Some time later, the countess returned. "Breakfast is ready," she said, speaking at her normal volume now. "Would you care to join me in the dining room?"
"Certainly, thank you," Mary Poppins replied. She followed Phoebe into yet another elaborately decorated room. This one had a long, dark, wooden table surrounded by carved chairs of the same shade of wood. An enormous painting on the wall depicted some sort of scene from mythology. Windows that spanned nearly the entire height of the wall looked out over the front drive and the gardens, which looked resplendent in the morning sun.
In the carved chairs were seated most of the nurses, plus a woman that Mary Poppins did not recognize. She was the only other woman in the room not wearing a nurse's uniform. Instead, she had on a fashionably tailored pale pink dress with tiny pearl buttons in a line up her back. "Miss Poppins," Phoebe began, "this is my dear friend Mrs. Holland. Mrs. Holland, Miss Poppins."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Mary Poppins said with a smile.
"Charmed, I'm sure," spoke the woman in pink.
Phoebe sat down in the empty chair beside Sibella, and Mary Poppins sat on the countess's other side. Phoebe was at the head of the table, resulting in the other two women being directly across from one another. The few footmen that had not gone off to fight circulated with platters and baskets of food.
Having set a scone on her plate, Mrs. Holland turned her attention to the woman opposite her. "What brings you to Highhurst, Miss Poppins?"
Setting down the teacup she was about to sip from, Mary Poppins looked up. "A friend of mine was injured in France and sent here."
"He made astounding progress overnight," Phoebe chimed in. "None of the nurses quite know what to make of it."
"Is he the one with news of Monty? The earl, that is," Sibella added, the second thought addressed to Mary Poppins.
"Yes, Mr. Alfred," replied the countess. "Miss Poppins has been at his side almost constantly since yesterday morning."
"How very sweet," Sibella remarked, her smile almost a smirk.
Ignoring the sentiment of the blonde's last remark, Mary Poppins took a dainty sip of tea before furthering the conversation. "Is your husband fighting, Mrs. Holland?"
"Oh, yes. Lionel." The nanny noted something odd in the way the blonde spoke her husband's name. Something subdued, but almost like distaste.
"Yet you're here at Highhurst Castle rather than at home?" Mary Poppins questioned.
Sibella stopped herself from retorting that she was, in fact, at home. "Yes," she said carefully. "With both of our husbands at the front, the countess and I felt it would be nice to be together." Sibella fully intended to leave the conversation there, but the woman opposite persisted.
"And how are you two acquainted?" she asked politely, looking from Sibella to the countess and back again.
"Mrs. Holland grew up with Monty. We met at a dinner party here at Highhurst, the night Monty and I announced our engagement, before he became earl."
"Wasn't that around the time that the previous earl, Lord Adalbert, passed away?"
"That very night, actually," said Phoebe. "It was a highly eventful few hours."
"Yes, I'd imagine it was eventful indeed!"
"Lord Adalbert's widow, Lady Eugenia, stayed at Highhurst for about a year and a half after Monty and I moved in. She lives in the dower house now. She couldn't abide Bella and Donna, and she was never overly fond of the castle, so she's far happier there."
"And who are Bella and Donna?"
Phoebe's face lit up. "Oh, you must meet them!" she exclaimed. "Miss Shingle," she said, stopping an elderly maid, "would you please bring Bella and Donna in here?"
"Couldn't Miss Poppins meet them after breakfast? I can't speak for her, but personally I would not appreciate fur in my scones," said Sibella gently.
"Fair enough," the countess conceded. She turned to Mary Poppins. "Bella and Donna are my corgis. They were a gift from my late brother, Henry. They really are the sweetest things."
Unnoticed by either of the other women, a spark of recognition appeared in Mary Poppins' eye. These were the two corgis the Inspector had told her about, the ones who had recognised Bert. She had wondered how they had known that Bert was at Highhurst.
"They're not very fond of Lionel," Mrs. Holland said with a smile that could almost be described as sneaky.
"No, indeed they're not," Phoebe agreed, giggling slightly.
"Is Mr. Holland often here at Highhurst?" Mary Poppins asked innocently.
The other two women glanced at each other momentarily. "No," replied Sibella, her smile not quite reaching her eyes, "Not often."
"But you are, yes?"
Sibella's eyes narrowed slightly as she regarded the woman across the table. "Yes, I suppose I am."
"She generally comes to visit whenever Mr. Holland is away," Phoebe added.
"Lionel is unfortunately frequently called away on business, and I don't particularly care for being alone in a house, even with a staff. And Monty and Phoebe are far more pleasant to be around than any maid I employ," the blonde replied with a smile only barely more genuine than the last.
"Thank you, dear, but perhaps you ought to hire friendlier help," the countess commented with a real smile.
"Oh, I've wanted to for some time." Sibella turned to speak to Phoebe. "But Lionel won't hear of it. He's convinced that I must be kept under control, and he's gotten it into his head that our current staff are helpful in that endeavour." Phoebe sipped her tea and glanced at Mary Poppins, praying that her guest was not uncomfortable with Sibella's frank declarations.
But the nanny was far more intrigued than uncomfortable. The more the women spoke, the more she was able to piece together an idea of their personalities and lifestyle. The countess was very sweet, and seemingly unmatched with Mrs. Holland, who was quickly revealing herself to be a saucy and rather waspish woman with a profound animosity toward her husband.
Her attention seemingly focused on her breakfast, Mary Poppins watched as Phoebe gave a small smile and her eyes met Sibella's for a moment. Then, they quickly returned their gazes to their scones.
Though no one else in the room would have thought it anything odd, Mary Poppins knew that look. The way the two women had smiled at each other, she was almost too familiar with their expressions. That was the smile of two people who cared deeply for each other as something more than friends.