| |
FAITH WANDERED AROUND the house in the early morning, wondering if Thomas would be in a better mood today. She hadn’t slept well, disturbed by small sounds in the night, mostly her father’s voice in the hall and the whispers of maids as they contemplated what was wrong with her mother.
She had pulled one of her pillows over her head to block out their conversation, not wanting to hear anything that might not be true.
“You look at well-rested as I feel,” Johnny stopped her as she paced along the windows that faced out towards the ocean, and she glanced out to see the soft blue sky populated with clouds so perfectly fluffy that they could have been painted onto the celestial background.
“Thank you, I feel much better now,” she pressed her lips together in an attempt to look like she was actually scolding him, in a poor imitation of their grandmother.
He burst out laughing, and she allowed herself to smile, if only because her action had distracted her brother from his own worries.
Worries that aligned with her own.
“I know something is going on with Thomas, but neither of you will tell me, so I can’t help.”
He shrugged, sliding his hands into his pants pockets. The pale blue suit he wore with a pressed cream shirt underneath brought out the blue in his eyes, which were so similar to the blue-green shade of her own.
“The two of you are so close, but that doesn’t mean you can’t let any of the rest of us in.”
Faith took his arm, tugging at it so his hand pulled free of his pocket and she took it in her own.
“We would never shut you, or Ruby, or Evie, out. It’s just . . . I don’t know. He’s angry and I’m not sure why.”
Johnny merely nodded as he squeezed her hand.
“Has anyone seen a girl, about this high, blonde hair that can’t seem to stay in its braid . . . probably lazing about instead of getting ready to go to work?”
Speaking of Thomas, he practically skipped into the hall and then the room, clapping Johnny on the back as if they were a couple of old men meeting after years apart.
Johnny squinted at him.
“Who are you and what have you done with my cousin?”
“Very funny. There’s nothing wrong with waking up on the right side of the bed on a beautiful day, is there?”
Faith thought her prayers had been answered, but it dawned on her that Nico wouldn’t be at their uncle’s that day, or the next, and that couldn’t just be a coincidence with Thomas’ strange happiness.
“I think we’d best be going, Thomas. We’ll see you later, Johnny. Have fun sailing today.”
Her brother shook his head, his forehead crinkling in a way that reminded her of their father when he was worried.
“I’m staying home today. There’s plenty of time to sail, and . . .”
Perhaps Faith should stay home as well, in case their mother needed her, but as if he could read her mind, Johnny caught her eye, his own wide.
“Go and do whatever it is that you do with Uncle Will. I’m sure our parents would like to know that you’re busy and content, or they might worry.”
He was right. If the two of them hovered around, their father would be sure to notice and it would add to his upset.
She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek, pausing to whisper in his ear.
“Please send a message if anything happens.”
The very word, anything, seemed to carry a weight of its own, and Faith struggled a little to smile at Thomas as she turned to face him. He was watching her brother curiously, then looked at her.
“Is everything all right?”
“Of course,” she answered much too quickly for him not to notice. But he kept quiet, so she continued. “Shall we go before Uncle Will wonders if we’ve wandered off? Before Aunt Catherine frets over making so many cookies if we aren’t there to eat them?”
There was no way their aunt would worry about extra cookies, not with the shelter to donate them to, but Faith continued speaking before he could say just that.
“Do you think he’ll want to spend today on the hospital project, or perhaps the one he mentioned last week that he’s been consulting on? He hasn’t really spoken much about that. I don’t have any idea what sort of building it might be.”
Now she was babbling, and she felt as if she would just keep carrying on when Thomas stopped, holding her back with his hand on her arm.
“Stop. Are you going to tell me what’s going on, or keep chattering on?”
She shivered a little, wondering if she should share her concern for her mother, but he hadn’t been honest with her about his feelings lately, and besides, what if her parents didn’t want her to tell anyone that her mother was ill?
Wait, she frowned as she considered her train of thought. Would she really choose to withhold her worries from her cousin just because he wasn’t telling her about his own?
That wasn’t right.
“I’m sorry, it concerns more than me, and I’m not sure everyone involved would want me to speak of it.”
She sounded so formal to her own ears.
“You seem upset, and I want to help if I can. Will you let me know if there is anything I can do?”
Without a second thought, she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around him, inhaling his familiar clean scent. Unlike some of the young men in their set, he didn’t soak himself in heavy cologne or use a strongly fragranced soap, and there was something comforting in the simplicity of it.
He held her tight for a moment, then tugged on her braid.
“Let’s get going. I trust you will keep me informed if and when you can.”
She stepped back and nodded, taking his hand as they continued their walk, silently now, accompanied only by the cries of the seagulls above them.
Evie was sitting outside on an oversized lounge with so many pillows they could barely see her, the red in her hair bright as it caught the rays of the sun.
Of course, she held a book in her hands, and her eyes darted along the pages, her attention captured by whatever she saw there.
“Good morning, Evie.”
Faith’s cousin hummed a little, as if to herself, then tipped the volume down a little so she could see over the binding.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Good morning, Faith. Thomas.”
She narrowed her eyes at Thomas.
“You’re going to stop being so crabby soon, aren’t you? I don’t like it when you distract my father with your moodiness.”
Thomas flinched a little, his hand in Faith’s tensing just enough for her to notice.
“I don’t mean to be, at least, in any way that would affect you or Uncle Will. I’ll apologize to him again. But . . .”
He held a finger up and stepped closer to Evie as her eyes grew wide.
“I think you need to come visit me and look at what’s new on my bookshelf.”
