In Love's Time by Kate Breslin

Author:Kate Breslin [Breslin, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction;FIC042030;FIC042040;FIC027200
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2022-10-02T23:00:00+00:00

It was the Garden of Eden, surely.

Clare had never seen anything like it. Not even Randleton and his wife had such an exotic-looking paradise at their country estate in the north.

She passed through a set of glass doors at the back of the house, entering a world foreign to her with its impressive array of plants—many of which were uncommon to Britain—crowding one another throughout the vaulted space.

Being so immense, the conservatory reminded her of the tropical jungles she’d seen only in books while she was being tutored along with Elliot and Stephen. She recognized the enormous green leaves of a banana tree, nearly touching the pointed fanlike fronds of some kind of palm planted just a few feet away.

Across from the trees, purple blooms and winding vines of fragrant wisteria climbed unchecked up the white lattice of wood mounted on one wall. At the center of the conservatory, the thick trunk of a Japanese maple rose from an enormous planter and stretched upward toward the glass ceiling. And the tall shoots of bamboo growing throughout the space had reached high enough to create natural partitions, making the place look like a lush wilderness.

Waiting for Fannie, Clare idly strolled along the stone path running through the conservatory’s greenery. Her gaze met with a rainbow of colors, every size and shape of flower imaginable, each bloom bursting and surrounded by dark green leaves. Halfway down the path she found her new friend, turning the soil in a large planter using a spade. Fannie held an elongated root bulb before looking up.

“Oh, goodness!” She dropped the bulb onto the soil. “Clare, I hadn’t realized the time.”

“What is it you’re planting?” Clare asked.

“This is zantedeschia aethiopica—a calla lily,” she explained, indicating the root bulb. “A bit late for planting, but once this variety sprouts next year, it will produce beautiful green leaves and rose-colored flowers.”

Fannie wore the same dirty yellow apron she’d hidden beneath her coat the other day when they’d arrived, her gloved hands now working dirt and fertilizer over the bulb.

Clare gestured around her at nature’s sanctuary. “Did you do all this?”

“Oh, heavens, no!” Fannie laughed as she reached for the watering can beside her, drenching the dirt around her fresh planting. “This was my grandmother’s creation. After she died, Grandfather continued to add to the conservatory plants, sending them home from all the different places he traveled. Our gardener, Mr. Bauer, has maintained the conservatory through the years, with my help, until I went off to university. Once I returned, I followed in my grandmother’s footsteps, making this oasis even more beautiful.” She stopped and glanced around. “I’ve only been back a year now, but I hope I’ve made a contribution, even if a small one.”

“It’s amazing,” Clare said.

“Follow me while I clean up. Natalya should arrive soon and then we can all go over together.”

Clare let Fannie lead the way into a screened area that included a sink. Stacks of empty wooden crates and terra-cotta pots lined the wall alongside shelves of books on gardening.

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