Glittering Promises (9 page)

“You mean to interview me,” I said flatly.

“Most exhaustively,” he said with a smile, raising his goblet in the air in a sort of mock toast.

“I don’t care for your Mr. Grunthall,” I said to my father when I found him outside. He was alone, smoking a cigar.

“You will in time, Cora,” he returned tiredly. He took a deep draw on the cigar and let the smoke escape his mouth in a lazy cloud. “Trust me in this. I have become quite good at protecting my children. And while he might come across as overbearing, Simon Grunthall will protect you in ways I cannot. He comes with the highest recommendations from friends in the East.”

Felix and Hugh came outside. They’d changed into more casual clothes. “The girls are changing and joining us for a game of croquet, Cora,” Felix said. “Care to come too?”

“I’m afraid I need her with me,” my father interrupted. “We have some work to do on the mine.”

“Already?” I asked, blinking in surprise.

“Already,” he said, drawing again on his cigar and peering at me with his bright eyes. “It’s overdue, really. You’ll find the mine needs our constant attention. So we must begin, even if it means you sacrifice some of your outings with the others on the tour—or a
croquet
game.”

He was challenging me, intent on seeing how dedicated I was to my course. I lifted my chin. “Of course,” I said. “There’s nothing I’d rather do with my afternoon.”

Hugh huffed a laugh. “Well, jolly for you. Can’t say I’d agree.”

“Someday, dear boys, you two shall have to accept a mantle of responsibility as well,” my father said.

“Indeed,” Felix said, already moving away, walking backward. “But we intend to put it off as long as possible!” He saluted me. “We’ll play a ball in your honor, Cora.”

“See that it wins,” I said.

He returned my smile and walked down the hill with Hugh, and while a part of me wished I was going with them, I was also intent on seeing what it meant, working with my father and learning about this mine business. While I had thought my love of learning was leading me to teaching, couldn’t the Lord have simply been preparing me to be ready to apply my mind to other matters? Just because I hadn’t explored such things before didn’t mean I wouldn’t enjoy it.

Two hours later, as the columns of numbers swam before my eyes, my father droned on about the ethics of management. Another thick manila folder before me was neatly labeled “Kensington-Diehl Mine.” There had to be over a hundred pages inside.

My father was silent at last, and I belatedly looked up at him. His lips gathered in a compassionate line. “I’ve overtaxed you. It’s a great deal to take in. Perhaps a bit of tea outside, so you can get some fresh air?”

“That would be most welcome,” I admitted, grateful for his kind attention.

“I’ll have a maid fetch it for you. I must see to other matters anyway. It was a good start today. We’ll pick up where we left off tomorrow.” He rang a bell to summon a servant.

I nodded eagerly, as if I couldn’t visualize anything more enticing, and then rose to leave. He and Mr. Morgan rose politely too, and when I left the room and entered the hallway, I took my first full breath in what felt like a long while. The house was very quiet—were the others still out playing croquet? Or had they all retired for afternoon naps?

It was just as well with me…I didn’t wish to see anyone at the moment. Except that maid with my tea. My mouth was terribly dry, and a bite of something sweet might settle my oddly upset belly. I took deep breaths of the air, redolent with the scents of lavender and rosemary, the hot smell of summer in Italy.

I’d no sooner sat down beneath a wide umbrella, protected from the full force of the sun—comfortably guarded by a wide umbrella from the full force of the sun—than Anna appeared, carrying a tray. “Your father said you were in need of some refreshments, Miss?”

“Indeed. That would be lovely.” I watched her as she poured me a cup and used silver tongs to move a roll from a basket to the edge of my saucer. “Do you care to join me, Anna?”

“Ah, no, Miss. I’m afraid that wouldn’t be entirely proper.”

“Frankly, I don’t care much for propriety,” I said. “Please, sit.”

She hesitated, but then looked down the long stone porch to where Mr. Grunthall stood, smoking. He lifted his chin in greeting, a slight smile on his face.

“I’m fairly certain he wouldn’t approve, Miss,” Anna said, wiping nervous hands on her apron.

“
I’m
fairly certain I don’t care what he would approve or not,” I said crossly. But when I saw her face gather in increased consternation, I relented. “It’s fine, Anna. Forgive me. Apparently I’m not fit for company anyway.”

“Perhaps you need a bit of a rest?”

