The Sun Sister (The Seven Sisters #6) - Lucinda Riley Page 0,258

all, I have been away for seven years! I hope you don’t mind, Bill. It’s just such a long journey and I have no idea when I might come back again after I leave. You are, of course, welcome to join me here any time you choose. Mama and Papa would love to meet you and I would like to show you my city, as you have shown me Kenya.

I will let you know when I am booking a passage back.

I hope all is going well with the farm, and please send my love to all, and to you especially, of course. I miss you.

Please write back or call me. I worry about you!

Cecily xx

As she was addressing the envelope, the door to the study opened and her father walked in.

‘Hello, Cecily,’ he said. ‘You’re up early, honey.’

‘Yes, I just wanted to write a letter to Bill.’

‘Ah, of course. You must miss him, but you’ll be reunited in a few weeks, won’t you?’

‘Actually,’ she said, tapping the envelope against her palm, ‘I’ve decided to stay on here in New York for a while longer, if that is okay with you and Mama, of course.’

‘You don’t even have to ask,’ Walter beamed. ‘That is wonderful news. Now, come have breakfast with me, and we can do the New York Times crossword together.’

Stepping out of the study with her father, Cecily dropped the letter on the silver dish in the hallway to be posted.

Stella began school the following Monday, wearing her favourite plaid dress, her hair styled in bunches like her new friend, Harmony. Archer drove them to Brooklyn, and Stella bounded out of the car and up the steps to the front door. Cecily had given Stella her old leather school satchel and had filled it with pencils and erasers, as well as a bag of chocolate cookies Essie had made for her to share with her classmates.

Rosalind ushered them into the classroom and Stella ran to hug Harmony, who offered the desk beside her. Cecily stood at the back of the room and watched Rosalind begin the class. She saw Stella’s eager face listening to every word Rosalind spoke.

From then on, a routine began. Every weekday, Archer would drive Cecily and Stella to Brooklyn to both begin the school day at nine o’clock. Cecily and Rosalind took it in turns to use the schoolroom to teach their different subjects, with the other sitting downstairs preparing lessons and marking up the children’s work.

Cecily found she absolutely loved teaching – it took a little time to find her confidence, but once she did, the children responded to her firm but gentle style. After Archer had driven them home, Cecily would walk with Stella through Central Park, where the little girl would chatter happily about all she had learnt that day. In the evenings, they would curl up together in Cecily’s bed and read a book, and when she fell asleep on her shoulder, Cecily would lift her up and tuck her into her bed in the room next door.

She had also decided to call the number on the card that the man who had rescued her at the protest had given her to thank him. A woman with a French accent had answered, and had passed the phone to her husband. Cecily had insisted on buying him and his wife lunch. The three of them had shared an interesting couple of hours at The Waldorf. The Tanits were both well travelled and it had been inspiring to talk with a couple who had lived through the war in Europe. It made her realise just how inward-looking most Americans in her set were. Sadly, the Tanits had since returned to England, but more and more, Cecily sought out the company of both Beatrix and Rosalind, finding their circle of friends so much more stimulating than the women she knew from her mother’s endless charity circuit. The world was changing fast and Cecily wanted to be part of the future, not stuck in the fast-fading past.

Lankenua had formed a friendship with Evelyn, and had recently even begun going to her church on Sunday. Talk of returning to Kenya had lessened and Cecily was pleased to see that she was beginning to settle in New York. Now that the Christmas season was over, Walter spent all his days at the bank, retiring to his club at night, and to Cecily’s relief, Dorothea had gone on her annual visit to Chicago to see her mother. When