A Bride for the Prizefighter - Alice Coldbreath Page 0,42
here if she was to dine alone in here as everyone seemed to expect her to. Crossing to the mantlepiece, she picked up one of the rolled spills Edna had placed there that morning for her convenience. Holding it to the flames a moment to catch, she walked across the room to light the two oil lamps on pewter bases that stood on two of the remaining small circular tables. They cast a soft golden glow over the room and Mina had just turned around to survey the results when a knock at the door was followed by Edna spilling into the room laden down from her shopping trip.
“Oh, Mrs. Nye!” she panted. “I’ll just set these things down in here and then get some water boiling for tea.”
“Let me see to the tea, Edna,” Mia said, crossing the room. “You look done in!”
“That Sam Coulter’s wagon does jolt a body.” Edna shuddered. “And the wind and rain didn’t help!”
Mina slipped out of the room with the silver teapot into the kitchen where she set water to boil on the range. By the time she returned with a fresh pot of tea, Edna had removed her bonnet and tidied her hair and was looking a lot less harried.
“How was your aunt?” Mina asked as she set out the cups and saucers.
“Very well,” Edna shared. “She’s a good soul and not one to make a fuss about her troubles. We couldn’t even get halfway down the pier, what with the weather, but we had a nice cream tea in our favorite tea rooms. Aunty helped me pick out the items from your shopping list too,” she added with satisfaction. “We went into quite half the shops on the high street.”
“I’m not surprised that you’re worn out,” Mina commented, pouring tea into two cups. “It sounds like you’ve been very busy indeed.”
“And how has your sewing progressed?” Edna asked, glancing over at the blue velvet at the other end of the table.
Mina passed a cup and saucer to Edna. “The first pair are completed,” she admitted. “And I shall sew up yours tomorrow morning.”
Edna’s eyes gleamed. “I told auntie you were making me some curtains and she bought you this,” said Edna, delving into a shopping bag before sliding a somewhat crushed looking cardboard box across the table.
“What is it?” asked Mina in surprise.
“It’s a cream cake,” said Edna. “I only hope it’s not too squashed.”
“Oh, how kind of her!” Mina peered inside at the cream slice. “It looks delicious.”
Edna nodded, looking gratified. She piled two more boxes onto the table and a large pink striped tin. “I hope this was what you had in mind,” she said. “Only Master Nye wasn’t terribly specific.”
“I’m sure you’ve done extremely well,” Mina said, eyeing the fancy packages done up with ribbons. She dreaded to think what this little lot must have cost.
Edna beamed and took a large drink of tea. “You’re not going to look at ‘em now?” she asked with faint disappointment.
“Of course,” Mina said, picking up the first box which was pale blue and contained a sheaf of notepaper and envelopes decorated tastefully with forget-me-nots, a pot of lavender ink and a box of new nibs for her pen. “Oh, how lovely!” she exclaimed. Papa had been of the opinion that black ink was the only acceptable color for letter writing. “Such tasteful decoration,” she said, running a finger over the borders of the small blue and yellow flowers on the writing paper.
“I picked that out,” Edna said, clearly gratified. “Auntie thought violets, but I said no. If the mistress is writing to old friends and acquaintances, then forget-me-nots are more appropriate.”
It crossed Mina’s mind what plain, sensible Hannah might make of the flowery notepaper when she received her letter and had to suppress a wince. “How well it will look on my writing desk!” she commented instead and stood up to carry the things over to the handsome little desk. The only thing she had been able to add to it so far was the mother-of-pearl dip pen which had been her father’s. She set the pot of lavender ink next to the pen and placed the envelopes, paper, and nibs into the empty drawers. “There!” she said, turning back around to look at Edna. “Now my desk is fully furnished!”
Edna nodded, setting her cup back on its saucer. “Oh, there’s something else too,” she said, reaching into her back and drawing out a handful of penny stamps. “These for your