A Bride for Alastair

by Wendy May Andrews

  Fred could have sworn Jane looked worried, but she merely shook her head and smiled at him. “Go ahead. I’ll be here when you come back.”

  “Be sure that you are,” he said with mock severity. Fred was suddenly struck with the thought that he didn’t even know how to take leave of his wife. In that moment, he wished his sister to perdition. They didn’t need a witness for their awkward leave taking. Ought he to kiss her? Hug her? Shake her hand?

  He quickly kissed Jane’s cheek and hurried from the room with his sister’s giggles chasing him from the house.

  ~~~

  “I think Fred mixed us up,” Sybil said when she got her laughter under control.

  Jane wasn’t sure what her sister-in-law had found so funny. Her confusion must have been plain to see.

  Sybil explained. “He usually kisses my cheek when taking his leave. I was expecting to witness an embarrassing display of affection, but instead I didn’t even get a farewell.”

  Jane had to laugh at Sybil’s comical dismay, but she had been grateful that Alastair hadn’t drawn out the awkward moment. She hurried to change the subject.

  “Why do you continue to call him Fred?”

  Sybil blinked at her. “Why wouldn’t I? Have you taken to calling him Alastair?” She peeled off into giggles again. “Does he answer you when you do?”

  Jane felt heat climbing her cheeks but refused to be cowed by the siblings’ closeness. She kept her chin raised. “He does, as a matter of fact. I asked for his preference, and he said he would like me to call him Alastair. That is his name.”

  “Well, I suppose it is, but no one calls him that.”

  “I do.” Jane kept her reply firm but decided to change the subject and keep the peace, as she saw it didn’t please the other woman. Jane wasn’t sure if she should think of her as her guest or her host. This lovely home was more familiar to the other woman, even though Jane was married to its owner. “Shall we have some tea?”

  “Oh dear, I forgot to let your housekeeper know to return. Did you think to send her a telegram?”

  Jane shrugged. “I didn’t know we had a housekeeper.”

  Sybil laughed again. “Of course, you do. How else would you keep up with the house?”

  Jane didn’t know how to answer, hoping it was a rhetorical question. “Surely we can manage for ourselves today. Alastair will know what to do about staff.”

  Sybil’s laughter cooled with Jane’s use of Alastair’s name, but she stood and led the way from the room. “I haven’t made tea in ages, but I do know my way to the kitchen.”

  “I’ve gotten quite good at it, so you can be my guest. If you take it how Ella likes it, we’ll do well.”

  “Were you making Ella’s tea?”

  “Very few women have household staff out West,” was all Jane could think to say.

  Thankfully, Sybil didn’t seem to be one to stay miffed, and she quickly started prattling on about various social engagements while Jane made herself at home in the kitchen. It was beautiful in her opinion. Well-appointed and clean. She rather thought she would enjoy cooking in the room. But perhaps Alastair would think it beneath her to do something so domestic.

  Jane stifled her sigh. He hadn’t seemed the sort to be like that. He hadn’t made a single disparaging comment about Ella’s kitchen or their cooking while they were at the McLains’, but things here in the city were sure to be different. Jane resolved to ask him as soon as he returned. While he hadn’t seemed to want her to find work outside the home, perhaps he wouldn’t object to her taking on domestic duties within their own house.

  Jane tried not to sigh, as she didn’t really want Sybil asking about it, but she couldn’t help being a little saddened over her turn of circumstances. It was foolish, she knew, to be sad about being so elevated from where she had been. But she understood where she stood as an employee. For her, right now, her life seemed precarious. What was going to happen if her husband or her sister-in-law found out what she had done? And even if they didn’t, what if their friends found out she had once been the help? Would Alastair be ostracized? Would all her lovely new circumstances disappear? Would he lose his house? His job? Would she have to return to scrubbing floors? Not that she would mind so very much, but she couldn’t envision her husband falling in love with her after that.

