4.
~ "First thing to be done, is get rid of the old dragon's loathsome portrait up there." Lady Juniper said as the party entered the parlor that had once been home to Lady Percy.
"Mother, Aunt Percy is not dead. She's merely been ill." Eames said as his mother examined the furnishings.
"You've told me she is not herself and is expected to pass on at any time. There is no reason for her to occupy her downstairs parlor when she has her rooms upstairs. Besides, I'll need it for my own purposes." Juniper said as she let Olivia down and the toddler tired to escape the room.
Ariadne was quick to pull her back in.
"Mother, Aunt Percy may recover." Eames insisted.
"Charles, I make no apologies for despising that woman or her dreadful friend Mrs. Abbot." Lady Juniper spat. "I want that painting taken down and this parlor refitted for my own use."
"Mrs. Abbot was dismissed over a year ago." Ariadne told her meekly.
The memory of that vial woman and what she had done still hurt Ariadne dreadfully.
"Well, that's good news." Juniper said. "How is the rest of the staff getting on?"
"Very well." Ariadne told her.
"I'll need a complete roster of the servants and their duties to review. I may need to bring in my own staff aside from my ladies maid Mal." Juniper told her.
Ariadne looked at Eames in shock.
"Lady Juniper, I run this house. I'm the one who hires and dissmisses people." Ariadne clarified.
Juniper looked slightly uncomfortable. She looked at Eames who said nothing.
"Eames?" Ariadne said. She expected her friend to back her up.
"Ariadne, when your dear husband was alive, he was lord of this house. As his lady, it was fitting and proper that you handle the staff and assignment of rooms. With you dear husband gone, however, and no wife as yet for Charles, it is only appropriate that I take over the house.
"Eames?" Ariadne gasped in horror.
"Mother, Ariadne has run things here very well." Eames said calmly. "You benn away over 30 years."
"Charles, Ariadne has a baby to deal with, not to mention the herculean task of finding a new husband. She can not be burdened with a house and it's myriad of duties." Juniper argued.
"New husband?" Ariadne questioned.
"I, however, was raised to run a house like this. Am I really to understand our late cousin Arthur operated with no valet and decommissioned the horses?" Juniper questioned.
"Yes, mother. Arthur brought Blue Rivers into the 20th century." Eames sighed and sat down.
"My husband also paid off all of Blue Rivers debts. Including a very generous living allowance for you." Ariadne snapped.
Juniper turned to Ariadne.
"Charles, I was hoping we could speak for an hour or two alone." she said at last.
Eames looked at Ariadne wearily.
"Fine!" Ariadne huffed and picked up Olivia. "Fine, fine... fine." she said as she stormed out of the lady of the house's parlor.
"Mother that was rude." Eames said.
"She is an attractive enough girl. Still very young. Even with a baby, she will surely find a husband. The one who I have to worry about it you." Juniper said sitting primly next to her son.
"Mother, I'm fine."
"Charles, you are 33 years old and never married. You never even went to the debutantes seasons after your schooling was done. You need to find a wife and produce an heir." the lady said worriedly.
"Mother, I'm 35, and did it ever occur to you that I may not want to get married?" Eames said.
Juniper scoffed.
"Charles, what you want is not the issue." she said. "It's about the family now. When my brother was alive he married and produced an heir. Now that he and Simon are lost, as well as Arthur, you are the only male in the family."
"That's debatable." Eames said.
"What do you mean?" Juniper asked.
"Uncle had an affair with one of the house maids. She had his son. She and the boy still live here. Arthur hired her as a day maid." Eames told her.
"Who told you this lie?" Juniper asked.
"Ariadne. And I doubt it's a lie." Eames said.
"Then this house maid must be dismissed before she makes a claim to the title. Has there been any acknowledgment of paternity?" Juniper asked.
"Not that I know of. Uncle cast her out, but Aunt Percy sent her money each month for years. Then Arthur hired her back." Eames said.
"She must be packed up at once and told to leave. I won't have my brother's memory disgraced like this. We had a lucky break with our cousin Arthur and all his money. If all we have to put up with is his widow, then we are very lucky. I will make it my mission to introduce her to the finest of gentlemen in the country and find her a good match." Juniper said.
Eames shifted uncomfortably.
"I'm not certain Ariadne wants to be remarried." he said.
