"Did you actually put a brush through your hair before we left, Nathaniel?" Mother asked, leaning forward in her seat to flatten my hair.

"Yes," I said, brushing her hand away, "I even tried pomade, but it didn't make a difference."

Beside me, Alice snorted, but managed to disguise it as a cough before anyone else noticed. She was the only one who knew that I had woken up from a nap fifteen minutes before we were due to leave for supper with the Marlow family. I had not tried to pomade my hair and had only just managed to get a brush through it before George had summoned me to the carriage. Had Alice not woken me up, I would have been in far more trouble.

I had not intended to squander most of my day by sleeping and my plan had been to stop by Rebecca's room as it had been a day or so since I had last seen her. However, I did not want to approach her again without having a plan in mind about how to deal with the situation. Father had given me just two weeks to find out all I could about her, and I did not intend to waste them. I had to work out the best way to talk to her if I wanted her to reveal any pieces of information and so I spent most of the morning trying to create the plan.

No matter how hard I tried, I could not think of the best way to approach Rebecca in order to obtain the information I needed. There were so many ways in which it could go wrong, and I didn't want her to clam up and not talk to me at all. In the end, I thought sleeping for an hour might help me come up with a solution. That hour ended up being four and, before I knew it, Alice was threatening to pour water over me.

"Let us hope Mrs Marlow doesn't notice. You look as though you could have a small nest of birds in your hair and that is not the impression we wish to be making," Mother said. She readjusted her skirts as the carriage continued to bump along the road.

"At least it would be an accurate one," I muttered.

Father looked at me from across the carriage. "Remember what I said, Nate, and this goes for you too, Alice, no mention of Miss Edwards whilst we are here."

"Yes, Father," Alice said.

"Surely one of us could have stayed behind with her. It doesn't seem right that she's been left with the servants, especially as she hardly knows any of them."

"Miss Edwards will be fine. Only the female servants will see to her, as they have been since her arrival, and George is in charge of the household until our return. If anything happens, I am sure he will find a way to reach us." The bumping of the carriage stopped as the carriage came to a standstill. "I expect you to be on your best behaviour whilst we are here. Both of you."

"Yes, Father."

"Yes, sir."

Father nodded at the two of us as the carriage door swung open. He wasted no time in exiting the carriage, with Mother and Alice following. I scrambled out of the carriage last, jumping onto the gravel that covered the driveway and led up to the house. The Marlow residence sat at the end of the driveway. It was a large, imposing stone building that in the early evening light cast a dark shadow across the entire area. There was something intimidating about the building.

All I could think of as I followed Mother and Father up to the door was Rebecca and how she must have been feeling on her own. I had promised her I would look after her and I could not do that from the Marlow residence. If I had just told Father I had a head cold and felt a little under the weather, then I would have been able to stay behind. Even though the idea had played on my mind in my fifteen-minute scramble to get ready, I knew how disappointed Father would be in me if I didn't attend the supper. With our relationship showing signs of repair, I didn't want to damage it by lying to him. Rebecca would be fine for one night, or at least I hoped she would be.

The front door to the Marlow house opened and three figures emerged into the evening light. It had been several years since we had seen the Marlow family and it was almost as if nothing had changed. Mrs Marlow stood between her two daughters looking as stern and cold as ever. Her dark hair had been pulled back in a tight knot on the back of her head and she wore her black mourning dress even though the mourning period had long since passed.

Her daughters, Clara and Helen, were not all that dissimilar to their mother. They both had the same pointed chin, the same steely eyes, and the same dark hair. Like Mrs Marlow, both girls wore their hair in the same tight knot and they too had worn their mourning dresses. They looked like the perfect grieving family, except two people were missing. Mr Marlow and his daughter, Lily.

"Mrs Marlow," Father exclaimed, following the gravel path up to the house. "How wonderful to see you again."

"Likewise, Mr Thorpe. It is our pleasure to welcome you into our home once again, for it has been far too long."

"Indeed, it has."

Mrs Marlow turned to Mother, her eyes slowly rolling over Alice and me. "You look as radiant as ever, Mrs Thorpe, and might I say that Miss Alice is the spitting image of you. Master Nathaniel has turned into a rather handsome young man as well."

"It is kind of you to say so." Mother offered a fleeting glance to Clara and Helen, who had made no movement from the front porch. "Miss Clara and Miss Helen have grown into beautiful young ladies."

"Shall we head inside? I expect supper will be served soon."

"Yes, I am absolutely famished," Father said with a smile.

Mrs Marlow nodded and gestured towards the doorway where Clara and Helen stood, having remained stationary since the conversation started. Alice and I exchanged glances as we followed Mother and Father through the threshold and into the house.

Neither of us had been well acquainted with Mrs Marlow's two daughters, and that distance had grown since the death of Mr Marlow several years earlier. We had been better acquainted with Mrs Marlow's stepdaughter, Lily, but we rarely saw her after her father died and she herself had died just four years later. She had never recovered from her father's death. I had never expected to find myself back at the Marlow residence after so many years, especially without Lily.