  Putting the disquieting thoughts aside, Jane tried to concentrate on what Sybil was chattering about. The other woman seemed sweet and kind, but she sure could talk a lot.

  “So, will you join me?”

  Jane blinked. She hadn’t caught the beginning part where the pertinent details were contained. She smiled even if it was forced.

  “I’ll have to check with your brother, first, I’m afraid. Our lives together are still so new. I’m sure you understand.”

  A fretful expression crossed Sybil’s face. “No, I don’t really understand. Fred will allow you to do whatever you’d like. I’m sure of it.”

  Jane stared at her sister-in-law, unsure what to make of her bitter tone. “While you might be right, I still don’t think I should make a commitment without discussing it with him, especially if it might involve any sort of expense.”

  Sybil continued to gaze at her with a degree of resentment, and Jane was filled with fear that the other woman had realized who she was. But then she seemed to deflate right before Jane’s eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Jane, you are probably in the right of it, and I’m being silly. While I have a certain relationship with Fred and it’s strange to think of him as a husband, your relationship with him will be different from mine, and I will have to respect that. And if you want to be the sort of wife who asks her husband about every little thing, that’s probably sweet, too. I don’t have that sort of relationship with my husband, but we’re slightly broken at the best of times, so I shouldn’t compare.”

  Jane made a small sound of distress, and Sybil’s face brightened. “Oh, don’t feel too much sympathy for me. I was young and foolish and made a great mistake. But we’re trying to make the most of it. Perhaps if I started sharing my thoughts and feelings with him more he’d appreciate that and it wouldn’t be so dreadful.”

  “Do you think he’d be receptive to hearing your thoughts and feelings?” Jane wasn’t quite sure what Sybil was trying to say, and she also didn’t know if she should be prying into the matter. But she couldn’t ignore what the other woman had said.

  Sybil shrugged. “He hasn’t been in the least concerned with my thoughts in the past, but he has been making an effort to be different lately. He is much more careful in what he says to me ever since Fred explained a few things to him.”

  “It was kind of your brother to get involved.” Jane wasn’t so sure if it was, but she didn’t know what else to say. She wouldn’t have felt like she could say anything to Phoebe’s husband, but then he treated his wife way better than she even deserved. Perhaps if he hadn’t, she would have felt obligated to say something. And then again, she wasn’t a man. This thought struck her as comical, but she didn’t want Sybil to think she was amused by her situation, so she quickly stifled her thoughts.

  “It was kind of him, I suppose. I’ve been begging him to do something for years, but he has always refused to get involved until he—” With that, Sybil quickly stopped herself, going so far as to cover her mouth and look at Jane with wide eyes. “Never mind, don’t tell him I said anything. I didn’t say anything, so there’s nothing to tell, is there?”

  Jane watched in surprise as the other woman sipped back the rest of her tea and got to her feet, almost in one flowing move.

  “So, discuss it with Fred and have a message sent to me if you do want to go shopping tomorrow. I’ll be available most of the day, so whatever time is most convenient for you, just let me know.”

  That answered what Jane had missed in the conversation, but she was left standing, trailing behind her sister-in-law as she beat a hasty retreat from the house.

  Blinking in the silence that was left in her wake, Jane s
tood in the foyer and looked around. She was alone in the house. It both thrilled and terrified her. She could explore on her own, which would be the best way to see it, without anyone judging her reactions or interrupting her interests in mysterious ways.

  But where to start? She had already seen the kitchen, but even getting there and back was a bit of a blur, since she had been following in Sybil’s wake. With a smile, Jane decided to start at the bottom and make her way to the top.

  Poking her nose into every nook and cranny of the not overly large house, Jane was satisfied that she would be happy to make this home. Whether Alastair would insist upon hired help or not, Jane felt capable of caring for the house. Of course, with a maid or two, it would be easy, even if children joined the household. There was certainly room. The bottom, besides the kitchen, held sufficient storage space that wasn’t yet crammed with too many things.

