I am happy to have another section of the Sisters of Pine Haven up on the blog. A few weeks ago I told you about going to a writing work shop and how the best advice is just to sit down and write, at least for 15 minutes a day. It is was hard to keep up on this schedule last week but
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Twenty-nine Chestnut Street by its address alone told the world of the old wealth the Dumont family possessed. A block or two from Louisburg Square where the height of society and wealth lived. It was not a grand home, like the ones new money were building in the Back Bay, it was a quiet and pleasant and no one would really think twice about it except it had a few window panes that were purple. It had been a drastic mistake in the glass factory when they added too much magnesium, at first the purple was hated but then it became a sign of privilege. The house would also be noted for having a side entrance with a little garden before the door when the house was built, the style was more common but new land was scarce and only a few home had gardens of their own. It was a fine home and the Dumonts had kept in their family it in their family for generations.
As soon as Emmy was inside she was handed a note from the footman.
"Kathryn writes Laurel, she is excited to us again and invites us to tea when we are settled, should we call her tomorrow."
"You go, I am sure she is much more wanting to see you besides I had plans to call on my friend Amelia she is still in town in visiting her cousins and buying her wedding clothes, I would like to see her and let her know of my arrival."
"Oh all right, Aunt Iris she is looking forward to meeting you as well, shall you come?"
"Of course I would be honored to meet this Miss James."
"Wonderful, may I send out word immediately," Emmy asked.
"Any words you have you have you can give it to William, he will see it well," Aunt Iris said.
"I suppose we should write Aunt Victoria and Julia to let them know we are in town, it seems only right," Emmy said.
"You write, I think a bit of fresh air will do me good," Laurel said picking up her hat and walking coat
"Do you know where you are going?" Aunt Iris asked.
"Just around the Public Garden I will be back shortly, I need to stretch my legs. Do not worry I remember the streets like of the hand."
"Do come back quickly, I would hate to tell your mother I lost you in one day."
"Yes I promised."
Laurel was in and out of the house in ten minutes, much to the surprise of her companions. She usually was so thorough with details, she would have insisted they wrote mother to let her know of their safe arrival and she would have written Aunt Victoria, even though she had no desire to see them she knew it was right and that’s all that mattered in Laurel world. After the post had been sent she would then insist helping with unloading the trunks and making sure the dresses were hung properly. However no she seemed to care for these details.
She walked down tiny street one of the few that connected Beacon Hill to the outside world and stood at the edge of the common. It was hard to believe that the Boston common was once a grazing area for small farm area such as sheep or a cow because now it was such a lovely park. Laurel pulled out the envelope that came with Ethan's book it was addressed from 126 Marlborough Street. She didn't know if it was the book store in which he found the book, his place of business or his home but she was adamant to find out. She feared running into him if it was his place of business or his home but she felt worse over excitement she got over the possibility of seeing him. Laurel wouldn't know what to say or feel when he did. She crossed through the commons till she got to the garden, if she had a longer block of time she would have enjoyed the gardens more, but she promised Aunt Iris she would be back quickly. It was so impulsive for to take off like that. She wasn't planning on either but nervous knots had been growing in her stomach the closer and the closer she they got to Boston. In the motor coach she had made up her mind that she would at least walk to the address and whatever happened after that it was in God's hand. She walked quickly then caught herself and slowed her pace down. She did not realize everyone in Boston walked quickly so quickly so walking quickly did not draw attention to herself. In Pine Haven if one walked quickly people would surely pay attention to her and worry a bit. Everyone knew everyone in Pine Haven so people would surely talk, and while both the Danford and Cromwell families were known in Boston no one knew her. She did try to walk at a sociable pace so her cheeks would not be flushed. She would hate to run into him with her face all red.
After the gardens, the streets in the Back Bay were alphabetical, Arlington, Berkley, and Clarendon, judging based on the address it should be in the next block. Laurel remember this from when she was a girl she thought it was most off how it was alphabetical all the way from A to H but then the next street was Massachusetts Avenue, and after that the streets made no sense. Mother once told her the Back Bay was formally planned but it still never made sense why they would not carry on in alphabetical order, it was much more efficient. Laurel could quickly tell that most of the Back Bay was residential so it lead her to the conclusion that 126 Marlborough Street was his home and what a fine home it was.
Laurel replayed the conversations she had with Ethan in her head, she knew his mother still loved in Sussex, England where he was born and while he had an aunt in Connecticut she did not remember him ever mentioning her living part of her time in Boston. Without his mother or aunt and no other family here in Boston it made no sense to have a house so big. It wasn't an striking home like the other she had seen in the Back Bay but it was a fine home with three levels of windows and a little bay window on the second level. The house all looked rather pleasant.
Society would never allow a single girl of any sort to call on a single man when she did not know of any woman in the house. If he had a sister or mother, or an aunt she could call on then even if all she wanted was to see him but a single woman calling on a single man was absolutely forbidden. So she wondered how long she stand across the street from his house without drawing attention. She feared and anticipated the longer she stood the more likely she was to run into him.
Laurel thought she was standing there almost an hour but it really five minutes, when she saw them, she recognized him immediately but she had no idea who the woman would be. There was only two women that were ever talked about his mother and his aunt. The woman with him was too young to play either of these roles. They laughed a bit, she saw and as soon as she realized he had looked across the street she turned across the street she turned her face and walked steadily back to Aunt Iris'. For the first block she did not care about her pace as she just wanted to get away from it all. By the time she got back to the garden she found the tears too hard to hold back.
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