“Oh, Anna, that cannot be so. I believe he danced with you as much as he danced with me.”
Anna suddenly became excited. “In any case, the highlight of the evening for me was to have Harry ask me to build a well house for him. Can you imagine? My first commission.”
“A well house. That is not very glamorous.”
“I know. But it is a start, and I promised him it would be the best well house in all of Great Britain.”
Dorothy laughed. “Really, Anna, it takes very little to make you happy, is that not so?”
Anna rested her head back against the seat of the coach. “I guess so. But since Father will not let me build for him, then I must take what I can get.”
Chapter 10
Anna could barely sleep that night. She was up early the next morning and went directly to the library where her drawings were laid out on the desk. She did not even go to breakfast since she was so excited to start working on drawings for the well house.
Of course, she did not know the location of the well, nor had she been able to discuss details with Harry. But she thought, if she could come up with several suggestions, it might help him see what she had in mind and he might be able to decide quickly on what he wanted.
She found she had worked for several hours when Warrick came into the library and asked. “Miss Anna, will you be having breakfast? Your sister has given instructions that she is sleeping late, and I wanted to clear the breakfast things away if you were not interested.”
Anna’s head jerked up. “Oh good heavens, it is well after nine o’clock. I had no idea.” She thought for a moment. “If you would be so kind and bring me some tea, toast, and perhaps a rasher or two of bacon and some tomato on a tray. That would suit me, as I am deep in my work on a new project.”
“As you wish, Miss Anna.”
While she waited for her breakfast, she jumped up from the desk and began thumbing through a book on classical architecture. She had seen a charming fountainhead that graced a spring and she thought something along those lines might please Harry for his well.
She was sitting atop a set of steps that the family used to get books from the high shelves. She was leafing through another book when Warrick returned with the breakfast tray.
“Miss Anna…” he said setting the tray on the table. “Shall I pour your tea?”
“Yes, please, Warrick.”
But it was an hour later before she finally looked up and remembered she had not drunk any of her tea, nor touched any of her breakfast. She laughed. Was she obsessed? It seemed to be so.
She scrambled down the steps, rang the bell for fresh tea, and went to her desk to begin some preliminary drawings with her head bursting with ideas.
* * *
That same morning, Dorothy slept late after the exhaustion of preparing the flowers for the party and the many dances she had been invited to share with various partners last evening. As she awoke, she stretched and sat on the side of the bed. Her personal maid drew open the draperies and poured her the first cup of tea.
When she finished, the maid said, “Miss, tea is ready,” then left the room.
Dorothy stood at her window and watched the fluffy-white, summer clouds scuttle by. But she was surprised to see a horse and rider heading toward the house. She glanced at the clock and was surprised to see it was after ten-thirty. As the rider got closer, she could see it was Mr. Christopher. Was he coming to call on her or Anna? She could not take a chance and hurriedly dressed, after spending a moment to find just the perfect peach-colored cotton dress that was most agreeable with her skin tone.
After she was dressed, she ran to her bedroom door, opened it, and listened to hear if Warrick might be coming her way to announce Christopher’s arrival. She could not hear anything, so she tiptoed to the top of the stairway that overlooked the entry hall and peered over the balustrade to see if she might spy Warrick coming up the stairs to fetch her. And to her utter delight he was.
She ran back to her room, sat on her window seat and assumed a casual pose until there was a knock at her door.
“Yes?” she asked nonchalantly.
The door opened. “Miss Dorothy, there is a gentleman asking to see you. His name is Mr. Christopher Stewart. Are you in to him this morning?”
Dorothy hesitated a moment for effect and said, “Yes, tell him I shall be down shortly.”
“I will put him in the blue parlor. And shall I bring tea?”
“Not certain, Warrick. I shall ring if we decide to have any.”
“Very good, Miss.”