  Jane wondered how long Alastair had been living in the house. It appeared to have been purchased rather than inherited. She doubted it was the house he had grown up in. There wouldn’t be any available space in the storage rooms or cupboards if it hadn’t been vacated at some time in the not too distant past. But she also didn’t think it was brand new. It held that comfortable air of having been lived in. Jane quite liked it. It was grander than anything she had lived in since she was a small child, but not too grand that she wouldn’t be able to feel at home.

  The main floor, where guests would be entertained, held three large rooms. It would be perfect if they ever entertained, or when their family grew. One room, which was obviously the one preferred by Alastair, as it was the only one that appeared to be used at all, contained more books than Jane had ever seen all in one house. Two full walls were covered in books, and there was even a ladder so you could climb to the top of the shelves. There was a comfortable looking window seat that would be perfect for curling up and enjoying the contents of those shelves. She hoped Alastair would continue to tolerate her presence, as she had every intention and desire to read as many of those books as she could. Perhaps if she read enough books, she would stop lamenting her lack of education and no one would need ever know.

  Shaking her head at her own ridiculous concerns, Jane continued her explorations. The next floor had four comfortably sized bedrooms and sufficient cupboards and storage that she felt reasonably confident that, even with children in the house, she would be able to keep it tidy and free of clutter. There was one more door that was a little difficult to open, but she managed it with a good tug. It opened onto a narrow staircase. Jane thought back to her first glimpses of the exterior of the house and suspected this led to the attic.

  A shiver ran down her spine as she wondered what might be contained in the obviously seldom-used space. Creeping up the stairs, Jane was surprised when she got to the top that it was just another floor of the house. The slanted roof made it seem far less spacious than the other floors, but it would be usable space should they require it. Either if their family grew exceptionally, or if they needed to house any hired help.

  From what she had seen thus far, it didn’t appear as though anyone but Alastair lived in the house. And now she, too, she supposed, although she had yet to actually move in. She wondered where she ought to place the bags Alastair had left at the bottom of the stairs. She hurried down from the attic space, being careful to close the door tightly as she had found it. This did not feel like her home yet. She needed to leave everything precisely as she found it.

  Just as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard the front door opening. Jane felt the flutter of a million butterflies as she was about to welcome her handsome husband home for the first time. Would he be glad to have her there or wish he were coming home to the quiet of his empty house?

  Chapter Eleven

  Fred’s face broke into a grin when he saw Jane hovering at the base of the stairs.

  “Well, hello. Were you waiting for me?”

  “In a manner of speaking.” Jane laughed as she made the uninformative comment. Fred merely raised his eyebrows, and she quickly explained, much to his delight. “Sybil had to rush away, so I’ve been exploring on my own. It felt deliciously mischievous to be snooping about by myself.”

  “Did Sybil not show you around? Oh, Jane, I’m so sorry. I should never have gone off to work on our first day here.”

  Fred’s heart sank. He had failed his new wife less than a week into their acquaintance. He was stopped from berating himself overly, though, by her peel of laughter.

  “I beg you, don’t feel badly. It was actually perfect. I was able to poke and prod without feeling judgment from anyone. I think I would have felt awkward being shown around by your sister. And perhaps even if you had given me a tour. Now, I know where everything is, and we needn’t worry about it.”

  “Well, I appreciate your sunny view of the matter, but why did Sybil leave you like that? She had seemed so anxious to spend the day with you. I had thought she would still be here when I arrived.”

  “Are you disappointed?”

  Fred heard an odd note in his wife’s voice but couldn’t identify it.

  “Not in the least, to be honest with you. Isn’t it dreadful? I love my sister, of course, but in the week that I’ve known you, I’ve come to realize that your company is far more restful than hers. I thought it was all females. Now I realize my sister is flighty.”

  Jane giggled, bringing a smile to Fred’s face.

