TURNING PAGE | ❝I surrender who I've been for who you are.❞
After the loss of her husband, Winifred Erstwhile must come to terms with her new life amidst her grief. In a world where society views her through the lens of marriage, the widow slow...
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THE MORNING BURNS IN GOLDEN AUTUMNAL LIGHT as she opens the shutters. Winifred props her elbows on the windowsill, inhaling the crisp morning air that trickles into her bedroom. It is late September and the trees are beginning to burn with vivid autumnal colours, through an early haze of mist. Everything is so quiet — it is one of the reasons she loves dawn. It is so full of promise and the world is not yet disrupted.
There had been a time when Winifred lost sight of this beauty. She would drag herself out of bed and dread the day ahead of her. But now, she looks forward to what a new day might bring her, adamant that she should seize it to the best of her abilities. At first, she had to tell herself. Recently Winifred has started believing it on her own.
She looks behind her at the room. The bed is half-made out of habit, her efforts somewhat futile when she knows the maids will be stripping them down later anyway. A half-read book sits on her bureau next to a small pot of lavender. Beneath it lies an opened message from Lettie, regaling her time in Bath with the baroness once again. Winifred's eyes absentmindedly scan the open excerpt:
"... Lady Strachan is keeping me on my toes since our return to Bath. She is still quite adamant that we should host a full Michaelmas dinner, including the goose, despite us not having a house full of guests — I should not be telling you this, but the Strachans are quite the splintered family. They make the Fitzroys look civil. I think she had been hoping you might at least be able to come, however the baroness says she understands you are occupied at Highbourne. Oh, but how I miss you terribly! Do not delay our next reunion any longer than last time.
Best of luck with your visitors this weekend. You shall need it, especially with the youngest one..."
Indeed, Winifred knows she will need a drop of tranquility before the days ahead.
Today is Michaelmas, marking the end of the harvest. It is one of the quarter days in the calendar on which new servants can be hired, rents are due and leases can be begun. Winifred's childhood was always busy around this time as her father had a larger estate to run and tenants to see to. Her responsibilities may be less with Highbourne than his, but she still intends to make the most of it. Of course, there are also plenty of harvest celebrations, from a country fair in the local village to an autumnal ball later this evening.
On top of this she is expecting visitors — the first overnight ones she has received in months... no, years. Winifred is so accustomed to Highbourne being empty other than her staff, that it seems unprecedented to think that in a few hours, Abigail and Jemima shall be bounding up the steps. She had extended the invitation to them a week ago and, almost instantly, their mother had accepted on their behalf. There is a quiet adrenaline that courses through her at the idea of hosting someone at her home after all this time, even if it is only her sisters.
