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Chapter 1
“What do you think about all of this, Louisa?” Archibald (Archie to those who were acquainted with him) Pelham asked his daughter from his place in front of the fire. His gentle, encouraging voice ebbed into the daze that Louisa was in the midst of.
This daze included, as it always did, her sister Evelyn and her new husband, Nathan. Louisa found herself trying to see things from her sister’s perspective this time around. She imagined falling in love with a ruined man, and what she might do if that was her life’s circumstances. There was a little voice in the back of her mind that told her she’d run away and elope with the man, just as her sister had.
But then, her rational mind would kick in, and she would remember her family, their relations, and the importance of their place within society, and she would realize that she could never do what her sister had done. Louisa was, at her core, a very selfless young woman, and because of this, she was still appalled that Evelyn had secretly eloped with a man who was technically still married and left the family to deal with the consequences of her actions.
Finally, Louisa snapped out of her daze and returned her father’s look. He was gazing at her with a mixture of concern and mild frustration on his face, a look that Louisa was all too used to. She and her father had a mutual respect for one another, but that was as far as their relationship went.
Archie Pelham was a very serious, studious man, but he did have a gentle side to him. He spent most of his days either working at or talking about his position at the bank, and Louisa couldn’t actually remember the last time she’d seen him partaking in something just for the sake of enjoying it.
He had wiry salt and pepper hair that curled up at the ends, as did the moustache that perched above his lip. His eyes were an enviable shade of blue, but his nose looked as though someone had played too much with a ball of clay and then plopped it upon his face. He was smartly dressed despite the family’s lack of wealth, and he always made an effort to look the best that he could.
“I agree that Wembley might be our best bet,” Louisa finally responded, leaning forward in her rickety wooden chair. “But, I have heard good things about Haringey, so I do not believe we should remove that from the table.”
The family was discussing where they should move to. After the disgrace that Evelyn brought upon the family, they found that their reputation was in ruins. The Pelham name was removed from every invitation list for the foreseeable future, and all of their ‘friends’ they had in London had mysteriously cancelled their dinner plans with them. These same friends also refused to reply to their letters or requests to see them.
Evelyn and Nathan ran off to elope some three months ago, and the family had had to endure this treatment ever since. When they came to the communal decision that they’d had enough, Archie had suggested they make a move to the countryside, where they could start fresh away from the prying eyes of society. Now, they just had to decide where to move to.
“Perhaps we should begin enquiring into living situations in Wembley, then,” Archie responded, making a note on the paper he had resting on his knee. “The bank does have another branch out there, so it would not be difficult to relocate. I shall first see if there are any buildings for sale in the village that would be suitable for us, and then I shall ask Peter if I might have a transfer to that branch. Does Wembley suit you well, dearest?”
Archie was looking over at his wife, Martha Pelham. Martha, however, was distracted looking out the window at the moon, and appeared not to have heard what her husband had said, “Oh yes, I’d very much enjoy some Wensleydale cheese if we’ve got any, my beloved.” Martha was also waving her hand in the air in time with music that neither Archie nor Louisa could hear.
Archie simply patted his wife twice on the knee and said, “All right, my dove, we’ll take care of this then,” and then went back to his writing.
While Louisa and her father might not have seen eye-to-eye on everything, she had always appreciated the unconditional adoration that he had for her mother. Martha was a simply breathtaking woman with long, enchanting black hair that she often let half of run down her back when she went out. Her unusual hairstyle garnered her many stares in the village, but she was such a kind, generous, harmless woman that no one very much minded, at least until Evelyn ruined everything for everyone.
As evidenced by her response to her husband’s question, Martha was neither the most attentive nor the brightest person in their household, and so Louisa found herself often picking up her mother’s slack. However, Martha did always ensure that her family’s emotional needs were well cared for, which was one of the reasons why Louisa was so close to her mother.
When Martha was having difficulty keeping her attention on one single task and Louisa was becoming frustrated with her, she simply had to remind herself of the number of times Martha had been patient with Louisa’s tumultuous moods.
Louisa was also grateful that her mother had passed down her fine features to her. Louisa had small, bright grey eyes that were complemented by a petite nose. She had what some might call an angular face, but it truly aided in giving her face a delightful, pixie-like look.
She had long black hair like her mother as well, but Louisa’s was as curly as could be, whereas Martha’s was pin-straight. Louisa was also as thin as a rod; so much so, in fact, that many times during her childhood, her father had called upon the doctor to look at her and ensure she was taking in all of her nutrients.
No matter how many times the doctor reassured him, Archie had always worried that there was some underlying medical problem that Louisa had, which had translated into him being over-protective of her as an adult.
“Papa,” Louisa said, interrupting him from his writing, “what about selling this house? Do you believe we’ll be able to do it? I am not sure that there will be much interest from anyone in town, as ...” She had wanted to finish the sentence with, ‘as no one will want a disgraced family’s house,’ but she knew that her father was already aware of their status and so felt no need to go on.
Archie removed his half-moon glasses from the end of his nose and rested them on his paper, his quill next to them. “That is a very good point, Louisa,” he said seriously, rubbing his temples with his index fingertips. “All I can say is that I hope there is someone, like us, who wishes to come to London from another place that does not know of our ... past issues. This is a wonderful home for a small family, and I believe that if we have luck on our side, we should be able to find one interested family.”
Louisa nodded, and her father went back to his writing. Louisa looked at her mother, who was still gazing out the window and now had both hands dancing in front of her face to the unheard music. If she let her thoughts run away from her, Louisa knew she could become very worried about the situation at hand.
While she trusted her father’s intuition, she was doubtful that there would be many families even from out of town who would be interested in their home. There was nothing wrong with it, per se; it was just that it was in a less desirable area of town and so many people would look past the charms it had.
She also knew that if they were unable to sell the house, there would be no way that they would have enough money to move to another town. Archie worked harder than anyone at the bank, and Martha had a little bit of family money, and yet the family did not have very much money to spare.
They were in rather desperate need of a fresh start if the family was to have an enjoyable remainder of their lives, and so all Louisa could do was keep her fingers crossed that the sale of the house went smoothly.
“Would you like to talk about anything else, Papa?” Louisa asked her father as she stretched sleepily. She was not exhausted yet, but she had done a great many things around the house today to assist Sophie Flaherty, the family’s servant, and so she had hoped for an early night.
“That should be all for now, Lulu,” Archie said affectionately, not looking up from his paper. “I shall write up a description of the home to get it sold and will post it in the morning. Your mother and I should be fine to take care of the smaller details tonight; you go off to bed. Goodnight, love.”
Archie presented his cheek to be kissed as he continued writing, and Louisa rose to peck it. She then turned to her mother, who was surprisingly looking right back at her and said, “Goodnight, Mama.”
“Are we not having cheese before bed?” she asked, sitting up more appropriately in her chair and smoothing out her well-worn green plaid dress. “I thought that you mentioned ...”
“There’s a small bit left on the table, dearest,” Archie said, pointing towards the table with his free hand. “It isn’t Wensleydale, but it’ll do.”