  “I don’t know if I would call her flighty,” Jane started in a measured tone. “But I, too, was surprised when she hurried off. It seemed to me as though she were about to divulge a secret and was so upset at her slip that she had to take herself to task.”

  Fred’s heart sank anew. He should have known Sybil couldn’t keep a secret.

  “What kind of secret?”

  “Well, I have no way of knowing, now do I? Besides, if she was that upset about it, I probably shouldn’t have even told you that much. But I don’t want to keep secrets from you, so I thought I ought to tell you, even though I actually don’t know anything.” Jane followed up her convoluted explanation with another giggle. “That made no sense whatsoever, did it? I must be more tired than I realized.”

  Fred continued to feel like a heel. He hadn’t seen to his wife’s needs.

  “Have you eaten anything? Is it just you in the house? Have you met Mrs. Baker?”

  He loved how Jane stared at him blinking while she pondered what he had said. She smiled gently as she tried to answer all his questions.

  “I’m pretty sure I’m the only one here. I looked in every single room and didn’t come across another being. Not even a cat, I was surprised to note. And, no, I haven’t yet eaten. I wasn’t sure when you would be coming back, so I didn’t know if I should cook us something. And really, to be honest, I had just finished snooping when you arrived home. I was just about to contemplate where to put our baggage when you came through the door.”

  Fred glanced at the luggage she had indicated and then back at her face. Her usually highly expressive face was smoothed into an effort to not reveal her discomfort. He appreciated her attempt, he supposed, although he would prefer if she would confide in him. Smiling, he bent down and picked both pieces up.

  “Did you decide which room you’d like to stay in for the time being?” He asked the question as he approached the stairs, but he was watching her closely from the corner of his eye and was relieved to see a smile stretch her face.

  “I was torn between the front room with the lovely yellow paper and the room in the back with the cozy window seat. The yellow room seems like it would be so cheerful to wake up in, but the back room would be very comfortable to spend time in.”

  “Why not alternate? We aren’t likely to have any overnight guests in the coming days, so you can sleep in every room in the house, if you have a mind for it.”

  “Oh, good heavens, no, that would make too much work with the bedding.”

  “Mrs. Baker won’t mind.”

&nb
sp; Fred stifled his amusement as Jane’s mouth opened and closed as she tried to formulate a response to his comment. Finally, she settled on asking a question.

  “Who is Mrs. Baker?”

  “She is our housekeeper. You will like her, I’m sure. She’s a pleasant woman, a fair bit older than you, I’d say. Her children are grown, anyhow. She’s been looking after me for the past year. Helped me move in here a few weeks ago.”

  “A few weeks? I thought it didn’t seem as though it had been lived in long. There’s nothing in storage,” she explained at his obviously questioning look. “Where did you live before?”

  She was trailing behind him up the stairs as they talked. Fred was glad she couldn’t see his face. They were getting too close to the things he didn’t want to tell her about.

  “I was renting rooms before. Mrs. Baker would come in and cook and clean for me two days a week, but she said she would be more than happy to work more days for me once I bought the house. I actually brought her to see it before I made my final decision. She said the kitchen was a dream.”

  Jane laughed. “I thought the exact same thing when I saw it. But she hasn’t stocked it much. I didn’t have any trouble finding things for tea, but there wasn’t much else.”

  “I sent her to visit her daughter while I went out West to collect you,” Fred explained. “There was no sense her rattling around in the empty house when she could be enjoying herself instead.”

  “That was kind of you.”

  Fred laughed. “It also saved me from having to pay her.”

  “Oh, that sounds sneaky.”

  Fred was surprised how much her remark hurt. He had come to enjoy her good opinion. “I did buy her ticket to New York.”

  “Well, I suppose that’s good then.”

  “I should have thought to tell her to meet us here. I thought Sybil would have done it, since she was watching the train schedule so closely.”