Chapter Text
The house wasn’t nearly as grand as she had pictured in her mind as she had ridden the train from Pennsylvania to New York. In her mind, she had imagined her father’s sister lived in a palace compared to the modest home she had lived in all her life. Darcy Carter had been the only child of Michael and Eliza Carter. Her father had been from England and had come over with his family when he and his sister were just children. Michael, after reaching adulthood, had shunned society and his family’s wants and wishes for him and moved to Pennsylvania to start over.
He had died a little over two weeks ago, and Darcy had no clue what she was going to do at first. He had spoken about his still living sister frequently when he had been alive. She was the only member of the family he cared about and had kept up with over the years. He didn’t write; he had explained to Darcy one evening when she was a teenager and had questioned him about their family. His reasoning behind not contacting her was that he didn’t want to cause any sort of problems for Peggy.
“Our mother was not the best sort of woman,” he said. There was an undercurrent of bitterness to his voice. “If I wrote to Peggy, I would only cause problems.”
When her aunt married, Michael sent a gift to her. It was a pair of their grandmother’s pearl earrings that he had been holding on to for some time. Darcy never asked if she responded to the gift or if Michael started a correspondence with her now that she was free of their parents’ watchful gazes.
What surprised Darcy the most was when her aunt had written to her after Michael’s death. In the letter, she expressed her condolences and offered her a place in New York if she wanted it. Given that Darcy was unwed and had no other options, she wrote back saying she would be grateful if they’d allow her to join them in New York.
Tickets were purchased, her belongings sent ahead of her, and the next thing she knew, she was standing in front of her new home on Fifth Avenue. It made her feel a bit like an imposter after living as she had. Darcy didn’t have the latest fashions, know how to dance, or even what the elite of New York would consider proper dinner manners. Maybe she had made a mistake in coming here, but the fear of going out into the world alone scared her more than she wanted to admit aloud.
Darcy carefully made her way up the steps, a white knuckle grip on her traveling bag, and rang the bell. A moment later, a sharply dressed man appeared, and Darcy offered him a shaky smile. “Hello, I’m Darcy Carter, Peggy Rogers’s niece. She and Mr. Rogers should be expecting me,” she managed to get out without her voice wavering.
The butler nodded, “Miss Carter, a pleasure to meet you. I’m Edwin Jarvis, the Rogers’ butler. Please come in.” He stepped aside and allowed Darcy to enter the entryway, holding out a hand for her bag. “They’re in the drawing room waiting for you. If you’ll follow me.”
Darcy followed behind him, peeking at the walls with the fine art hanging in frames that were carved with the utmost care. They rounded a corner, and there, for the first time, Darcy caught sight of her aunt. Peggy and her husband were all smiles, and something in Darcy’s chest loosened. She had been afraid they’d be grouchy and mean towards her.
“Come in, come in!” Peggy rose from her chair and swiftly made her way toward Darcy, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. Peggy was younger than she had been expecting; there was only a touch of grey in her hair and the beginnings of wrinkles around her eyes. “Oh, it is so good to finally meet you, my dear. Michael spoke so fondly of you in his letters.”
“Peg darling, you’re crushing her,” Steven said in a light tone, chuckling at his wife. He came over and held out his hand for her to shake. More formal, but given that he wasn’t a woman nor was he of familial relations, he felt it was more appropriate until they were better acquainted. “Steven Rogers, it is a pleasure to meet you, Darcy.”
“You as well, Uncle Steve,” she replied with a smile. “I want to thank both of you for taking me in like this. I was worried about where I was going to go.”
Peggy flapped her hand as if waving away the comment and said, “You’re family, of course, we weren’t going to leave you to fend for yourself. I know I haven’t been in your life and Michael only spoke of you in letters, but I wasn’t going to leave you stranded and on your own.” She gestured around the room as she said, “I know Michael wanted away from all of this, but I also know he wouldn’t want you to be out there with no one looking over you. Plus, I’m not our parents, so I’m sure he’ll forgive me for introducing you to New York society.”
Darcy swallowed around the lump in her throat. She had also been worried about what expectations would be placed upon her when she accepted their invitation. “That’s a relief,” was all she could muster at the moment.
Sensing that she was tired from her journey, Steven motioned for someone just out of her periphery, “We’re sure you’re tired after your journey. Mrs. Jarvis will take you up to your room so you can get settled and rest. Would you like someone to fetch you for dinner, or would you rather a tray be sent up for you?”
Darcy bit her lip and considered his offer, “Could I wait and see how I feel later?”
“That’s perfectly all right,” Peggy assured her. “Go rest, and I’ll be up in a little while to check on you.”
Mrs. Jarvis, a woman in her forties with a bright smile, appeared from the hallway and said, “Come along, dear. I’ll get you settled and leave you alone.”
Darcy gave her aunt and uncle one last smile before turning to follow Mrs. Jarvis up the stairs to her new room. As they went, Darcy thought about how the house had a calming effect about it. The deeper Darcy went, the more at ease she felt. There were colorful paintings on the walls that depicted landscapes or still life; the walls were also light colors, which made the space seem larger than it was. When Mrs. Jarvis stopped in front of a door, Darcy nearly bumped into her because of how engrossed she was in the house.
The room was a modest size, and true to her word, Mr. Jarvis left to let Darcy settle in by herself, promising that if she needed anything to ring the bell, and she’d be there shortly. Darcy thanked her before the door clicked shut, leaving her all alone. For a moment, Darcy stood on the rug and let her shoulders sag. After the stress of her father’s passing and feeling like she was constantly on the move, it was nice to take a moment to breathe. The first initial meeting had gone well, and that put some of her worries to rest. She would take her new life one day at a time; that was all she really could do, she supposed.
