As Yet Untitled - Part One, Chapter Four.

Chapter Four.
 Ida Crawford awoke the next morning and at first she could not remember any reason for her waking before Helen’s daily knock. Sitting up and brushing the hair that had escaped the plait and ribbon from her face, a single word came to her through sleep-slowed brain, war. 
 Later, Helen found her seated in the window seat looking out across the grounds. When Ida had first moved from the nursery into her own room she had been overjoyed to discover that her mother had chosen her a room at the front of the house. On the right one could see the lake that was skirted by the drive that snaked its way to the house bordered by trees, lofty Beech trees that had been planted by one of the first earls of Beechwood. It was a drive designed to impress and it did just that. Once the drive found its way to the house it ended in a dramatic sweep in the centre of which was a towering bird bath, against any other backdrop it might have seemed absurd but the Georgian facade of the house seemed to lend it a certain majesty.The house had a right wing in which the nursery and Henry’s bedroom could be found.  At the back of the house were the geometrical beds and paths over which Lady Beechwood resided, around the rest of the house sweeping lawns flowed. If one looked to the left one could see the iron fencing that signaled the fields in which Lord Beechwood’s beloved horses spent their days.Very little could be seen of the stable block in which Lord Beechwood spent so much of his time. Lady Beechwood also kept herself distanced from it as she had a walled garden created. The high wall kept the stables at bay but on particularly cold winter mornings the steam that rose from the muck heap could be seen above the great wall of the garden. It was ironic to Ida that her mother had planted soley roses in this garden, a plant that famously thrives if given horse manure as a compost. That morning her view from her bedroom window was particularly spectacular, it seemed to taunt her fears.
 As Helen helped her dress that morning they worked in unusual silence both busy with their separate thoughts, that was until Ida spoke up. 
 “What do you think about this whole war business then Helen?”
 “I’m not sure what I think my lady, the thought of my brother fighting worries me though”
Helen said this last part almost to herself though Ida heard it all the same, it reminded her that Helen must only be perhaps three years the senior of Mary.
 “How do you know that he will have to fight? Do you think all the men we know will have to?”
As Ida asked this she thought of her father and his Boer war. 
 “I shouldn’t have said anything my lady, I don’t know enough about it, my daft brother brought it up last night, probably just wanted to scare mother and me that’s all”
If Lady Beechwood had of known about the informal conversations such as this that were shared between her youngest daughter and Helen, her views on Helen Williams might have been very different. She believed that Helen had a calming influence on Ida and thus approved of her as a lady’s maid for her daughters. She supposed that soon she would have to find another so that the girls would have one each. 
 On the Beechwood estate little had changed since war had been declared, on the surface at least. The rush of young men joining up had robbed Lady Beechwood of all six of her gardeners, only the head gardener, a gruff scotsman by the name of O’Niell, remained. However, surprisingly, this was the least of her worries. The evening before as the family were arranged about the Library as was their habit after supper, Henry had casually told them that he was heading up to London in a few days time to join up. Lady Beechwood felt her reaction had been entirely reasonable, her complete rejection of the idea had not been met well however. 
 While Lady Beechwood wrote to a childhood friend in her sunlit Library, Ida and Henry rode across the estate. 
 “I promised father that we would pass by Oak End Farm to check on how much hay they have managed to bring in so far. We can ride home through the valley fields when we are done.”
Henry grinned at her from under his hat. 
 “Do not use hay as an excuse, you want to go to Oak End Farm because you know that their sons are sweet on you!”
 “You talk utter nonsense Henry, no one is sweet on me especially not at Oak End!”
Ida was annoyed by the crimson colour she had allowed her cheeks to turn and pushed Rosebrior into a canter to escape her brother’s laugh. 
 As they rode home they discussed the issue of joining up and their mother.
 “All my lot from Eton are meeting in London and we are planning on getting bally jolly and doing the exciting business together. Walter and I will head down on the train. I have asked Aunt Emma if we can stay with her to save the London house being opened up. Why you could come with us for the ride! I mean obviously you cannot join up but you know Aunt Emma adores it when we visit. How about it old thing?”
 “You do know she will not let you go do you not, let alone me!”
 “I am twenty now Ida, I am going and so are you old thing!”
Ida was extremely tempted by the prospect of a trip into town as she had not been since the Season had ended. Henry’s joke about her joining up had reminded her of a letter she had received just that morning from a friend who had recently returned home from her Grand Tour. Her friend wrote of how some young ladies she knew were going to train as nurses and thus help Britain in her war. Perhaps this was something that could be looked into when in London thought Ida. 
 “What are you thinking old thing? You have got that expression on your face that you used to get when you had a brilliantly devilish plan to play on the grown-ups when we were young!”
But Ida simply shook her head at him and onwards they rode. 
 On her way downstairs after changing Ida caught sight of herself as she always did in the imposing mirror on the stairs. She turned her head slightly to allow the soft light to catch her cheekbones and throw shadow in tasteful places but she could not bring herself to like what she saw. Maybe it was the deep green hue of her dress that made her look less appealing, she thought. Coming closer to the glass she realised her mother was right, she had not shielded herself from the Summer sun well enough and she had freckles over the bridge of her nose and scattered across her cheeks, rebelliously she thought she rather liked them. 
 As they ate Henry kept clearing his throat to tell his mother that he was going to town, however, each time he did so his mother would begin some animated conversation about recent engagements or the birth or christening of those who would make up future society. They had reached the end of the meal when Henry managed to steer the conversation in the direction he desired. However, Lady Beechwood softly coughed and inclined her bejewelled head toward Mr Huxley who still stood in the shadow of the room, his barrel chest faintly straining against the material that encased it. With a soft tread he left the room. 
 “Mother I am going to London, I wish to go with your blessing but I will go without it if I must.”
Ida felt that this may have been a too firm stance to take in regards to their mother and her nerves, Mary showed her disapproval by pursing her plump little lips.
 “What he means is he would like to break my heart just to join in some war that will at most last a few months!”
Lady Beechwood said this to the room at large. 
 “I am sure Lady Baleford would think me an awful disappointment if I do not go,”
This change in tact seemed to have worked despite it’s obviously planned nature and Lady Beechwood thought of how brave everyone would think her son was. 
 “And you say that Walter would join you?”
 “Of course! And Ida will join us on the train down there.”
 “I think not Henry, unless Mary was to go too I could not possibly allow it.”
Lady Beechwood remembered well how Henry’s friends looked at Ida when they came to stay and she wished things to be done properly, Mary must marry first, though the thought of losing Mary as her constant companion near broke her heart. 
 “Of course I will go with them, if it agrees with you mama?”
Said Mary earnestly, desperate not to cause further strain on her mother’s fragility. So it was decided the Crawford sisters and Amelia Ainsworth would accompany the young men to London. Lady Beechwood’s sister would have a very full house so it was decided that the boys would sleep in the Crawford’s London house while the girls were chaperoned by Lady Emma Woodcount. 
 The five young people made quite a party as they boarded the train in the village. Their hearts were light as they pulled away from the station into whatever the future held for them in its grasp