Author's Note: To seelieprincess and AliceMina: Thank you for the review. To XvideogamegirlX and ShadowNinja1011: Thank you for following.

This is another chapter without the Beast, but he will be back soon.


THE CASTLE IN THE SWAMP

Chapter 5

Year after year went by uneventfully. Not even the birth of a child broke their even course. As yet, Anna did not worry. She said she was still young enough to have several children.

Sometimes Martin thought how prophetic the last words of Elizaveta, his first wife, had been. His marriage to Anna was everything he could have hoped for, and Yuliya, Irina and Annushka loved her. The two younger girls called her 'Mother', and had done so from the day of the wedding. Yuliya however kept calling her 'Anna'. Martin would have corrected his daughter, but Anna had stopped him. She knew that Yuliya loved her as much as her sisters did, and that she said 'Anna' instead of 'Mother' was totally unimportant.

Anna continued to teach the girls. That is why instead of a new governess, a housekeeper had been hired. Mrs Jackson was good at her job, even if there were the odd clashes with Cook. So far Anna had always been able to smooth ruffled feathers, and the household ran as smooth as possible, especially considering that the animosity between the housekeeper and Cook had slowly increased over the years.

Yuliya, Irina and Annushka grew up from young girls to young women, and with it came Martins worst headache. Especially the two younger girls had become as beautiful as their mother had been. That combined with a potentially large dowry attracted eligible and not so eligible bachelors of all ages. Even if he could control who had access to his house, Martin was too aware that he was powerless to prevent meetings at social events elsewhere.

Then unexpectedly a lawyer arrived who brought a solution to Martin's problem. The man introduced himself as 'James Hodgson, of Hodgson, Hodgson, Hodgson and Bourne' a law firm with an excellent reputation. Seeing Martin's obvious surprise at the visit the man came straight to the point.

"I have the pleasure of informing you that you are the sole heir of your uncle, George Haywood," Mr Hodgson said.

Martin could vaguely remember Uncle George.

"I'm actually not sure I ever met him. Perhaps once when I was still a child. Not only was he a very distant relation, he was also a misanthrope who never wanted to see anyone. One day he just disappeared. Nobody in the family knew where he'd gone to."

"That's how he wanted it," the lawyer said. "He'd gone looking for the most lonely, desolate place imaginable, and he found it in a farmhouse on the edge of a swamp. The isolation of the place sealed the deal. With the nearest neighbour living the other side of the swamp there would be no unwanted visits, so he made the farmer a splendid offer, and the man accepted. Your uncle told me how he loved the way the wind howled around the house, the desolate surroundings, and the bleak, barren landscape."

"Do you mean I have inherited an old farm?"

"Not at all. Your uncle demolished the farm and had a grand house built. He lived there all alone except for his servants, a married couple as grim as their master. I believe I was the only other person he ever saw. When your uncle died of old age the servants called me as instructed. In his desk I found the will he'd had me write five years ago in which he leaves everything to you, his most distant nephew."

"But why me?" Martin asked, still surprised at the bequest. "He had other, closer relatives."

"Yes, money grabbing vultures he called them. You on the other hand married your sweetheart, a girl with little or no money. That impressed your uncle, and he felt for you when she died so young. Then, when you married your girls' governess for love, George wrote his will, leaving everything to you."

"I still don't understand."

"Did you ever wonder why your uncle was such a loner?"

"I didn't really think of him at all. Why would I? We weren't close, he had plenty of cousins and nephews, and I had no reason to believe he even knew of my existence."

"I understand. George became interested in you after your first marriage. You see, when he was young he had a sweetheart, but she wasn't rich enough for the family. His father forced him to wed a wealthy heiress who died in an accident nineteen years later together with her much younger lover. That's when your uncle broke with the family, and became the apparent misanthrope."

"I never knew. Poor man," Martin said.

"Your uncle searched for his true love hoping to have at least a happy old age with her, but when he found her years later it was too late. According to her relatives she had rejected several offers of marriage, and had died a spinster. Her family gave him a portrait of the lady as a young girl. It was your uncle's most cherished possession."

ooOOoo

Once all the paperwork had been dealt with Martin went with Mr Hodgson to see the property he'd inherited. Despite the nearness of the swamp there was no sickening dampness about. No putrid fumes or fogs made the area unhealthy to live in. Quite the contrary. There were no chimneys spewing forth smoke, no open sewers polluting the air with their stench. The only thing he could smell was the rich earth. When he saw the large house situated in ample grounds he decided to move there with his family.

Of course Martin discussed the move with Anna.

"Irina and Annushka are now of marriageable age," he said. "It will be easier to ensure they only meet suitable young men when we live away from this busy city. Here it is too difficult to control whom they see. I'm worried about them. They are nineteen and eighteen years old now, and they are very pretty girls, beautiful even. I see how men look at them and I hear their silly compliments."