After collecting herself, Darcy slipped off her boots, which were starting to pinch her feet, and moved toward the windows to draw the curtains to allow herself some darkness from the afternoon sun, when she paused. The house across the street was much larger than the Rogers home. It looked newer as well as if it had just been built or had undergone a major redesign.
Darcy watched as the front door opened, a woman in a fancy dress trying to stop her son for a moment. The young man seemed to be around her age from this distance, and he laughed at whatever his mother had said. Then, as if sensing her eyes on him, he looked up, and their eyes met. His smile seemed to grow, and he tipped his hat toward her. She could feel a blush rising to her cheeks at having been caught staring. She pulled the curtains and hurried back over to her bed to see if she could get some rest before dinner that evening.
There was something going on across the street, and James “Bucky” Barnes was bound and determined to figure it out. When he had left his house, he had noticed a young woman in the window of the Rogers household that he had never seen before. While he couldn’t see her all that well, he figured she was around his age and that she was pretty. He honestly couldn’t remember what his mother had been telling him when he exited the house because he had gotten caught up in looking at her before she had closed the curtains and disappeared from sight.
Now he was walking downtown with Sam to try and find a birthday gift for his youngest sister, Rebecca. “They're both perfectly nice,” Bucky was telling Sam as they entered one of the perfume shops that Rebecca frequented whenever she and his two other sisters made appearances on the town. “Mr. Rogers is a renowned artist, and Mrs. Rogers came from a wealthy British family that moved over here ages ago.”
It had been two months since the Barnes family had moved onto Fifth Avenue, and they had invited both Mr. and Mrs. Rogers over for dinner once the house looked presentable. They had accepted happily, but they hadn’t brought a daughter over with them nor made any mention of one. They did mention having a son who shared his father’s name, though. Steve was currently away at school and would be back before the summer season officially kicked off.
“And now you’re wondering if, what? They’ve kept their daughter locked in the attic?” Sam asked with a laugh as he picked up a perfume bottle and looked it over for his mother. “Sounds like some sort of twisted fairytale if you ask me.”
Bucky shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe? They don’t seem like the type to do that, though.”
Sam looked up from the bottle he had been eying and said, “Why not pop over for a visit on the way home? Play it off as you’re asking for advice on the perfume for your sister, and while you would ask your mother, you were afraid of Rebecca accidentally overhearing or possibly seeing the gift.”
He considered his friend’s words and said, “That’s not a bad idea. I’ll do that.”
So that’s exactly what he did. It wasn’t too late in the afternoon that they would be eating luncheon or preparing for dinner. When their butler answered the door, he apologized and said he had something he wished to ask Mrs. Rogers if she had a spare moment.
“Peggy, Bucky,” she said with a kind smile as she appeared from the drawing room. “You don’t have to be so formal with me. Nor with Steven, even if he does look like a rule follower.” She leaned in and, with a conspiratorial whisper, said, “He’s trouble incarnate.”
Bucky watched as Steven gave his wife a fond smile. “I remember a certain young lady who used to get into all kinds of trouble as well back in our youth.”
She swatted at him and then turned back to Bucky. “What can I help you with, Bucky?”
He produced the bottles he had bought for Rebecca and showed them to her, “Becca’s birthday is a few weeks away, and I wasn’t sure which one she might like the best. I would ask my mother, but I’d run the risk of Rebecca finding out, and I was hoping you would give me your opinion?”
“Oh, how exciting!” Peggy beamed. “Is she going to be officially coming out?” She smelled both bottles as she watched him for his answer.
Bucky nodded his head and took the bottle she handed him once she was done with her inspection. Rebecca's coming out was the talk of the town as she would be the first one in the Barnes household to do so. “Mother plans to send out invitations soon. I hope you can make it. Rebecca absolutely adores you and would hate for you to miss it.”
Peggy blushed at that, “She’s such a sweet girl. Please tell your mother that my niece is now living with us. I don’t know if that will change anything about our invite, but I understand if she already has a guest list worked out and that won’t be possible.”
So it wasn’t a daughter he had seen that morning, but a niece. He wondered why she was living with them now. “I’ll be sure to tell her, and I don’t think it will be a problem at all.”
He was just about to go when he heard a new voice say, “Aunt Peggy?”
“Oh, darling, in here!” Peggy called out.
Then she rounded the corner and stole all the breath in Bucky’s lungs. Even sleep-rumpled, she was adorable with her hair falling out of the simple updo she had, eyes still half-lidded from sleep. She paused when she saw Bucky sitting on the chair across from her aunt and uncle. “I didn’t realize we had company,” she murmured as she tried smoothing down her skirt.
“I apologize,” Bucky said before her aunt and uncle could get anything out. “I came over to ask a favor of your aunt.” He rose from his spot and approached her cautiously, “James Buchanan Barnes, I live across the street.”
He had taken her hand and kissed the back of it with a little bow, her eyes widening a fraction. He wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was about how they saw one another just that morning.
“Darcy Carter,” she replied, a bit breathless.
He smiled at her and then turned so that he could see her aunt and uncle as well. “I won’t take up more of your time. Peggy, thank you for the input, and I’ll let my mother know about the invitations.” He looked back at Darcy, who still had her eyes on him. He felt a little tingle go down his spine at how she watched him. “Miss Carter,” he inclined his head, and then headed for the door.
When he made it back across the street, he looked back at the house one last time and smiled before pushing his way inside his own home. When his mother asked him later what had him seeming to be in a daze, he just grinned at her and said it was nothing. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be until the next morning that they would take notice of anything off or that he could casually mention the Rogers’ niece and how they would need an extra person on their invite.
However, he didn’t realize his three sisters had noticed his return and how he had come from across the street. All three of them shared a look before glancing back to where their brother was heading for the upper levels of their home.