Into the Blue by Christina Green

Author:Christina Green
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 2012-03-31T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Luncheon. Ruby grinning at Stepmother and offering assistance whether needed or not. Father grimly silent. Hester felt that the overblown emotional feelings around her were too painful to be borne. She picked at her meal while Stepmother ventured a few vapid remarks about the weather. Father grunted and kept his eyes down. And in the silence, Ruby, Hester felt, was taking it all in: wondering, guessing, hoping for something to her advantage?

Leaving the room when the meal ended, Hester escaped to her bedroom and sat on the bed, her thoughts a confusing mixture of words, ideas, places and people. Eventually she calmed and was able to think sensibly.

Tomorrow was the start of her new life. She must rise early, leaving the house without any terrible goodbyes. Catch the early omnibus in the village, reach Newton Abbot and book a room at The Globe Hotel for a few days. She would soon find more suitable and cheaper accommodation.

Before that she must sell her jewels. The sandalwood box was emptied into a chamois bag. Taking out each piece – three rings, strings of pearls and moonstones, the Venetian glass beads, Grandmother’s topaz pendant and matching eardrops, the set of rubies and Mother’s cameo brooch – Hester wondered if this bid for liberation would help Father to realize that she knew what she was doing; that she understood the need for careful future undertakings.

Her packing was soon done. Just enough clothes and toilet pieces in the valise, along with the bag of jewellery, to last for a day or two. Her painting equipment went into a smaller bag, her reticule was filled with purse and more personal things. How would she carry it all? Momentarily she wondered about getting Hoskins to drive her into town, but then decided against it. I must be independent. When she had an address she would send a message to Father to instruct Ruby to pack up the rest of her belongings and arrange for the carrier to bring them to her.

And then she thought of what she owed her family. Aunt Jacks should be told, but mustn’t be involved in this escape, so just a note of explanation. And a letter to Father. A short, loving note, saying she hoped he would soon change his feelings about her departure. That she would write again. She wrote these letters with great concentration, addressing them and leaving them to be found in her empty bedroom tomorrow.

Dinner time and the same silence. Clearly, Father had told Stepmother about the morning’s emotional confrontation. After painting in the afternoon, Hester pleaded a headache and retired early. She felt guilty, but increasingly filled with the passion that told her that it was right to go. To escape, like the butterfly, out into the blue freedom.

She slept badly, awaking with the dawn chorus. As she dressed she heard the blackbird in the pear tree, and realized she would no longer hear it in town. Stop being sentimental. Painting is more important than birdsong. Hurry up and leave.

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