that life was one change for the worse after another.
None of them noticed Callie creeping out from under the sofa. The cat was just suddenly there, with a paw on Lizzy’s knee. The girl scooped her into her lap and bent over her. Lizzy could come and see her cat whenever she liked, Charlotte decided. If her detestable brother showed up to accuse Charlotte of plotting to murder his sister or some such thing… well, she just hoped he tried it. Lizzy looked up from Callie’s variegated fur. She was going to be one of those fortunate young ladies who could cry and still be beautiful, Charlotte observed. Young men were going to be mowed down in swathes when she was turned loose on them. Lizzy sniffed. She straightened and sniffed again. Charlotte could almost feel her sunny nature reasserting itself. Callie began to groom her thick, now dusty, fur. “Tell Charlotte about your beau, Anne.”
“He is not…!”
“He asked her to stand up with him three times at their first dancing class. He is smitten.”
“Lizzy!” Anne’s blush was fiery. “He’s just being kind, because I have lived mostly in the country and don’t know anyone.”
“And he’s handsome,” Lizzy put in. “He has ‘lovely’ brown eyes.”
“I shall never confide in you again, wretched girl,” Anne threatened.
“I wouldn’t tell just anyone! Charlotte is family.”
The girls’ wrangling faded into the background as Charlotte struggled with a lump in her throat and an intense wish that they really were her family.
The drawing room door opened. Lizzy clutched the cat so hard she objected. “There is no need to announce me,” stated a cultured voice in the hall. Callie bolted for the cave under the sofa once more.
Frances Cole walked in, immaculate in a dark blue pelisse. “I thought I might find you here,” she said, looking from Anne to Lizzy sternly. “Whatever were you thinking, to go out without telling anyone, and alone? You know that is not allowed.”
“We did it because Alec is beastly,” replied Lizzy. “And we wanted to see Charlotte. Why should we not see Charlotte? It’s not fair!” Anne merely looked guilty.
Frances ignored her excuses. “As you must be aware, you are both in trouble. You may await me downstairs.”
Her eyes were steely. This was the woman who had reared four children, and done it well, thought Charlotte.
“You can look at the artifacts,” Frances added, with an unexpected dash of dry humor. “It will be educational.”
Lizzy put on a martyred face. It looked as if she would argue, but Anne pulled her from the room. Frances sat on the sofa. She gave no sign that she found the furnishings shabby. “Whatever happened between you and Alec? All I could gather was that there was shouting.”
Charlotte couldn’t bring herself to explain. What would happen to that sympathetic gaze if she revealed Jem Hanks’s accusation?
Frances waited. “Of course you are not obliged to tell me. But I would like to help.”
Tears clogged Charlotte’s throat. She could only shake her head.
The older woman considered her for a long moment. “Very well. But if there is anything I can do to patch it up, simply ask.”
“Thank you,” Charlotte managed.
Frances gazed into her eyes. A world of understanding seemed to fill her dark gaze. “Oh, my dear.”
“What?”
Frances started to speak, then thought better of it.
“I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”
Frances hesitated again, then nodded. A claw swiped from under the sofa and caught in the braided trim of her pelisse. It tugged, then let go. “Wh… Lizzy hasn’t brought that dreadful cat here?”
The horror on her face brought Charlotte a smile. “I am to keep her until you go back to the country.”
“You are… no, this is outrageous. Lizzy goes too far.”
“It’s all right.” At least she hoped it was.
“Charlotte, you are not obliged to house that animal!”
“I want to…” Frances’s skeptical expression stopped her. “Well, maybe not want to, but I’d like to help Lizzy.”
“You’re very kind.”
“Lizzy, and Anne, make it easy.”
Frances’s smile was warm. She rose. “If you’re sure. I must get them back home now. Alec will be worried.”
“Of course.”
“You will remember. If there is anything I can do, or that you need, you need only say so.”
“Thank you.” The words were heartfelt. Frances held out a hand. Charlotte clasped it briefly, and then her caller was gone.
Charlotte sat on in the empty drawing room for some minutes. Finally, she shook herself, started to rise, and noticed Callie a few feet away, staring at her from yellow eyes. Dust lingered in her fur