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Chapter 8 – Pembrook

Buffy had calmed considerably by the time the plane touched down in England. The ride to Pembrook took about an hour from Heathrow Airport. Buffy was amazed by the beautiful countryside they passed. When they pulled up to the gates of Pembrook she gasped. Pembrook was not just a mansion, it was an estate. The large stone house was nestled among rolling hills. As the limo made its way up the long driveway they passed a lake filled with ducks and geese. Lady Lilah and Ethan were standing at the entryway along with several other people. A tall thin man opened the limo door as it pulled up to the entrance.

“Welcome home Buffy! I hope you enjoy Pembrook as much as I have all these years!” Lady Lilah hugged Buffy as she got out of the limo.

“Wow, I’ve never seen anything like this!” Buffy’s jaw still hung open in awe.

“We will give you the grand tour, but first let me introduce you to your cousin Dawn.” Ethan said as he hugged Buffy. He then motioned to a tall gangly teenager who was smiling widely at Buffy.

“Hi Buffy, I’m Dawn!”, said the girl who immediately threw herself at Buffy and hugged her fiercely. “I’m so happy to finally meet you! I’ve heard so much about you! We are going to have the best time. I have so much to show and tell you. I can’t wait, this is going to be the best!” The girl bubbled excitedly.

“It’s nice to meet you Dawn,” Buffy smiled at the girl. She was used to adults talking in the English accent, but hearing it from a teenager who looked like she could be your all-American girl seemed odd.

“Well Buffy, let’s get you settled in your room and let you freshen up. The servants will bring up your bags, and then we can give you a tour of the house.” Lilah took Buffy’s arm and led her into the house. Dawn followed while Ethan directed the servants regarding Buffy’s luggage. Buffy was stunned when they entered the home. The marble foyer was bigger than Buffy’s whole house in Sunnydale. Lilah led her up the staircase, where three different hallways split off from the landing. She led Buffy to the left hallway and stopped four doors down.

“Buffy this will be your room. You are right across the hall from Dawn.” Lilah opened the door and walked in. The room was very large with light blue wood paneling adorned with faint gold flowers and leaves. Against the far wall between two floor to ceiling windows adorned with heavy drapes sat a white canopy bed with blue and gold bed linens. The room had two large white wood dressers and a matching dressing table. Lilah walked across the room to two sets of door. “The doors on the right are your dressing room, and to the left is your private bath. I have arranged for one of my chambermaids, Amy, to be at your disposal while you are here. If you need her, just ring the bell by the bed. When you are freshened up and ready for the tour, just go across the hall to Dawn’s room and she will bring you to my study.” Lilah gave Buffy another quick hug and dragged Dawn from the room.
Buffy walked around the room, exploring her new surroundings. She sat on the bed, which seemed very comfortable even though it was dressed very formally. She opened the drawers to the dressers and found them to have plenty of space for her things. The closet was a walk-in that was as big as her bedroom back in Sunnydale. The bathroom was large but kind of old fashioned. It had a large white claw foot tub with a shower curtain on an oval rod that went all the way around. There was a white pedestal sink with a small medicine cabinet above it. Every single thing in the bathroom was white, from the floor to ceiling.

Buffy heard a knock at the door and went to answer it. It was the servants bringing her luggage. A young women who seemed to be Buffy’s age introduced herself as Amy. Amy let Buffy know that she would unpack her things and put them up for her.

Since there was nothing left to do in her room, she made her way across the hall and knocked on the door that was supposed to be Dawn’s room. The door was immediately thrown open and Dawn pulled her inside.

“Let me show you my room!” Dawn quickly darted around the room showing Buffy her things. The room was as large as Buffy’s room, but very different. The walls were paneled in a combination of purple with pink square frames, the furniture seemed to be distressed antiques painted black, and the walls were adorned with posters of actors and musicians. One whole side of the room was covered with stereo equipment, a large screen TV, and an elaborate computer system. It was very much a teenagers dream room.

“Wow, your room is sure different than mine!” commented Buffy.

“Yours used to be a guest room. Lady Lilah will let you redecorate it if you want. She usually hires a decorator, but she let me design my own.”

“Why do you call our grandmother Lady Lilah? That doesn’t bother her?” Buffy asked.

“I only call her that to her face if I’m peeved at her. Usually to her face I call her grandmother. But behind her back, it’s Lady Lilah.” Dawn smirked.

“So, I guess we should go meet up with her and start the tour. I’m afraid I’ll need a map to get around this place.”

“It’s not to hard to learn. You only need to learn where a few rooms are. Most of the rooms aren’t used at all. The family’s not as big as it used to be when the home was built. It’s probably a terrible waste of space, but it gives a lot of privacy. On weekends I can hole up in my room and not have to see anybody. Lady Lilah only makes us eat with her on weeknights and the servants will serve your meals in your room if you like. But since you’ll be coming home on weekends once school starts, I’m sure that will change. Lady Lilah will drag us all out for that parade.”

Buffy was shocked. Dawn sounded very bitter. She must lead a very lonely life at Pembrook. Buffy decided she would make an effort to get to know Dawn and hopefully they would become friends. She had always wanted a little sister. It had been lonely growing up as an only child.

