When Peggy’s new home was furnished and most of the items except for a few odds and ends were delivered, the ladies made their way to the inn and requested that the last of Peggy’s things be delivered while the pair sat down to enjoy their tea.
“I cannot tell you how pleased I am with the arrangement,” Miss Nora declared. “I must warn you, I intend to make a standing appointment for tea every day.”
“Then you’ll have to drink at the shop.” Peggy laughed. “I will be busy.” She knew that running the storefront was going to take up a large portion of her day. She was worried that it would keep her from Adam, but she knew that she must find a way to make time for him, for him to get to know her. Beyond that, she did not intend to leave much time for socialization, but she would like to see Miss Nora if the other would come to visit.
“Nash said you might put up some tables near the window so that we ladies might have a space of our own.” Miss Nora grinned and promised to be a regular. “There are few enough ladies in the area, unless you count old crones and mothers looking to marry off their sons. Still, I think you shall have plenty of patrons mulling about soon enough. Besides, the more they sip, the more they shall be inclined to browse and purchase!”
“That is the secret to profit.” Peggy leaned forward as if revealing a secret. “Don’t tell or I’ll have to draw them in some other way.”
Miss Nora giggled. “Have no worry. I intend to make your little venture the talk of the town!”
“Are you always this scheming?” Peggy asked with wonderment. She found Miss Nora such an amusing combination of mischief and pure goodness that it was hard to find fault with her plotting.
“What else am I to do?” she replied with a shrug. “I could use my methods for much worse, I assure you.”
Peggy could not help but agree. She pitied anyone who got in Miss Nora’s way, including her brother. It was a wonder that the young lady had set herself against the institution of marriage. No gentleman would stand a chance if she set her cap for him. Peggy almost shivered at the thought. A pity on anyone who thought to go up against the lady. Then, she realized with a start that she herself was going to have to do her best to resist the woman’s charming ploys. Miss Nora had already made her intentions to convince Peggy to stay on a permanent basis more than clear. Peggy had refused, but she knew well enough that she had not heard the end of it. She found herself smiling. Well, this time Miss Nora would not achieve her ends. Still, it would be amusing to watch her try.
The following day, the troop of peddlers were off before the dawn, and Peggy woke to find the town much less crowded than previously. She pulled back the curtain and glanced down at the street to see the townsfolk about their tasks and a few mothers shepherding their children down the lane. There was no sign of Adam, and something in her gut told her that today he would not appear.
She wanted to wallow in her dismay but recognized that there was no good in that. Rather, she would distract herself with work. She reached into her trunk and pulled out a small box that was filled with writing supplies. Beyond the letters that she would need to present to the Baron, it was about time that she wrote to both Marilee and the Duchess of Manchester to inform them of her current situation.
She took the box of supplies below stairs and settled herself at a built-in counter that boasted a single stool. A quick wipe of the surfaces made it suitable for her task.
First, she needed to order supplies. For the next several hours, she crafted her letters, taking the time to offer fair compensation for all of the items that she was requesting. She needed to find the perfect balance to ensure that the offer was accepted outright, and the goods were sent with haste all without sinking an exorbitant amount of the Baron’s funds into products that would be unable to be sold at a profit. It had been several years since she had memorized the values of different goods, and she hoped that they had not changed so very much in that time.
After several drafts that left a crumpled pile of stationary at her side, Peggy reached her arms above her head to stretch and felt satisfied with her work. She blotted the pages and set them out to dry before they could be folded. Then, after allowing herself a few moments to stretch her legs, she ascended the staircase, changed into a less crumpled day dress, and pinched her cheeks to give the illusion that she was less tired and drawn than she felt. With renewed spirit, Peggy settled to the task of writing to her friends.
Just as she had folded the completed draft of her letter to Marilee, there was a knock at the door. Miss Nora’s doll-like features smiled at her through the glass. Peggy let her into the shop, whose lower level was still dusty and echoed with emptiness. The cleanup could wait for another day. Her top priority was to get the requests for products sent out as soon as possible.
“How long have you been at it?” Miss Nora wondered aloud, looking at the stack of correspondence. It was midafternoon, and Peggy doubted that her friend had been awake for more than a few hours.
“All morning,” Peggy admitted. She had grown accustomed to little sleep and found that she accomplished more in the early hours of the day.
“Nash drove me to town,” Miss Nora revealed. “I doubt that he expected you to have the letters done so soon.”
“I assured him that I would, and I keep my word.” Peggy shrugged and gathered the papers together to hand them to her friend.
“You can give them to him yourself.” The lady grinned. “He’s making arrangements for the riders to be prepared to leave as soon as you might be finished. He’ll be pleased to know that they shall get a good start on the journey. He brought our fastest horses to town tied up behind the curricle.”
“I am relieved to hear that he does not intend to send the missives by post,” Peggy said with relief. It would be a great waste of time, but it had occurred to her early that morning the nobility was not often in a rush when it came to their communications. They could afford to take all the time they needed.
“He declared that time was of the essence, and I quite agree,” Miss Nora said with a curt nod. “Travel will only get more difficult with the rain. Come, we shall meet with Nash at the stables and then you can come back to the estate with me for a celebratory nuncheon.”
“Didn’t you break your fast just a few hours ago?” Peggy asked.
“I did, but I venture you did not, so nuncheon it is.”
Peggy felt it was a bit early for celebration but realized that until the goods arrived, she had nothing to do but wait. That and the fact that Adam had still given no indication of wanting to see her, she supposed the distraction would be welcome. She agreed and locked up the store behind her. The pair of ladies made their way out into the town.