"Every girl wants to be married." Juniper snapped.
"Mother, I've told Ariadne she and Olivia can stay here for the rest of their lives and I intend to honor that. They have nowhere else to go and, because of the entail, they are penniless." Eames said.
"All the more reason to marry her off and have her settled. She's young and very pretty. Some widower Duke will snap her up in no time. Until then, we must make you presentable. We will hold a party and find you a wife. The new season of debutantes is out." Juniper instructed.
"Mother, I'm too old to marry some silly girl barley out of her teens who knows nothing about men and their needs."
"Charles!" Juniper gasped. "I had hoped schooling and being in a proper home would have taken some of this lustful nature out of you. I can see you are just as depraved as your father."
"Well, you married him." Eames chuckled.
~ Ariadne sat on the nursery floor with Olivia.
She held out the framed picture of Arthur for the baby to see.
"Dada." Ariadne coached the infant as Olivia stared at her mother.
"Can you say: Dada?" Ariadne pleaded as she held the picture of her late husband in front of her.
The baby seemed more interested in the frame and her mother than the photograph inside.
"Ariadne." Cobb said soothingly.
"I want her to know who her father is. It's what Arthur would have wanted." Ariadne snapped at him.
"I know it's what Arthur would have wanted, but she's just a baby." Cobb said as he watched them from his seat.
"I know she's just a baby. She won't even remember how much he loved her." Ariadne said sadly.
"She'll have to rely on us to tell her." Cobb said hopefully.
"Cobb, you should have seen Eames' mother. Already taking command of the house and staff. Talking about marrying me off to the first suitor that she can find." Ariadne put the photograph down and looked at Olivia. "She acted just like my own mother. Like I'm just a burden to be gotten rid of."
"You're not a burden. Why don't you come back to America with me?" Cobb asked.
"How would I live?" she asked as Olivia crawled in her lap. "What would I do for work? I'm not trained in anything practical. Who would take care of Olivia while I was working?"
"We could work something out." Cobb said.
"How? In your office? I don't know how to use those new office machines. I can barely use Eames' typewriter." she laughed.
"Well, I was thinking you could stay with me." Cobb said awkwardly.
She looked at him and he looked slightly embarrassed.
"I'm a confirmed old bachelor. We could be married on paper only. It would let you live the life you want and you would be provided for." he offered.
"So you want to be my new convenient husband?" she teased.
Cobb looked at his hands.
"Ridicules, I know. A man my age." he laughed.
"You know, the day I got off that train, and saw you, I hoped you were the one I was supposed to marry. But I think of you too much as a friend now." she told him. "But any woman would love to be married to you."
Cobb smiled and they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Come in." Ariadne called out expecting it to be Maura.
She and Cobb were surprised to see the slim, pretty ladies maid that had arrived with Juniper.
"Pardon." The woman said in a thick accent. "I was told your ladies maid could help me prepare my mistresses evening gown for dinner tonight. How might I find her? This house is so large."
"Oh." Ariadne said as she tried to stand up with Olivia.
"There is a pull bell beside Lady Bradford's bed." Cobb interjected as he quickly stood.
Ariadne was startled as the pair of them met each other in the eye and seemed to share a moment.
She was quick to clamp her mouth shut and watch them.
"Oh, that will summon this... Maura person?" the ladies maid asked.
"Yes, she should come and help you. Unless I can be of help." Cobb asked.
Ariadne wanted to burst out laughing but didn't.
The ladies maid smiled softly.
"Do you know about bead work, sir?" she said gently.
"Cobb. It's Mr. Cobb. I was the late Lord Bradford's solicitor and friend." Cobb said with a smile.
"I'm so sorry to hear about your loss." the maid said sympathetically as they both ignored Ariadne.
"Yes, it was tragic." Cobb said. "I didn't catch your name."
"It's Mal." she told him and blushed herself. "Can you show me how to ring the bell?" Mal asked.
"Of course," Cobb said as he showed her out of the room.
"There are pull bells all over the house. Lady Juniper will be able to call for you from downstairs." he said as they left the room.
Ariadne held Olivia close and picked up Arthur's picture.
"My love, I wish you had seen that." she whispered to his handsome image.
Olivia was quick to bat the frame with her pudgy hand.
"Da!" she shrieked and Ariadne giggled.