The horses clip-clopped their way to the double-sided stairs which led to the front door where a couple of houseboys stood holding lanterns. The lantern boys jostled down both on the left and right stairs one standing every few steps to light the way for their masters. The house slaves that had stayed behind waited to assist the De’Muerres in any way that would be necessary, several of the slaves began the tedious task of unloading the wagons. Victoria and Samantha were sent straight up to their rooms on the third floor, where hot baths were being readied, and trays of small suppers awaited.
After the long day of dusty travel, Victoria took pleasure in the warm, Magnolia scented bath. The fine imported porcelain tub was large enough for her to stretch out her cramped limbs and the water soaked off the travel grime. From the other side of the screen Victoria heard Polly directing the placement of trunks. When most of the commotion seemed to have died down and her fingers and toes were well wrinkled, Victoria called out to Polly, “Polly, I am ready to get out of the tub now. Please bring my towels and robe.” Polly did as she was instructed and led her mistresses over to the tea table, which she had moved close to the fire, to sit and enjoy her light supper.
Victoria sat wrapped snuggly in her robe nibbling on the cold ham and biscuits and occasionally running a brush through her hair to assist the fire in the drying process, which would take a good long while due to the length and thickness of her blonde mane. Polly answered a knock on the bedroom door, exchanged a few words with the intruder, and handed Victoria a piece of parchment.
“A messenger brought this over from Caherbrennan earlier this evening, ma’am.” Polly finished unpacking Victoria’s belongings while Victoria opened the correspondence with enthused curiosity.
My dear Victoria,
I hope your travels have been pleasant and I trust this letter finds you well. I have just arrived home myself, but could not wait to speak to you, despite promising that I would give you a few days to settle in.
I would like to ask you and your sister to accompany my brother and me on a buggy ride around our property tomorrow. I hope that you find this agreeable and that you will send response right away, no matter the hour. I will not sleep until I receive word. Though, I fear if you agree I will not sleep from the excitement of seeing you on the morrow.
I eagerly await your response.
Faithfully Yours,
Wesley Brennan
P.S. I already asked your father for permission to call upon you in this manner and he was very agreeable. I hope you do not find this presumptuous on my part.
Victoria quickly penned a reply agreeing to Mr. Brennan picking her and her sister up at ten o’clock the next morning for a quick tour of his property. She then walked through the dressing room that separated her room from Samantha’s and knocked on the door before entering. Her sister sat, much as Victoria had been moments before, wrapped in a robe beside the fire and munching on her supper. Victoria went over to the four-poster bed and sat, tucking her bare feet beneath her. “Samantha, we are going for a buggy ride with the Brennan boys in the morning.”
“Oh?” Samantha looked up at her sister with a feigned look of surprise.
Victoria narrowed her eyes. “Why do I have a feeling that you knew this already?”
“Well, Thomas may have mentioned to me that Wesley hoped to take you on a buggy ride when we returned.”
“Thomas and Wesley, huh? What transpired between you and the younger Mr. Brennan while I was ill that would allow you to use their given names?”
“Nothing worth any chin-wagging, really. We took tea together a few times when he and Wesley called to check on you, after which we would walk in the park or down the promenade.”
“Is that so? Hmm, well I guess I will have to see for myself in the morning how much or little there is to gossip about. The gossipmongers rarely actually get it correct, you know.”
Samantha giggled and swatted at her sister. “And what of you, dear sister? Is there something to be said about you and Wesley?”
Victoria shifted uncomfortably. “I am not sure just yet. Things just ended with Christopher and rather dramatically, I might add.”
“But…” Samantha prodded her.
Victoria smiled. “But, Wesley sparks something inside me that I have never felt before. I don’t even know how to describe it, really. And he makes me feel safe too. Not to mention he is rather pleasant to look at.”
“That he is. You know he made quite the to-do about asking Father for permission to call upon you, formally.”
“Yes, he made mention of that in his note. Seems he thought that if I knew Father had already approved of him that I might be more agreeable to this little excursion tomorrow. Then he made a bit of an apology begging me not think of him as presumptuous, when his actions have always been roguish and presumptuous, so I don’t know what to think about him. He keeps me on my toes, that is for sure.”
Samantha grinned at her sister. Yes, she thought. Wesley would be good for her sister. She needs her feathers to be ruffled a bit. That had been Christopher’s only flaw, in Samantha’s eye. He never challenged Victoria. He was a dull and passionless man who stuck to the status quo and never faltered from society’s expectations, which is how he ended up in an arranged engagement. “Well it is best that we get some sleep so we are fresh in the morning,” Samantha yawned.
