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Chapter 2
“So, what are you going to do with yourself today?” Lady Dunley asked as the maids cleared away the breakfast things. She dusted crumbs off her skirts. “Are you going to be carrying on that experiment of yours?”
“Hmm?” Isabel frowned. “What experiment?”
“The one where you grafted branches of one fruit tree onto another. I seem to remember you were very excited about trying it, that it would be possible.” Lady Dunley peered curiously at her daughter. “That was all you would talk about before ... well, since …”
“Since Father passed away,” Isabel said quietly. She sighed and shook her head. “I don’t think I’m going to do that. That was a far-flung experiment, and it wasn’t going to work, anyway.”
“But I thought you said it could be possible if you kept a close eye on it. You were very sure about it.”
“That was then, Mama. Now, I know it’s not going to happen.”
Isabel knew this was out of character for her, but she didn’t really care. Anything involving what she had done in the past wasn’t interesting anymore. It just had no joy for her, no spark of excitement. Isabel felt hollow when it came to her favourite pastimes.
Her mother looked very taken aback.
“You ... but you’ve never given up on an experiment. You were always determined to prove everyone wrong.”
“That was in the past, Mother.” Isabel shrugged. “I suppose I’ll get onto it at some point, but I’m not really ready to go back to that.”
Not when it was an experiment that had come up with an argument between her and her father. Viscount Dunley had said that it was not possible to graft a branch from one fruit tree onto another, that the trees were different. Isabel had taken that as a challenge, and she had declared she would prove him wrong.
But she never got around to it. Her father’s death had put everything on the back burner. It made her feel nauseous whenever she thought of something she had been working on that night they were told Dunley wasn’t coming home.
Isabel could feel her chest tightening as she went back to that night, standing in the foyer as a stranger, soaked to the skin from the rain, told Lady Dunley that her husband was dead. Her mother had crumbled to the floor and had been carried to another room, where she had curled in a ball and sobbed. Isabel hadn’t known what to do.
And she didn’t know what to do now.
“I think I’m going to go for a walk, Mother.” Isabel stood up. “Maybe some fresh air will get me more motivated for things again.”
“That’s a good idea, darling.” Lady Dunley smiled. “That should make things feel a little better.”
“Do you want to come with me, Mother?”
“You go on your own. I’ve got to get a few things sorted in the house.” The viscountess stood up and dusted herself down. “I may go out later, so if you want to join me this afternoon, I’ll be happy to have your company.”
“Of course, Mother.” Isabel squeezed her mother’s hand. “I’d like to do that.”
She left the morning room and fetched her hat and coat. It was a warm day, but there was always a breeze out in the countryside. Devon had the sea on two sides, and the air seemed to reach deep into the hills. Isabel was sure that she could smell the sea air, and they were more than thirty miles from the coast.
She headed out and made her way through the front gates, crossing the road and into the trees. There was one thing that Devon was good for, and that was the huge rolling hills and fields. You could stand at the top of the hill and see for miles around. If Isabel looked close enough, she could see the coastline far off in the distance.
A brisk walk was what she needed. Maybe she could get herself engaged with her previous hobbies again. Perhaps she could find something that would fascinate her and bring back her former enthusiasm. Isabel needed something to distract her.
But there was nothing. She couldn’t bring herself to be excited when seeing the baby rabbits coming out from a nearby burrow and hopping around in the sunshine. They were adorable, and Isabel stopped for a moment to watch them, but she couldn’t feel any joy. It seemed to have been sucked out of her.
Her father’s death had taken all the joy away from her.
It could have been worse. You could have died as well.
That was what often sent a shiver down Isabel’s spine. She was meant to have been on the carriage with Dunley. They had been planning to go to Exeter for a meeting where an important scientist would be speaking, but Isabel hadn’t been feeling very well, so she had asked to stay at home. Dunley had gone alone, promising to tell her all about it when he got back.
If she had gone with her father, she could be dead, too. And then Lady Dunley would be alone.
Isabel felt awful for her mother. She had married Dunley when she was merely seventeen, and Isabel had been born two years later. They had wanted many children, but fate had decided to change that, and Lady Dunley could not conceive any further children. All she had was Isabel, and if there was any resentment, she never showed it. While she was a little dubious about Isabel’s passions and didn’t quite understand them, her mother was very supportive. She didn’t mind what her daughter did as long as she didn’t do anything stupid.
She had supported Isabel through her eccentric passions, and Isabel couldn’t even support her in return through her mourning.
