me from allowing Serena to live anywhere except Maple Hill.”
“Surely you can ignore that.”
Nathan smiled, rather grimly Delilah thought. “Apparently he didn’t trust me not to. He saddled me with a set of trustees for the next two years.”
“No wonder the poor woman is eaten up with bitterness.”
“I wouldn’t mind her being bitter at Uncle Ezra,” Nathan said. “It’s her anger at me I find difficult to tolerate.”
As they reached the upper landing, they paused before a double dormer window with a superb view of the maple-lined avenue leading up to the house. Those trees were all that remained of the stand of sugar maples that once covered the hillside and had given the estate its name.
“Why does she hate you?”
“I’m an Englishman.”
Delilah felt a stab of shame. After seeing how ugly that attitude was in Serena, she was embarrassed to have felt the same way herself. “But you’re her nephew.”
“My uncle came to Massachusetts forty years ago to escape being impressed into the navy. After he became prosperous, he invited his sisters to join him. My mother stayed in London and had a son, and Aunt Serena came to Massachusetts and had a daughter. It’s difficult for her to see the cause of her ruined hopes staring her in the face day after day.”
Delilah wondered why she felt no sympathy for Serena. They were actually in somewhat similar situations.
“I can see how you might sympathize with her” Nathan said, “but it’s unfair to hold me responsible for everything that’s happened in her entire life.”
His words merely increased Delilah’s feeling of guilt. Hadn’t she done the same thing?
Nathan led her to the back of the hall, where he opened the door to a small but bright and cheerful room. The yellow-painted walls were plain, the woodwork was unadorned; but the bed, piled high with mattresses and pillows, was covered with a cotton print bedspread which matched the curtains at the single dormer window. A chair, washstand, and wardrobe were the only other pieces of furniture.
It’s not very large,” Nathan apologized, “but I’m afraid you won’t get to spend much time here. There really is a lot of work to be done.”
It was to be her own. Delilah thought it was the most beautiful room she had ever seen. “It’s perfect,” she said, unconsciously comparing it to her own tiny loft at home.
“Talk to Aunt Serena if you want anything else.”
Delilah looked up quickly, surprise in her eyes.
“She will calm down before long.”
Delilah could have sworn she saw a trace of tolerant amusement in Nathan’s eyes.
“She hates change, but she’s been complaining more than Lester about needing help.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if I told you and you spoke to your aunt?” Delilah had already decided to stay as far away from Serena as possible, but as she spoke she realized the real reason for her suggestion was a desire to hold on to some contact with Nathan.
“I won’t be around very much,” he said. He had turned to leave the room, depriving Delilah of the chance to see his expression, but she thought there was a different sound to his voice. “I have a lot of property I’ve never seen. I can’t be a good landlord until I know what I own. Now you must meet Lester. He’ll be your real boss.”
For the first time Delilah wondered about the wisdom of coming to Maple Hill. Serena Noyes obviously disliked her. Nathan Trent would be gone much of the time. And now she was being turned over to a third person, probably one whose only interest in her was getting as much work out of her as he could. Delilah felt abandoned.
Unlike the two upper halls, which had large windows at each end, the downstairs hall was lit only by the fanlight above the front door. Runners on the stairs and hallway deadened the sounds of their steps, and in the fading light of the late afternoon, Delilah felt like a ghost floating through the house.
“Most of the time you can find
“Surely you can ignore that.”
Nathan smiled, rather grimly Delilah thought. “Apparently he didn’t trust me not to. He saddled me with a set of trustees for the next two years.”
“No wonder the poor woman is eaten up with bitterness.”
“I wouldn’t mind her being bitter at Uncle Ezra,” Nathan said. “It’s her anger at me I find difficult to tolerate.”
As they reached the upper landing, they paused before a double dormer window with a superb view of the maple-lined avenue leading up to the house. Those trees were all that remained of the stand of sugar maples that once covered the hillside and had given the estate its name.
“Why does she hate you?”
“I’m an Englishman.”
Delilah felt a stab of shame. After seeing how ugly that attitude was in Serena, she was embarrassed to have felt the same way herself. “But you’re her nephew.”
“My uncle came to Massachusetts forty years ago to escape being impressed into the navy. After he became prosperous, he invited his sisters to join him. My mother stayed in London and had a son, and Aunt Serena came to Massachusetts and had a daughter. It’s difficult for her to see the cause of her ruined hopes staring her in the face day after day.”
Delilah wondered why she felt no sympathy for Serena. They were actually in somewhat similar situations.
“I can see how you might sympathize with her” Nathan said, “but it’s unfair to hold me responsible for everything that’s happened in her entire life.”
His words merely increased Delilah’s feeling of guilt. Hadn’t she done the same thing?
Nathan led her to the back of the hall, where he opened the door to a small but bright and cheerful room. The yellow-painted walls were plain, the woodwork was unadorned; but the bed, piled high with mattresses and pillows, was covered with a cotton print bedspread which matched the curtains at the single dormer window. A chair, washstand, and wardrobe were the only other pieces of furniture.
It’s not very large,” Nathan apologized, “but I’m afraid you won’t get to spend much time here. There really is a lot of work to be done.”
It was to be her own. Delilah thought it was the most beautiful room she had ever seen. “It’s perfect,” she said, unconsciously comparing it to her own tiny loft at home.
“Talk to Aunt Serena if you want anything else.”
Delilah looked up quickly, surprise in her eyes.
“She will calm down before long.”
Delilah could have sworn she saw a trace of tolerant amusement in Nathan’s eyes.
“She hates change, but she’s been complaining more than Lester about needing help.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if I told you and you spoke to your aunt?” Delilah had already decided to stay as far away from Serena as possible, but as she spoke she realized the real reason for her suggestion was a desire to hold on to some contact with Nathan.
“I won’t be around very much,” he said. He had turned to leave the room, depriving Delilah of the chance to see his expression, but she thought there was a different sound to his voice. “I have a lot of property I’ve never seen. I can’t be a good landlord until I know what I own. Now you must meet Lester. He’ll be your real boss.”
For the first time Delilah wondered about the wisdom of coming to Maple Hill. Serena Noyes obviously disliked her. Nathan Trent would be gone much of the time. And now she was being turned over to a third person, probably one whose only interest in her was getting as much work out of her as he could. Delilah felt abandoned.
Unlike the two upper halls, which had large windows at each end, the downstairs hall was lit only by the fanlight above the front door. Runners on the stairs and hallway deadened the sounds of their steps, and in the fading light of the late afternoon, Delilah felt like a ghost floating through the house.
“Most of the time you can find
Similar Books
