Refining Emma

by Delia Parr

  Orralynne edged ahead of her brother, whose limp was a bit more pronounced today, and poked her head into the large bedroom. She sniffed. “You might prefer this room, Lester. The beige tones in this room are a bit bland for my taste. What color is the large bedroom in the other hall painted?”

  “Deep purple, with a touch of lavender. It’s decidedly more feminine than this one.”

  Orralynne pointed down the hall to the room at the front of the house. “What about that one?”

  “That’s where John and Micah Ammond have been staying. The Masseys are in the front room in the other hall,” Emma offered, hoping to dissuade the woman from taking a bedroom in that hall to avoid any further confrontations, since Orralynne had yet to apologize to Judith.

  Leaning heavily on his cane, Lester went into the beige room. He immediately sat down on the edge of the double bed and waved his cane at them as if it were a royal scepter and he was sitting on a throne. “This room will do for me, but I’d remind you that I still need full use of the library,” he insisted before turning his attention to his sister. “Go on. You may as well take the larger room in the other hall. There’s no need to crowd yourself by taking the smaller bedroom across the hall from me and you have no need for a sitting room, even a smaller one.”

  Emma had one option left to convince Orralynne to remain in the west hall. “The other two rooms across the hall are small, but they do create a suite of sorts and offer a place where you could enjoy your privacy.”

  Before Orralynne could reply, her brother rejected Emma’s suggestion outright. “I hardly think it would be proper to have my sister in this hall. Not with the Ammond brothers so close,” he barked. “And what about Mr. Lewis? He’ll be moving upstairs this afternoon, as well, and I should think he’d be better suited to this hall and have more need for a sitting room. He does have considerable supplies he needs to store.”

  Unfortunately, Emma could not find fault with Lester’s suggestion. Although she was sorely tempted to take him to task for speaking to her so abruptly, she smiled at Orralynne instead. “Let me show you the purple room.”

  Lester waved his cane at them one last time. “I’ll wait here until my bags are brought up.”

  Emma retraced her steps, then continued along the back hall. “My room is here at the end. The other three rooms are also for the staff,” she explained before turning down the east hallway.

  “If I owned Hill House, I’d have a bigger room for myself, not one that looks as small as a storage closet,” Orralynne noted with disdain.

  “I find my room comfortable. Since it’s just above my office and there’s a separate staircase, it’s more convenient, too,” Emma countered. After opening the door to the purple room, she stepped aside to let Orralynne enter first. “Well, what do you think?”

  For the first time since she had arrived at Hill House, Orralynne was actually speechless. With her eyes wide with awe and wonder, she walked about the room. Emma had had the same reaction the first time she had walked into the room after refurbishing it. Though the room was too frilly to suit her personal taste, it was still her favorite guest room.

  The walls had been repainted the same deep purple color the original owner had selected. Emma had replaced the heavy brocade drapes that had covered the single window with frothy lace panels trimmed with deep ruffles that matched the white coverlet and canopy on the four-poster bed. In addition to two rosewood bureaus and washstand, a chaise lounge upholstered in purple velvet, which held an assortment of pillows in lavender and white, sat in the far corner near a small warming stove.

  Orralynne stopped at the window and pulled one of the lace panels aside. She held silent for several long heartbeats before letting the panel drop back into place. When she turned around, her eyes were glistening. “I don’t believe this room will do. I’d like to see the other one.”

  Emma narrowed her gaze. If this room did not please the woman, none of them would. “Don’t you like this room?”

  Orralynne’s back stiffened. “You know very well why I can’t stay here in this room and sleep on that bed. Or do I have to remind you how quickly I could destroy it with a single nosebleed?”

  Emma cringed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that.”

  “I wish I could say the same, but unfortunately, my ailment doesn’t afford me that opportunity.”

