Robert paused on the last step of the staircase to watch the footmen scurry across the grand salon carrying variously sized suitcases and hatboxes and depositing them on the tile floor of the entrance hall just inside the oversized front doors of the Abbey. He looked in amazement at the number of suitcases now laying in the entrance hall knowing that only one large suitcase was filled with his possessions. He gave a slight shake of his head as he recalled trying to talk Cora into keeping an array of evening gowns and dresses at Grantham House but she had responded that unlike men's evening dress, women's fashions changed with some regularity.
Carson who had been overseeing the footmen nodded as his lordship approached. "I hope this is all of it Carson" Robert said as he waved his hand in the direction of the luggage.
"It is my lord. Of course we'll have to use the horse cart to take the luggage to the railway station."
Robert chuckled at the butler's clear disdain for motor cars in general and not just the 1903 Wolseley that Robert had recently purchased and which Carson had refused to ride in. "Still not convinced of the value of the motor car Carson?"
Rather than answer, Carson cleared his throat before uttering "Breakfast is ready my lord."
Walking into the dining room Robert's sight was automatically drawn to the view outside the tall windows. The rains of the previous evening had cleared leaving a bright and sunny morning and he wondered if the weather in London was as clear as here in Yorkshire. He filled his plate from the array of food offered in the warming trays and then sat at his usual spot at the head of the table but instead of eating he began opening the morning post that Carson had laid beside his plate.
I look forward to seeing you again old friend. I am so happy that you and Cora will attend our supper for Veronica. It is hard to believe she's old enough to be presented this year for I still see her as the smiling little girl excited about her first pony. Where do the years go?
Robert set the note card from his old chum Peter on the table. Where indeed do the years go he wondered as he thought of his own daughters. Mary had also once been so excited to get a pony. He could still picture her sitting atop the little brown pony with a streak of white across its chest, her dark hair hidden under her black riding hat and a broad grin across her face. How nice it would be to see her that exuberant again. Maybe …
In just five years they'd be planning Mary's presentation and then the following year would be Edith's turn. Poor Edith always in her sister's shadow. He wondered how different things would be if Edith had been two or even three years younger than Mary, would such an age difference have made for a better relationship between the two? Or were they just too much alike? He sighed … it wasn't a morning to think of the trials and tribulations of his older daughters.
He reached for his newspaper and spent the next few minutes reading and eating. But thoughts of the season kept intruding until he finally sat back in his chair and thought of that season.
He had probably attended six or even seven seasons before that one and always enjoyed spending time with former classmates and old friends. Of course beyond that he enjoyed all the season had to offer especially the late nights of drinking, the dancing, the flirting, but never seriously considering marriage. Yet that year was different. Like so much of the aristocracy his family's estate needed money and his parents insisted that he earnestly make the effort to find a suitable wife, namely someone with money. Certainly with so many rich Americans throwing their daughters, along with their wealth, at the English aristocracy in hopes of attaining a title, he could find someone compatible his mother had said. When he had broached the subject of love, his mother had snickered if you can find love so be it but compatibility is favored for the long haul.
It had been at the third or fourth ball he attended that season when he had first seen Cora although he probably wouldn't have noticed her if her dance partner, the ever clumsy Bunky Wilton-Jones, hadn't tripped and ended up sprawled on the smoothly polished parquet floor of the magnificent ballroom. Cora (although of course at the time he hadn't known her name) had managed to help Bunky pull himself up into a sitting position where he sat there looking stunned, an all too familiar facial expression of Bunky's. Then the dark-haired young woman was lost in the crowd as he and several other friends of Bunky's had rushed to his aid.
Several nights later he spied her standing on the periphery of a group of two women he didn't recognize talking loudly to four men that he faintly recalled as being fellow Etonians. She didn't seem to be following the group's conversation but rather watching those on the dance floor and looking somewhat lost which he found rather appealing.
He wasn't known for being very suave or debonair but was considered gentlemanly. After watching her for a few minutes, he decided to ask her to dance. She smiled warmly at him as he introduced himself. She had blushed before softly laughing when he assured her he wasn't quite so clumsy dancing as his school chum Bunky. As they waltzed around the dance floor he realized she was quite beautiful with her dark hair, milky white skin and those startling blue eyes. Unlike most of the American girls he had met that season, she wasn't loud or brassy. As they twirled about the dance floor, he thought they might be very compatible indeed.
His thoughts on that season when he met Cora were suddenly interrupted with shouts of Papa and his youngest daughter pulling on his coat sleeve.
