A lonely, empty house

This is a rewrite of They all clear out... I hope you enjoy. 

After another week Kathryn announced that Mrs. James had written, she had come down with a summer flu and requested Kathryn come and care for her. Kathryn knew immediately that she and Brandon must go to Connecticut to care for her ailing mother. Brandon eventually agreed to attend with her but initially he wanted to stay to see if he could be of help to Emmy but as time went on he realized Emmy hardly recognize any one being in the room. He could see that even if he stayed he would be of no use, so he promised to escort Kathryn to her mother's home but he said he could not stay there too long as he had to return to Boston. Kathryn was sweet and understood that he wanted to get right to work. Nicholas however was willing to attend Kathryn Connecticut and to stay with her till Mrs. James was well and Kathryn could return to Boston.

            "Why do they get to leave and I am stuck here?" Julia moaned to Victoria.

            " Kathryn and Nicholas are leaving to care for Mrs. James."

            "Mother, besides Mrs. Taylor's ball and the Melbourne picnic I have attended nothing. At Mrs. Taylor's ball everyone paid attention to Emmy and at Mrs. Melbourne's picnic the only reason I got attention was because Emmy looked two days away from death. And we must admit mother no one here would make a very good match for me. Please mother do not let me miss Mrs. Crane's ball in New Port, it is the best ball of the season and all of society is there, it is a disgrace not to show."

            "All right."

            "Really?" Julia squealed.

            "Yes, I thought this summer away from society would make you enjoy other things besides following society's ways."

            "Oh mother that is my life, that is how you raised me and the Crane's are not just society they are the best of the best and being invited to their ball is the crème de la crème."

            "Yes I know, it s quite thrilling you got an invite."

            "Well I didn't but you know Howard Stuart did and he asked me to attend with him."

            "He wrote you?"

            "Yes. He has been writing me all summer. I guess a summer has made him miss me."

            "Has he made any attentions towards you?"

            "Not yet but I am sure he will once he see me."

            "Is that what you want to do, marry Howard Stuart?"

            "Maybe, I am only eighteen, I haven't decided."

           

            That wasn't true he wanted to Caleb James but since he seemed to care little for her, she the best line of action was to move on.  She knew the Stuart family was from good breeding and they were wealthy enough to be of good standing.

            "All right, I will write to Branson and tell him to get our home down there ready. I doubt father will be able to come so we won't be able to host anything but compared the Crane's home to our home will be no place to host."

            "Thank you mother," Julia gave her a kiss on the cheek.

            "But be careful Julia things you do today, you could regret them tomorrow."

            Julia barely heard her mother, she was too happy to accept an invitation to an Crane ball and happy to finally be leaving Pine Haven. She had not been able to stand watching Emmy and Caleb becoming close but watching Emmy morn him was mind dulling. Emmy should have known Caleb could not have loved her, so why did she attach herself so strongly to him. Julia thought this was a sign of Emmy's complete disadvantage in society at large.

            With in a week the house was cleared out of all its guest. No one was overly sad to leave, or gushed over the parting. They didn't praise their hostess with thanks for a wonderful or unforgettable summer, in fact most of the group wish to put the whole season behind them. So they said their goodbyes in a very orderly fashion. Julia pretended could not wait to see her cousins again and she pretended to wish them well but it was all a façade. Her heart was over joyed to leave and get ready for Mrs. Crane's ball and thought of the gown she have to order when they arrived back home. Victoria kissed her nieces goodbye and gave a tight hug to Emmy telling her everything would be alright but she didn't gush or show any deep emotion. Emmy really didn't really care to show any emotion. Emmy really didn't care to show any emotion. She had hated that the society's standards required her to stand out there and see her visitors off, she would rather be by her creek. Laurel felt much the same as Emmy and was relieved when their guest were in the motor coach and out of their lives. The girls did not even wait for the coach to be through the gate.

