Gifts from Ilenka
The maids supported Anastasia as they led her upstairs. Though they called it support, it was closer to gripping her arms on either side and hauling her along. Her leg, tightly bandaged at the foot, dragged limply across the carpet, unable to move properly. The room was the most secluded one on the third floor, the highest in the mansion.
Even secluded as it was, being a room in the main building meant it was as neat and tidy as any of the other guest chambers. It was also the room farthest from Mikhail’s on the second floor.
Once the door closed, the maids released her, and Anastasia staggered before collapsing to the floor. She had thought the carpet soft, but realizing the Countess was still in the room, she hurriedly prostrated herself.
I’m going to get scolded.
In the past she had even been whipped by servants under orders. But this time she had committed a far greater offense, one beyond any comparison, so she could not even begin to imagine what punishment would befall her. After staring at Anastasia for a long while, the Countess finally spoke.
“I will not punish you separately.”
“……!”
At words so completely different from what she had steeled herself for, Anastasia lifted her head in surprise. Blue eyes were looking at her—eyes of a blue similar to Mikhail’s. But the emotions they held were entirely different.
“There is no need to make unpleasant noises when important matters lie ahead. So I shall overlook this commotion you have caused this time.”
“Thank… you.”
As Anastasia pressed her forehead to the floor in prostration, a flicker of mild contempt passed once more over the Countess’s face. Even the servants did not prostrate themselves and beg like this. And to think something like this bore the Lauderdale name.
If it were up to her, she would proceed with disownment, strip away the Lauderdale name, and send the girl far away. But that was Count Lauderdale’s authority. Neither the Countess nor Elizabeth could do such a thing.
The Countess turned and commanded the head maid.
“Ensure there are no further problems until the guests depart.”
“I shall keep that in mind.”
As if she could not bear to remain a moment longer, the Countess left. The head maid then gave instructions to the other maids. Soon a bathtub was brought up to the room adjoining the one where Anastasia was staying and filled with warm water. Realizing they meant to bathe her, Anastasia spoke in a fluster.
“I’ll do it. I can manage on my own.”
“We must finish quickly. Stay still.”
“I really can finish quickly. So…”
When Anastasia refused to yield her stubbornness as easily as expected, the head maid sighed. The Countess had entrusted the girl to them, but frankly she was irritated that even she had come to care for Anastasia. They were already run ragged with the guests, and now she had to look after this girl as well.
In the end the head maid decided to compromise with reality. She called over a young maid and said,
“From today, you will attend to Lady Anastasia.”
“What? Me? But until now I’ve only done cleaning…”
“It won’t be difficult. If there’s anything you don’t know, ask the maids of Lady Elizabeth or Lady Catherine.”
“Yes…”
Realizing the head maid had no intention of rescinding the order, the young maid hung her head low.
“The water is already drawn, so you see to helping Lady Anastasia bathe. And make sure she does not leave this place until she has fully recovered.”
“…Yes.”
Seeing the maid still look dissatisfied with the task assigned her, the head maid clicked her tongue inwardly and coaxed her.
“Once this is over, I will speak to the mistress of your hard work and see that you receive the name of Edenhurst, so do your best.”
“What? Is that true? Thank you!”
At the promise of receiving the Edenhurst name, the maid beamed as if her earlier reluctance had never been and bowed at the waist. When the head maid led the other maids downstairs, the young maid approached Anastasia and said,
“My lady, I’ll wash you now, so stay still. Understood?”
Though the tone was thoroughly impertinent, Anastasia had no choice but to nod.
After Anastasia had been taken up to the room prepared above, the mansion regained its former composure. Since she was tucked away in a corner of the third floor and never came out, everyone soon forgot even the fact that Anastasia was upstairs in the main building.
It was not only the servants who found themselves with free time. Mikhail was sprawled on the sofa, grumbling.
“No mount to ride. What a state of affairs this is.”
At Edenhurst there were only horses for the carriages and those that pulled the freight wagons. There were no horses suitable for riding. After the Count had died in a fall from his horse, the Countess had gotten rid of them all. Because of that, Mikhail was forced to spend most of his time in the vicinity of the mansion.
Knowing how restlessly Mikhail used to rush about all day when he was in Sokolov, Igor asked,
“Shall I buy some horses?”
“Do you think the Countess would sit quietly by?”
At Mikhail’s sarcastic reply, Igor said,
“The butler would throw a fit, and the head maid too, no doubt.”
Igor’s voice was laced with irritation.
