemblance to Mother, I understood her shock.
“Kellen, this is Maeve. She’s here to help as Father mentioned.”
Kellen blinked then nodded to Maeve.
“Welcome, Lady Maeve.”
“Please call me Maeve or Auntie Maeve. There’s no need for me to be Lady Grimmoire here. At least, not yet.” She exhaled heavily and glanced at me. “We still have a few days of solitude before chaos descends, do we not?”
“Yes. Three more days.”
“Very good. It will give us time to plan and prepare. But, that can wait for now. Is there somewhere I might rest for a bit?” she asked, looking between us. “Traveling always tires me.”
Kellen and I shared a look. On the second floor, there were four bedrooms. Kellen and I shared the largest. Father had the smallest one, and Mother had the room with the nursery attached. With Mother gone, Anne had started sleeping downstairs with Judith in the room just off the kitchen. While Father’s room was now also empty, we couldn’t ask Maeve to sleep there. It would be highly improper, especially with visitors expected within days.
“I’ll show you the way,” Kellen said to Maeve.
I followed behind the pair as Kellen led her to Mother’s room, Kellen having come to the same conclusion as I.
Maeve took one look at the room and shook her head.
“I cannot stay here. Is there an open servant’s room? Even a mat in your attic would be welcome.”
I looked around the beautifully furnished room in confusion.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “This is all we have at the moment. You don’t like it?”