Journeys by Murray Tamela Hancock

Author:Murray, Tamela Hancock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2012-11-26T16:00:00+00:00

Nine

“You have been quiet all day. Are you not excited about the party?” Dorothea asked Helen as the carriage made its way over country lanes to the event.

“I suppose.” Helen looked absently out of the window.

“I have been admiring the Wickford estate ever since I saw it when we passed it the first night I arrived here. Such a beautiful old home, sitting so proudly on top of the hill. How magnificent the house must appear inside!”

“That monstrosity?” Helen scrunched her nose.

“My, but you seem to be in a sour mood today, Helen. I have never heard you make such an observation about any of the other estates.”

“I am so sorry. I am not myself. My stomach has been feeling odd all day.”

Luke leaned over and took both of her hands in his. “Are you sure you feel quite all right, my dear? We really do not have to attend if you are not up to the task.”

“Oh, yes we do. I responded last week for all of us, and I would never want to inconvenience Lady Lydia with an uneven number of guests at her dinner table. You know as well as I that such a faux pas would be quite rude and possibly cause us never to be invited to another social event for years to come.”

“But if you are ill. . .”

“That is quite all right. I shall sip on tea, and that will soothe my stomach.” Helen clutched her abdomen as the carriage hit a bump. She recovered and turned her face to Dorothea. “You should enjoy this party. Even though Lady Lydia is a dreadful bore, she usually invites interesting guests. I understand she has visitors from Dover who have just been abroad.”

“How exciting. They should be intriguing.”

But Stratford will be even more intriguing.

When Dorothea and her party entered the large hall of the Wickford manor house, she took in a breath. The Wickford coat of arms greeted the guests, an impressive display indeed. Burgundy velvet draperies adorned each window, and the Chippendale-style furnishings looked to be as costly as those she had seen in London’s finest homes. The wallpaper showed a bucolic scene, the figures outlined in burgundy against cream. Expensive curiosities that appeared to have been collected from travels to exotic places decorated tables, walls, and shelves. Not a speck of dust was to be seen. Everything gleamed.

Dorothea hadn’t thought such a feat was possible, but inspection of the banquet tables demonstrated that Lady Lydia managed to serve even more varieties of food than Helen had offered at Hans’s birthday party. The treats emanated scents as pleasing to the nose as their appearance presented a feast for the eyes. The offerings had been positioned on the table in such a way that the colors blended well. Varieties of pastries were emphasized by creative decorations of various colors of icing—red flavored with cherry juice and orange with marmalade. Still, the stuffed oysters wrapped in bacon strips and covered in white cream were her finest delicacy and the topic of every conversation that focused on food.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.