It would have taken several hours to reach the stables had they stopped to talk to every person who wanted to ask them questions and find out the latest news about the haberdashery. Thankfully, Miss Nora was able to express their need for haste in such a polite manner that they offended no one as they ducked from one conversation to another. At least in the stable, they were sheltered from the wind.
As predicted, Lord Belton was at the stables and had with him three sturdy riders and steeds that looked strong enough to run for long miles without rest. Each rider would be given a handful of letters grouped by region. Though she wanted the letters to be delivered with haste, Peggy hoped that the horses would not be overtaxed. She ran her fingers through the coarse mane of one prime bit of blood. The animal, keen on affection, leaned into the gesture.
“Brimmer is one of Nash’s favorite stallions,” Miss Nora said as she joined Peggy, who leaned in and patted the monstrous beast on his strong neck. The horse turned towards her, nuzzling for a treat, and Peggy showed her flat empty hand. The stallion nosed her glove curiously. “Nash says he’s a good judge of character.”
“He’ll either take to you at once or bite you,” said a masculine voice from behind her that made Peggy jump. “There can be no in between.”
“I suppose it is a good thing then that I did not get bitten,” Peggy said as she stepped away from the horse and turned to face the Baron with wide, shocked eyes. “A creature like that should come with a warning.”
“He would not have let you near him if he had even considered biting,” he said in reply. “His ears would have been plastered to his head as soon as he saw you.”
“I always trust Brimmer’s instincts.” Miss Nora grinned. “He bit Lord Abernathy straight after the lout called me a pest, and I was ever so pleased with it. Took quite a mouthful from the man’s sleeve. He was utterly vexed.”
“James was an unruly lad when that happened.” Lord Belton shook his head. “I’m sorry to inform you, sister, but Brimmer has since altered his opinion of the gentleman.”
“Only because the man bribed him with sugar cubes.” Miss Nora harrumphed and gave the stallion a chastising glare. “Turncoat,” she hissed. The horse lipped Nash’s coat, and the man shoved the stallion’s curious nose away. “No treats for you,” he said. “You have work to do.”
Despite the betrayal, the lady went back to scratching the hollow beneath his long muzzle, and the stallion looked quite pleased with himself.
Peggy brought forth her pile of folded letters and offered them to Lord Belton for perusal. “Feel free to make alterations, but these would be my suggestions to begin.”
Lord Belton flipped through the pages, reading them swiftly and with occasional hums or nods of agreement.
“Excellent,” he declared when he had finished the task. “I shall sign, seal, and send them off at once. Do you have wax?”
“At the store,” she said as they began walking back from the stable.
“Bix, come with us,” the Baron called to one of the men who stood with the horses.
“Is there anything else?” the Baron asked Peggy as they began to make their way back to the store.
Peggy shook her head. “Then we have only to wait.”
“I do hate the waiting part,” Miss Nora grumbled. Then, her face broke out into a grin. “Though, there is the benefit of it leaving you with an empty schedule so that we might have all sorts of fun!”
“Use the time wisely while you can, sister,” Lord Belton teased. “For once the deliveries arrive, I doubt Miss Williams will have much time for you at all.”
“What an awful thing to say!” Miss Nora released an exaggerated gasp and held her hand to her heart as if she had been mortally wounded. “Don’t you know that I am to be a prime patron of the teahouse?”
“Tea corner.” Peggy laughed as she unlocked the door and ushered them into the store. “I do not suppose that we shall be able to boast a proper tea house, but I did ask for Twinning on the Strand to send us some tea. I am excited for the new selection to arrive. Right now, I just have the common block of black tea.”
“I see that,” the Baron said, perusing the letters and holding up the one addressed to Twinings. He gave them his final signature and sealed them with his signet ring.
“No matter what it is, it will still be the finest location for ladies’ leisure that Riversbend has seen in an age.” Miss Nora tapped her chin in thought. “Perhaps we can have a wall built to keep it separate from the main store and so that we do not have worry of officious gentlemen listening in on our gossip.”
So it was that they fell into musings about what could or would be done in the store to bring it up to more modern fashions. Peggy listened to the siblings argue with amusement. Having never had a sibling, she was unused to such constant teasing. Furthermore, her mother and father would never have permitted her to behave with such open affection toward anyone even in the privacy of their own home.
Here they were verbally poking at one another while filling the echoing storeroom with raucous laughter. It was unlike anything she had ever seen, and Peggy found that she quite enjoyed it. Miss Nora stood to evaluate where exactly the wall should be while Nash teased her about her lack of architectural acumen.
Peggy wondered if Adam laughed like that with Jemmy and Martha. The thought struck her suddenly and with pain. What if Adam did have this sort of relationship with his adoptive siblings? Even in her short time in this village, she could hardly imagine the Baron and his sister being parted. Perhaps that was part of the reason why Miss Nora had refused to get married. It seemed impossible to imagine one without the other. Would Adam feel the same burden of separation? The same loss?
All at once, Peggy felt ill and lightheaded, and she excused herself. She walked a short distance away from the sibling pair. She rounded the corner into a hallway that led to a back room and leaned against the wall, forcing herself to take slow calming breaths, and turned her thoughts to anything but the worry and guilt that had overtaken her so suddenly. She was certain that Adam needed to be a part of her life, that he needed her just as much as she needed him. She could not afford to allow doubts to creep in, not when she was so close. Peggy took several deep breaths to regain her composure.
“I shall see the gentlemen off,” Bix said, bowing to his lord and heading towards the stable. When the door closed, she knew the servant had gone.