Ravenwood(43)
“Come, let us drop this off and then we should filch some sweet breads and tea from the kitchen.”
Alice’s face lit up, clearly pleased with Elinore’s plan. Once in the kitchen, they found Mrs. Thistlewaite who gave them a knowing look before tipping her head toward a ready-made platter of scones and a pot of tea simply waiting for hot water. Elinore breathed in the deep, spicy scent of the brand of tea she now associated with Caleb. It was likely her most favorite thing since coming to Ravenwood. Hayter had no love for it and often wrinkled his nose at the scent, but Elinore loved it. Deep, rich and heady. To her, it was intimately intertwined with Caleb. Elinore wondered if he would be back by dinner. If not, she strongly hoped Hayter would not yet return from Haleton. The idea of having dinner with him alone made her lip curl in a snarl.
“What an expression you’ve on your face,” Alice exclaimed. Back in the library, they were settling down on the floor, cross-legged like heathens, ready to dive into their snack. Elinore raised a hand and touched her lip, not sure when it had curled over her teeth.
“How impolite of me. I must be hungry.”
Alice studied her carefully for a moment. “Yes. Of course.”
Elinore poured them both a cup of tea and slathered a biscuit with a generous helping of honey. “The fruits of our labors,” she joked.
“I’ve been thinking of this all night,” began Alice as she ate her own scone. “Now that I have enough paper, I would like to write a book with you. Or rather, I’d like to illustrate your writings.”
“I would love that,” Elinore enthused honestly. Alice’s work was astonishing. She could think of no better accompaniment to her words. “What sort of story should we tell?”
The rest of the afternoon passed with the two of them making up their tale. They started with outrageous plots: twin sisters separated at birth and then mistaken for one another later on, perhaps captured by the fae and made partially supernatural. They tried to work in haunted castles with menacing spirits, but decided it was too much. It was close to the same time as the day before when Alice sat up suddenly and made her regrets to Elinore as it was time for her to leave and sit with her father. Elinore offered to join her, but Alice said she would use the time to work on sketching and expected Elinore to do the same with her writing. She declared she expected Elinore to have at least five pages of prose for her to read on the morrow. Elinore countered that she then expected a complete sketch of the gloomy forest ready for her perusal. It was one of the most pleasant afternoons that Elinore had ever passed, either at Ravenwood or before.
Finding herself alone and feeling inspired, Elinore took the opportunity to sit at the desk, pulling out fresh parchment and an inkwell, pausing to think before she started writing. While it took time to get her words on the paper, it was a blessing because it gave her the opportunity to consider her words carefully. She wrote out a few paragraphs, happy with how they started. She’d have Alice read them over the next day and she could then make any changes and transcribe a fresh copy. Looking for a blotting block to dry her ink, she opened up a drawer and her eye was caught by one of Caleb’s ledgers, or more precisely, her eye was caught by the crest on the front - the same that was emblazoned across the gates of Ravenwood. At the time, it had been late and her brain had been in no shape to examine the crest of arms. Picking up the ledger and placing it in front of her, she ran her fingers over the raised embossing. The standard shield, familiar on so many crests, stood in the centre, flanked by a raven on each side. The centre of the shield, though, was what caught Elinore’s eye and she didn’t know how she had missed it before. It was a wolf. Its measured gaze looked out, its lips slightly pulled back to bare sharp teeth. She wondered what the colors were of the crest as the journal itself was simple brown leather, not indicating any sort of gradation of color. Seeing the Latin family motto, she cursed herself for not doing better in her lessons. She hastily scribbled it down on a separate piece of paper, wondering if she could use the books in the library to translate it. The only word she understood was ‘lupus’ - latin for ‘wolf.’
Her time in the library came to an end when she was informed dinner was ready. She hastily put away her writings, cleaning the desk for Caleb, should he wish to use it the next morning. She smoothed her hands over her dress and squared her shoulders, hoping that Hayter wasn’t yet back from town, or if he was, that Caleb had also returned from his tenant visits.
Her prayers were partially answered. Both Hayter and Caleb rose from their seats as she entered, although it was Hayter who made his way to pull out Elinore’s chair for her. He again placed his hand on her shoulder as he welcomed her to dinner and for a moment, she thought he would rest it there again for longer than was socially acceptable. Just then, a strange, low sound reached her ears and if Elinore had to guess, she would have said it sounded like an animal growling. Her eyes darted around the room, coming to rest on Caleb’s face. His gaze was fixed to a point over her shoulder at his uncle. Hayter’s fingers pressed once into Elinore’s shoulder and then released his grip. The odd growling sound stopped.
Elinore hoped Caleb wouldn’t ask after her writing. Though she was happy to speak to him of it, she was loathe to discuss it in front of Hayter. She had the sense he would be one of those men that found the idea ‘charming’ or ‘amusing’ and the way that such men said those words was often disparaging and patronizing. While she had no desire to hear such tones ever, she certainly didn’t feel up to it tonight. Feeling as though she were waiting on some kind of precipice, she hastily took a large sip of the wine that had been placed in front of her. Should dinners at Ravenwood continue as such, she’d no doubt turn into a blathering drunk.