Igor did not like Edenhurst mansion. Not the building, but the people inside it. More precisely, those who had no idea how the world turned yet were drunk on the empty glory of nobility, fancying themselves something great, and the servants under them who believed themselves superior as well.
“When will we be going to Sokolov?”
Igor missed Sokolov. The city of freedom, the city of trade, and the city kind to those with talent. Gunshots and knife fights broke out from time to time, but that too was part of Sokolov’s charm.
When Igor spoke in a sulky voice, looking as though he had not seen his mother in years, Mikhail clicked his tongue.
“So impatient.”
“I’m starting to miss the restaurants of Sokolov.”
“How old are you to be fussing over food?”
“Then I’ll go buy horses. I’ll get good ones.”
“Yury would hear that and ask if money grows on trees.”
“It does grow, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Is it your money?”
“We’ve known each other long enough. Time we started sharing it a bit.”
While Mikhail was humorously indulging Igor’s idle complaints, the sound of carriages came from outside. At the noise of several carriages, Mikhail rose and clapped Igor on the shoulder.
“Looks like the things I ordered have arrived. Since you’re bored, come along.”
When the two went to the entrance hall, Yury was already outside, checking what was being unloaded from the carriages. The mansion’s servants, seeing the splendid capital carriages that hardly looked like freight wagons, all came pouring out of the mansion to gawk.
“It has been a long time, Lord Mikhail.”
A middle-aged man alighted from the ornate carriage that had come with the freight wagons and bowed respectfully to Mikhail. While the servants wondered who the man might be, the head maid came out and frowned at the accumulating goods.
“Lord Mikhail, what is all this…”
“Though it was not my intent, I ordered gifts for the Countess and the other young ladies to apologize for the disturbance caused while attending to Lady Anastasia. Have them put in order.”
“Even so, stacking them all like this without a word…”
Just then footsteps descended the stairs, and Catherine appeared.
“What is all this?”
She gazed at the growing pile of gifts with entranced eyes, then saw the carriages outside and ran out in a transport of delight.
“Good heavens, it’s Ilenka!”
Ilenka was a vast merchant guild in the capital. It was a shop frequented mainly by the imperial family and great nobles, a place that procured everything those of high birth desired. The goods it handled ranged from ladies’ hats to jewel cases to rare animals from foreign lands. Even in the magazines Catherine secretly obtained without her mother’s knowledge, it was a dream space. Entry itself was impossible without invitation, so ordinary nobles could only dream of being invited by a great noble to go there and shop.
And from such a place they had sent two freight carriages? She had heard that every single item boasted an exorbitant price.
While Catherine could not hide her surprise and joy, the middle-aged man who had exchanged greetings with Mikhail approached. Mikhail naturally introduced him to Catherine.
“Miss Catherine, this is Ivan Vasilyevich Chicherin, the president of Ilenka. Vanya, this is Miss Catherine Lauderdale, the second daughter of the Count Lauderdale household.”
Vanya? Catherine’s eyes shone even brighter at the way Mikhail called Ivan by a nickname. To be on nickname terms with the president of a place as grand as Ilenka. Moreover, anyone could see that Ivan was bowing his head to Mikhail, who looked scarcely half his age.
They said Ivan Chicherin was a man even the imperial family found hard to summon…
Because he constantly traveled between other countries dealing only in luxury goods, he spent few days in Novgord, and even those days were busy with summons from the imperial family or great nobles. And such a man was here at Edenhurst?
Unlike her elder sister, Catherine had been unable to make a proper debut for various reasons. Some of her friends wrote her letters of consolation while casually boasting of how abundant their days in the capital were. Today I entered the imperial palace. Today I met so-and-so. Today I bought such-and-such.
Catherine both welcomed and dreaded the letters her friends sent. She was glad to hear even fragments of the social world she had not debuted into, yet she had nothing at all to write in reply. That was why she could not stop looking at magazines. With the news and goods she saw there she had to fabricate the lie that she was still enjoying prosperity.
But no longer. Ilenka goods had arrived loaded on two carriages. Moreover, she had met the president of Ilenka!
As the elated Catherine glanced at the stacked boxes, Mikhail gave a look to Ivan Chicherin. Quickly grasping Mikhail’s intent, the man began explaining to Catherine where these things had come from and who in the capital had coveted them, and Catherine listened, entranced.
Just then a neatly dressed employee came to Mikhail carrying a small box.
“Lord Mikhail.”
“Ah, you’ve brought it.”
Mikhail took the box he handed over, opened it, and smiled in satisfaction.
“Take this to my room.”
It was an item for the Lauderdale who was not present here.