Page 16 of A Maid's Fateful Courtship
The rest of the afternoon tea passed without further confrontation. Ethan knew that Aunt Geraldine enjoyed the moments she had with her nephews. She would prattle on about an array of topics that often meant nothing to anyone present. Despite him assuring her that he was recovered, by the end of the meal he felt in need of his bed once again, though did not reveal the fact to those present.
“I am going to sit in the library, for I am in dire need of some peace,” he announced as he stood up from his chair.
“Are you not ready to take a turn around the garden with me?” Geraldine asked, a look of disappointment written on her face.
“Perhaps tomorrow, Aunt,” Ethan replied, in no mood to spend any more time with her.
Ethan adored his Aunt Geraldine dearly, but she was full of an energy that had not yet returned to his body. He wanted to find a peaceful place to do some serious thinking.
As he passed through the hallways of the Sarandale Manor, he was pleased that he hardly met anyone other than the odd house servant. They stopped what they were doing to curtsy as he passed them by. His mind was so busy elsewhere, he barely even noticed their efforts at greeting him.
Finally, he arrived at the large room that held the library. It looked exactly as it had when he had left it three years ago. Although the walls were lined with bookshelves, and the ceiling was high, it did not seem as huge as it had when he was a boy.
Back then, he and Josephine often sneaked in to borrow a book, for his friend had loved to read. Once she had mastered her letters, she was always in here looking for a new book to read. The memory caused him to smile as he took a favoured seat by the window.
He watched the gardeners through the window as they trimmed the many ornamental hedges in that section of the garden. The hedges had grown quite tall from what he recalled. Though, as a boy, they had seemed tall anyway.
He and his brothers had played hide and seek amongst them. Most of the time they had forced Josephine to do the finding, but she never minded. She loved to discover each one of them, although Cedric had always sulked at being found by a girl.
Now that he recalled, Cedric had never enjoyed Josephine’s company as much as he and Anthony had. But of all the brothers, he had been the one to spend most of the time with her. To him, she had always been an equal. A real tomboy who spurned everything girlish and always joined in with the boys’ play.
“And now we have abandoned you,” he said out loud to himself. “I must change this situation.” He leant back and placed his elbows on the chair arms as he sat deep in thought.
No doubt his father would keep him busy with affairs of the estate, now that he had returned. As heir to the manor, it was his duty to learn all he could, so that one day he could take over his father’s role as marquess. And he felt proud to be taking on the responsibilities of the family estate.
With that in mind, he stood up to leave the library and set off to his father’s office where he hoped to find him. And find him he did, but his father, like his aunt, had a million other topics to discuss with him.
For the rest of the afternoon, Ethan listened with interest to all the important points his father raised with him. By dinner time, his mind was exhausted, and his body weakened at all the effort of his first day out of bed.
Ethan sat in silence throughout the family dinner. He listened to Cynthia’s excited chatter about her plans for a welcome home garden party. Anthony had also joined them. He mentioned that he would be staying at his friend Thomas' home that evening. He would be bringing them back with him as his guests for the garden party.
The talk continued about the party. Even Cedric was in a better mood as he was considering who he would like to invite. Under normal circumstances, these events took weeks to prepare.
Although from the sounds of things, Cynthia had been preparing it in her mind for a long time, but no one had been able to predict the exact day of their return. She was requesting for each of her brothers to invite their special friends. When it was Ethan’s turn to announce his special guests, his father had to nudge his arm to get him out of the sleepy daze he had entered.
“I do apologise,” Ethan said upon being prompted. “It appears I am in need of my bed once again. I will be satisfied with your guest list, Cynthia, but …” He stopped mid-sentence as he pushed back his chair back to stand up. “If you can excuse me, I must rest.”
One of the stewards came to his aid and helped to move the chair away so he could get by to head for the door.
“Rest well, son,” Marcus called after him. "For we have much to do."
“Yes, it must have been a long day for you,” Geraldine added. She watched him with concern as he left the dining room.
Once out of the room, Ethan did in fact experience a dizzy spell. This weakness was annoying him as he knew he was built of a strong constitution. Russel arrived and escorted him to his bedchamber, where he helped his lord to undress, and take to his bed.
Within moments of his head laying upon his pillow, Ethan was dreaming. Both he and Josephine were running through a meadow. They were racing and she was ahead, as she always was, even though it was because he always let her win everything.
Chapter 13
It did not go unnoticed by Ethan that Josephine did not arrive with a breakfast tray the next morning. Without speaking, Russel helped him to wash and dress. He hoped to go for a stroll around the manor grounds that morning and take in some exercise.
Before setting off, he called into the dining room to pick up a quick bite to eat. He knew he was running quite late, and the servants were starting to clear the food away. In the back of his mind, Ethan had half hoped to catch sight of Josephine in there, but she had not been around.
After tea and toast, Ethan put on his outdoor coat and hat and left the manor by the front door. He had not even got to the bottom stone step leading down from the double doors when he heard a carriage coming up the driveway. Lingering a little, he assumed it must be some house guests that his sister was expecting for the garden party.
Observing from the steps, he watched as the steward stepped forward to open the carriage door. Out stepped his brother Anthony, who waved over to him, and so Ethan made his way towards the carriage to speak with him.
“Ethan!” Anthony called out as his older brother approached. “I would like to introduce you to Lady Matilda.”
