Marblestone Mansion 01 - Scandalous Duchess
talk to my brother…I wonder if Sassy knows how to make a purchase. Probably not, but you will help her. She is so enthralled with the world, I confess I enjoy watching her. Nevertheless, she will do better if I am not there. She fears she will make a mistake around me, which of course is nonsense.”
“ She is very young still, but in time, she will do well.”
“ I am certain she will. We have just enough time to catch Prescot before he leaves for town.” McKenna got up, started to leave, and then paused. “Just now I am reminded. Blanka and Donnel are getting on in years. I feared they would not do well on the journey and now that they are here, they have two flights of stairs to climb often. Might you confine their duties to the bottom floor? I would be ever so grateful.”
“ Of course. Perhaps Mr. MacGreagor would let us have a room on the first floor where they can rest when they are tired.”
“ Another splendid idea, Sarah. I doubt Olivia will approve, but my brother will. He loves them both very much.”
“ Done then. I shall have the men carry a couple of beds down as soon as Mr. MacGreagor approves it.”
“ Sarah, you are a jewel.” McKenna hurried out the door to find her brother.
Hannish sent Keith off on horseback, with the exact words to say in the telegram to his wife. He asked Prescot to wait and delighted in giving Sassy her pay so she could go shopping, though he doubted she understood they were American dollars and not British pounds. He helped McKenna choose the perfect room on the first floor for Donnel and Blanka, the one with a water closet nearby, and was happy to find a good use for at least one of the empty rooms.
He waited for Keith to return and was disappointed when he brought back neither a telegram from his wife or any mail. Saddened, Hannish returned to his study and tried to finish a letter he started to his brother, but his powers of concentration were lacking and he spent most of the time looking out the window instead.
To fully enjoy a view of Pikes Peak, he built his study in the back of the house with windows facing west and a door leading to the expansive parlor. The study was sparsely furnished with a used roll top desk, a tall back chair and two used occasional chairs that did not match. A long table against the wall was piled high with papers, some neatly arranged and some obviously just tossed there. Underneath the table were several well-worn rolls of drawings and plans for the mansion.
The newly planted grass in the extensive back yard was starting to grow, yet it looked as empty as he felt. At least the sun was shinning more often than not, which was a relief after such a long winter. Last year, they barely got the horse corral and the hired hand cottages built in time for winter, not to mention stacking bales of hay and chopping wood for the fireplaces. He liked honest hard work, had his hand in almost everything, and was sad to see the building come to an end. Just now, having something to build would be welcome indeed.
While they waited for Prescot and the others to return from town, the rest of the Scots took baths and gathered clothing that needed washing. Instead of waiting for Sarah to come back, McKenna had two beds moved downstairs to the ‘servant’s day room,’ and rearranged the beds twice before she decided how to make the best use of the available space. With little more to do, she wandered from room to room, loving the ones with a view of the mountains the best, and imagining what she would do with each if the place were her husband’s, instead of her brother’s.
It was not easy sitting in a rocking chair in a moving wagon, but Sassy not only managed it, she enjoyed herself thoroughly. All the way back from town, Sassy asked Sarah all sorts of questions, while Prescot and Shepard sat on the wagon seat facing forward and trying not to laugh.
“ What sort of birds are those,” Sassy asked, pointing to a tree.
“ They are called sparrows. The ones with the red underbellies are Robins and occasionally, we see a Bald Eagle.”
“ Bald, as bald as Old Mrs. Forthright? She wears hair not her own to cover it, but the hair is always crooked and we can tell just the same.”
Sarah giggled. “The eagle is not truly bald, the feathers on its head are white to the neck and the rest of them are brown, making it look bald.”
Satisfied with that answer, Sassy spotted something else. “What’s that over there? It looks
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