Winter mansion

After regaining their strength and eating, the two women and little Olivia continued their journey.

They still had a long way to go, as the mansion of the Dukes of Hannover was some forty kilometers north of Warwick.

This meant that the three ladies had a lot of time to talk about in those three hours.

Lady Meredith had given to her protégé one of her finest cloth nightgowns, edged at the breasts and closed with beautiful white lace.

The fact that she hadn't been able to give her warmer clothing was because none of the clothes the lady carried with her were large enough for the pregnant woman's belly, none other than the pretty pink nightgown she had given her.

Diane had never particularly liked the color pink, but she couldn't complain in any way, as she appreciated the kind act of her saviour and she knew it was much warmer and more comfortable than traveling in dirty, tattered clothes.

In any case, to warm her even more, it had been placed on her shoulders a warm cloak of golden sewing, tied around her neck with the gold brooch with the banner of the deer.

Though still shivering from the cold and aching from her wounds, Diane felt better.

She had recently eaten a large portion of soup and soft bread, along with some warm milk and it seemed that the child also liked it, as it had calmed down and no longer moved.

-Thank you very much for what you are doing for me...- she thanked Meredith once again, she had no words to express her gratitude and intended in the future to repay all that kindness.

-It is my pleasure to keep you as a guest in my mansion, to know that you survived and are safe, it is a great relief for me...- Lady Meredith Dustin removed from her pale hands the long gloves of precious white cloth, she seemed sure and satisfied with what she was doing.

Diane took a look at little Olivia, she was so small, innocent.

She played with the porcelain doll, carried it to her chest, on her legs, made her talk and move, the girl moved the blond curls of her, as if seriously the doll she owned was a real person.

-My doll is called Cassidy...my father gave it to me, to celebrate my last birthday...- smiled the little girl noticing that their host was watching her curiously.

Diane smiled, she understood how that little girl was as involved in the game as in real life and how, seriously, she tried at all costs to make a friendship with her.

-She is really very beautiful, you know, I also owned a doll when I was your age, I received it by someone very important for me, for my sixth birthday...-.

But as soon as the lady started to speak, Olivia seemed to be drawn to something other than her doll, something she had never thought of before.

The girl had stopped every movement of her body, she was now staring at the woman's belly, where the baby was, she was looking at it with interest and love.

-What do you think it is a boy or a girl?- the child asked innocently and almost with curiosity, soon returning to look at her doll, which was sitting on the seat next to her at that moment.

Diane didn't know what to answer, she didn't even know what to expect, what she wanted, she was just full of gratitude towards them.

She knew that her baby would cause a lot of problems at its birth, such as newborns needing constant care and crying at night, for whatever reason, screaming, and in any case she didn't want to cause too much trouble for her host family.

That baby, who would be born in weeks, she had never wanted it.

The only reason why she hadn't given up was because she, when still possible, didn't have enough money and security for an abortion, but now it was too late to think twice.

Diane was afraid of childbirth, of all the pain that it would bring her, she had always feared her image in a bed, exhausted in labor, screaming of pain, she was afraid, that for a wrong manoeuvre it could end her life.

She looked out the window of the black carriage, the sky was gray, cloudy, covered, partially by the tall green foliage of the evergreens of the forest, which surrounded them to the right and left.

It was snowing heavily, and cold snow settled on the sides of the road around the carriage.

They were no longer in town, they had left Warwick and if they really did, then she would be saved.

-I don't even know how the baby is...- the lady replied thoughtfully, turning her gaze out the window of the carriage.

She quickly realised how sad the situation was becoming, so even though she forcibly pulled a sincere smile on her light dark, delicate face -we just have to wait a little while to know, right?-.

Olivia seemed to smile, she had taken the situation as a simple game, as many children her age did, she was not completely able to distinguish what was serious or not.

-I hope she's a little girl, so we could play together...- the girl wished turning her gaze to her doll, which she still held in her arms.

The child had so much imagination, so much, that seriously her mother had to interrupt her hasty way of thinking.

-Oh, my child, when the baby is born it will still be too young to talk or walk or even to play, the new borns only know how to eat and sleep...-.

Lady Meredith placed one of her hands on her daughter's small ones, it was immediately clear that the two had a very close relationship, although they were both aristocrats.

Diane was ashamed at that moment, she had started with the idea of ​​the rebellion, that the bourgeois were only victims of a restricted aristocratic system, that the nobles lived from the sacrifices of poor people and had no feelings.

But since she had met Lady Meredith Dustin, her ideas had changed.

She had begun her spiritual and political journey at the age of sixteen, with the firm prejudice of a horrible aristocratic system, but she had come to believe, at the age of twenty, that in reality there was not much difference between nobles and bourgeois, they were all human beings and were capable of loving equally.

- But let's let Lady Diane tell us something about her about her past, I don't know your story, I'm afraid, I would be very interested in hearing, what is most important to you...-.

Diane thought for some time, she didn't have much to tell about her life and everything she had to tell was either banal and boring or she preferred to keep it secret.

On the other hand, however, she absolutely did not want to appear rude in the eyes of the people who were hosting her, so she put a smile on her face and she tried to summarise the essentials of her life.

-I was born in 1714 at Rushen Castle, on the Isle of Man, in the Gulf of Ireland, between Ireland and England in fact, the name I was given is Diane Josephine Stanley...- she began to speak with a smile -I find everything else about me quite normal or monotonous...-.

How beautiful she was when she smiled, Diane, she seemed much more relaxed, at ease than she was, almost younger than her twenty years of age.

-Oh, don't say that, Lady Diane, everyone has a different life, nothing is too monotonous to be told...- Lady Meredith begged her to continue her story -Do you have brothers or sisters, for example?-.

