Chapter Six

The Essence of a Lady

The next morning was clear and cold. Every able-bodied man was soon out of doors plying a shovel, and mountains of snow grew rapidly at every street corner. Shouts echoed from the harbor as the moored ships made ready to sail. Ben and James soon boarded the ketch Gremlin. Leaving Megan to spend the day with Elena, they headed into the sound to give James an opportunity to familiarize himself with the ship.

“Men,” Megan sighed to Elena and Rosalie after her brother and his new friend had departed, “will go forth no matter how frightful the conditions.”

“Very true,” agreed Rosalie. “They are a fearless lot. I much prefer my little shop on a freezing day like this.”

At that moment, Willa limped into the parlor where the others were sitting.

“Miss Murdoch,” she said with an attempt at a curtsy, “I’m certainly able to help in the shop today, if you please. I’d like to repay you in some small way for your kindness to me.”

Rosalie smiled. “I would not have you stumbling down those stairs, Miss McCrea. I advise you to sit with your leg propped up and a good book on your lap.”

“My dear aunt,” Elena interjected, “I do not imagine Willa can read.”

Rosalie was unperturbed. “Then you must teach her, Elena.”

“I can read, ma’am,” said Willa with a blush. “My ma taught all of us to read.”

“Excellent,” replied Rosalie. “However, you have probably not had much chance to practice. I strongly urge you to make use of my little library. Elena can fetch books for you, and as long as she toils on your behalf, I will not ask for her assistance in the shop.”

Elena stared at her aunt. Assist in the shop! How dared she expect such a thing? Then she remembered that she was penniless, and her aunt was taking her in out of charity. She sighed. Her only escape was to marry well, and where she would find a suitable husband in this tiny village, she did not know.

Megan had been engrossed in a book of her own but now joined the conversation. “Miss Murdoch, I volunteer to read with Miss McCrea if Miss Bellwood does not wish to. Willa—may I call you by your Christian name?—we must begin with the classics. What pleasures await us!”

Willa turned to Megan with a look of wonder, admiration, and gratitude. Watching her, Elena realized that poor Willa had received very little kindness in her life. The smallest favor overawed her. Suddenly, Elena had a brilliant idea! She and Megan would not only improve Willa’s reading, but they would also turn her into a lady! In New York, such a scheme would be impossible, but here, in this country town, the word lady was probably applied to every woman who could read and write adequately and whose family was reasonably well off. Willa’s family lived some distance away, and although she corresponded with her mother, she would be known in Mystic not as one of many children whose parents were scratching out a living on a rocky farm, and not as Elena Bellwood’s personal maid, but as the guest of Miss Rosalie Murdoch, a woman of property and standing in the town.

When Rosalie had gone downstairs to open the shop, Elena presented her idea to the others. At first, they were both speechless and simply stared at her. Finally, Willa spoke. “Miss Bellwood, I’m that grateful for your generosity…but what good would it be for me to become a lady, even if such a thing was possible? I must work and earn my bread.”

“I have considered all that!” cried Elena. “While your leg is healing, Megan and I will help you with reading and writing, if you need such help. Also, we’ll teach you dress, deportment, and speech. By the time you’re walking without a limp, you’ll be ready to seek the kind of work that an educated lady seeks…secretary…or teacher…or something of the sort.”

“Miss Bellwood, the more I consider your idea, the more I like it!” said Megan. “My fiancé is the minister of the Congregational Church. He’ll be happy to help Willa find the right position.”

Elena had forgotten that Megan was engaged to be married. “Is he indeed a minister? How shall you like being a minister’s wife?”

“Very much,” came the quick reply. “And now, Willa, what do you say to Miss Bellwood’s scheme? You are silent.”

“I-I like it, but…”

“But what, Willa?” asked Elena impatiently. “What possible objection could you have?”

“Only one,” said Willa, with her face turning red. “I wouldn’t want to be such a lady that I couldn’t marry James Scott if someday he—”

“Marry James Scott! Certainly not, Willa!”

