June 1, 1903
The morning room windows were tall and wide enough to let in every bit of the rising sunlight. The warmth trickled through the glass enough to feel as if there weren't windows at all.
Audrey stared out onto the vibrant greens of the manicured lawns and picturesque trees at the property's edge. She could walk to the water's edge, in less than a quarter of an hour, she knew. She twisted the fountain pen in her right hand finding herself wishing it was a cigarette she was holding instead. She hasn't heard a whisper, hadn't seen it printed, or even been directly confronted about the proposal and she is starting to believe it might be one of her very own elusive secrets.
A bell sounded behind her, the only way she could be sure someone from the household had joined her. She didn't turn to acknowledge them but did drop her attention back to the letter she had been writing.
"I believe I employ a nursemaid for the boy." Thomas teases lightly as he casts a shadow over the sleeping baby in a basket tucked along Audrey's skirt hem.
"I like putting him to sleep." Audrey smiles up at her guardian. "His nursemaid is taking coffee in the kitchens before finding his carriage for a mid-morning stroll."
Thomas Longfellow drops a paternal kiss on her head, glancing at her messy writing for only a second before stepping away from her. One of the servants' steps into the room.
"Sir?" The butler nods.
"Coffee and some of those biscuits cook likes to make for afternoon tea." Thomas requested lazily dropping into one of the plush chairs.
The butler murmurs a yes sir before departing. Audrey begins scribbling again and Thomas finds himself studying her. He cannot help but notice how she seems intent on ignoring him though she seems equally unable to focus on her task. She keeps fidgeting, her skirts rustling in a way that Thomas recognizes as her bare feet were twisting around the front legs of her chair. He's long since gotten Casey to stop battling the girl's habit to wander barefoot indoors.
"I was entertaining the idea of paying a visit to the Belmont's this afternoon, to go on a ride with Oliver. If you wish to go riding." Thomas offers.
"You just want to get a full report on my behavior from the festivities two evenings ago," Audrey replied easily, scribbling out a bit of the letter in front of her as she spoke. Her voice is even, her body language comfortable, a picture of complete confidence that continues to set off alarms for Thomas.
"You weren't mentioned in the papers at all, even in the gossip pages, so I can hope you behaved yourself," Thomas stated casually as he watches the way her spine straighten ever so slightly and her chin juts out petulantly.
"I am not a walking scandal and I do not know whatever gave you the impression that I was going to be anything but another fancy lady at Grace Vanderbilt's fete of the season." Audrey's elbow swings out enough to indicate she had ended her correspondence with her usual signature. Thomas waits until she sets her pen down to speak again.
The Longfellows had arrived one day after the extravagant party, in the late afternoon to the peace and tranquility of the shore. Thomas and Casey had read the papers, every word about the Fete de Roses, as it was being heralded. Opinions on the opulence, criticisms of the expense peppered with awe of the revelry. There were detailed mentions on many of the guests, with several column inches dedicated to the foreign dignitaries. But there had been only one mention of the darling ward of Thomas Longfellow. The singular passing acknowledgment had made the old bird uncomfortable, suspicious of not having the full story. He'd pressed the girl about the evening, getting details of the fairy lights and the carnival games in equal measure but nothing to settle him.
"Who are we writing to this morning?"
"Jack," Audrey replied without turning completely to look at him but shifted enough to stare aimlessly out the window again.
"Dear, you are going to ruin your complexion if you continue to sit in the sun that way." Casey swept into the room carrying a stack of correspondence. The lady of the house was dress impeccably but had left her hair untended and down for the morning.
"There isn't much use for a complexion, is there?" Audrey retorted.
"My mother always went on about it." Casey laughed, dropping a letter into her husband's lap.
"Your mother was trying to ensure you landed a good husband." Thomas snorted. He twisted his fingers around his wife's, as he flipped open a folded note.
"Nevertheless, it is not only your charm that is securing these social invitations. So best take care of that pretty face of yours, if you want to continue in your schemes." Casey sets new invitations down on a receiving tray and waves Audrey back to her letter. Audrey rolls her eyes dramatically but turns to inspect if her ink has dried enough for her to fold her letter up.