“Well, let’s go down to the study so Lady Lilah can start the tour.” Dawn led Buffy out of the room.

Lilah’s study was in the east wing of the house off the library. Lilah was sitting at her desk going through some paperwork when the girls entered.

“Well Buffy, are you all settled? How do you like your room?”

“It’s very nice, thank you.”

“You should let her redecorate, it’s kind of blah in there.” Dawn commented.

“Well Buffy, if you would like to change anything, we can arrange that. I can have my decorator meet with you.” Lilah offered.

“Oh, that’s not necessary. I’ll only be in there 2 more weeks before school starts, and then just on weekends. I’m more worried about decorating my dorm room.” Buffy replied.

“Well that make’s sense,” Lilah nodded, “When we are in London getting your new clothes for school we will also get things for the dorm room as well.”

“Oh can I come!” Dawn squealed.

“Oh course dear, we need to get your school uniforms as well.”

At the word ‘uniform’, Dawn lost her excitement. “I wish I could wear normal clothes to school,” she pouted. Lilah ignored her.

“Well Buffy, let’s start the tour. Obviously Dawn has helped you find the library and my study. Let’s start at the dining room and work our way from there.”

The tour took over 2 hours. Lilah started with the rooms on the first floor, showing Buffy the dining room, the ballroom, the parlor, and the commercial size kitchen. She also introduced Buffy to all the servants along the way. Lilah then led her outside to the grounds where they got into a golf cart to show Buffy the stables, the pond, the gardens and the tennis courts. There was even an Olympic size swimming pool on the property. Buffy couldn’t wait to work on her tan. She had to wonder why Dawn was so pale with a pool like that in her backyard.

They returned to the house and went upstairs, where Lilah showed Buffy her own lavish suites along with the rooms that used to be her fathers. Lilah told Buffy she could take whatever she wished of her father’s personal effect. Lilah had not changed anything in the room since his death. Buffy assured Lilah she would come to the room later and choose some things. By this point Dawn was growing weary of tagging around and said she was going to her room to watch TV. Lilah reminded her to be on time for dinner and continued to show Buffy the house.

Next they went to the upstairs entertainment room, which put Dawn’s room to shame. It was located across from her father’s old suite of rooms. The entertainment room had a pool table, a fully stocked bar, a pull down screen with lounge chairs set up for movie watching and an area to play card and board games.

“Your father and Ethan loved this room. Maybe once you start school you can invite some of your friends up for the weekend. We have plenty of room.” Lilah offered.

They then went down another hallway. “This is your Aunt Drusilla’s suite. Hopefully she’s awake. She was napping when you arrived.” Lilah explained as she opened the door.

Buffy was shocked when they entered. Drusilla’s room was twice the size of Buffy’s, but that was not the shocking part. The decoration was what shocked her. The walls were painted Pepto-Bismol pink with white trim. The windows were light lace curtains and the furniture was all white, very similar to the furniture in Buffy’s room. The bed linens were white with pink flowers. Two of the walls were lined with white shelves that held hundreds of porcelain dolls of various shapes, sizes and ethnicities. In the center of the room was a small round white dining table, set for tea. Sitting there along with four porcelain dolls was a lovely pale, dark haired woman who looked to be in her early 30’s, dressed in a long white nightgown with lace trim. She was feeding imaginary tea to a doll in her lap. Buffy then noticed a severe looking woman with short blond hair dressed in a white nurses uniform sitting in the corner, knitting.

“Drusilla dear, I’ve brought Lizzie to see you. You remember Lizzie, don’t you? Rupert and Joyce’s daughter? Look how’s she grown! We call her Buffy now. Come say hello.”

“The sunshine has arrived.” Drusilla said in a sing-song voice. “Ms. Edith, you must say hello to our guest.” Drusilla got up from her seat and twirled around, stopping in front of Buffy. She then held out the doll for Buffy to greet.

Buffy didn’t know what to say. Her mother had told her a little about Drusilla before she left, implying the girl had some issues and that Lilah probably didn’t do the best job handling them. But her mother didn’t say that Drusilla was crazy. But Buffy didn’t want to be rude, so said hello to Drusilla and Ms. Edith.

“Buffy, this is Maggie Walsh, Drusilla’s nurse.” Lilah motioned for Maggie to come over. She eyed Buffy warily but took Buffy’s offered hand to shake. “If Drusilla ever gets out of hand while you’re around, just call for Maggie and she’ll sedate her.” Lilah whispered in Buffy’s ear.

They didn’t stay long in the room. Buffy noticed Lady Lilah didn’t have much to say to her daughter – she directed most of her conversation at Maggie Walsh. Buffy tried to make small talk with Drusilla, but soon found it was hard to keep up a conversation with her. The whole time Buffy wondered where Ethan slept. Surely he didn’t sleep in here with Drusilla. That pink would drive any man crazy!

On the way back to Buffy’s room, Lilah informed her that they were holding a ball in her honor the next evening, and that they would discuss the details at diner. She then left Buffy to take a nap. Buffy tried to relax, but found it hard to in her new surroundings.





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