Chapter 3 - The Estate

Chapter 3:

Now that her father had returned to London and she had a few weeks to go before starting at the academy with Madame Blanchard, Rose could focus on the old estate. She liked the old furniture and the smell of wax used to polish it, some of it could use reupholstering. Ok most of it. Moving from room to room she became alarmingly aware that much of this house was left to rot. Although her dad had a pest control team go through and rid them of rats and other vermin, the aftermath of the hibernation was overwhelming in some rooms. Until she came to one that was locked. Frustrated, she called for Mrs. Stuart. Issabelle made it to her much quicker than the older house keeper and offered to help. After Rose explained her frustration, Issabelle raced back to Mrs. Stuart to retrieve the key, she knew what was behind there but had never seen for herself.

Opening the door, Rose was welcomed by a cloud of dust and cobwebs... thankfully no rats had chewed their way in. The room was luxurious even with the layers of dust, the bed made up in royal blue satin and silk, with a soft white wolf pelt at the foot for colder nights. Across from the four post bed was another enormous hearth, cold and yet still blackened from its last use. Beautifully adorned peacocks decorated the walls with feathers in vases placed around the room. Cobwebs ran from everywhere and was difficult to navigate if you were worried about spiders, thankfully she wasn’t. On the side table beside the chaise lounge was an opal writing pen with paper and an opal hairbrush. Rose knew what this room was! It was her mother’s room before she ran off with her father. Her grandfather must have closed it up after she left.

Her name was Opal, Duchess of Winsor. She was my mother, she was soft and sweet. Smelling of cookies and flowers, she doted on me. Rather than hire a nanny, Opal preferred a hands on approach. We took walks to the park, painted in the morning room overlooking her garden, helped the cook bake cookies and then giggled as she told us to leave before we ate them all swatting at our hands playfully. Those were blissfully naive times.

Issabelle was in awe, she had never seen a room so extravagant, filthy but extravagant. She was watching Rose to see what emotions would show on her face as she felt the bed linens and picked up the opal brush that still had strands of her mother’s hair. As Issabelle noticed Rose’s color rise and the tears come to her eyes, she began mumbling, “all this dust and cobwebs, how can you see anything in here?! I’ll ask the maids to come in and give it a proper clean down mistress.” Rose lifted her head out of her revery and remarked “don’t change anything, i want it all left exactly how it is!”

“Surely you want it clean though miss?” Issabelle stood confused, waiting for the confirmation. “Yes, yes, i do; just… put everything back the way it is when your done” And then softly to herself, “i want to remember her in this room forever”. As Issabelle made her way to find the cleaning staff, Rose gently put the brush back in its dusty outlined spot and left the room to see what other treasures awaited in this magnificent house. Room upon room,she made a note of which ones needed new furniture upholstery and which needed new linens, drapes, and french style wallpaper. Which rooms needed wood for fireplaces or new candles for lighting? Rose went to the kitchens and talked with Mrs. Stuart and the staff on what they would like to see changed and if it was possible to do so. There was new cutlery and dinnerware that needed to be purchased as well as a bit more cleaning products as she was opening up the whole house and the staff had only enough for the few rooms they thought she needed. What Rose had yet to tell anyone is that with 13 bedrooms, 7 loos, a salon for taking tea, study, library, ballroom, dining room, cricket field out back and miles of country hills, streams and trees; this mansion she was gifted with running would be a fortress. She had plans of training in more than just fighting, she wanted to learn so many things, where to begin?!