"Critter writes," Thomas began carefully. "To warn you may be challenging upon discovering Jacob was setting sail.
"He's a day late for that warning, isn't he?" Audrey tries to tease but the edge in her tone gives the words a snappish delivery. She quickly drops the tension in her words. "You were both here when the young gentleman set sail, have I been more challenging?"
Thomas eyes her, in that piercing way that must have made him an excellent bird and Audrey smiles charmingly back at her guardian. The coffee and biscuits arrive at just that moment and Casey quickly dismisses the butler as she pours out the hot liquid.
"Does Crit believe she didn't know?" Casey asks conversationally. Audrey jerks, as she tries to control her reaction to the words, slipping her gaze to Casey as the woman hands a cup of coffee to her husband.
"I wondered often enough in the last month if she knew." Thomas sighs, wary of where this conversation might lead.
"Of course I knew." Audrey scoffed. "It isn't as if the social set really keeps much about business and courtships quiet. No news travels faster than eligible young men taking over the business, except for possibly when they've been caught as a husband."
Thomas hums as Casey gestured for Audrey to move from the writing desk to the winged chair under the window to take her coffee. Audrey glances down at the baby sleeping at her feet, collecting herself a moment as her guardians dance dangerously close to the secret she is holding. It is possible, as it always was, that Thomas and Casey knew about the proposal. The very night air had ears in her world and she knew it wasn't only possible but highly likely a bird had heard the whole exchange. The young lady skipped over to her designated seat.
"Critter is requesting you report to him upon our return to the city." Thomas continued reading the correspondence.
"Requesting is he?" Casey laughed as she sat down. The woman scooted into her husband, pressing her hip against his easily as she smiled down at the sheet of paper in his hand. Thomas instinctively lifted the arm with the letter, wrapping it around his wife's shoulders and settling it between their two bent heads.
"I've sent word to the nest." Audrey provides.
"He knows that," Thomas replies.
"You all believe I'm keeping secrets?" Audrey practically hisses.
"Of course we do dear," Casey replies easily. "But that isn't why Critter wants to see you."
"He wants to hear my report on the party," Audrey argues. "And I've given that."
"Critter is listening for different bits and pieces, he works with a different set than Jasper. And you know that." Thomas explained patiently. He believes that if anyone can discover his ward's secret it would be the legendary leader of the Brooklyn Birds.
"And he wants to see you in front of him, whole and safe. It's been a month since he saw you last. You are quite a trial for Critter O'Connell, the only one of his birds that doesn't seek his approval and who is beyond his reach." Casey laughs.
"I seek his approval," Audrey whispers.
"You seek his disapproval." Thomas rolls his eyes. "As proof, he's minding you at all."
"Christopher O'Connell has been keeping wayward children safe his entire life, he will not waiver from you." Casey nods.
Audrey sipped at her coffee and glanced back over to the sleeping baby. "Were you wayward children?"
Thomas and Casey laugh together, a sound at once full of youth and age.
"Yes," Casey states definitively.
"Intent upon our own destruction, if you were to believe Critter's shouting," Thomas nodded.
"Why does he do it?" Audrey asks curiously.
"He's got his reasons, and he's made it into something rather profitable." Casey smiles.
Audrey sucks in a breath, biting down on her lower lip as she debates asking for the story of history she knew only shadows and loose bits picked up from years of paying attention. The history of the birds was a murky fairy tale at best, and the history of Critter O'Connell was ever more myth than truth. Being a bird had taught Audrey that the world ran on the currencies of stories, truth or gossip, and everything in-between, and trading for myths shrouded in years and mystery would cost her.
"You'll return to the city with me on Wednesday next when I go for business. A trade agreement that is likely to take the whole day, I'll leave you at the Hudson for the day." Thomas decides.
"You do not think he can wait until we return to the city altogether?" Audrey prods.
"He's never been a patient man, and I have outgrown the need to test him." Thomas winked at her as the baby let out a shrieking wail.