  “No, I suppose it doesn’t,” Emma admitted. “Even so, you told me you don’t have nosebleeds all that often. Since you suffered from one just last night, you shouldn’t have another one soon. Maybe you should stay here after all,” she said and shrugged her shoulders. “And if worse comes to worse, and you do have another nosebleed, then we’ll just wash the bed linens. We do it often enough for other guests if they become ill. Which reminds me . . . I left the cleaning bucket and rags and your soiled gown in my office. I need to launder them before the stain really sets.”

  Orralynne narrowed her gaze. “You’d let me stay here? In this room?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Why?”

  Emma held tight to Reverend Glenn’s advice and smiled. “Because, since you’re apparently going to be here for an extended visit, you may as well be in the prettiest room we have. And because I think you really fancy this room as much as I do.”

  “I’ve learned not to fancy much of anything,” Orralynne whispered and glanced over at the chaise lounge.

  “Then we need to change that,” Emma insisted. “You’re looking a bit peaked. Why don’t you rest awhile on the chaise lounge and think things over while I go back downstairs to get Liesel and Ditty to bring up your bags and your brother’s. When I get back, if you change your mind, I’ll show you the other room across the hall,” she suggested and started to leave before Orralynne could proffer an argument.

  “Emma?”

  She paused in the doorway and turned around.

  Orralynne had not budged a single step. “If you’re so willing to let me stay in this room, why did you seem so set on having me take the room across from my brother?”

  Emma drew in a long breath. “Since you’ve shared a home for so many years, I thought perhaps you might want to be closer to your brother.”

  “That’s not the entire reason, is it?”

  “No,” Emma admitted. “In all truth, I didn’t want either you or Judith to be uncomfortable. Living here at the same time will be awkward enough, given what happened at supper last night. If you stay here, you’ll be sharing the same hall. I suppose I just thought it might be easier all the way around if you didn’t have to worry about encountering each other going to and from your rooms.”

  Orralynne looked past Emma into the hallway. “I’m still not certain it’s all that necessary to apologize. Even if I were, I’m not sure I know how to do that, or if she’ll even be willing to hear me out.”

  “No, you won’t—not until you try. I believe Judith is resting in her room while Solomon is in town,” Emma murmured and continued on her way.

  When she descended the steps to the center hallway, Mr. Lewis was waiting for her at the bottom. “Mr. Burke has chosen his room, but I’m afraid his sister isn’t quite certain yet about the guest room she prefers.”

  “That’s fine. I’m in no rush. I was wondering if I could trouble you for a moment of your time to speak to you privately.”

  She sighed. “If it’s about doing any work here for me, I’m afraid I haven’t had a moment to think about it.”

  “No. It’s something far more important. It’s about Mr. Burke,” he whispered, his dark eyes troubled.

  “They’re both upstairs, so why don’t we use the library?” Emma suggested, since she did not want him anywhere near her office until she had an opportunity to remove Orralynne’s soiled gown and the cleaning supplies.

  Once they were in the library, where all four of the Burkes’ bags were packed and ready to be taken upstairs, she closed the door to assure their privacy. He waited until she had sat down in one of the leather ch
airs near the fireplace before taking his own seat in a matching chair. “I hope you won’t think I’m speaking out of turn, but I’m concerned enough to want to speak out anyway.”

  Emma braced herself to hear yet more evidence having the Burkes here at Hill House was indeed a heavy cross to bear for all concerned. “If something happened and you’ve changed your mind about wanting to paint the portraits—”

  He waved her silent. “Not at all. As I said, this is about something very important.”

  She raised one brow. “I’m sorry. Please go ahead.”

  He pulled on his chin, accenting the narrowness of his face. “As you might expect, since I’ve spent the past twenty-five years sketching or painting for a living, I’ve got an eye for detail. I realize I only met Mr. Burke yesterday, but we’ve spent a considerable number of hours together. I’m not at all privy to the precise nature of the man’s deformity, but I’m certain something is very, very wrong.”

  “From all I’ve been told over the years, he was born with a deformed foot. I did notice his limp was a bit more pronounced today than yesterday,” she offered.