“I am more than a little weary,” I said, sipping my tea and watching Simon Grunthall stamp out his cigarette and disappear inside. I’d glimpsed him working away at a desk earlier as I slipped through the hall to the restroom. Maybe he was off to continue his correspondence.

“Well, put your feet up,” Anna said, looking out at the view from the expansive patio. “It’s a lovely day. It’s good for you to get some fresh air.”

“Indeed.” She disappeared, and I sipped from my cup, thinking about the overwhelming events of the last few days. Life-changing events. Was all of that the reason my head now pounded? I wished Will was here, beside me, so that he might help me sort it out. Distinguish what I was feeling. But he’d left me to my business and was likely accompanying the others. Or perhaps taking a rest himself.

My eyelids felt heavy as I placed my cup on the saucer beside the crumbs left from my delicious pastry, then set it on the table beside me. I did as Anna suggested and lifted my legs to the end of the chaise and leaned back, hands folded over my aching belly, eyes closed. Just a few minutes of rest, I decided. That would be all I needed…

“Miss Cora,” said a low voice. “Miss Cora,” the voice repeated, gently touching my shoulder. I blinked awake and immediately felt the heat of the afternoon sun.

“I’m afraid you drifted off,” Mr. Grunthall said. He straightened and looked around as if seeking help, at a loss as to what to do.

“Oh!” I lifted a hand to my cheeks, hot with potential burn, and abruptly shifted my feet to the ground, embarrassment adding to the heat. “Thank you for awakening me,” I said, rising and passing by him. I scurried inside, miffed that Anna had not come to fetch me. Then I laughed at myself and how I’d become accustomed to such coddling. I shook my head and walked down the cool hallway to my room, wondering where my traveling companions had gone to. Viv, Felix, and Lil. Even the Morgans. Mostly Hugh and Nell. Not Andrew. He could stay hidden. It was startling, the odd pang of separation I felt. I thought I was hungry for a little distance, the chance to breathe and move unencumbered by the group’s needs or desires. But now even a couple of hours’ separation struck me as…empty.

I entered my room, refusing to give in to a sigh. I’d been sighing far too often of late. I needed to concentrate on the bounty of gifts I’d been given, rather than on my trivial frustrations.

Anna was dozing in a chair in the corner, her small feet perched on the ottoman. I hid a smile as I opened an innovation trunk wider to find a suitable evening gown. She started as the heavy hinges creaked, rising so swiftly that I wondered if she had truly been asleep. “Oh, my goodness me! Forgive me, Miss, dozing off like that in your very own quarters.” She straightened and looked me full in the face. “Oh!” she cried, her eyes rounding with her lips. “Miss! Did you go for a walk without a parasol?”

“No, no,” I said ruefully. “I simply managed to doze off. In the shade at first, where you left me, but when I woke, in the sun.” As I spoke, I moved to look at my image in the mirror, patting my hot cheeks. “Is it truly as terrible as all—” My words faded as I realized what Mr. Grunthall had seen. “Oh.”

It was rather terrible. I didn’t have the honest, sun-kissed glow or ruddy color I was used to from an afternoon in the fields. It was more of a one-sided burn, one that had singed my left ear lobe, most of my left cheek, and an odd portion of my nose. “Oh,” I said again, turning back and forth as I examined my face.

“Oh,” Anna said, peeking at my reflection from over my shoulder.

“Oh,” I repeated, but this time, I started to giggle, and Anna giggled too, and soon we were in hysterics, laughing at the silly predicament I’d gotten myself into.

“Perhaps,” she said, trying to gather herself, wiping a tear of laughter from one eye with the back of a knuckle, “a bit of powder will help?”

“Yes,” I said, blowing my nose in a handkerchief and wincing at the pain I felt on the left side of my nose. “Though I fear there will be no way to truly hide this.” I shook my head at my own folly. Why had I not taken my nap in here, as Anna had done? Although it had been so lovely…the gentle breeze, the heat of the sun on my lap, easing the pain in my head and belly…

Anna lifted a yellow gown from a trunk and smoothed it before her as if modeling it. “This one tonight, Miss?”

“I don’t know,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Might not that bright, light color make my face appear all the more burnt?”

“Hmm,” she said, “perhaps. Let me see what else I might suggest…” She set to poking through the other trunks, as if she didn’t know every stitch of my clothing as well as I.