“Yes, goodnight then.” Victoria wandered back to her room but did not yet go to sleep. The fire was stoked to ward off the cool night air, but she wandered out onto her balcony to look out over the familiar landscape of her home. She pulled her robe tightly around her as she listened to the music, laughter, and general evening noises that rose up from the slaves’ quarters far across on the other side of the property. The sky was mostly clear, spotted with starlight and the moon was not quite full. Victoria knew that Caherbrennan was located in the direction that she was facing and she couldn’t help but wonder if Wesley might be out looking her way and wondering what she was doing too. “I guess I will know in just a little while.”
Chapter Four
The next morning the girls were up early and Hannah and Polly had them each primped and polished well before the brothers were due to arrive to escort them to Caherbrennan. Victoria chose to wear a green and cream plaid silk day dress. Samantha’s was very similar but the dress she wore was brown and blue. The girls joined their parents in the sunny informal dining room as they did each morning for a large country breakfast. Eggs, bacon, sausage, pastries, fruits, griddlecakes, coffee, and tea were all on the sideboard waiting to be portioned out by a young sleepy-looking kitchen girl. Both of the sisters only took meager helpings, too nervous to eat much, and truthfully, their corset stays were tightened with very little give for dining. The sisters had their stays tightened as tight as possible, since they wanted to look their best for their outing with the Brennan boys.
Jonah, the butler, entered the dining room and announced the arrival of the Brennan brothers a few minutes before ten. Mr. and Mrs. De’Muerre arose with the sisters and walked to the morning parlor where the brothers waited. Thomas and Wesley stood upon the family’s entrance, bowing to the ladies and shaking hands with Mr. De’Muerre. The De’Muerres and their guests went about the niceties of inquiring after each other’s families, farms, and journeys back from the city. Mr. De’Muerre recited the news of the fires that they had come across on their journey out to the country, which the Brennans were quite worried about as well, and they agreed to pass on the news to their parents. Wesley then filled them all in on the itinerary for the day, which was to take Samantha and Victoria out for a buggy ride around their plantation and then have a picnic lunch before they returned home. The sisters would be returned before sunset, of course -- to do otherwise would tarnish the reputation of the girls.
Mrs. De’Muerre insisted that they take Hannah, the elder of their maids, with them to maintain propriety. Under most circumstances, proper southern girls would take their Mammy with them, but Mammy Joe unf
ortunately had passed away two years earlier. She had been Mrs. De’Muerre’s Mammy, too and the whole household had been heartbroken over her passing. When she died, it had been like losing a family member, a grandmother. The house went into mourning for a few months and held quite an elaborate funeral – elaborate, that is, for a slave funeral.
Wesley handed Victoria up into the open-air buggy on one side and Thomas helped Samantha up on the other. Once situated comfortably in their seats, the girls opened their parasols to help keep the sun off their delicate, pale skin. Each boy had climbed in and sat across the buggy from his lady, as it would not have been proper to sit side by side. Hannah climbed up beside the driver and they were off with a light crack of the whip. The couples chatted about the scenery as they passed the few miles to Caherbrennan and the sisters told anecdotes about different sites they passed that held special memories from their earlier years. Victoria and Samantha could not help but notice what a glorious vision the two brothers made wearing near matching suits of a dark brown color. The color complemented the features of both brothers quite well. Victoria and Samantha, while they did manage to play the parts of tour guide for the brothers, found it a bit difficult to concentrate on the surrounding scenery, as they much preferred the scenery inside the buggy.
They came upon the Caherbrennan property line, which butted right up against the end of the De’Muerre’s property line. Only a small line of oak trees that the founding De’Muerre family had planted separated the two properties. The fact that these two farms shared that property line meant that Caherbrenanan also back up to the same swamp that Mossy Oak Manor backed into. Victoria immediately began warning the brothers that they would have to keep a close eye on their livestock and be watchful of slaves that might take off to hide in the swamps.
As the buggy drew closer to the center of the property, it was evident that construction was still underway, since they could smell sawdust and hear construction noises such as hammering and sawing as well as work songs that the slaves sang to help the hours pass. The big house was finished, though, and its massive size enabled the couples to spot it from the road. It was two stories tall and white in the style that they were calling Greek Revival with massive columns supporting the wraparound porch. Three gabled windows could be seen at the very top of the home in what was probably the attic where the house slaves slept. The second story balcony, which also wrapped around the whole house, had wrought iron fencing. There was a widows’ watch on the roof of the home that spanned between the two chimneys. As with Mossy Oak Manor, Oaks and Willows lined most of the property, and it was apparent that The Brennans chose the spot of their home due to the two large Willows that stood guard on the front corners of the house.
“Oh, it is beautiful, Wesley!” Victoria exclaimed upon taking it all in.
“Wesley assisted in a large part of the design and construction, you know,” Thomas told the sisters, while Wesley tried to brush off the praise.
“I simply drew and directed the crews as Mother asked, but I am very pleased that you like it, Victoria.”
