Peggy spent the remainder of the day overwhelmed by Miss Nora’s generosity. In the time that it had taken Peggy and the Baron to come to an arrangement, Miss Nora had commanded an army of servants to collect spare furnishings from the storage room. A wagon was already loaded in the circular drive and heaped with rugs and bedding, tables and chairs, lacy curtains, and even a small bath that Peggy could fill and move about herself without too much effort.
Two maids were seated in the back of the wagon surrounded by supplies for cleaning the living quarters, which were likely to have been overtaken by dust in their months of disuse. Peggy knew not what to say but was shocked by the kindness of it all. In the matter of an hour, Miss Nora had pulled together a collection of odds and ends greater than anything Peggy had owned in over a decade. She had imagined herself scraping through and suffering during this trying time that she waited for Adam to come to terms with her arrival. She had considered the hard work it would take to get the haberdashery on its feet. She had even resolved herself to living with only the barest of supplies and amenities as she saved every bit of her earnings for their future. At Blackwell House, she had had nothing more than a single dress and a lumpy bed in a shared dormitory. From what she could spy in the pile of mismatched items, she knew that she would feel as well kept as a queen. She hoped that did not cause the gossips to twitter.
Peggy expressed her heartfelt thanks as Miss Nora bemoaned not having more.
“Mama took most of the spares to the new estate,” the lady explained. “On the morrow, I will sort through the guest rooms to see if there are items more in line with the current fashions.”
“Oh, please don’t,” Peggy begged. “This is far too much as it is.”
“Nonsense.” Miss Nora wrinkled her nose at the scuffed tables and worn rugs. “I want you to be at ease.”
“I assure you that this is more than my ease requires.” Peggy laughed. “I have lived out of a trunk for longer than I care to admit.”
“She is hoping to entice you to stay by appealing to your comforts.” Lord Belton laughed, nudging his sister with an elbow. The lady glared up at him and crossed her arms with a petulant huff.
“So what if I am?” Miss Nora pouted. “It shan’t work if you out me at every turn.”
At that Peggy laughed outright. “I appreciate the effort, but as I have said, I do not intend to stay for long.”
“You must stay at least until the spring,” Miss Nora pleaded. “It’s a devil to uproot oneself in the winter months. Carriage rides are brutal, stopping at every inn to change out warming bricks, and I must say, some of the inns are not up to standard. Yes, you absolutely must stay.”
“All the more time to work at you,” Lord Belton said with a laugh.
“Who wouldn’t fall in love with Riversbend after several months?” Miss Nora replied. “Even I who have dreamt of being anywhere and everywhere cannot bring myself to quit it.”
Peggy shook her head. She knew that Miss Nora’s heart was in the right place, but the Lady had no idea what she was asking or why it was that Peggy was so determined to refuse. Miss Nora was not wrong in her statement that would be far too easy to become attached to this place, this simple, collaborative community. Adam certainly had. Peggy would have to be careful to ensure that she maintained an appropriate emotional distance from any connections in the neighborhood. Miss Nora had already grown dear to her, and she knew that when she left, she would do everything in her power to maintain the friendship through letters or inviting her friend to visit. But once she and Adam quit Riversbend, it would be unwise for them ever to return. A clean break was what he needed, and to remove him a second time might be even more difficult than the first.
Again, she thanked her friend for the effort and the kindness. She thanked Lord Belton for having put his trust in her and coming to an agreement. She assured him that on the morrow she would draw up a handful of letters to request contracts with the appropriate merchants. Then, he need only place his signature and seal the document with his crest and send his riders out to make the request. If fate smiled upon them and offers were accepted, they might receive their first parcels upon the riders’ return. Then, regular deliveries would be arranged, and the shop may be opened within a fortnight. She knew that she had set her expectations high. Such a speedy arrangement would take nothing less than a miracle and depended entirely on the merchants having the supplies on hand. Yet, she had vowed to have the shop open by the end of the month, and if she had any say in it, she and Adam would be long gone before the last of the autumn leaves fell.
So it was that Peggy climbed into the carriage beside Miss Nora to follow the cart to town. Lord Belton retrieved a set of keys for the storefront and the lodging above which were attached to an iron ring and chain that Peggy could secure to the pocket that she kept tied beneath the folds of her gown. She took them with trembling hands and bid farewell to the Baron as he shut the door between them. All at once, Peggy was overcome with feeling, as if these rusted keys were a monumental symbol of her future. All the bad of the past mattered no longer. This was an opportunity, a chance to do some good and reap good in return. The keys signified hope in the promise that she was doing something right by Adam. Fleeting though it may be, she decided to look at this moment not as a step back in her plan but as a step forward toward protecting her financial freedom.
They arrived at the empty storefront just as the sun reached its peak in the midday sky. The small town was bursting with activity, as towns are like to do during the daylight hours, and all eyes it seemed were on the Lord Belton’s carriage and the cart of household items. Eyes peered from windows, and people whispered at the corners all wondering what might be amiss. So long had the townsfolk waited for any sign of activity at the shop that when Peggy opened the creaking door, she could swear she heard exclamations of surprise and excitement as the locals bustled about gossiping about what might be.