  “Quite a bit more. In point of fact, he’s barely putting any weight on that foot. When he does, he pales and begins to sweat. When I suggested perhaps he’d been injured in the fire at his cottage and that he might want to send for the doctor, he got so angry I was half afraid he might hit me with that cane of his. At the very least, I thought I should tell you about my concerns.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate that you came to me. I suppose it’s possible that he’s injured his foot,” she admitted. “Unfortunately, I don’t know him well enough to be able to tell if this is normal, if he has times when his foot is unusually sore, or if indeed it’s something that warrants the doctor’s attention.”

  “Be careful how you proceed,” he warned. “I doubt he’ll take your concern with any more grace than he took mine.”

  “Probably not. I think I’ll speak to his sister instead. She should know what to do.” Emma got to her feet. “I came downstairs to ask Liesel and Ditty to carry the Burkes’ bags upstairs for them. Hopefully, by the time we get back upstairs, Miss Burke will have made her choice and I can show you which of the rooms are available for you.”

  He smiled with relief and rose from his seat. “Thank you. I’ll gather up my things and meet you back here.”

  Within ten minutes, Emma was leading both young women back upstairs. When they reached the second floor, she sent Liesel ahead with one of Mr. Burke’s bags and had Ditty, who was carrying one of Orralynne’s bags, follow her down the east hall to the purple room.

  Emma stepped into the room, then stopped so abruptly when she realized the room was empty that Ditty ran right into her. The bag she was carrying hit the back of Emma’s legs and knocked her off balance. She fell hard against one of the bureaus and cracked her hip on the corner.

  Wincing with pain, she blinked back tears.

  Ditty dropped the bag and ran to her. “I’m sorry, Widow Garrett. Are you all right? I didn’t expect you to stop like you did.”

  Emma clenched her jaw for a moment until the pain subsided. “I’m fine. I’ll be fine,” she managed. “Don’t be upset. It wasn’t your fault. I was just so surprised to see Miss Burke wasn’t here that I forgot you were right behind me. I thought for certain she would want this room for herself.”

  Gently, she massaged her hip and took a few tentative steps to make sure the only damage was a bruise she would no doubt wear for a spell.

  “Where do you think she went?” Ditty asked.

  “If she’s not in one of the rooms across the hall, then she’s either visiting with her brother, who’s in the beige room, or waiting for us in the room directly across the hall from him.”

  “I’ll check the room across the hall first,” Ditty insisted but set her bag down before she hurried from the room. A single heartbeat later, she was back. “She’s not there.”

  “I think we should just leave this bag here for now. There’s no sense carrying it all the way to the other hall until we know for sure where she’s going to stay. Why don’t you go downstairs and help Liesel with the other two bags? I’ll go and find Miss Burke,” Emma suggested.

  After Ditty went downstairs, Emma continued walking about the purple room. Once she could take a step without pain, she went out into the hallway. Intrigued by a spot glistening on the floorboards only a few feet away, she went to investigate, only to discover not one but a series of spots leading straight down the hall toward the Masseys’ bedroom, where Judith was resting.

  The door was slightly ajar.

  With her heart pounding, Emma bent down, touched one of the spots, and looked at the red stain on her fingertip with horror. “Blood . . . it’s blood,” she whispered.

  With the debacle at dinner the other night when Orralynne raised concerns about the health of Judith’s unborn babe, Orralynne’s severe nosebleed, and Mr. Lewis’s concerns about Lester’s foot still fresh in her mind, Emma followed the trail of bloodstains down the hall, wondering if they would stop at Judith’s room or continue on.

  15

  BLESSEDLY, EMMA’S CONCERN FOR JUDITH MASSEY and her unborn babe was short-lived and quickly proven unfounded.

  When she was halfway down the hallway, Emma heard soft humming coming from Judith’s room and smiled with relief.

  Unexpectedly, the young mother-to-be opened the bedroom door, slipped out into the hallway, and shut the door behind her. When she turned about, she looked well-rested and happy, with her dark eyes sparkling and a quick smile on her lips the moment she saw Emma.

  “You’re up from your nap,” Emma noted, returning Judith’s smile with one of her own as they approached each other and paused to chat.

