Even though Mrs Marlow would not be serving turbot — a blessing in disguise — supper was still an arduous affair. Father had only had dealings with Mr Marlow, so his conversational skills were latching and it did not take long for Mother to run out of topics. They spoke of the weather, changing fashions, interior design, and even which fruits and vegetables were in season. I drifted in and out of the conversation and even Alice had gone glassy-eyes as the conversation stalled. At least supper with the Seabrooks tended to be a little more thrilling.

Soon, the supper table fell silent. All I could hear was the clinking of cutlery and the sound of my heartbeat in my ears. The situation could not have been more awkward. I knew that if Mr Marlow or Lily were still around, the supper-time conversation would have always been lively. If there was one thing Mr Marlow despised, it was a lull or pause in the conversation. Lily had always been the same.

Under the table, someone gave me a sharp kick to the leg. I looked up at Alice, knowing that she was the culprit, as she had been prone to kicking me when I had long since stopped paying attention. She nudged her head towards Mrs Marlow, who looked at me with a slight raise of her eyebrow. If she had spoken to me, I had not heard a word of it.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Marlow, I must have been daydreaming. What did you say?"

"What are the next steps in your education, Master Nathaniel? I understand that you have been privately tutored at home for most of your life."

"My plan is to attend Cambridge and to study law, when I am ready, of course."

"Law? That is quite the career plan." Mrs Marlow raised an eyebrow and sent a brief glance to Clara.

"Nathaniel has always been one for ambitious plans," Father said. "I hope for him to take over from me once the time comes."

"I do not doubt that he will, Mr Thorpe, but it is nice that the boy has his own prospects in life." Mrs Marlow took a sip from her wine and turned to Alice, who had been lucky to avoid any and all parts of the conversations. "And you, Miss Alice? You are nearing an appropriate age to start looking for suitors, are you not?"

Alice choked on her wine. "Yes, Mrs Marlow, but we are yet to make any plans regarding eligibility."

"Clara is of an appropriate age now, but it is rather hard to find suitable men for her to court. I had planned to form a respectable partnership when she was younger, much like you did with Master Nathaniel and my Lily. Our two families uniting would have done my girls the world of good. My darling Lily would have made such a wonderful match for your Nathaniel, though I am sure any girl would, as he is such a charming young man."

Across the table, Mother and Father exchanged looks. Alice caught my eye and the two of us tried not to show any sort of reaction to the strange comment presented by Mrs Marlow. The plan, according to Father, had always been to unite Lily and me in marriage once we reached the appropriate age. There had never been a formal agreement, and it had only been discussed with the occasional conversation. We were only children when it was discussed, with no real possibility of it ever happening.

Not just that, but Father had warned both Alice and me from mentioning Lily for fear of upsetting Mrs Marlow, but she did not appear the least bit affected. I couldn't help but wonder if there was another motive for her comment. The arrangement had always been planned for me and Lily, but Clara was the same age as Lily and it would make sense for the agreement to go ahead with her instead. I wasn't sure if I liked the idea. At least Lily and I knew each other; I didn't know Clara from Eve.

No one quite knew how to respond to Mrs Marlow's comments and the table fell silent once again. In the silence, my thoughts returned to Rebecca and how she might have been fairing at home. We had been gone for several hours and I could see the sun disappearing through the window. My plan had been to check in on her before bed, but if the supper went on for too long, I would not make it back in time. Alice said she usually went to bed early although she never slept the night.

After the main meal had been served, we were all given a dessert of trifle before we left the dining hall. Since it was still a lovely night, and with the sun still setting and painting the sky a deep red, Father decided we would take a turn around the grounds before heading home. Helen and Clara joined Alice and me with Mrs Marlow staying with Mother and Father whilst the four of us drifted a little further forward.

Alice and I walked ahead of Helen and Clara, neither of us knowing what to say to them.

"I hope Mrs Marlow wasn't insinuating what I think she was," I muttered to Alice as we walked across the grounds of the house.

"I'm not sure Father would go for it if she were. Your match with Lily made sense at the time, but I cannot imagine you and Miss Clara together. Father didn't appear all that pleased at her passing comment, either."

"So much for her still mourning the deaths of Lily and Mr Marlow. From the mourning clothes, one would think she was still grieving and yet she mentioned Lily with no kind of reaction." I looked at Alice. "Do you not think it's strange that the other family portrait was replaced?"

Alice shrugged. "Perhaps not. Father may have been right about her still mourning Lily, just in her own way. It is not as if she has removed Mr Marlow and Lily from the room entirely; she still has the photographs."

"Maybe I'm just being cynical."

"That will be a first for you. You usually see the best in people rather than the worst."

"I can be cynical when I want to be."

"You really can't Nate, it's not in your nature."

Alice patted me lightly on the shoulder and headed back to Clara and Helen, most likely to see if she could find a common conversation point. She might have been right. Being cynical had never been my forte, but something still didn't feel right about Mrs Marlow and her seemingly harmless comments at supper. Maybe Alice wasn't too far off when she said that Mrs Marlow was mourning in her own way, but it was certainly strange that the only reminder of Mr Marlow and Lily were photographs on the mantle.

I tried to shake the idea from my head and instead focus on engaging in conversation with Clara and Helen. The attempted conversation quickly became as stale as a loaf of bread left in the pantry for a month. Not even Alice could think of something interesting to say, and I had to hope that Father didn't agree with Mrs Marlow's insinuation. I did not think I could marry someone whose conversational skills were so poor.

