983
Slow but steady...
The milk worked quickly, and as Emma drifted off to sleep Autumn slid her over to lean against the luggage again.
Emma drifted in and out of sleep for the remainder of the trip, only vaguely aware of Hopkins awaking and talking to the conductor. Autumn was still there, but she seemed to also be asleep. On arriving at the station Hopkins debated waking Emma up, but changed his mind. His butler was meeting them at the station with a buggy, and they decided to let her sleep as long as she could, carrying her out for the trip to the house. It was actually more of a flat than a house, Hopkins keeping the second and third floors, leaving the first for his butler who also doubled as the superintendent, and leasing the other four out. It was one of his simpler business plans, but had cost him quite a bit when he started it six or seven years ago. The building was on the corner of the street. It faced the housing and small business that marked the division of the upper and lower classes, although it was actually considered to be on the lower side. The housing backing up to the buildings were upper class, and because it was right on the corner, it fell into that grey area. Gerard Hopkins was a well off businessman, and really could join the upper classes if he wished, but he liked the friendliness and freedom from those binding traditions that they displayed. He was quite happy with the ability to switch between the two. His upper class friends didn’t care for his willingness to associate with the lower class, but he carried their carefree attitude with him, and it was hard to ignore him once he entered a room. His hope was that Emma could also fit into both worlds. She would probably be considered lower class, but with the help of the governess she might be trained in the proper mannerisms to slip into an upper class setting without any notice. Bringing her to his home might even affect the way his friends viewed him, but he was much more concerned for Emma’s wellbeing than his own reputation. It was into the wee morning hours when they pulled to a stop in front of the building. Gerard gently lifted Emma and carried her to the second floor where her room had been set, leaving the butler to gather up the luggage. He laid her on the double bed, fully dressed, and let her sleep.
When Emma awoke the next morning, her traveling bag was sitting just off the end of her bed. She sat up and stretched, climbing off the bed to go freshen up. After splashing some of the water on her face, she returned to get clean clothes and discovered that her bag was actually sitting on her father’s old trunk of paintings; the one Mr. Hopkins had taken on his visit when they decided that she would go with him. She dug through her bag choosing a pair of long shorts and the shirt she had just finished for herself. It held the lingering smell of the woodshop, from when she would sit in there for so long, even though it had been washed. She looked around the large room. It was somewhat bleak with only the bed, chest of drawers, and dressing table. No pictures were on the walls and even the windows had no draperies. All of her clothes fit into one of the six drawers in the chest, and she placed the travel bag in another, pulling the miniature of her mother from the bag last. She walked over and placed it on a corner of the dressing table just below the mirror. Autumn appeared leaning against the table, just looking at the picture. She was only a little bit shorter than Emma, but significantly lighter weight. She did not speak, just followed Emma around the room with her eyes. Emma left the room looking to find the source of the delicious smell that had begun leaking throughout the rooms. Her room led to what seemed to be a common room for entertaining. It was rather large, covering almost half the floor of the flat and was well furnished. It held examples of work from various timeframes, and varying values. She skirted around the edge to the room across the way. It was a vast dining room with a well matched set of tables and chairs, perfect for hosting dinner parties. Connected to it at the back of the building was the kitchen and breakfast room. Here the butler was washing up from cooking the large meal. Emma looked around but no one else was there. The butler turned and spotted her standing there looking a bit bewildered. He invited her to sit and proceeded to serve her a heaping plate explaining that Mr. Hopkins had left about an hour before to meet with some people about his work. He introduced himself as Avery, no mister and no last name, just Avery, and then went back to his work. Emma ate what she could of the heaping plate, and then brought it in to him at the sink. He had turned to put away the dishes he had already washed, so she began washing it, and the rest of the dishes that were in the sink. He was appalled to find her working that way and immediately stopped her. She was puzzled, so he explained that a lady does not wash the dishes, it was a servants job. She wandered back into the main room and sat down, bored. Lessons would begin tomorrow and she really had nothing to do until then. She asked Avery for some paper and began writing a letter to Judah to at least tell him about the house.