            Fiona took a deep breath once the coach was out of sight. She turned back and looked at her house. Without the guest she could focus on her family again. A task that seemed too big for her to handle on her own. Her mother's health was decreasing by the day, she was now being confined to her room and if she could make her room and if she could make an appearance it was only to the upstairs parlor and only for a few minutes. Laurel served her grandmother diligently but had hardly spoken two words together to any one since the night that she revealed her heartache. Those word's she  said that night rang through Fiona's head over and over again. Emmy had hardly done anything since Caleb left except for become a shell of her former self. Emmy would go to the creek, a place that used to be a source of delight was now the place she mourned. She would spend most of the day but the creek come back with red swollen eyes sit at the dinner table saying nothing and she barely touch her food. Miss Pembers the loyal house keeper, asked that they only serve Miss Emmy's favorites in order to entice her to eat but nothing worked. Fiona could tell that Emmy was not getting over Caleb and it was only growing worse Fiona wished she knew what to say of what to do to comfort her daughter but nothing came to mind. She only knew she could not carry this burden alone. Whenever she had a burden she turned to her dear friend Iris.

            Iris Dumont and her had been friends since their school days and she always had a way of making things better than they appeared. Her father owned a nice shop that provided enough of a fortune to put Iris in the best schools, and gave some money to her name. Iris had met Alfred Dumont, the man Mrs. Cromwell had hoped would marry Fiona, at Fiona's debutant ball and was he was delighted in her delicate soft look and meek manners. After Fiona and Jefferson were firmly settled Alfred called upon Iris frequently enough that talk spread all over Boston and within six months they were engaged and another six month passed before they were married. Iris had gone from a shop girl to a woman of society. Through all this Fiona and Iris stayed very close friends after Jefferson passed away Iris took in the Cromwell girls. There would be days that Fiona could not get out of bed and Iris was there to care for them as if she was their own mother. Everyone thought it was sad that Iris had such a maternal instinct but could have no children of her own so she made the Cromwell girls her own. And to Iris there was no more important people than the Cromwell girls. When she read Fiona's letter of Laurel and Emmy's heart ache her heart pounded in pain. She wrote quickly to Fiona saying that she would be there with in a fortnight.

            Fiona sighed in relief when she read Iris' letter and earnestly awaited her friend's arrival. The day could not arrive soon enough and when Fiona saw Iris' motor coach coming down the drive she excitedly ran down to greet her. She didn't prim and properly sit and wait for Thomas to announce her but instead greeted Iris with a large hug.

            "Oh my dear Iris, how treasured is your visit to meet. I shouldn't know what to do with myself without you."

            "Oh my sweet Fiona, you must lay everything out moment by moment do not leave any detail out. We shall lock ourselves in that upstairs parlor with hot tea and some biscuits and we will not leave till I know all that is troubling you."

            Fiona hugged her again. Iris in her sweet way took over the situation "Thomas can you make sure Miss Pembers knows we will be upstairs and we will probably be the there the rest of the day. Also request tea and sweet biscuits." He nodded."If it is all right with you can you have a valet take up my bags to my usual room."

            The friends wrapped their arms around each other and headed through the house to the upstairs parlor that was fortunately abandoned. Usually Iris would insist on see the girls first or would politely take with tea with Mrs. Danford if she was up to it , but Iris knew her friend needed her and that was most important.

            "Now what is going on? You look so pale and almost sickly." Iris said after a maid had brought in the tea and biscuits."

            "I feel like this house has fallen apart the only person who speaks more than three words to me is Gloria. Laurel has pushed me out of her life and Emmy is so heartbroken she can barely speak without breaking down."     

            "What in heaven's happened ?"

            "Love."

            "What?"

            "Both Laurel  and Emmy have fallen in love and now their hearts our broken."

            "But they are both little girls."

            "They are not so little any more, as much as I wish they were. It all started when my brother and family came to visit and they brought a friend of the family, Ethan Foster…" from there Fiona laid out all the details she knew.

            When she was done Iris sat back and sighed as if out of breath. And for a few minutes the friends sat in silence both not knowing what to say.

            "I think you are right dear friend the girls should come to Boston. Exposure to a world outside of Pine Haven could do them some good. Like you said they are not little girls anymore and they are going to need some culture. Pine Haven I admit is a sweet little town but not one to keep the blooming flowers like we have in. They need some distraction."

            "I know and while Laurel agreed at one point, I don't want her to think I am pushing her away to send her to Boston for a few months."

           

            "No, no. I will tell them as if I invited them, as if we had never talked about it. Surely she would want to go to Boston if she knew Mr. Foster is there. I have heard of this Ethan Foster, from my insights he seems like a fine ma, and seems to do a respectable job working for your brother."

