Chapter One: Unfortunate News
I stared out the carriage window, absently stroking Foxy's thick fur as she slumbered on my black satin clad lap. Today was a perfectly somber day, perfect to match my dreary mood and the utter sorrow that had taken over my life.
Three weeks prior, I received the most horrible of news. Father had been gone nearly a month and I was looking forward to his return. When I was younger, he'd have my tutor, Mrs. Blackmoore, come and stay with me, but now I insisted on taking care of myself in his absence. This was partly due to my growing need for independence, but mostly it was because Mrs. Blackmoore irritated me beyond imagining. She was a terribly shrill woman and she never let me do anything but sit and sew for hours on end. More than two days with her, and I'd go mad! Though it was terribly lonely without my father around, I had gotten used to it over the years. It would be a relief once he was back again. I worried about him. He wasn't getting any younger. I was hoping that he'd be back within the next few days and was making preparations for it. I cleaned the entire house and started planning the menu for his welcome home dinner. Then, in the late afternoon, I heard a knocking at the door. I thought it odd that someone was visiting. It was such a rare occurrence. When I opened the door, I saw a man, dressed in the uniform of the royal Navy standing in the doorway. The man's face was filled with worry. He handed me a letter and bowed to me slightly. "I'm sorry, Miss Craft, but I'm afraid I have some unfortunate news. The Beatrix never reached the Marin Port where it was due to enter Spain. It is presumed to be lost at sea."
My father? Gone? I couldn't believe it. I dared not believe it. I couldn't bare the thought of being an orphan, of never seeing my father again or hearing his voice. What I longed for most was to see his smile again. I would have given anything for that. I put off taking care of his final business for weeks, hoping that the naval officer was wrong and that my father would sail into the London harbor all well and good soon. However, the date of his expected arrival came and went. My father never came back and I could no longer pretend that everything was fine. I had to face the fact that the Beatrix had sank or was captured by pirates. Either way, my father and the rest of the crew were most likely dead. All I could do now was try to live as best I could without him. Now here I was, on my way to meet with Thomas Bindley, the executor of my father's will to see what would become of me and my father's estate.
Mr. Bindley was a very dreary man in his own right. He was tall and skeletally thin. Dark shadows painted the hollows around his eyes and along his cheeks. He wore an ill fitting suit that was all black, as were his eyes and his somewhat greasy looking hair. He made a sour face at me when I entered his office with my dog in my arms. I half expected him to yell at me, but instead he painted on a fake smile and gestured towards the empty seat in front of his desk. "Ah, Miss Craft. I've been awaiting your arrival. Please, do sit down here and we'll get straight to business." He said with forced politeness.
"Thank you for seeing me today, Mr. Bindley. Forgive me for bringing my dog. She's been clinging to me like a baby since father went away." I said as I sat down. I tried very hard to sound grown up and to sit up straight like Mrs. Blackmoore taught me. It was very difficult to keep the tremor of grief out of my voice, but I somehow managed.
"I am glad that you are finally coming to see me. The sooner we settle your father's final business, the better, you understand." He said, glancing up at me over his spectacles, which sat lowly on the bridge of his crooked nose.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I should have come sooner. Father's…disappearance came as quite a shock. It took some time for me to come to terms with it."
In reply, he merely murmured. I doubted that he was really listening to me while he scanned my father's will. "Miss Craft, I'm afraid I've found a problem with the will." He said when he finished. He took off his spectacles and looked at me with his dead black eyes. "It seems that it is a bit dated. Your father had it drawn up when you were only seven. It states that you must remain under the care of a legal guardian until your eighteenth birthday. Until then, your father's estate will be placed in a trust. You won't be able to collect your inheritance until you are a legal adult."
"What?" I gasped. I jumped in my seat, scaring poor Foxy in the process. "Sir, I need that money to live off of! What am I to do for the next year?"
"As I said, you'll go to live with a guardian, which is usually the next of kin." He said, his tone indifferent, his face just as dead and cold as ever.
