Free Dragonwyck by Anya Seton Page B

but this time she took with her the Bible her father had given her, and which she had forgotten to read earlier.
    She said her prayers, and then opening the Bible read the Ninety-First Psalm with a passionate and guilty concentration.

4
    IT WAS POSSIBLE TO LIVE AT DRAGONWYCK WITH the Van Ryns and twenty servants and yet be virtually alone, Miranda soon discovered. Nicholas was busy with estate affairs, and divided the rest of his time between his study on the top of the high tower and the greenhouses where he pursued his hobby of horticulture. A hobby shared by many wealthy landowners at that time, but astonishing to Miranda, who perfectly understood a man's growing plants for food or barter but found it hard to comprehend an interest in ornamental and quite useless shrubs.
    It was Nicholas' pride to have one example of every tree which could be grown in that locality, and many of these he had imported by schooner from Europe and the Orient straight to the Dragonwyck dock—the Incense Cedar, the Weeping Cypress, the Judas Tree, the Ginkgo with its fan-shaped leaves, and the delicate bronze Japanese Maple—these were hardy enough to live outside; but the palms and aloes, the oleanders and the orchids, grew in the elaborate greenhouses or in the conservatory off the dining-room.
    Johanna too had her own pursuits, if food and spasmodic attempts at genteel handiwork—china painting, purse netting, or crochet—could be called pursuits. Her weight made her lethargic and she kept much to her room unless there were guests.
    Miranda accepted this sense of separateness in the household, just as she accepted the surprising discovery that husband and wife occupied different rooms. Here at Dragonwyck all was to her strange and surprising, no one aspect more than another. These were the ways of aristocracy, the exalted group whom she envied, and to whose pattern she longed to shape herself.
    She seized upon die luxuries of her new life with the avidity of a kitten after cream. It was delightful to sleep until eight, and then to eat delicious food of which she need never think until it was on the table. It was amazing how soon she got used to having other hands make her bed and clean her room, and how many charming ways there were of filling the leisure thus acquired. For Nicholas had made her free of the music room and library, and if one tired of strumming the piano or reading the Waverley Novels—which he had recommended and she found to be nearly as exciting as her contraband romances—there were always walks through the gardens or along the river where the boats passed endlessly up and downstream.
    Her only duty consisted in trying to teach Katrine. Every morning after breakfast the two of them retired to the sunny schoolroom, where Miranda patiently repeated, 'B-A-T, bat. C-A-T, cat. R-A-T, rat. Now you spell them, dear.' The child was docile and did her best, but she was slow and her memory was poor; her attention continually wandered. She gradually grew fond of Miranda, who was always kind, but the little girl continued to prefer the company of her beloved Annetje, who fed her sweets and told her stories. So Miranda had little to do, and during the first weeks the novelty of this method of living sufficed in itself. It never occurred to her that it might be the occasional contacts with Nicholas which gave meaning and excitement to Dragonwyck. But she did know herself to be passionately grateful for an act of generosity which he had shown her.
    On the day after her arrival, Magda the housekeeper had presented herself at Miranda's door, armed with a tape measure, paper, and pencil. She would explain nothing except that Mynheer had sent her. Her lips were compressed to a thin line. She pushed and pulled the girl about roughly while she took measurements.
    A week later at dusk as she mended a rip in the despised merino, there came a tap on Miranda's door, and the housekeeper entered followed by a footman. They carried bundles,