The milk worked quickly, and as Emma drifted off to sleep Autumn slid her over to lean against the luggage again.
Emma drifted in and out of sleep for the remainder of the trip, only vaguely aware of Hopkins awaking and talking to the conductor. Autumn was still there, but she seemed to also be asleep. On arriving at the station Hopkins debated waking Emma up, but changed his mind. His butler was meeting them at the station with a buggy, and they decided to let her sleep as long as she could, carrying her out for the trip to the house. It was actually more of a flat than a house, Hopkins keeping the second and third floors, leaving the first for his butler who also doubled as the superintendent, and leasing the other four out. It was one of his simpler business plans, but had cost him quite a bit when he started it six or seven years ago. The building was on the corner of the street. It faced the housing and small business that marked the division of the upper and lower classes, although it was actually considered to be on the lower side. The housing backing up to the buildings were upper class, and because it was right on the corner, it fell into that grey area. Gerard Hopkins was a well off businessman, and really could join the upper classes if he wished, but he liked the friendliness and freedom from those binding traditions that they displayed. He was quite happy with the ability to switch between the two. His upper class friends didn’t care for his willingness to associate with the lower class, but he carried their carefree attitude with him, and it was hard to ignore him once he entered a room. His hope was that Emma could also fit into both worlds. She would probably be considered lower class, but with the help of the governess she might be trained in the proper mannerisms to slip into an upper class setting without any notice. Bringing her to his home might even affect the way his friends viewed him, but he was much more concerned for Emma’s wellbeing than his own reputation. It was into the wee morning hours when they pulled to a stop in front of the building. Gerard gently lifted Emma and carried her to the second floor where her room had been set, leaving the butler to gather up the luggage. He laid her on the double bed, fully dressed, and let her sleep.
When Emma awoke the next morning, her traveling bag was sitting just off the end of her bed. She sat up and stretched, climbing off the bed to go freshen up. After splashing some of the water on her face, she returned to get clean clothes and discovered that her bag was actually sitting on her father’s old trunk of paintings; the one Mr. Hopkins had taken on his visit when they decided that she would go with him. She dug through her bag choosing a pair of long shorts and the shirt she had just finished for herself. It held the lingering smell of the woodshop, from when she would sit in there for so long, even though it had been washed. She looked around the large room. It was somewhat bleak with only the bed, chest of drawers, and dressing table. No pictures were on the walls and even the windows had no draperies. All of her clothes fit into one of the six drawers in the chest, and she placed the travel bag in another, pulling the miniature of her mother from the bag last. She walked over and placed it on a corner of the dressing table just below the mirror. Autumn appeared leaning against the table, just looking at the picture. She was only a little bit shorter than Emma, but significantly lighter weight. She did not speak, just followed Emma around the room with her eyes. Emma left the room looking to find the source of the delicious smell that had begun leaking throughout the rooms. Her room led to what seemed to be a common room for entertaining. It was rather large, covering almost half the floor of the flat and was well furnished. It held examples of work from various timeframes, and varying values. She skirted around the edge to the room across the way. It was a vast dining room with a well matched set of tables and chairs, perfect for hosting dinner parties. Connected to it at the back of the building was the kitchen and breakfast room. Here the butler was washing up from cooking the large meal. Emma looked around but no one else was there. The butler turned and spotted her standing there looking a bit bewildered. He invited her to sit and proceeded to serve her a heaping plate explaining that Mr. Hopkins had left about an hour before to meet with some people about his work. He introduced himself as Avery, no mister and no last name, just Avery, and then went back to his work. Emma ate what she could of the heaping plate, and then brought it in to him at the sink. He had turned to put away the dishes he had already washed, so she began washing it, and the rest of the dishes that were in the sink. He was appalled to find her working that way and immediately stopped her. She was puzzled, so he explained that a lady does not wash the dishes, it was a servants job. She wandered back into the main room and sat down, bored. Lessons would begin tomorrow and she really had nothing to do until then. She asked Avery for some paper and began writing a letter to Judah to at least tell him about the house.