The couples alighted from the carriage when it stopped at the front stoop of the house and the brothers escorted the sisters in to show them about the home. They came upon Mrs. Brennan in the main hall as she directed various slaves about the house who were placing and rearranging furniture, wall hangings, and other knickknacks that were heavy with Irish influence, obviously mementos of the ancestral home they had recently left.
“Dear girls! How good it is to see you both again. Miss Victoria, I am glad to see that you are well recovered,” Mrs. Brennan hugged them both.
“Yes, Mrs. Brennan I am feeling very well again. You have such a lovely home. Your sons tell us that you had a hand in the design of it?” Victoria replied.
“Well, yes. You know men, if you don’t direct them on the necessities of a household they would have the kitchen on the opposite side of the home from the dining room and the billiard hall would be at the front of the house… who knows what havoc would be created!” Everyone giggled as she teased her sons.
“C’mon, Ma. Surely, you know that we have more sense than that. The kitchen would be by our rooms so that we have better access to the food at all times,” Thomas nudged her and kissed her head as she groaned with the agony of that idea. “Come, let us leave mother to her heckling of the household and let’s continue the tour.” The group laughed again at the familiar teasing and followed obediently after Thomas.
Victoria clung to Wesley’s arm as he led her about pointing out all the nuances and smallest details that pulled the spaces together. All of the walls were rich in dark colors giving the home an old world charm, bordering on the ostentatious, but beautiful none-the-less. Victoria imagined that this was similar to what the inside of the Brennan’s family estate back in Ireland would have looked like. It was obvious that Wesley took a lot of pride in this home and the work that they had put into building Caherbrennan. On the second floor, Wesley and Thomas showed the girls the many guest rooms for the balls that were sure to be held and for the numerous guests that lived too far to drive back the same day.
He then opened the door to another room while Thomas led Samantha on down the hallway. This particular room was much more masculine than the previous rooms had been. It held large, dark wood furniture, a massive four-poster bed, but no canopy. The curtains were made of the same dark leather that the armchairs by the fireplace were made of.
“This is my room,” he told Victoria as she entered, drawn in by the familiar scent of old leather and earth, with a hint of sea. His room led out to the balcony and she walked out to take in the scenery after briefly snooping about his room.
“Your balcony faces mine,” she thought aloud as Wesley walked up behind her.
“Does it?” he paused pensively. “You know I stood out here last night, while I waited for the messenger to return, just looking toward your home, wondering where you were and what you were doing, praying that you wouldn’t reject my invitation.” He took her hand and pulled her closer to him. Her spare hand fell upon his heart.
Victoria looked up to his face. “You didn’t!”
“Oh, but I did Mavourneen, do you doubt me?” he questioned her, his eyes betraying the hurt that he felt should she think him to be a liar.
“No, of course not! It is just that I stood out on my balcony last night wondering the same things of you. I mean, not about the letter, but wondering what you were doing…” Victoria quickly reassured him and then looked down at her hands bashfully, allowing her voice to trail off as she discovered herself babbling.
Wesley laughed heartily and kissed her head innocently, reveling in the pretty pink color that flushed her cheeks. “Come let us join the others before we cause too much talk being here alone like this.”
They joined back up with their siblings and returned to the buggy to tour the rest of the plantation and find a nice spot for their picnic lunch. Thomas and Wesley again took on tour guide personas pointing out the different sites: gardens, fields that would hold their future crops, various out buildings and slaves’ quarters. They also explained plans that they had for various acres that had yet to be tilled or worked. Pride exuded from their every word, and it was evident that they loved their land, that this was what they had come to America for. Toward the outskirts of the property, the buggy came upon a stream and nicely shaded wooded area, which appeared ideal for them to sit and partake in their noon meal.
Hannah and the driver sat out the blankets and baskets for the two couples while the gentlemen lifted their ladies about the waist, and once more out of the buggy. The new couples strolled off down the stream to stretch their limbs and enjoy some private time away from the watchful eyes of those entrusted by their parents to ensure their proper behavior. The two couples did nothing to be ashamed of, but it was just easier to be themselves if they were not constantly feeling as though they were putting on a show. After their short stroll, they returned to the blankets and food that
was now laid out for them. Wesley and Thomas both sprawled out on either side of the blanket and the sisters sat daintily beside their respective escorts.
The Brennans’ cook obviously thought if she did not feed the couples well at this noon lunch, they would starve. She had packed fried chicken, smoked ham, cuts of cheese, biscuits with a jar of fruit preserves, apples, wine, and a cherry pie. The sisters, of course, could barely peck at their food like birds, due to their corsets, but the brothers dug in like field hands, with only slightly better manners. Wesley did not fail to notice the minimal appetite of the ladies, however, and he could not let this slide, not with such a feast laid out before them.
The Possessive Kiss: Victoria's Story: Book Two of The Kiss Series Page 5