She was actually right, one thing she had never thought of before, her life could be monotonous for her perhaps, but everyone's life was different and it deserved not to be forgotten.

Diane began to fiddle with some of her curly hair, which fell on her sweaty forehead, she pulled it and saw how her hair continually retracted, curling more and more.

-I have three older half-brothers, despite growing up with them, I have never managed to get too attached to anyone...- admitted her, rethinking and stirring the thousand ideas in her confused head -to tell the truth, I had another one...Gilbert...my favourite...-.

Lady Meredith smiled, she too had once William and Dickon Dustin as younger brothers and by the good character and pain she still carried on her face it was immediately clear that the lady also lacked her brothers.

-We all have siblings with whom we get along or not...It's normal- Meredith admitted, covering her smile with her fingers, placing them on her soft lips letting Diane blush for some seconds -but if I can dare to ask about it, why, have you never been able to love your brothers?-.

Diane shrugged, even she had never been aware of this fact, perhaps the way they talked or posed, the fact that they had tried everything to cover the debts they had put their house into, she didn't know.

-I guess their story didn't help their character development in the slightest, you know, none of them ever grew up with a mother, all of their mothers...they died when each of them was really too young to remember...- Diane admitted, suddenly lowering her gaze.

She could not reveal that her father was the cause of those deaths, that for fear of too much exposure or life to be blocked and no longer able to carry out his plans, James Stanley had killed all the girls with whom he had conceived his bastards.

It was for this reason that noble Houses of the kingdom of Italy, South Asia and even Scandinavian Norway all had a little adversity towards that man, for having got pregnant and then killed in the past the youngest and most beautiful girls of their respective Houses.

Then no one was particularly interested in the maintenance of illegitimate children, born out of any marriage or spiritual bond, and so all her half-brothers: Walter, Marcus, Samuel and even Gilbert had been left in their father's custody.

But that wasn't her story and it was too long and complicated to tell, so she just shrugged and felt completely embarrassed by that sudden silence.

Lady Meredith seemed to understand her, so she suddenly decided to change the subject.

-This time of revolutions, I don't think I really understand it, I mean, although the monarchy may seem a little overwhelming, I don't understand why all this violence is generally centralised on the demolition of noble titles...-.

That woman had a particular intelligence when she came to talk about politics and conflicts, it almost seemed to be something she had been trained to since childhood.

-Even I don't understand what's going on anymore, it seemed to me, all this time, that they were fighting for a good cause, before realising that in reality they are just drunkards and cowards...-.

Diane looked away, she was very disappointed, angry more than anything, knowing that the monsters she had created, ruthless and hungry for blood, she had created and shaped them, with her ideas.

For once, for that time, she had realized that the real enemy was not only Isabelle, the real enemies, she had created them, a band of insensitive and angry beings, ready to throw down anyone who opposed them.

They arrived at the winter mansion of the Hannovers, it was large, enormous, and of a white marble color.

They owned large gardens, she assumed they were, she could not know, how most of them were covered in snow and ice.

It was cold.

All around her eyes a film of moist and transparent water had formed.

It was cold, she was sad.

Lady Meredith ordered the attendants, as well as taking care that her child could change her damp clothes from the snow, for her guest to be helped to reach the fireplace and warm herself.

It was what Diane needed, she had been in the cold and seeing the fire, even seeing a little flame of it had become one of her wishes.

She sit on an armchair, soft, of precious fabric, padded and decorated of a purple color.

Diane felt the heat again, it was pleasant.

She watched the flames, they crackled a red, then orange, and then ended up in pure yellow, there inside her burned the anger, the sadness, the hopes or at least they burned at the same time as the fire.

The door was opened again by the attendants, presenting a figure, whom she already knew, but was pleasant to see again.

The lady perceived it, from the cold winter aura that he carried with him, from the pale skin, from his eyes, grey and cold as ice and from his hair, blond as gold, but hidden composedly under a white wig.

Diane pulled the blanket tightly behind her, to her chest, she smiled lightly.

He looked at her, she looked at him, certainly neither of them was expecting to see the other again in those circumstances.

-She is Lady Diane Stanley, of the Isle of Man, dear...- introduced his wife, gently and slowly placing her hands on her husband's forearm -we found her, lying on the ground, beaten up, poor thing...allow her, at least for some time, to stay with us...- Meredith prayed, looking at her husband.

John was frozen, surprised by that fact, and perplexed, thinking back to the evening, a few months before, where that heroic girl had tried in every way to save the life of her best friend.

He certainly admired her, admired her courage, her strength, he understood, from the bruises that stood out on the lady's light dark skin, that she had suffered, but something stronger than him led him for a few seconds to shake his head.

John Hannover took his wife's hands, looked into her eyes.

-Meredith, you are my wife, the love and joy of my life, but please, I beg you, understand, we cannot host her here, it would be too risky, for me, for you and for our Olivia...-.

He knew he didn't think what he was saying, not really, but he felt fear, the fear that his cousin would find out, that she would decide to take revenge and take their life.

John was a good man, Diane knew it, but he was afraid, even though he was a military man, he felt more fear than any other man at the time.

-John, you know how much I love you too, but unfortunately I have to oppose your idea, I can't leave this poor lady to take care of her baby, not alone, not on the street, not without food and safety-.

Lady Meredith was also strong, obstinate and in order to save her, Diane and the baby in her belly, she would have put her own life at risk.

-please let her stay, I beg you John, let her rest in one of her upper apartments, where no one will be able to see her...-.

John sighed, his love for his wife was stronger than fear itself, his courage was greater than it had ever been.

Reluctantly, he accepted.