Oakland Manor – 1820
“The carriages are ready,” Lady Oakland said as she entered her husband’s study. Dressed in preparation for their journey to Thorncliff Manor, she’d chosen a comfortable peach-colored gown and was presently pulling on her favorite pair of kid-skin gloves.
“And the children?” Philip, Earl of Oakland asked as he rose from his chair, closed the ledger he’d been updating and came toward her. “Are they ready as well?”
“Fiona keeps returning upstairs in order to fetch one thing or another that she claims to have forgotten,” Lady Oakland said in reference to her youngest daughter who, at the age of eighteen, was still as boisterous as ever, “so I think we should simply decide that it’s time to depart. Besides, the workers we hired are ready to begin on the renovations.”
“Alterations, you mean, considering our home is in perfect condition, save for the small detail that it’s not in the Greek style as you would prefer.”
Stepping forward with a smile, Lady Oakland allowed her husband to pull her into his arms. “You’re very good to me, Philip, there’s no denying that.”
He chuckled lightly as he kissed the top of her head. “The things men do for love…”
Leaning back a little, Lady Oakland gazed up at her husband in adoration. The corners of his eyes creased a great deal more than when they’d married thirty one years prior, and his hair now contained the occasional strand of gray, but he was still as handsome as ever. “I dare say I only managed to convince you to accept the expense for Spencer’s benefit.”