"I agree, Martin. I try to steer them right, more by asking questions that make the girls think, than by criticising the men they like." She smiled. "All three have inherited a good dose of stubbornness from their father."

Martin smiled as well, recognising the truth of what Anna said.

"At least I don't have to worry about Yuliya. She's not so susceptible to sweet-talking young men."

"Yuliya's problem is the opposite," Anna remarked. "The men overlook her because of her pretty sisters, and she doesn't even try to catch their attention. Do you remember our last garden party? She was standing near the oak tree, looking at her sisters and their friends, who were laughing and chatting, surrounded by every bachelor at the party. I asked her, 'Why don't you join them, Yuliya? You might meet a nice man.' She just smiled and said, 'They are like the scenery in the theatre, wonderfully enchanting from a distance, but when you get up close, you know it's board and canvas and paint.' No, Yuliya won't be taken in by compliments, but is she willing to accept that nobody is perfect?"

"Yuliya isn't looking for perfection. Elizaveta once told me that in her family every so often a girl is born with uncanny abilities. I think Yuliya is such a girl. I think she can tell instantly what sort of person she faces, and so far nobody has impressed her favourably," Martin explained. Then he sighed, "That's another reason why I want to get away from this city. Let's tell the girls about the move now. They'll be waiting for us. We're later than usual for afternoon tea."

Martin and Anna went into the parlour together. Annushka was pouring the drinks, Irina was lying on a chaise longue, and Yuliya was reading a book, as usual. As soon as everyone had their favourite drink Martin decided it was silly to wait any longer.

"Girls, I've got an announcement to make," he said.

He had barely finished his sentence when there was a knock at the door. A very nervous maid came into the room immediately after Martin's short, "Enter!"

"Sir, Madam, please, could you come to the kitchen. There is a problem. Mrs Jackson is shouting and Cook is not happy. It's worse than ever," she said sounding flustered.

"We'll be there in a moment, dear," Anna told the girl who left immediately.

Martin nodded at his wife, understanding she wanted him to tell his daughters about the impending change first.

"I have special news," he started. "I've inherited a nice large house in a village in the countryside. We'll move there as soon as the place is restored and modernised. I'm sure we'll be happier there than here in this big, dusty city."

Before the girls could recover from the surprise, Martin and Anna had gone to sort out the problem in the kitchen.

Annushka was the first to voice her opinion.

"I won't see my friends anymore. I will die so far away from them," she wailed.

"Don't exaggerate, Annushka," Irina said. "You won't die because you can't see one of your flighty friends. There's much worse. How can we meet a wealthy husband in a village full of peasants?"

"What about a library, or a theatre?" Yuliya wanted to know.

"A library!" Annushka and Irina shouted out together.

"You are so boring, Yuliya," Irina added. "How will you find a wealthy husband if you're always stuck with your nose in a book? Men don't want a bookish wife. They want a sweet, pretty woman in their home, like a precious pearl in a golden setting."

"That's true. Anton says so too." Annushka counted on her fingers, "A wife has to be there for her husband. She has to listen to him when he wants to talk about his day, and be silent when he is tired. She has to take care of his needs, show a happy face, and never nag. She has to make his home a paradise."

"Yes, I'm sure that's what Anton says," Yuliya remarked "I don't know what you see in him, Annushka. He's so shallow, nothing more than an empty shell."

"I agree with Yuliya there, Annushka. If he were wealthy it would be different, but he's got barely enough to live off. And he's absolutely not interested in working, the idler."

"He's not an idler. He's a poet. He writes such wonderful poems about love everlasting. And he suffers so much because nobody understands him."

"I certainly don't understand his 'poems'. The only good thing about this move is that you won't see that Anton anymore. He can't afford to follow you. But I'll miss Alex. He's got money for the trip, but with so many girls here wanting him, he doesn't need to travel to the hellhole we will be stuck in."

"Alex is a cold fish. I wouldn't want him with double the money. At least Anton cares."

"Oh yes, Anton cares … about Father's money."

"Irina! Annushka! Please! No quarrelling. Neither Anton, nor Alex is worth it."

"I've asked you not to pry into my friends, but you just can't help yourself, can you Yuliya?"

Irina sounded annoyed. She had always thought her sister was a strange girl, the way she could tell what kind of person somebody was, as if she could look right into their soul. Irina preferred to find out for herself.

"I didn't pry, Irina. Only someone who is totally blind or madly in love would fail to see what kind of man Alex is. And the same goes for Anton. Of course with you there is also the possibility that you are wilfully ignoring the truth because the man is rich."

