“There you are!” Charles called from behind the piano. “Come sing along with us.” Josie sat beside him, mouth gaping as I approached. Whatever she knew or didn’t know about me, I decided not to care. Instead, I remembered what Greta had said and held my composure.
“Hello, Josie,” I said as sweetly as I could muster. She wore a mauve dress with a fashionable drop waist. Diamond earrings dangled from her lobes.
“Hello,” she said icily. “Charles and I were just singing the song of our alma mater. Would you like to join us? On second thought, perhaps we should sing yours. Where did you go to high school?”
I looked at my feet as they stared at me expectantly. “I, I…”
I felt Charles’s comforting hand on the small of my back.
“I didn’t attend,” I said meekly. Greta’s words rang in my ears. Don’t be ashamed of where you come from. “I had to drop out to go to work. My father died, and Mother passed shortly after.”
Josie feigned concern. “Oh, you lost both your parents?”
“Enough music for now,” Charles said, salvaging the moment. “I’m starved.”
“Your father will be here in a few minutes, darlings,” Opal crooned, looking at me with an amused expression. She took a final swig from her goblet, stopping at the bar to fill it again. I watched as an amber-colored liquid flowed from a crystal decanter. “Let’s make our way to the dining room.”
The table, clad in white linen, gleamed with polished silver and crystal. I sat down in a chair next to Charles. He squeezed my leg under the table. “I’m glad you’re here,” he whispered.
I patted my hair, still damp from the boat trip, as Charles’s father walked into the room. “Opal!” he barked. “I don’t know why you insist on taking dinner at seven thirty every night when the rest of the world dines at six.” I stared straight ahead, trying to remain inconspicuous, as someone hovered behind me, ladling soup in a shade of mint green into my bowl.
“William, this is Charles’s friend Miss Ray,” Opal said, gesturing to me.
Charles’s father sat in a chair at the head of the table and tucked a napkin into his collar. “You didn’t say you were bringing a dinner guest, son,” he said. But when he turned to face me, he smiled. “And such a pretty one.”
“You’re too kind,” I said, feeling the urge to cover my chest with the napkin on my lap.
“I’ve been wanting you to meet her for a while now,” Charles said, reaching for my hand. “I—”
“Mother,” Josie said, interrupting, “do you think the cook put a bit too much salt in the soup?”
Opal nodded. “I ought to fire her. Everything that comes out of that kitchen tastes like brine.”
“Oh, Mother,” Charles said. “It’s not that bad. I rather like it. And besides, isn’t Mrs. Meriwether the breadwinner for her family? I believe Joseph said she’s a widow.”
William cleared his throat. “You’ve taken a liking to widows these days, my boy,” he said, turning to Opal. “Just last week he suggested that I offer free room and board to a woman from the city and her five children.”
I remembered Laura from my building and gave Charles a knowing look.
“Next, you’ll be asking me for tuition money for her children to attend Yale.”
Josie laughed.
“Your brother has a heart of gold,” he continued. “If he had his way, he’d give a handout to every commoner in this city.”
William turned his gaze to me again. “Miss Ray,” he said, “I don’t recognize your name. Who are your parents?”
Josie glared at me, but I refused to make eye contact with her.
“They’re both deceased, sir,” I said.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” William replied.
Opal snapped her fingers and a young woman in a white dress and black apron scurried from the kitchen. She held her head low as Charles’s mother instructed her to clear the plates. “Yes, ma’am,” she said quickly.
She piled the soup bowls onto her tray, and stopped suddenly when our eyes met across the table. “Vera?”
It took a moment before I recognized her in the maid’s uniform, but the familiar face of a childhood friend shone through.
“Sylvie,” I said self-consciously, immediately wondering what Charles’s family would think of the exchange.
“What are you doing here?” she said.
“I’m…” I felt all eyes in the room burrowing into me. My cheeks burned.
“She’s here with me,” Charles said, filling the awkward silence.
“Well, would you look at that,” Josie sneered. “Two friends reunited. Vera, tell us, is she