"Who? My mother's family all live in America and my father broke his ties with his family long ago. I've never met any of them. I don't even know if their still alive." I explained. My father was all I had, my one tie to the outside world. Without him, I had no one and nothing. I bit at my lip, fighting with all I had not to make a fool of myself and cry right there in the middle of Mr. Bindley's office.
"Not to worry." That fake smile appeared again. "I've already sent out letters to your father's family. Your mother's kin were not able to be located."
"Have you received any replies?" I asked.
"Only one." He passed me a letter, sealed in crimson wax, over the desk. The seal bore the image of a rose in full bloom. I gently opened it and read it as Mr. Bindley droned on. The style of the writing was choppy and not at all pretty, more like a child's than an adult's.
The letter read:
Dear Mr. Bindley,
I am saddened to learn of my cousin's premature passing. However, I am honored that you would ask me to take in his orphan. I am only distantly related and have never met Miss Isabel, but if she will have me as her guardian, I am more than happy to open my doors to her. I am looking forward to meeting her in the near future.
Sincerely,
Christopher Thorn
P.S. I have enclosed with this letter, a rose from my garden, see to it that Miss Isabel gets it. It is a gift of condolence. May it comfort her and bring her peace in this trying time.
"He mentions sending a rose?" I inquired.
"Oh, yes, I nearly forgot." He bent to the side and opened up one of the drawers of his desk. A moment later he presented me with a long and narrow box, bound with red and gold ribbons, tied in a beautiful bow.
I opened up the box and withdrew from it a pristine rose with petals of the deepest red I'd ever seen. It's petals were tightly coiled as if the flower had only moments before started to bloom, despite the fact that it had been in the box for days. I held it up to my nose, admiring its scent and its remarkable beauty. I noted that the thorns had been lovingly and carefully removed and its stem had been cauterized to prevent it from dieing quickly. Mr. Thorn had taken great care in sending the rose to me and it eased my worry. If he could care so well for a simple flower, then he must be a descent man. "Will you tell me what you know of Mr. Thorn?" I asked absently, the gentle, intoxicating scent of the rose filling my mind with fog.
"He's in his mid twenties. He's never married. I'm not sure what he does for an occupation, but he seems to be doing well for himself. He lives in a mansion outside of the city. He refuses to meet with me in person, but he is the only one of your relatives to offer you aid. What do you think? Will you accept his offer?"
"What choice do I have?" I sighed wearily. "If I don't agree, I'll be on the streets for the next year. Please send word to him as soon as possible that I will accept him as my legal guardian."
"Excellent. Don't worry about anything. I'll have everything squared away. I'll let you know when you'll be leaving and will personally escort you to Mr. Thorn's home myself." He smiled at me again, showing all his dingy yellow teeth.
I gathered my things and headed for the door. I sniffed at the rose, never allowing my hand to drag it away from my nose. So long as I smelled its sweet scent, I couldn't feel the hollowness inside of me, where the love of my father used to reside. "Please thank Mr. Thorn for the rose." I said, turning back to Mr. Bindley as I opened the main door. "It has already been a comfort to me. It is a beautiful gift."
Back at home, I sat at the dining table, dressed only in my nightdress. I looked around at all of my worldly possessions. All these things, these trinkets and proof of wealth meant absolutely nothing now. If all of it vanished I wouldn't care. Why? Out of everything that god could take away, why did have to be my father? A month ago, money and possessions seemed so important. Now, I'd give it all away and live like a beggar if it meant having my father back.
"This is it, Foxy." I said, looking down sadly at the fluff ball at my feet. She looked up at me with her small black eyes and wide puppy grin, completely unaware of the turmoil in my heart. "Soon we're going to be far away from all of this. I can't say that I'll miss it. So long as father is gone, none of it means a thing." I scooped her up and buried my face in the scruff around her neck. "Oh, Foxy, I miss him so much." The empty halls of Craft Manor soon echoed with my sobs of grief. The tears I'd fought back since I'd learned of his passing, now pushed their way to the surface and I, exhausted from it all, simply let them come.