Irina shrugged. "Of course I want a rich man. Wealth is a more secure source of happiness than love."

"You two are such cold fish. Irina, you would send away the best man in the world because he didn't have enough money. And you, Yuliya, you don't ever allow yourself to just fall in love. You dissect the poor man first to see if he's the right one."

"Yes, and so far the right one hasn't appeared."

"At least we don't fall head over heels for every idiot who can quote two lines of poetry," Irina added waspishly.

"Oh! That is so mean, Irina."

Before Annushka and Irina could start bickering again, Martin and Anna returned. They had barely time to close the parlour door before they were inundated with the girls' pleas.

"Please, please, Father, can't we stay here in Ashton? All my friends are here, and I don't know anyone in that village."

"Please, Mother, can you tell Father that we'll never meet a decent husband in a hole like the one he wants to move to?"

"There is a library and a theatre there, isn't there? Please, Father, tell me there is at least a library."

"Girls! Girls! We're moving to a village, not to the wilderness," Martin said.

Then he told his daughters everything he knew about the place they would move to.

"Altena is not a large village, but I found people there very friendly. There is of course this swamp between our new home and the village, but there is a good, safe road, and it's an easy walk towards our nearest neighbours at the North Farm, and on to Altena."

"Isn't the swamp a problem, Father?" Yuliya asked.

"Not really, Yuliya. True, it is a bleak and desolate place, but we will have a garden around our house. It's not even a problem when you walk to the village, and I'm sure you will do that a lot. There is a library in the main street and if they haven't got what you want, they can get it from the main library in Ellinford, the town nearby." Then Martin added, "We'll be going to Ellinford regularly anyway, to go to the theatre, or for you ladies to go shopping. I'm sure we'll soon settle in, and you won't miss anything. You won't want to come back to Ashton-Upon-Usk."

"Of course we will. We won't see any of our friends anymore. That is just too awful." Annushka nearly cried.

"I won't see Alex anymore, and Annushka will miss Anton terribly," Irina added, siding with her sister in this.

"I can't regret the loss of those two," Martin said. "But if you still miss them six months after we have moved, I will personally invite them to come over. Can that meet with your approval, ladies?"

"It does. By then Annushka will hopefully have fallen for someone whose poetry is better than Anton's, but I won't have forgotten Alex," Irina said.

"Not unless a richer man has shown up, you mean," Annushka snapped. "I will be true to Anton. You'll see."

"You're a flighty creature, Annushka. I'm sure I'll see you madly in love with a new man soon enough."

"I'd better check if he's wealthier than Alex first. I won't stand a chance if he is."

"You annoying, little-"

"Girls! Enough!" Martin roared. "I won't have you arguing about two such useless characters as Alex and Anton."

"Alex isn't useless. He is wealthy."

"No, Irina, his father is wealthy. Alex only spends his allowance, and when that is finished he gets some more from his mother. I know that his father is not happy about it."

Irina shrugged, sat down in the chaise longue again, and didn't say another word.

Martin looked at his youngest daughter.

"No need to look smug, Annushka. That Anton is just as bad, if not worse. I hope you know he broke off an engagement. The girl's aunt and guardian told him that although she had money, her niece hadn't and would never have any. That's when he decided she was not the right one. Fortunately the engagement had not been made public. And I'm very grateful to the lady for warning me about this scoundrel."

"He didn't love that girl, but he loves me. He does," Annushka cried, but she wasn't entirely sure whether she was trying to convince her father or herself.

Martin hoped he hadn't pushed Irina and Annushka into extreme stubbornness with his criticism of Alex and Anton.

"At least the problem with Mrs Jackson and Cook is solved," Martin said. "We'll just have to find a new housekeeper and hope she and Cook will get along. Mrs Jackson prefers to stay in the city."

"And who can blame her," Irina grumbled under her breath.

ooOOoo

Before they could move to their new home it needed to be altered to suit a family with three young girls. First of all Martin pensioned off the old man and woman who'd been his uncle's servants. Then the house needed some improving. Upstairs a couple of bedrooms were turned into en-suite bathrooms. New larger windows with big window seats let in as much light as possible. Walls were knocked down to turn cramped little holes into spacious living quarters. New light fittings ensured that even on dark evenings the rooms didn't become gloomy caverns. Then the decorators finished the job with bright wallpaper everywhere.

When the house was finished a team of gardeners changed the grounds around the house from wasteland to a private Eden. New servants were hired, some to replace those that had preferred to find new jobs in Ashton rather than move so far away, others because the new house needed more staff than the much smaller one they left. Miss Davis, the new housekeeper, cousin and friend of Cook, would be waiting for them when they arrived.

Two months after Martin told his family about the move, they left for their new home. The friends of Irina and Annushka had come to wave them out. Their shouts rang in the early morning air.

