Read Online One Glorious Ambition by Jane Kirkpatrick - Free Book Online

trunks, leaving them on the driveway as he pulled the carriage away. This time there would be no Beatrice to help her unpack. Saying good-bye to her had been a tearful affair, one she was glad Mary was not around to witness. Her good-byes to her aunt and uncle had also surprised her with the size of the ache in her heart. She heard the
clop-clop
of the horses leaving across the cobblestones. She gazed up at the three-story building that would be her home at last.
    Where were the boys? her grandmamma?
    She lifted her skirts and climbed the steps. She opened the door. “Grandmamma? Charles? Joseph? I’m here. It’s me, Thea.”
    Silence.
    She called out again, then made her way through the long hallway, past the staircase, beyond the dining room on her right and the parlor on her left. She looked briefly inside each room. “Is anyone here?”
    “Excuse me?” The voice startled her and she turned. The woman must have been upstairs when Dorothea entered. “May I ask who you are?”
    “Dorothea Lynde Dix. I’m to live here.” She faced a woman as tall as herself, with large hands she now wiped on a rag she had been cleaning with.
    “Ah. The granddaughter. I’m Mrs. Hudson. I manage this boardinghouse.”
    “Boardinghouse? But my grandmother—”
    “Has taken over the caretaker’s cottage. Along with her cook. She pointed with her chin toward the small house to the east.
    “My brothers?”
    “Ah. The rascals. They live in the cottage as well.” She motioned for Dorothea to move into the parlor and take a seat. Mrs. Hudson sat across from her, using the rag to wipe dust from the round table beside the divan.
    “My trunks should be taken to the cottage then.”
    “I have a room set aside for you. I understand you’ve been operating a school in Worcester. That will be fine. Most of the boarders are gone during the day, and the extra income will serveus both well—along with your grandmother. The boys have need of schooling, I can assure you of that!”
    “My grandmother … leased Orange Court to you?”
    “Yes. It was of mutual benefit. I’m sure she’ll explain.” The woman squinted at Dorothea.
No, she just has narrow eyes
. She wore her hair in a braid knotted around the top of her head the way Hessians do. “I’ve forgotten my manners. You must be weary from your trip and the news of your father. I’ll bring us tea if you’d like.”
    “Better I should visit my grandmother.”
    “I’ll have Isaac bring your trunks in. That’s my brother. He lives here too. You’ll meet the other boarders at supper. Served at seven sharp. I’ll show you to your room.”
    With that, Mrs. Hudson stood and called out to her brother. Then Dorothea followed her to the room in her family’s home chosen for her by a stranger.

    Dorothea removed her hat and gloves and laid them on the dresser, letting her fingers linger on the cool marble top. It was a well-furnished room with an armoire, writing desk, and small fireplace, along with a large four-post bed. Dorothea knew the room had once been her father’s. Her grandfather had told her this when she was a small child, with free run of the mansion. But this was no longer her grandfather’s mansion. She was a guest in someone else’s boardinghouse.
    Isaac brought up her trunks, and she began to unpack themby removing the Thomas Gray poetry book and holding it to her heart. Her aunt Sarah had gifted her with the complete collection. She set the book down. What was she doing here when Charles and Joseph and a reunion were just steps away?
    She descended the steps, nearly skipping past the pear garden to the caretaker’s cottage. The path was well worn with stones lining the walkway. She heard birdsong in the elms, and the afternoon sun felt hot against her head. She bent to smell an iris, then stood and brushed wrinkles from her skirt. She had never been inside the single-story cottage that boasted a thatch roof like those seen in English picture books. The fence