An Unpracticed Heart

Chapter Fourteen

The carriage drew up in front of a narrow, three-storey structure tucked in between several others of its like in a neat corner of Bedford Square. Charlotte pulled back the shade an inch, glanced up at the house, and sat back in her seat. It was a fine seat, well-upholstered, inside a carriage Lady Alvord had sent to pick her up outside Hatfield. Of course, she'd used the mail coach for the majority of her journey south from Ellesferth, but at least her stepmother would pay her the courtesy of allowing her to travel in comfort for the last leg of the trip. Or she had simply wanted an excuse to show off one of her vehicles about town.

All of the usual courtesies were followed: The door opened and the step lowered, the gloved hand of a footman offered as she raised the hem of her skirt high enough to avoid tripping over it as she descended from the carriage. Up the steps then and into the house, a house she had spent a great deal of time in when she was a child. At one time it had felt like a mantle of comfort settling over her shoulders to move between its walls. Now, she experienced nothing but a harsh reminder of the drabness of her gown, of the dirt from the road that still clung to her as she was ushered inside.

"Is Lady Alvord at home?" Charlotte asked the butler as she removed her bonnet and gloves.

The elderly retainer tipped his head towards her in a gesture he reserved for her alone. The man had been a favorite of her father's, and had also managed to be one of the few servants to keep his position after Lord Alvord's death. "She is out, Miss Claridge."

"And you expect her to return...?" She left the question open as she attacked the buttons of her spencer.

"This afternoon, most likely not later than five o'clock. She plans to dine out tonight, I believe. With Lord and Lady Fulton, if I am not mistaken."

Charlotte smiled. In all the years she'd known him, Higgins had yet to be proven wrong.

"Would you care for refreshments of some kind, Miss Claridge?"

She thought of all the days of travel behind her, the crowded, bustling inns she'd stayed in, and all without a companion or maid to lend her journey the repute necessary for better service and care. "I'm sure anything the kitchen can provide will be a vast improvement over what I've been offered of late. Oh, and is my room ready? I'd prefer to dine upstairs and save you the effort of setting a table or laying an additional fire."

"Of course, Miss. Except..."

Charlotte turned around at the butler's hesitation. "Yes, Higgins? What is it?"

"Your room." He made a great show of clearing his throat and raising his chin before he spoke again, though his grey eyes darted away more than once. Charlotte suspected he had no care to make the pronouncement he knew that he must. "You are not to be in the Blue Bedroom any longer. You've been moved upstairs, to the room adjoining the nursery."

"The nurse's room?"

Higgins answered her with a slow nod.

"Oh. Well, then." So, she'd been relegated to the servant's quarters. "Very well. If it is not too much trouble to dine there..."

"No trouble at all, Miss. I'll have a tray sent up for you immediately."

On the top floor, tucked into the back corner of the house where the roof began to slope sharply, the nursery was connected to a small bedroom. Charlotte found the room of her old nurse to have been cleaned and made ready for her, a fire laid in the grate and fresh linens placed on the narrow bed. It was a small, comfortable space, not much different in size from the room she was given during her stay at Ellesferth. But there, she had slowly acquired more freedom to roam about the corridors and grounds as she liked. Here, as the door clicked shut behind her, the sound of it reverberated through her mind as if the lock of a prison cell had fallen into place.