They stayed in the drawing room for the remainder of the afternoon and on into the evening. It was strange to Lady Louisa not to leave and dress for dinner. Since no announcement was made to do so, and neither of the other ladies said anything about it, she kept her mouth shut on the matter.
It seemed that Lady Hendrickson’s need for propriety was most duplicitous and only mattered regarding Lady Louisa. As Lady Louisa spent the time either in awkward silence or answering loaded questions laced with disdain, she felt very much like the schoolgirl of her youth, being tortured by the other students.
Lady Louisa couldn’t quite imagine at that moment how she was ever going to make an extended stay here at Mentheith House work. She felt no more welcome than a mouse looking for crumbs in the pantry.
Finally, Mr. Johnson entered the room. Lady Louisa took notice that both his hands were clean, his thread bare coat had been brushed, and his hair had been pulled back smoothly. She couldn’t help but feel a little relieved when her aunt’s scrutiny left her and turned on the poor butler.
“Have you no gloves?” Lady Hendrickson spat at the man. “After all we have a very fine guest with us tonight,” she continued, waving to Lady Louisa’s direction.
“Oh, please aunt- I mean, Lady Hendrickson, I don’t ask for any special treatment while I am here.”
“Do you hear that, girls?” Lady Hendrickson said, turning to her two daughters. “Your cousin seems to be gracious enough to descend to our level,” she said with a snake-like hiss.
“I only meant that I have come to assist you in any way I can. I do not wish to create more work for the household. It’s my goal to help you. After all, I too have felt the loss of my father. I know how it must tear at your hearts.”
Lady Louisa addressed the last of her words to her cousins. She had to remind herself that they were going through a difficult time and much of her aunt’s negative disposition had to be the result of the current stress and grief she was under.
“How very magnanimous of you,” Lady Hendrickson drawled before standing and calling her girls to follow her.
Lady Louisa sat shocked in her seat for just a moment at the cruel manner in which her aunt had already treated her. Surely her mother wouldn’t want to attempt to mend bonds when it seemed so clear that the other party involved had no wish to do so.
Her mind drifted to her mother at that moment, however. Yes, she was keeping busy and probably not wanting for much entertainment in her absence. She was however still very frail of spirit. Lady Louisa could only imagine the degree of hurt her mother would feel if she returned home without having accomplished her task.
If she couldn’t win over her aunt or cousins, it wouldn’t be for lack of trying. She was determined to stay the course, if only for her own mother’s happiness.
Lady Louisa stood from her seat and quickly caught up to the swaying skirts of her two cousins, to follow the procession to dinner.
“Did you mean what you said?” Lady Louisa’s aunt asked from her right side at the table. Lady Hendrickson had insisted that Lady Louisa sit at the head.
“Forgive me, but what are you referring to?”
Lady Hendrickson gave an exasperated puff of her cheeks like she was dealing with a stupid child. Lady Louisa could hear the covered giggles from her two cousins.
“That you are willing to help in any way you can?”
“Oh yes,” Lady Louisa said, perking right up. She was hoping that this could perhaps be the opening she was looking for.
“Well, the house has always been short-handed. You see Mr. Hendrickson had promised me the world when we first met. This is all he seemed to be able to give, however,” Lady Hendrickson said with a wave of her hand at the room.
“Normally, the girls and I contribute to the housework. So few staff members simply cannot accomplish everything that is needed. Unfortunately, since my husband's departure from this world,” Lady Hendrickson paused for a moment and dabbed at her nose with a handkerchief. “Well, neither the girls nor I have been up to it.”
“We barely manage ourselves every day, let alone the mountain of tasks piling up before us.”
Lady Louisa felt excitement inside her. This would be her chance to show her aunt that no hard feelings were harbored between the two families. She would do all that she could to get Mentheith House back on its feet.
After all was not charity the greatest love? Lady Louisa would show that she and her mother had high abounding love for this family, and in return she hoped the Hendricksons would again accept them into their lives. Lady Louisa was sure this was the last grievance her mother needed to fix in this life. She wasn’t willing to let her mother down.
By the end of dinner, Lady Louisa was in high spirits and full of tasks for the morrow. She thought it was quite a long list and figured it was only because all three would work together to accomplish the tasks.
Her first task would be to get the kitchen garden and medicinal gardens set to order. She actually didn’t find this task too tedious and thought she might rather enjoy it. It was after all early enough in the spring that she might yet get a good yield for the dinner table.
In times past, she had helped her own gardeners tend to the small plots behind their London home and therefore had good knowledge on the matter. She had even made a bit of a hobby out of medicinal plants and their uses recently.
The second task on her long list was to retrieve from the town the parcels that the women of the house were expecting. She worried more about this job as she had no familiarity with the area and she would be in public all on her own.
Perhaps her cousins would accompany her on this trip, and in that way, it would not be improper. But for a lady to walk to town and through shops without even a maid at her side was more than Lady Louisa had ever done in her life.
As much as Lady Louisa wanted to mention such concerns to her aunt, she also knew that she would no doubt be ridiculed for them. At every moment, Lady Hendrickson directed cruel or insulting words towards Lady Louisa.
First, there was the instance in the drawing room. Then at dinner, she covered her insults with humility. Lady Hendrickson had initially commented on how the meal was no doubt distasteful to someone used to the finery of
London. Next, she remarked on how Lady Louisa must have chosen her most outdated gown so as not to make her cousins feel unfashionable.
All these comments, and so many more, were all meant to belittle and embarrass Lady Louisa. She hated to admit it, but it was working.
That night, before retiring to her bed in the small servant room meant for two, Lady Louisa sat at the edge of her bed and did her best not to cry. She was sure in that moment she would have much preferred to be back at Mrs. Mason’s School for Young Ladies and have her hair dipped in the inkwell than to have to spend another meal in the company of her aunt.
Lady Louisa’s only solace was that if she just kept her head down and did the work asked of her as she had done in primary school, then it would all be over much more quickly. Tomorrow, she would have nothing but sunshine and a day in the garden to look forward to. With any luck, that would also mean not having to be in her aunt’s presence.