Read Online Connie (The Daughters of Allamont Hall Book 3) by Mary Kingswood - Free Book Online Page B

convenient location, and I have arranged the room personally with every comfort.”
    “Thank you, cousin, that was very thoughtful,” Belle said smoothly. “However, I believe we will keep to the original plan. The green room is likely to be chilly in this east wind. Phillips, will you prepare the rose bedroom.”
    “It is already done, madam,” said the housekeeper. “You will not find any deficiency.”
    “You disobeyed my orders!” Cousin Vivienne said, her face darkening.
    “Not at all, madam. I thought it best to prepare both rooms, just in case.”
    Cousin Vivienne would have said something more, but Belle said in her quiet way, “I am delighted to be met with such attentions from both of you. I am sure my sister and I will enjoy our stay immensely, with such unparallelled devotion to our comfort. Come, Connie, let me show you to our room. You will want to refresh yourself after the journey, and then Mr Burford will show us all that has been done to the house since we were last here.”
    Connie meekly followed her sister through twisting corridors and up a flight of stairs. The various parts of the house had seemingly been added on in a higgledy-piggledy fashion, so there were oddly-shaped doors, mismatched windows and changes of level as they moved from one wing to another. Connie wondered if she would ever be able to find her way about.
    “You have remembered the way remarkably well, sister,” she said, as they ducked under a low beam, and went through a narrow door into yet another part of the house.
    Belle laughed. “I asked Mr Burford to draw me a plan, so that I might not get lost, for I cannot always be calling on Mary or Cousin Vivienne or one of the servants to show me the way. Here we are. If I have it correctly, this is the rose bedroom.”
    It was as different as could be imagined from Connie’s room at Allamont Hall, with its high ceiling, pale walls and light, elegant furniture. Here, dark wood covered the walls completely, and heavy, old-fashioned furnishings stood, solid and sturdy as oxen, in the corners. The massive bed with its maroon velvet drapes was set almost in the middle of the room. Only the deep pink of the ceiling suggested the most tenuous of connections to the name of the room. But a fire burned brightly, there were pressed flowers in frames on the walls and large casement windows revealed a pleasant view over the gardens, with trees and farmland beyond.
    The rest of the day passed in a whirl of discussions with the man engaged to oversee the renovations, to explain Connie’s ideas for the principal rooms, and to discuss the possibilities for the great hall and some of the bedrooms. Then there was an hour of efficient ministrations by Beecham, who rendered Connie’s hair in a new and wonderfully fashionable way. She found herself peeking into every mirror they passed on their way to the dining room, just to reassure herself that this stylish creature really existed.
    Dinner was fashionably late, and was rather a large affair, for in addition to Cousins Henry and Vivienne, they were joined by Mary, James and Alice, as well as Alice’s parents, Mr and Mrs Whittle. It was odd company indeed, and all the odder because Henry and Vivienne took their places at the head and foot of the table, exactly as if they were still master and mistress. Cousin Henry looked uncomfortable about it, but Vivienne played the role of gracious hostess with perfect composure.
    When they retired to their room that night, Connie burst out, “Oh, Belle, how can you stand it! That woman treats you abominably. I could scarce hold my tongue.”
    “I hope you will do so, however,” Belle said seriously. “I am sorry to say such a thing of a relative, but Cousin Vivienne delights in being vexatious, and much of her pleasure comes from discomposing one or other of us, or setting the servants wrong. She will order the servants about as though they are her own, without reference to Mr Burford’s wishes in