Let them gossip, Peggy thought with a grin. Better that they talk about her as a new shopkeeper than as the unwed mother to a supposedly orphaned boy. The ruse would hold. She was sure of it. Adam would be free from censure and gossip, and she would be welcomed into the community with open arms. She hoped that this would allow her son to see her as someone who did good and as worthy of his love once more.
“Good heavens,” Miss Nora said with a sneeze. She called to the maids to open all of the windows and let in the fresh air. Then, she led Peggy to the back of the store and with a second key opened the door to a stockroom which led to a stairway that creaked and groaned as they made their way up to the living quarters.
Miss Nora pulled open the curtains to let in the light to the darkened room. She decided immediately that they were not worth salvaging and instructed the maids to discard them. Peggy took a moment to look around the sprawling room. It was large enough to house a small family. She hardly knew what to do with so much space but was grateful that the open air and high-pitched ceilings would keep her from feeling confined. She threw open the window and stuck her head out into the street to take in the fresh air and the wonderment of having something, anything, that resembled a home for the first time in as long as she could remember. Voices on the street called up to her and passersby waved as they asked her if the shop was to be back in business.
Miss Nora squeezed out the window at her side and shouted down to the crowd. “Spread the word! We shall have a grand opening in due time.” Her words were met with cheers.
Peggy chuckled, a little nervous. “Let us not put the cart before the horse,” she said, pulling her friend back inside and away from any further mischief.
“Well, we must spread the word.” Miss Nora giggled. “Customers will come from miles around, from even further estates, to see what you have to sell.”
“I can only hope,” Peggy replied. “But first I must have something to sell.”
“First, you must have some place to sleep,” Miss Nora corrected with a wink.
The maids were already scrubbing the floors and the walls. In no time, the room would be spotless if a little worn. It was a blessing that the room was empty, for it made quick work. When the first corner of the room had been cleared, Miss Nora called down to the stable boy and the footman who had driven the vehicles to town. Soon enough the supplies and furnishings were brought up so that the ladies might arrange them in a livable fashion.
In only a few short hours the task was complete, and Peggy could hardly believe her eyes. A large, downy bed had been assembled and sheathed with a flounced coverlet. A sideboard held a washbasin and elegant glass lamp of oil, rather than the tallow candles she had used the past years. Another bedside table held a vase of flowers and a pitcher of water. Peggy touched her fingers to the flowers and felt a lump rise in her throat. Such a simple gesture, and yet it meant the world to her that Miss Nora had thought of it. She had not possessed such a frivolous and beautiful luxury for herself since before Adam had been born. Certainly, she had none of it as a laundress, and the nuns were not ones for such frivolity.
She blinked back the tears and turned to take in the rest of the room. Two large rugs covered the wooden floor and were so faded that she could hardly discern their pattern. Peggy did not care. She crouched down and ran her fingers along their surface, recalling how cold the stone floor at the abbey was without a covering.
There was a small wood-burning stove in the corner across from her bed beside which the small bath basin had been set. Peggy would have to sit in it with her knees to her chest, but she knew that tonight she would bathe in the luxury of warm water and the jars of soaps and oils Miss Nora had lined along the wall at its feet. It had been far too long since she had been permitted such pampering.
There was no armoire, but there were hooks along one wall for Peggy to hang her gowns once she had her things delivered from the inn. Miss Nora arranged for a curtain to be hung in front of the hooks so that Peggy’s gowns might be protected from the sunlight that might bleach them.
Lastly, the fine lace curtains were hung to replace those that Miss Nora had deemed unsuitable. It was true that they had been moth-eaten and faded with age—one even appeared to have been set to flame at some point—but Peggy had thought she could not be choosey. Now, the white lace framed the windows and allowed in the beauty of the daylight while providing Peggy with all the privacy that she might need.
Even in her childhood, when her rooms had been filled with ridiculous displays of wealth and exuberance, Peggy had never loved a room so much as this. For the first time, the room felt like it was hers.
Once news of their arrival had spread throughout the town, Mrs. Banning made her appearance to see how Peggy had settled in. She tucked a sachet of herbs behind the door frame, “for good luck,” she said. Then, never one to observe the rules of society, she turned to Miss Nora with a motherly scowl and made her promise to “take care of my duckling, you hear?”
Miss Nora assured her that she would, as she prepared to leave Peggy to her work.
Peggy bid her friend adieu as she confirmed to Mrs. Banning that she was being cared for quite well by her new friends.
“Well, we must be off too,” Mrs. Banning added as Nora took her leave. “We want to be far south before the weather turns.”
“Are you stopping at Northwick or Halthaven?” Peggy asked.
“I leave the particulars to Mr. Banning,” she confessed, “but Halthaven is off the wayside, so probably not.”
“I wanted to give the good sisters the news that I have found my son but do not want to turn you from your route.”
Mrs. Banning nodded. “I will keep it in mind if we decide to tarry at the abbey or thereabouts, but do not expect it. Last time we stopped, the Lady abbess managed to convert two of our young girls, much to the dismay of their prospective beaus.”
Peggy and Miss Nora chuckled at the thought of their consternation.
Mrs. Banning pulled Peggy into an all-encompassing hug and held her for a long moment, patting her back affectionately. Then, she kissed Peggy upon the cheek before turning to make her exit. “Take care,” she said over her shoulder. Peggy thought she saw the woman wipe a rogue tear from her eye as she descended the stair.