            "He is fine, quite genteel to be sure, and polite in all area expect for sure when silenced mother on his driving behavior."

            "He would have to be a strong man to silence Mrs. Danford."

            "A quiet strength I would say."

            "And what of this Mr. James. I know little of the James family. They are respectable enough I hear good news about Mr. Brandon James, the eldest, and Miss James has made a smash in society. Some people talk about her the way they talked about you when you came out. The same ready to take over the world spirit, but also very humble, and a great beauty. However I don't know this Caleb James at all, we shall see about him."

            "Oh Iris don't talk as if he were a con-artist. He too was very sweet, quite the charmer, even got mother to like him. But for both of these men something changed and they left. It has been silent in this household ever since. What am I to do if I cannot talk to my own girls?" With that Fiona laid her head on Iris' lap and cried while Iris stroked her hair.

           

            "Mother," Gloria poked her head in. "The dinner bell has rung and no one is at the dinner table."

            "Gloria come in, come in," Iris said walking to the door as Fiona turned away and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Let me look at you, you have become quite the young lady."

            "I will be twelve soon Aunt Iris."

            "Yes I know, I remember when you were in Boston all chubby with lots of golden hair. Now look at you, you will break many hearts come time."

           

            Gloria smiled, no one ever noticed her compared to Laurel's beauty and she delighted in a great compliment.

            "Thank you Aunt Iris," she respected ever so humbly. "After dinner I can play you some of the new music I have learned. With you here I am sure this house will liven up, it has been so dull here since Uncle Charles and Aunt Victoria left. Emmy never speaks and Laurel has not been herself as well. But you Aunt Iris is always bring such a joy."

            "Thank you Gloria."

            "But mother what about dinner. Emmy and Laurel aren't to be found though I bet Emmy is off in her woods again but Laurel is usually dressed and examining me by now."

            "Have you looked in the library, or the green room, she has found solitude in these places."

            "Of course I have."

            "Well then why do we not check the gardens, she has spent some time walking around there.

           

            That is exactly where Laurel was. Earlier that afternoon before Iris had come Laurel had received a small parcel. She didn't want anyone to fuss over it so she took it out to the gardens before anyone noticed. She could tell instantly it was from Ethan Foster, the hand writing matched a little not he had written her before he left. Inside the parcel was a little note that stated "Miss Cromwell, I saw this in a shop the other day and thought you would enjoy." It was a little pocket book of wild flower drawings but on the front cover was the inscription "your true friend, may you never forget. -E. Foster." She read it and pressed it against her heart. Until Aunt Iris found her out in the garden she was looking through all the pages going through all the pages going back to look the inscription then would hold it to her heart again.

            "There you are," Aunt Iris interrupted Laurel's train of thought.

            "Aunt Iris, I had not realized you had arrived yet. I would have been there to greet you."

            "Your mother and I had some things to discuss."

            "You are taking Emmy and I to Boston."

            "I am not taking you, I am inviting you to Boston. You are both growing up young ladies in need of seeing beyond the world of Pine Haven. You both should have a little diversion, a little culture and some new people to charm."

            "How civilized you make it all sound."

            "It is civilized, Boston is a splendid city with lots to do and see and some of the finest society on the east coast."

            "I know what mother intends."

            "She only wants your best. She is heartbroken over what has happened here this summer with you and Emmy. She thinks Boston will be good for you and I agree. But you think it over and let me know by the end of my visit."

            "I have already agreed to go."

            "I know, but I want you to come with me, I will not force you. You are graceful and eloquent with a perfect skill in etiquette but do not mask your pain from me. I have known you since you were a little baby, and I know a great deal of the burden you carry but do not forget to listen to your heart Laurel. Dinner is ready, come in when you want, we are going rather casual having dinner in the upstairs parlor, your mother did not want to make a big fuss."

            Though Aunt Iris told her to come in when she was ready she knew the tone meant come in now. It was the same tone that Fiona used when she told her something she did not want to do. Laurel tucked the book in her little drawstring purse, and followed Aunt Iris inside.

            Laurel did not tell anyone about the book she knew mother would ask a lot of questions and she did not have any answers. The book came out of the clear blue with very little communication attached with it. The questions that would be asked would lead to doubt and she didn't want any doubt she just wanted this moment.