I reached for a small brush and a jar of powder and opened it. I dipped the bristles in and tapped it twice on the edge so the excess would fall off, then began to cover my face. While it covered some of my burn, it was hardly concealed. I sighed, thinking about how merciless Hugh’s teasing would be, and the patronizing smile that Viv was certain to send my way. I could almost hear their thoughts now.
The poor little country bumpkin, falling asleep in the sun. You can dress her as a lady, but you can’t force her to act like one. Imagine that, dozing off in the sun, with so little care for her complexion! And she is supposed to help Father run a mine?

Anna helped me out of my tan traveling suit and into the light periwinkle gown. But when I turned back to the mirror, I gasped. The burn extended down to my neck, in a slight
v
marking where my traveling suit ended.

As if it mattered at all. Such foolishness! How many times had my fair skin become pink from an afternoon of work in the fields, even with a hat on? How often had my hands and face and neck become brown over the summer, evidence of my place as a farmer’s daughter? At one point I’d liked the color, until I’d gone off to Normal School and everyone seemed so intent on evading any brief kiss of the sun. Though their concern over it was nothing compared to the women in the circles I now moved…

That evening, Antonio took us to a lovely trattoria not far from the villa. It was on the very edge of Turin, and had only five tables. Our group filled all but one of them. I was seated beside the window, which gave me a glorious view of the remains of the sunset, now a line of deep rose and orange along the horizon.

“I don’t know if I’d venture so close to the window,” Felix teased me as he passed by. “Haven’t you had more than your fair share of the sun today?”

“Enough, Felix,” Father said, taking a chair at the next table behind me. “You all have had your fun. Leave the girl alone.”

Will squeezed my hand. “It isn’t all that bad.”

“Isn’t it?” I asked, lifting a brow.

“Well, at least it won’t be so bad tomorrow,” he amended.

After conferring with Antonio, Will ordered food for us all. Antipasti of salami and cheese and bread. A tomato soup thick with basil. A full bass fish for each of us, with its head attached, which put off Vivian and Nell.

Will smiled at the girls as he finished the last of his own bass. “They believe you wish to see the fish’s head,” he said. “It allows you to confirm that the fish is truly fresh.”

Vivian stuck her fork in the white flesh and looked rather sick. “I’d take their word for it.”

He laughed under his breath and then sat back in his chair, chewing. “You look lovely this evening, Cora. Your color simply appears high. But how did you manage to get so much sun? I thought you were inside with your father.”

“I was with him for a couple hours. Then I was feeling poorly, honestly. With the shade and welcome breeze, I fell asleep as soon as I thought about nodding off, I think. Then awoke under the heat of the full sun.”

His eyebrows shot up and then knit together as he gave me a sorry smile. “Forgive me for not rescuing you in time.”

“It was my own fault,” I said. “But after our busy day, I was so weary, it felt impossible to fight it.”

“Do you feel well now?”

I considered his question. “Mostly,” I said, nodding when a waiter gestured to my plate. “I seem to be suffering a rather constant state of indigestion,” I whispered. Even now my belly ached, and I felt light-headed. It was with some relief I saw the fish go, especially when the next dish was a wide plate filled with a scoop of risotto, which appeared appealingly bland. Perhaps I could manage some of that.

“Do you think we should summon a doctor?” Will asked quietly. His face was rife with concern.

“No, no,” I said, waving him off. “I’m certain it’s only the dramatic events that have sent my system in disarray. I’ll be well soon enough.” I took a bite of the surprisingly delicious steamy rice. “Tell us what you have in store for us tomorrow.”

“Yes, do,” Lillian said. She’d attempted to tame her curls into a knot tonight, and done a reasonably good job, but coiled tendrils still escaped all around her hairline. I thought it adorable, as bouncy and vivacious as her personality.

Will and Antonio shared a long look and then nodded at me. “We went to town this afternoon,” Antonio said. “To confirm some options.”

“We can go one of two directions,” Will put in, loudly enough for all to hear. “Either to Cinque Terre, which Antonio mentioned to you. There is not much to see there in terms of history or art. Most tourists favor Pisa or Naples if you want to spend time by the sea. Antonio said that he thought that the group seems anxious for rest by the sea. Or would you all prefer Tuscany? Toscana boasts its own sort of rest, with her rolling hills and idyllic farms. And there are plenty of churches and monuments to explore, as well as loads of art.”