In the entrance, we shed our hats and outside wear, something Mother had insisted upon despite the warm weather. Mrs Marlow showed us into the parlour as we waited for supper to be called, the windows having been thrown open. Above the fireplace sat a portrait of Mrs Marlow, Clara, and Helen, with small photographs of Mr Marlow and Lily resting on the mantelpiece. Just a few years before, a portrait of the entire family had taken pride of place. It seemed strange to me that it would have been replaced, especially as it would have been the last portrait they had together.

Mother and Father engaged in small talk with Mrs Marlow whilst Helen, Clara, Alice, and I barely said a word to each other. To the best of my knowledge, we had nothing in common and my recollection of conversations from our youth was non-existent. All I could think about was Rebecca and how she was fairing without us. Even though Rebecca had spent time with the servants since staying with us, I didn't like the idea of being so far away. If something happened, I wanted to be there to help.

"She'll be fine, you know," Alice whispered, leaning over so she wouldn't be heard. "I asked Lucy to keep an eye on her."

"I know. It's just that Father only gave me two weeks to find out where she came from, and I can hardly do that from here."

"Perhaps not, but at least you and Father are talking again and, who knows, he may give you a little extra time."

"I doubt it. He was adamant."

"Who was adamant?" Clara asked, folding her hands in her lap and looking between Alice and me.

"Our stable hand. He's adamant that he will beat me in a horse race and refuses to go against me. It's hard to improve when no one is willing to challenge me and Alice stopped being a challenge several years ago."

"If I remember correctly, I beat you multiple times," Alice said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Lies."

Clara looked at us but did not press any further. I breathed out a small sigh of relief, grateful that she had bought my lie, even though it had not been all that convincing. Father and I locked eyes from across the room, but he said nothing, although I was more than certain he had heard us. It wouldn't take him too long to find out just what Alice and I had been talking about.

Before supper was served, I excused myself and headed upstairs to use the water closet. Despite it having been years since I last visited the Marlow residence, I still knew my way around their house. After splashing some cold water on my face, I left the water closet and walked down the hallway.

Lily Marlow's old room sat at the far end, right next to the staircase which, even at the age of five, she always said it was a burden as she could hear the servants in the morning. There was little doubt in my mind that her things had been removed, but curiosity got the better of me. Rebecca's sudden appearance in my life reminded me just how easy it was for someone to slip in and out of a person's life. Lily and I had grown up together and yet I saw her only once after her father's death. I did not see her for almost two years before she died.

I approached the end of the hallway, pushed the door open and stepped inside, surprised and a little taken aback at how different the room appeared. Gone were the shelves of dolls that used to line the walls, Lily's scribbled drawings had been taken down, and the blocks that used to litter the floor were gone. It was as if a child had never been in that room.

"Can I help you find something, sir?" a male voice said from behind me. I turned slowly, not knowing who I was likely to meet standing in the doorway. To my surprise, a boy with flaming red hair, who appeared to be just a little older than me, stood in the doorway to Lily Marlow's bedroom with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, no, I just wanted to see the late Miss Marlow's room. We were friends a long time ago."

"This has not been a bedroom in some years, sir. At least not since I have been here."

"Did you know Lily Marlow?"

The boy shook his head. "You are unlikely to find a person currently working here who worked under the late Mr Marlow or his daughter. Mrs Marlow wanted a fresh start after their deaths."

"Understandable, I suppose. I had hoped to speak to someone who knew her. As I said, Miss Marlow and I grew up together, but I saw her sparingly after Mr Marlow died. I would like to know a little more about her after that."

"I'm afraid I can tell you nothing, but you very well might be able to track down the old housekeeper, Mrs Reed. She lives in the village and may well be easy to find, though do not take my word for it. I know very little about the previous staff employed here."

"Thank you—" I stopped, realising I did not know his name.

"Eli Burch, sir."

"Thank you, Eli." I smiled. "I am Nathaniel Thorpe, although almost everyone calls me Nate."

Eli nodded. "If I find Mrs Reed before you do, sir, I shall inform her that you are looking for her. Perhaps you should return to the parlour. I believe supper shall be served shortly."

"Ah, I expect my absence has already been noticed. Thank you again, Eli."

Without waiting for a response, I shuffled past Eli and headed back down to the parlour, where I had to hope that my prolonged absence hadn't created too much of a conversation point. Father was the only one who watched me re-enter the room, but if he thought I had been gone for too long, he did not mention it. Either he didn't want to create a scene or had figured for himself just where I had been.

"Supper is served," the butler said, appearing in the doorway moments after I had retaken my seat. I looked over at Alice and tried to prepare myself for the tortuous dinner that I was about to sit through, hoping that they were not about to serve turbot.

~~~

A/N - It's been a little while, but we are back! I'm determined to finish this story so the updates will continue!

Questions! Is Nate right to be worried about Rebecca? Should be poke his nose into Mrs Marlow's business? Is she the upset widow/step-mother she claims to be?

Comment below!

Dedication - There is no dedication this week, but comment or interact with the story for your chance to have a chapter dedicated to you!

First Published - January 3rd, 2023