“Wait, Miss Bellwood,” said Megan, placing a hand on her arm. “Mr. Scott will be Captain Scott when my brother has commissioned him aboard the Gremlin. And he seems a fine young man. You heard him speak highly of his mother and sisters; a man who thinks well of the women in his family is likely to be a good husband.”

Willa nodded. “I like Mr. Scott very much.”

“Willa, do you not see…” Elena began, but Megan raised a finger to her lips.

“Miss Bellwood, let us not concern ourselves with events that have not happened and might never happen. Willa barely knows Mr. Scott, and anyway, she’s too young to be thinking of matrimony. Let’s move forward with your plan, if Willa agrees to it, and let the hymeneal chips fall where they may.”

Elena laughed. “How well you express yourself, Miss Garrick. You are quite correct.”

Megan turned to Willa. “What is your answer, Willa?”

“My answer is yes. I’d be quite a fool to say no to such a thing!”

“I have a suggestion,” said Megan. “Before we begin, let’s all agree to dispense with tripping over each other’s surnames. We’ll be partners in this enterprise, will we not?” She placed a hand on her breast. “I am Megan.”

Willa copied her gesture. “I am Willa.”

Elena hesitated. She could not imagine hearing herself called Elena by her former maid. But the others were looking at her and waiting. With a forced smile, she spoke the words, “I am Elena.”

****

With her new scheme to occupy her, Elena was busy and happy during the rest of February, and as March blew itself out and became weepy April, her sense of well-being did not diminish. She often thought of how different her life was now, and how unaccountably she had come to endure it, even like it. The mornings were the most amazing. During the mornings in her old life, she would often go visiting with her mother. These social necessities seemed very long and tedious, and a feeling of restlessness would take hold of her so that she sometimes returned home fretful, inflicting her discontentment on the servants. But now, her days were so busy, she had no time to be fretful. Besides her efforts on behalf of Willa, she had her clothing to care for, meals to prepare, shopping, and assisting her aunt in the Book & Candle.

To her great surprise, Elena liked the shop, which smelled delightfully of old books, perfumed candles, and soap. She was amazed to find that she had a gift for arranging displays. A shelf or counter set out by her was sure to attract the attention of browsing ladies. Willa, happy to be of use, sewed a striped cotton dress for her so that she would be recognizable as a shop assistant to the customers. Imagine! Elena Bellwood, shopkeeper! What would the Duke of Simsbury make of that?

Megan had removed to her brother’s farm, but she had a gig at her disposal and came into town two or three times a week. Her teaching responsibilities with Willa consisted of instructing her in voice and piano and helping her understand and intelligently discuss the books she read. Elena worked diligently on correcting her country accent, teaching her how to stand straight, walk, and turn, and providing French lessons. Bramble assisted by following the young ladies about the house and challenging Willa’s balance by frequently crossing unexpectedly in front of her.

Willa was slow at first, and during the first few weeks, Elena was afraid she had made a dire mistake in beginning the project. But Willa did not lack intelligence, and Megan, during one of their conferences about their pupil, suggested that Willa’s life had been such that she had never had time to simply rest and grow physically strong. Willa was only seventeen, Megan reminded Elena, but she had known little in life besides work.

“Very true,” agreed Elena.

“We must force her to continue resting,” said Megan. “I know it’s tedious for her, but I believe it’s what she needs.”

“Yes, and I must get her to eat more. She’s too thin and pale.”

These issues corrected themselves as the weeks went on. Willa was naturally very slender, but she gained enough weight so that she lost her scrawny look and developed a small high bosom. Her large dark eyes took on brightness, and when she smiled, they gleamed with a hint of mischief. Once her limp was gone, she was coerced by Elena to walk all about the house with a book on her head, and by the time the mayflowers and lilacs had filled the meadows, she stood as straight as an arrow.