With our conversation having ended before it started, and with Father appearing to be increasingly annoyed at Mrs Marlow, he decided to end the visit. As we said our goodbyes and parted ways, Mrs Marlow hoped we may be in each other's company again. Father did not appear all that impressed with the idea and merely nodded his head with his lips drawn into a thin line. That was always a sign that he did not agree, but wanted to feign politeness out of respect.

We climbed into the carriage once more and we were well on our way home before anyone offered a comment on the night's proceedings

"I would like to thank you both for following my instructions," Father said.

"Do you think she means to try to set up a match between Nate and Miss Clara?" Alice asked, glancing at me.

"Potentially. She certainly alluded to the idea during our walk. It is something your mother and I shall have to consider. After all, you were supposed to be matched with Lily."

"But they're not the same person. I knew Lily far more than I know Miss Clara and from supper tonight, I think I have learnt all I need to know about her."

"As I said, it is something we shall consider, but it may not even happen if we find a more suitable match. In the meantime, you need to focus on your studying if you want to do well at Cambridge. Law is not an easy subject and it will certainly help your future match prospects if you were to succeed."

"I know, and I will."

Alice leaned over to me. "I would take etiquette lessons with Mrs Parsons over studying law any day of the week."

I glared at her, but I knew she was right, and sometimes I wanted to walk away from my studying sessions and join her. The art of the fan conversation seemed far more enticing than the page of a history book.

On the ride back to the house, my thoughts drifted away from my potential matches and back to Rebecca, who had been left at the house with the servants for several hours. I hoped she had yet to fall asleep so that I might say goodnight to her in person, or at least have a conversation with her. Our visit to Marlow's had already taken a day off Father's two-week time limit.

The thing that I was the most pressed to get to the bottom of was the locket. Since Father had interrupted me the previous day, I hadn't had the chance to open it and was still none the wiser as to what it might contain. I didn't like the idea of searching through Rebecca's things without her knowledge, but I wasn't sure that she would reveal the information voluntarily. I didn't think two weeks would be enough to scratch the surface as it was. The locket offered me a chance.

We arrived home long after the sun had set. The servants had carried out their chores and I could see flickering candles in some of the windows in anticipation of our return. Mother and Father immediately headed to the living room whilst Alice and I climbed the stairs to our bedrooms.

We went our separate ways, with me heading down to my room before I went to check on Rebecca. The candles in my room had been lit, the window was open, and a soft breeze drifted through the room. I perched on the edge of my bed and reached under my pillow, wrapping my fingers around the locket. Before I could remove it, a sharp knock came from the other side of the door.

"Come in," I said, releasing the locket and sitting back up.

"I thought you would have been to see Miss Edwards before you came here," George said, stepping into the room.

"Is she still awake?"

"The last time I checked, she was." He ran a hand through his hair. "How was supper?"

"A chore. Mrs Marlow made several comments alluding to a potential match between Clara and I, not that anyone is keen on the idea. She seems to think that because Lily and I were due to be matched that Clara and I should be instead."

"You don't agree?"

"Not one bit." I sighed. "I also found out that not one member of staff in that house had worked under Mr Marlow or knew Lily."

George frowned. "None of them?"

"One of the servants, Eli, said they had all been replaced. He told me to find the old housekeeper if I wanted to know anything."

"Perhaps that is not a bridge you should cross, Master Nate. You already have enough to do, especially with your father's two-week deadline."

"I know. I was just curious, that's all."

"You should get some sleep. Those two weeks will fly by and you need all the time you have."

"I will. I just want to say goodnight to Miss Edwards."

George nodded and backed out of the room, leaving me alone. I watched the door close behind him, curious as to why George seemed so surprised at the news that none of the original staff still worked for the Marlow family. He must have known them and I expected him to have been aware of the change of hands, but perhaps not.

He was right in my not needing any additional tasks on my plate, given the compact time frame I had. If I were to find out more about Rebecca, I needed all the time to do so, and I did not think Mrs Marlow's handling of her staff was any of my concern.

I stood up from my bed and stepped out into the hall, creeping along the flooring so as not to alert anyone that I was moving around. The entire hallway was quiet, and I stopped outside Rebecca's room to listen for any signs that she was still awake. The room was silent, but that did not surprise me.

I knocked lightly and stepped inside, surprised but a little relieved to find that she had not fallen asleep just yet.

"Good evening, Miss Edwards, I hope you were alright in our absence.".

She nodded, a strand of hair falling in front of her face. "Fine, thank you."

"I'm glad. I know George was in charge whilst we were gone and he can be rather annoying when he wants to be. Or he's just like that with me."

"He was quite attentive."

"Another word for annoying." I smiled and Rebecca offered me a small one in response. "Well, I shall let you sleep. I just wanted to make sure all was well."

"It is."

"Very well. Goodnight, Miss Edwards."

"Goodnight, Mr Thorpe."

I smiled a little and left the room, half amazed that Rebecca had said more than a few words to me. In our previous interactions, she had said little, if anything at all, and had never addressed me by name. Had I not been looking at her, I would have thought I was having a conversation with a completely different person. I had to hope that it was a sign of things to come, a sign that she might be willing to talk to me after all. I also had to get her to call me Nate.

~~~

A/N - We are back with Chapter Fourteen! Not much to say here other than the story will continue!

Questions!

Do you think Rebecca is warming to Nate? Is there something strange about Mrs Marlow? Is George right that Nate needs to focus on one task?

Comment below!

First Published - January 10th, 2023