The first item on Rose’s list was to bring in an upholsterer. She couldn’t very well drag all the furniture to Edinburgh. While she is going to be looking at fabrics she might as well look at drapes and linens as well. New plates and silverware could be ordered in town as well as beeswax candles. “Well”, Rose said thinking out loud to herself, “I guess the first thing I really should do is go see Mr. Forrester to make sure I have funds to go to all these stores and place the orders.” “Now where is Mr. McCrae and Sean?” As Rose stepped out of the hall to head towards the stables outside, she heard a very loud, very high scream coming from another guest room. Rushing into the room with the aforementioned men on her heels, they came to a stop in front of Issabelle holding what looked like a doll, with, wait, is that... “what is my fathers lapel pin doing in that doll?” Rose asked looking at Issabelle as if she made the disturbing toy. Issabelle still white, just shook her head and dropped the doll like it was carrying the plague. “What is it?” Rose asked, starting to develop a fear in the pit of her stomach. Issabelle looked up and whispered a prayer while crossing herself, “it’s a hex doll miss - i thought, maybe, seeing it under the bed it was an old toy but then I saw a better look and i must have screamed. Looking up at Rose, Issabelle recounted “then you said His Lordship’s item is on it...” she trailed off into silence and sat down. “What does that mean?!” Rose panicked. Issabelle looked at her with the saddest eyes and said “it means His Lordship, you’re pa is being cursed by someone.” Rose just stared at Issabelle, maybe her maid was the one who was daft. “You’re putting me on, aren’t you?, This is not real, surely you see the logic?” Issabelle took offense to that comment, “I would not lie to you Miss, i only know of these as my poor uncle had one delivered to his door with a knife through his leg.” “He didn’t believe either”, Issabelle rushed to say. “He tossed it and went to work in the stables, later that day he lost his leg in a carriage accident”. “The same leg!” She spoke with wild eyed amazement, continuing her story without even a hesitation. “It wasn’t until a dairy maid came crying to my mother weeks later saying she had paid a witch for the doll. My uncle had refused to marry her after she told him she was with child.” There was sorrow there in Issabelle’s eyes, Rose stopped herself from asking for more information.

After talking with the rest of the staff to be sure it wasn’t there before, Rose found that Mr. Bastille had been the sole occupant the eve prior. This revelation made every hair on the back of her neck stand up. He may have been twenty years her elder and definitely a society figurehead but that wasn’t going to stop her from investigating. Rose knew the law would do nothing about a doll, but she may know someone that could help.

Putting the doll in a bag and bringing it along with her, Rose walked to the courtyard where Mr.McCrae and Sean stood waiting. They had gotten everything ready for the shopping excursion and were just finishing tying on the last horse. Mr. McCrae even added an extra luggage cart to the roof to help bring more parcels back! Sean was dressed finer this time in a footman’s uniform and his wild red hair tamed back in a coif, much more suitable for following a lady about town. The driver was already in his seat trying to keep the horses steady while she climbed in with Sean’s assistance. Mr. McCrae told her he would watch out till they return. Edinburgh was a good day’s ride from the estate and they would probably be back on the morrow. At that, Sean climbed up beside the driver and the carriage took off toward the road and hopefully answers.

Edinburgh; loud, jovial, dirty, but beautiful. So many types of old architecture, she had Sean ask directions a few times to find where Mr. Forrester’s office building was. And no wonder with all the twists and turns, his office was actually under an office. It was underneath a very prestigious law office, upon entering Rose noticed that although underground he had a large amount of windows so that it wasn’t actually dark. They were tiny windows, she could barely squeeze through them but it was enough to let the daylight in. Mr. Forrester had a couple of leather chairs set up as soon as a person walked in, with a grey haired lady sitting at a desk in the middle of the room. She had small spectacles perched on the end of her nose, and looked up over the rim of her glasses without raising her head as Rose and Sean entered. Rose swore it was Sean’s massive form in the doorway that made the elder lady actually rise from her task. Sean told her that the Dutchess of Winsor was there to see Mr. Forrester without delay. To this the elder lady looked at Rose, smiled for the first time and offered tea while they wait for her to announce them. It wasn’t long before Mr. Forrester came out to great them, he was slightly disheveled but overjoyed to see her. “What do I owe for the pleasure of seeing you so soon mistress?” Mr. Forrester cooed. Rose sat at the chair he indicated in his office as he took his seat across from her, “well” Rose began. “I have a number of purchases to make and I’m afraid I don’t really know where to start!” “I’m not that familiar with Edinburgh and it’s shopkeeps, i was hoping you could point me in the right direction and issue credits so that I may restore the ancient estate”.

Mr. Forrester sat forward in his chair to grab a paper and ink to make a list of all the items Rose had wanted to get. Next to the items he wrote names of favorable shops in town for her to visit and hopefully find what she was looking for. The last item on the list was one she didn’t say but rather pulled out... the doll. Mr. Forrester looked at it mentioning her fathers pin and then handed it back to her. He obviously didn’t know what it was... “do you know what this is?” Rose asked timidly. To the shake of his head she added, “i was told it was a hex doll, it was found under a bed in the old house” “i’m hoping you can tell who practices this or where i can find out more about it.” Rose studied Mr. Forrester as she told him about the doll, he was just as shocked to hear its origin as herself. “The only person I know that messes with that stuff is the apothecary just off of main street.” “He deals with all that voodoo stuff and knows of witches that practice I’m sure.” With the list in her hand and the promise that Mr. Forrester would send a message to her father to keep extra precautions, Rose set out with Sean to make some major purchases.