  Judith laid one hand on the side of her extended abdomen and giggled. “Once this little one starts doing somersaults, I don’t have much choice in the matter. Now that Aunt Frances is here to help Mother Garrett, and most of the other guests have gone back to their own homes, there’s not much for me to do in the kitchen. I thought maybe I could visit with Reverend Glenn for a spell while I’m waiting for Solomon to come back,” she said, her smile drooping into a worried frown.

  “I wouldn’t worry about your husband overmuch,” Emma urged. “I’m sure he’ll be back by supper, long before it gets dark. None of the men will be doing much more than organizing the search for the panther today, and since tomorrow is Sunday, they won’t really start until Monday.”

  Judith brightened. “By then the panther could be long gone.”

  “Perhaps,” Emma admitted. Anxious to ease the young woman’s concern for her husband’s well-being, she was just as anxious about sharing the news of Orralynne’s move upstairs into a room very close to the young couple. “I was just going to speak to Miss Burke about room arrangements for herself. Her brother is going to be staying in the other hall. She’ll either be staying in one of the rooms across from his, to be closer to her brother, or she might choose to stay in the purple room in this hall. I’m not certain yet.”

  Judith’s eyes grew darker, and she glanced over Emma’s shoulder toward the violet room. “I . . . I expected they’d be moving upstairs this afternoon. I was hoping they might both choose the other hall.” She dropped her gaze. “That’s selfish of me, I know.”

  “On the contrary,” Emma insisted. “I understand your concerns, given how she upset you and your husband at dinner. I’ve spoken to her about that, and I don’t believe she realized what she was doing at the time. I don’t think she’ll do anything like that again,” she said reassuringly.

  When Judith looked up, her eyes were glistening. “I hope not, but that’s why I thought I might visit with Reverend Glenn. He always knows how to set a person’s mind and heart at ease.”

  Emma nodded and smiled. “That he does. He’s in the west parlor with Aunt Frances,” she offered. When Judith started on her way, Emma continued down the hallway toward Lester Burke’s room, where the trail of blood
spots ended.

  Before knocking, she quickly checked the room across the hall. Empty. She approached the door to Lester’s room and stopped. Troubled by what she might discover once she talked with both Lester and Orralynne Burke, she took a deep breath.

  Before she had a chance to knock, however, the door swung open. Orralynne locked her gaze with Emma’s and proceeded to walk out of the room, forcing Emma to quickly step out of the way.

  With a single yank, Orralynne shut the door behind her and cast Emma a hard glance. “Whatever you want with my brother will have to wait, although I daresay it’s improper of you to visit a man in his private room, even if you are the owner of the boardinghouse.”

  “I wasn’t here to visit him,” Emma argued and stiffened her back. “I came here—”

  “Regardless of why you need to speak to my brother, you’ll simply have to wait. He’s . . . he’s feeling a bit indisposed at the moment.”

  “I know,” Emma whispered, relieved that Orralynne appeared to be fine yet concerned about her brother. When Orralynne’s eyes widened, Emma pointed to a smudge of blood on the floorboards. “I followed smudges of blood from the other hallway to here. I was worried. I thought perhaps you had—”

  “Another nosebleed? No. I’m perfectly fine.”

  “Then I can only assume that the blood belongs to your brother and that he had come to the other hallway looking for you,” she ventured, uncertain if the blood in the hallway was the result of Lester having a nosebleed, like his sister, or perhaps from his deformed foot.

  Glancing down at the floorboards where there was a telltale smudge of blood, Orralynne shook her head. “That looks more like dirt to me. I can’t believe you could confuse dirt or mud with blood.”

  “It’s blood, Orralynne,” Emma said gently. “Should I send for Dr. Jeffers?” she asked, anxious to secure whatever help Lester might need.

  Orralynne paled and drew in a long breath. “No. No doctor. Please, I . . . I just need to get a few things from my brother’s other bag for him. Liesel went to fetch it, but of course she’s taking her good sweet time about it, so I thought I’d get it myself.”