Maeve caught me up in another hug.
“Dear child, this is your mother’s room. Of course it’s perfect.” She pulled back and looked me in the eyes. “But, I’m here to ease your transition into a new life. To be your confidante and friend until you no longer need one. I’m not here to replace your mother or your memories of her. And, the last thing I want is for you to feel any animosity toward me. That wouldn’t help any of us do what needs to be done. I fear that staying in this room would hinder our goals, not help them.”
“We insist,” Kellen said. “If you’d prefer not to sleep in this bed, there’s another in the nursery that Anne used.”
“We don't mind if you stay in here,” I said. “There really isn't anywhere else.”
Maeve gave us both searching looks and went to check the nursery.
“This does look comfortable. Are you sure you don't mind if I stay in this part?”
“Not at all,” Kellen said.
“Perhaps after I rest, we can talk more, and you can introduce me to Anne.”
The wind rattled the window near my head as I lay in bed. It was the only sound, beyond Kellen’s steady breathing, that I could hear in the now quiet house. I rolled to my side and studied my sister's pale face in the weak moonlight.
“What do you think of her?” I asked quietly, seeing Kellen didn’t yet sleep.
“She seems nice.”
“She does. And Judith and Anne like her.”
After waking from a long nap, Maeve had eaten lunch with us and then insisted on meeting our staff. She was cordial and friendly. Not what one would expect from someone who held the title of Lady Grimmoire.
“I was a bit surprised she wanted to see the pig,” I said.
Kellen smiled in the dark.
“She didn't get too close, though, did she?”
I laughed. “No, she didn't. But that's okay. I don't think Mother would have gotten close, either.”
We both grew quiet. It was nice having Maeve with us. It distracted us from the change in our routine since now there was no one to read to. No one to play for. No rhythm to our days without Mother’s presence.
“It’s childish, I know, but I don’t want to like her,” I said. “I know how I feel about her won’t change what happened. Mother’s gone. Yet, it feels wrong to like Maeve so quickly.”
“Perhaps it’s best to maintain your distance. Maeve is here for a purpose, and once that purpose is fulfilled, she’ll leave.”
I knew what Kellen was thinking. Maeve would leave like Mother and Father.
“I won’t leave you,” I said.
“People always leave, Eloise. It’s in our nature…how we’re made. If not through abandonment, then by death.”
“Well then, I will never abandon you. Ever.”
Her eyes softened before she closed them.
“I believe you,” she whispered.
Chapter Four
The soft murmur of voices drew me to the hall where Maeve and Kellen stood, looking into Father’s room.
“Good morning,” I said.
Maeve turned and smiled at me.
“Good morning, Eloise. I’m sorry if we disturbed you.”
“Not at all.” I glanced at Father’s room then Kellen, who was usually never up this early. “Is everything all right?”
Maeve gave me a troubled look.
“Since your father anticipates his latest endeavor to take some time, I arranged for everything I hold dear to arrive within a fortnight. Kellen and I were discussing if there might be a way to accommodate what will arrive.”
I joined them at Father's door. His room was very crowded and removing all but his bed would likely free much of the space. However, clearing his room would feel like we were giving up on his return.
“He never mentioned how long he planned to be gone,” I said.
“That's odd. He told me at least four months.”
The news felt like a slap.
Maeve’s expression softened.
“The sun has barely risen. Far too early for this conversation. Let us eat first. After, we can discuss my place here.”
Kellen and I followed Maeve to the dining room where she started to take a seat.
“We eat in the kitchen in the morning,” Kellen said. “It makes—made things easier for Judith.”
“Of course,” Maeve said, immediately changing course.
She followed us into the kitchen and greeted Judith and Anne as we sat at the table. She accepted her soft-boiled egg and didn’t say anything when the pair joined us. I was very grateful for that. Anne and Judith were a part of our family. Hugh, too, though he preferred to eat earlier than the rest of us. Kellen and I had just lost our parents, and I refused to bend to social etiquette and distance myself from any of them.
After we finished our soft-boiled eggs, it didn’t surprise me when Maeve once again brought up the problem of where to store her possessions.
“Mother’s room makes the most sense,” Kellen said. “We live in a modest home and need to be practical with how we use the space we have. Moving Mother’s possessions to the attic is reasonable as Father might come back to us while Mother never will.”
Maeve studied Kellen for a moment then reached out to put her hand over my sister’s. However, Kellen moved her hand from the table before Maeve could touch her.
“Would you be interested in going to the market with me today, Lady Grimmoire?” Anne asked, smoothly deflecting the moment. “Judith can help the girls move Mrs. Cartwright’s things to the attic while we’re gone.”
“I hate the idea of leaving all the work to the three of them,” Maeve said, a light of impending protest in her eyes.
“As you’ve said, we have only a few days until visitors start arriving. A trip to the market is necessary and one Eloise and I cannot perform during our mourning period,” Kellen said. “It makes sense to divide our numbers to complete what must be done in a short period of time.”
Maeve inclined her head. “You are very sensible, Kellen. That will help you greatly in the days ahead.”
I breathed a silent sigh of relief that Maeve wasn’t put out by Kellen’s manner. While Anne went to tell Hugh to hitch the wagon, Maeve accompanied us upstairs.
“Do not strain yourselves moving anything heavy,” she warned. “Hugh can assist with those things when we return.”
“We will be careful,” I promised as my gaze wandered over Mother’s things.
After Maeve left, it didn’t take Kellen, Judith, and me long to dismantle and move the bed upstairs. Carrying the smaller pieces of furniture to the attic was a bit more tedious and required many trips.
Having returned for the next piece, a chair near the window, I paused to stare at the plain wooden box that contained every item Father had ever brought home for Mother. The green necklace was no longer there. It had never belonged with her treasured items. Instead, I’d hidden it under a board in our room before Maeve arrived.
Despite Father’s warning, I couldn’t put thoughts of the necklace out of my mind. Something had happened when I’d touched the pendant just as certainly as something had happened to Mother when Kellen had put it on her.