My Once Handsome Husband - Chapter 273

Ms. Bird was thrilled to pack everything and have a new home for herself and her mistress.  Most of their things were still stored away from when they had come from Edgewood so it didn’t take long for everything to be taken to Honeywell.

Felix and Flora were a little sad to see Delaney leaving them again but they were relieved to see their niece moving into a home of her own. They assumed if she was doing this it meant she was getting better and they were excited to see it.

Delaney herself felt a bit excited to go to her new estate but it was as much for a chance to be alone as anything else.  She ate lunch her first day with all the servants already working at Honeywell which included the housekeeper, two maids, two men in the stables, men that worked with the beehives, and a few various others.  Ms. Bird told her mistress they would need to hire more people but for now, Delaney wanted to keep everything as it was.

The day she moved to Honeywell she said goodbye to her Aunt and Uncle and left in an Adair carriage.  She found Vincent had left one of the smaller ones at her new estate for her use.  It had the same plush red seats as the grand one she had shared with him.  Sitting in it she ran her hands over the soft fabric and felt a longing to go back to her days traveling with her husband, especially since they had gotten the medicine to keep it from being painful for him.

Once arriving at her new home, Delaney found the peace and quiet she had experienced the first time she’d visited was gone.  With the new mistress in the manor and a duchess at that, the place and the servants in it had become a flurry of activity.  At the center of it all was a bit of a battle for control between Ms. Bird and Mrs. Gulley.  While Mrs. Gulley was the housekeeper and technically in charge, Ms. Bird came from working at much grander estates and knew Delaney well.

So the young mistress found herself being much more involved in the decision-making than she had planned.  Delaney had come to Honeywell thinking she would be able to hide out in her bedroom and leave the running of the home to the servants but in the days since moving in, she had hardly had any time alone at all during the day.

As soon as she woke up in the mornings she had only a little bit of time to herself in the silence before Ms. Bird would come in to dress her.  While getting ready, all Delaney heard about was Mrs. Gulley’s failings.  Then when she went down to her little dining room for breakfast Mrs. Gulley was usually waiting with a list of complaints of her own as well as preprepared speeches to defend herself against the stories she knew Ms. Bird had told.

And so her day would go on like that.

Vincent had seen to all the repairs the house and outbuildings would need when he had first purchased it so all of that was finished.  He had left it a completely blank slate however so Delaney was left to decide everything else.

She spent the next weeks deciding on fabrics for curtains and purchasing a fancy dining set in case she ever did decide to entertain visitors.  There was hardly any furniture left so she went into a nearby town with Ms. Bird by her side and purchased or commissioned things.  All in all, she was kept very busy and she couldn’t help wondering if that had been planned by her husband.  Maybe he had left so much for her to do so she would be too busy to be sad.

Every evening though she would send everyone away to do their work and she would retire to her bedroom.  She would open the pair of high windows across from her bed and sit in the overstuffed chair with a shawl over her shoulders, looking out onto the beautiful scene below.

It was then, alone in the silence, when she would let her thoughts turn to her husband again.  She would be sitting at Honeywell but her mind would be far away at Edgewood.  She would imagine him sitting at his desk in his study going over his ledgers or sitting in front of the fire in their… his… bedroom, sipping wine and maybe even reading a good book.

If she had had a particularly good day she would imagine him out by the fields giving Frost some attention or even traveling through the woods to visit Mabon and the fairies.  She always imagined him happy and she prayed he was.  Even if it wasn’t with her.

–

By the time things started to settle down at Honeywell, it had been more than a month since Delaney had seen Vincent and she stilled missed him as much as the day she’d left Edgewood, if not more.  Instead of hiding away as she had planned, she found herself better distracted from her pain by throwing herself into work on her estate.

The first thing she decided to work on after having the place fairly well furnished was her servants.  For this task, she enlisted the help of Ms. Bird as well as writing to her Aunt and Uncle and asking to borrow a few members of their household staff.  This was how she started a sort of training school for her people.

“This is wonderful my Lady,” Mrs. Gulley said one evening as she watched her son, a young man working in the stables, learning the correct way to harness a team of horses for the carriages.

“It’s good for all of us,” Delaney smiled.

“I’ve told Ava that tomorrow morning she will be helping Ms. Bird and learning from her on how to be a proper lady’s maid.”

“Really?” Delaney asked in surprise, “And Ms. Bird agreed to that?”

“I learned a thing or two from your Aunt’s housekeeper,” Mrs. Gulley smiled wickedly, “And I told her… not asked her.”

Delaney laughed and shook her head, “Well, I’m sure I’ll be hearing about that.”

The housekeeper chuckled and they both stood watching the men work with the horses as the sun sank down behind the trees and the insects started on their nightly chorus.

–

The next morning when Delaney awoke, she did not feel well.  Ms. Bird hovered around her and felt her forehead to see if she had a fever.  Luckily she didn’t so the maid ordered her tea with peppermint to help settle her stomach.  Ava stood awkwardly in the corner, having come to help dress her mistress and learn to be a lady’s maid but now finding none of that work was needed.

“I’m sorry Ava,” Delaney sighed, “I’m sure I’ll be better tomorrow and then Ms. Bird can give you a proper lesson.”

“Oh that’s alright my Lady,” the girl smiled nervously, “All that matters is that you get well again.”

“Of course that’s all that matters,” Ms. Bird rolled her eyes, annoyed with the girl as always.

Delaney gave Ava a little smile before rolling over and curling up in her bed again.  Her stomach turned and she had to close her eyes to wait for it to pass.  Anytime she moved much that would happen.

She thought she was feeling better by mid-afternoon so she got up and pulled on her robe.  She rang for Ms. Bird and when the maid came she brought a tray with a steaming bowl of soup.

“Here you are my Lady,” she looked relieved to see Delaney up and about, “This will help you get your strength.”

Ava came with her and although she was relieved to see her mistress was better it was clear she was also nervous to start learning about being a lady’s maid.  It turned out she didn’t have anything to be nervous about yet though because shortly after Delaney took her first few bites of soup her stomach took a turn again.  She rushed to her open window and got sick over the ledge.

“I’m sorry,” she sighed, going back to her bed, “I really thought I was better.”

“It’s alright,” Ms. Bird assured her, “you’ve been pushing yourself these last weeks you probably just need a rest.  Or you might have eaten something bad.  Who knows with these cooks.”

Ava glared at the older woman behind her back until she caught Delaney watching and quickly dropped her gaze.

Although Delaney didn’t really feel tired she agreed to rest to ease her maid’s worry.  When she glanced up she saw Ava had taken the tray of soup in her hands and was now hesitating in the doorway, not sure what to do.

“Take that to the kitchen,” Ms. Bird shooed her away, “Go!”

The young woman hurried out to do as she was told and Delaney took the opportunity to frown at her maid.  “Be nicer to her Ms. Bird.  She’s trying.”

“I know,” she sighed,” They’re all trying.  I suppose I just miss working…” She hesitated a moment before shaking her head.  “Oh never mind it doesn’t matter.”

“You miss Edgewood,” Delaney finished for her, knowing what the woman was thinking.

Ms. Bird looked guilty for a moment before it shifted to sadness.  “Yes my Lady.  I suppose I do miss Edgewood.  It had started to feel like my home.”

“I know,” Delaney said quietly, looking away, “Me too.”