"Write soon. You will write soon, won't you?"

"I will. As soon as I have found a place for my desk."

"We will miss you!"

"We will miss you too!"

"Goodbye! Safe journey!"

"Goodbye, goodbye."

Irina waved one last time and settled down, while Annushka kept waving until the carriage had turned the corner onto the main road out of the city.

"I didn't see Alex or Anton there to say goodbye. Couldn't they come today?" Martin asked.

"Alex? Why would he be there? I told him weeks ago I didn't want to see him anymore. I asked him how much money he had, and what he did to make more, and all he said was, 'when the old man dies I'll have so much', and 'when the old man dies I'll buy this and that', but he didn't actually 'do' anything himself. I told him that he was just lazy, and he was angry about that. We had a big argument, and that was that. Thank God I won't hear from him anymore."

"And what about Anton? Was the separation too much for his poetic soul?"

"He can keep his poetic soul. I tested him, Father. I told him we would be moving because of money problems, and immediately he became a lot cooler and found excuse after excuse when I invited him. When I then told him that our problem was a large inheritance he suddenly was all friendly again. He claimed he had been struggling with a poem dedicated to me. Well, I told him he would have to find someone else to dedicate it to. I was no longer interested in him or his poems. I didn't need Yuliya to tell me he was a lying cad."

"I see." Martin said. "I won't need to invite them then."

"Certainly not!" Irina said decidedly.

"Not even if the world stopped turning. I want a man who really loves me," Annushka sighed.

Martin smiled and winked at his wife. Anna smiled back at him and squeezed his hand. They didn't need words to convey to each other how happy they were that the girls had seen the truth. Even romantic Annushka had not been taken in.

ooOOoo

It took them several days of uneventful travel before they reached Ellinford, the town closest to Altena. The three girls would stay with Mr Hodgson, the lawyer, and his wife while Martin and Anna supervised the final stages of the move.

Mr and Mrs Hodgson took the girls on a sightseeing tour of Ellinford. They went shopping in the busy shopping district, and had tea in the tearoom of the best hotel. When Yuliya heard the library was just around the corner from the hotel she had to go and have a look. To her relief it was as large as the one in the city. Unfortunately she was not allowed to stay too long. Irina and Annushka took her between them and guided her out of the building.

"She would stay there all day if we let her," Irina remarked.

On the second evening they went to the theatre. Mr Hodgson's box received as much attention as the play. The girls too divided their attention between the stage and the audience. Even Yuliya found her eyes straying when she heard her sisters' whispers.

"Look, second box from right."

"Don't they look just marvellous?"

"Careful they're looking this way."

Such conversations were invariably followed by muffled giggles.

Towards the end of the play not one of the girls was looking at the play, not even Yuliya. To their dismay Mr Hodgson decided to leave early. They told their host they would have liked to make the acquaintance of some of the young people in town, but Mr Hodgson felt it was up to their father to decide who they could be introduced to.

When Martin and Anna arrived to take their daughters home, they were greeted by three enthusiastic girls. Martin already knew the town but Anna had to be shown where everything was: the theatre, the shops, even the library though they didn't let Yuliya go in this time.

On their way home in the carriage Martin told his family that Mr Hodgson had invited them to a party where they would be introduced to some of the families in town. Irina and Annushka were shrieking with joy, asking Martin if there would be many young people - "especially eligible young men," Irina said – and how soon the party would be. Ashton-Upon-Usk seemed already forgotten, a distant memory.

Their new home impressed the girls as well. Even though they had been told it would be larger than the one they had lived in so far, they hadn't quite realised that they were moving to a sizeable manor house. The first few days in Altena they spent arranging their rooms and their belongings to suit them best.

The party at Ellinford was a great success. The girls had been introduced to all the young people Mr Hodgson knew and could vouch for. All three girls danced with all the young men present, even Yuliya. The girls were interested in the three sisters and soon they became the centre of a group of talking and laughing young people. Annushka found some 'new best friends' and even Yuliya was more outgoing than normal.

After the party Annushka wrote the promised letter to her friends in Ashton. She had so much to tell that she wrote page after page of glowing praise for her new home. Irina wrote a quick note to say she was enjoying the bigger house with the large bedroom. She even hinted at the extreme suitability of a few of the young men she had met. Yuliya didn't write letters. She just added her own wishes to the bottom of her sisters' letters if she thought the recipient might care for them.

Ellinford had been a success, and soon Altena too found favour in the girls' eyes. They liked their new home very much, and with Anna they went on long walks to the farm and the village and even in the swamp. It seemed that Yuliya could read the marshes as well as people's minds. She just knew where it was safe to go and which beautiful green patches to avoid.

ooOOoo