In a Gilded Cage - By Rhys Bowen Page 0,14

the resources to go to China on your behalf.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” she said. “But there are missionary societies headquartered here in the United States.”

“Of course,” I said. “I will certainly approach them. I know little of Protestants or missionaries but I am willing to learn.”

“Thank you. Thank you.” She reached forward and clasped my hands in hers. “I can’t tell you what this will mean to me to finally know the truth.”

“I can’t guarantee that I will come to the truth,” I said, “and I can’t guarantee that you will be happy with the news.”

“I understand that. But I have to know. It is even more important right now. If Ned asks me to marry him, as I suspect he soon will, then I need to accept with no reservations. I can’t have him marrying someone whose parent committed some kind of crime, for example.”

“Oh come on, Emily,” I said. “I’m sure Ned loves you for yourself, and you are not responsible for the behavior of your parents.”

“But what about the sins of the fathers being visited on the children? If, for example, I had a murderer for a father? Would that trait not have a chance of coming out in me someday?”

“Then perhaps I should have tested the chicken soup first,” I said, and we both laughed.

“Really, Emily, I think you are worrying too much about this,” I said. “I’m sure the explanation will be a simple one—most likely your Uncle Horace taking your inheritance for himself, by the sound of it.”

Emily got to her feet. “I should leave you now. I have taken too much of your time when you should be resting. Let us talk again when you are fully recovered.”

“Where can I contact you?” I asked.

“Here is my address.” She handed me a card on which her name and address were written in a neat, sloping hand, as well as the name and address of her drugstore.

“My room is on West Seventy-seventh,” she said, as I examined it. “It is around the corner from my place of employment on Columbus Avenue. Highly convenient, as Mr. McPherson can’t abide tardiness. He docks money from our pay packets if we are but one minute late.”

“He sounds like a regular old tartar,” I said. “Why don’t you leave and find employment somewhere else?”

She blushed. “Because of Ned, of course. And one day if we are married, then I won’t have to work.”

“You want to stop working when you marry?” I asked in surprise.

“I have no wish to go on working behind a counter,” she said. “My dream, before I knew of my situation, was to go to medical school and become a physician. Of course, that is no longer possible. However, if our plans come to fruition, then Ned will have his own cosmetics and perfume company and I can help him in his laboratory.”

“I hope it all works out for you,” I said.

She patted my hand. “And I hope you recover swiftly. I look forward to your visit. Come to the store at one o’clock. I am given half an hour for lunch. I am only here this morning because Mr. McPherson did grudgingly admit that we could come in late on the day after Easter. Or you could come to my lodgings if you like, although I have to admit it’s a rather dreary little room, not fit for entertaining. I am usually home in the evenings by seven-thirty. Now sleep. Doctor’s orders. I can let myself out.”

With that she tiptoed down the stairs and I fell asleep, clutching her card.

Six

The chicken soup and the aspirin together must have worked wonders because I awoke in the morning feeling more like my old self. I placed Emily’s card on the table as I had breakfast and jotted down thoughts as they came to me. Obviously the place to start would be her birth certificate. Then the various missionary societies and maybe even the state department. Would an entry permit of some kind be needed for a closed and dangerous country like China? And then Vassar, of course. Her personal details would have been recorded on her admission form.

I bathed, dressed, and tried to tame my hair into submission under a hat. It needed washing badly but I’d have to wait until the weather was warm enough so that I didn’t risk catching another chill. It looked like the proverbial haystack. I needed a barrage of hat pins to hold the hat in place but at last