"Oh I was so afraid I'd missed seeing you and mama off" Sybil breathlessly spoke causing him to raise an eyebrow when he turned to look at her. Her face was red as if she had been running, her dark hair, so much like her mother's, had been pulled back into a loose braid from which several strands had escaped, and she stood there hopping from one foot to the other. "And I just knew if I had you'd be worried about me."
Sybil looking a bit disheveled wasn't unfortunately that rare but usually it wasn't until later in the afternoon so Robert was puzzled at this early morning disarray.
"We've been out doing some experiments" the eight-year old proudly exclaimed "and I forgot about the time."
"Experiments?" he couldn't imagine what she was talking about.
Sybil vigorously nodded her head up and down. "Oh Papa, Miss Portman is so smart and she's teaching me about science."
Robert chortled at his daughter's enthusiasm but he still had no idea what she was actually talking about. Before he could ask her more, she darted to the sideboard and began filling a plate with scrambled eggs, bangers and toast.
As she plopped down in the chair to the left of him, he chuckled seeing her full plate. "Didn't they feed you in the nursery this morning?"
She looked at him with that wide-eyes innocence and matter-of-factly remarked. "Of course." Then looking down at her plate, she shrugged her little shoulders and gave a sweep of her hand "but that was only porridge."
"And doing experiments has given you an appetite?" Robert finished for her to which she once again nodded vigorously.
Children change so fast he thought as he amusedly watched Sybil eating her breakfast. Last year and the year before that she had been teary at the prospect of him and Cora being gone for a month and had even clung to Cora's dress as she said good-bye. Now this year she was so busy she had almost missed their leaving.
He had been blessed with three beautiful daughters and he loved each of them but there was something special about this little one he thought. Was it the dark hair and blue eyes that were so like her mother's? Or that, unlike her sisters, Sybil had her mother's innate kindness? Whereas Mary had always demanded attention and Edith craved attention, Sybil had always been more independent.
"Now what exactly are these experiments you and Miss Portman are conducting" he asked.
"Oh all sorts of things Papa." She pointed at a notebook he hadn't noticed before lying beside her plate. "I'm keeping records of everything."
"Did you know Papa that the village is northwest of here but that the path to get there goes south first?"
"Ah … I can't say that I did."
"Well if you had a compass you could figure that out" Sybil proudly responded.
Maybe it was all those thoughts about the season but as he listened to an animated Sybil chatter Robert couldn't help thinking that the man who won her heart would be a very lucky man.
It always seems that the first minutes of railway travel are so hectic Robert thought as he finally settled back into his plush seat in the first class compartment. As the train picked up speed, Robert spent a few minutes admiring the lovely Yorkshire countryside before turning from the view outside his window and looking at Cora. She too was gazing at the passing scenery but must have sensed his looking at her for she turned to face him and smiled.
"So another season" she quietly spoke.
"At breakfast this morning I was thinking about that season, the one where we met."
She chuckled. "I felt like such a fish out of water, wondering what on earth I was doing." She grinned "we were lucky weren't we?"
His smile matched hers. "Very much so."
She nodded and glanced out the window as both she and Robert were lost in their own thoughts.
It was Cora who broke the companionable silence. "I'm use to Mary and Edith being rather blasé about our leaving but even Sybil seemed so nonchalant. Is our baby getting too old for us?"
Robert began chuckling. "It seems Sybil has a very full calendar of activities while we're gone."
In response to his wife's look of bewilderment Robert explained "Through Miss Portman our daughter has discovered science and they have a list of experiments to do. Seems rather fitting with Sybil's natural curiosity."
"Science? What kind of experiments?"
"Well I'm not actually sure. Sybil was a bit vague mentioning a compass, a magnifying glass, water, wind, plants, insects, butterflies."
"So you'll admit now that Miss Portman seems like a good choice as Sybil's new nanny?" Cora wanted to needle Robert who had been reluctant to hire the young American woman.
Robert shrugged. "I don't think I can concede that until we get back and ensure the house is still standing and no one has been injured."
As the motor car rounded the curve and the house came into sight, Robert felt a sigh of relief. They had had a good time in London but he had missed his daughters and Pharaoh and had been ready to come home. He reached out and held Cora's hand. "It will feel nice to be home."
Robert noted that in keeping to custom, some of the household staff was lined up on the right side to meet the Lord and Lady of the manor while on the opposite side were his daughters. Although a harder look showed that only two of his daughters were present. As the motor car came to a stop, Sybil and Pharaoh came bounding around the corner of the house.
"Oh Mama! Papa!" she cried as Robert and Cora stepped out of the motor car.
Hugging first Cora and then Robert Sybil exclaimed "oh Papa I've had the bestest time."