Evie toppled over as she attempted to stand, clutching her book as the pillows tumbled into the grass. Faith couldn’t help laughing as she and Thomas leaned down to help her up, and Evie, with her usual good humor, smiled back as she took Faith’s offered hand.
“Absolutely! When can we go? Maybe Faith can stay here and help Father, and you and I can go to your house. I can help Aunt Sarah if she needs me, you know how I like numbers.”
Evie’s mind worked in mysterious ways, and Faith couldn’t keep track of her train of thought on any given day. She loved to read, she figured numbers - and she loved animals. If Aunt Sarah needed a hand with the accounting for the family business, Evie was her girl.
“Let me see if Uncle Will needs me today, and if he can manage with Faith’s eye alone, I think we can sneak away.”
Her cousin closed one eye and glanced up towards the sun as Faith watched her contemplate this.
“It isn’t really sneaking if you have permission, is it?”
“Oh, come on!” Thomas grabbed Evie’s elbow and tugged her along as Faith followed, smiling. It was a relief to see Thomas in such a good mood, even if it was only because Nico was away for the time being.
What was Nico doing right now? Did he prefer the busyness of Manhattan to Newport’s calmer atmosphere, which as the season waned would come to a halt?
If he was still here then.
“What has you so preoccupied, Faith?”
Aunt Catherine wrapped her arms around Faith and hugged her tightly, bringing her thoughts back to the here and now.
Was there a way she could ask her aunt about her mother, since her aunt somehow knew that something was wrong?
Or would asking be revealing, when it wasn’t her place to do so?
Instead of answering, she relaxed in her aunt’s welcoming arms, closing her eyes and resting in the warmth of the sun. She was so fortunate to have a loving family who lived within walking distance, and it occurred to her that she hadn’t visited her Aunt Sarah or Uncle Sam for over a week.
The Duncans had a flourishing courier service that had expanded into Connecticut and Massachusetts, as well as Manhattan, with offices in five cities. But their central office was still here in Newport, in the small house where Uncle Sam had grown up with his mother. They had built a larger home for themselves and Thomas less than a mile away, closer to the ocean.
“What are you so worried about? Is it something I can help you with?”
Aunt Catherine’s words were soft and sure, meant for Faith’s ears alone as she spoke them against Faith’s cheek.
“I’m not sure,” she answered slowly, pulling away just enough to look into her aunt’s gray-blue eyes. The gray in them made her think of Thomas, who was laughing with Evie nearby.
Instead of pressing her for more information, her aunt kissed her forehead and rested her hand on the back of Faith’s head,
“You know where I am if you need to talk, and you know how to pray. Now, let’s get these two hooligans inside before my husband wonders what is going on out here with all this noise.”
But she didn’t corral them into the house, at least not right away. Aunt Catherine picked up a pillow and threw it at Thomas, who dodged it just in time to avoid getting a face full of pink velvet.
Evie was laughing so hard so couldn’t stand up straight, and when her mother grabbed her from behind to use her as a shield when Thomas tossed the crumpled pillow back, Faith ran to them, not wanting to miss out on the fun.
“Oh, my, miss.”
One of the maids stood at the open side door, twisting her hands in her apron as if she didn’t know how to interrupt the shenanigans.
“Yes, Caitlin?”
Aunt Catherine called out to the maid over the barks of laughter Thomas and Evie shared, and Faith covered her mouth to keep from adding to the volume even as she laughed along with them.
“Your sister is on the telephone. She’d like to speak with Miss Genevieve if she may.”
Thomas must have known his mother wanted Evie to come for a visit, why else would Aunt Sarah be calling for their cousin the same day he suggested it?
He was so sweet to Evie, and honestly, to Faith, too, when he wasn’t annoying her by his dislike of Nico.
She had been praying for the Lord to guide him, to lift whatever anxiety he had over Nico, which she didn’t understand in the first place.
Had Nico told his family that he was working alongside someone who was so rude to him?
Somehow, she imagined that he wouldn’t. He always seemed to find the positive in whatever was happening, and if he was truly angry, he didn’t show it.
Evie charged into the house, thanking a surprised Caitlin as she passed by her, and Thomas shook his head, his smile so genuine that Faith’s heart leapt a little in her chest.
“New maid? She looks a little stunned.”
Aunt Catherine smiled just a little as she stared at the girl, watching as Caitlin bobbed her head and turned to follow Evie.
“Her parents were involved in that house fire down by the hospital last winter, and they didn’t survive their injuries. Caitlin and her older sister, Bethany, stayed at First Steps for a few weeks before Bethany found a position in one of the shops on Thames Street.”
Faith felt her aunt’s hand slip into her own, and looked down to find that she had taken Thomas’ with her other hand as well. The three of them stood looking at the empty open doorway as Faith and Thomas fell silent, waiting for their aunt to continue.
“They were living together in a room above the shop that the owner let them have for pennies, since it had been used for storage before. But Bethany met a young man and recently married, and Caitlin needed a position of her own, as well as a home.”
Many of the servants who were employed by any of the Davenports lived where they worked, if that is what they wished, and Faith knew that it was part of how the family helped those in need.
“She’ll find her way, don’t you worry. We’re not too wild, not until the two of you show up.”
Faith gasped in false indignation, happy to have something to think on besides Thomas or her mother.
“I never did anything wild! I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
Her aunt dropped her hand as well as Thomas’ and raced forward, clutching her pale peach dress in her hands as she headed for the house.
“Cookies! I nearly forgot about them!”
As if she didn’t have a cook to keep an eye on whatever she had in the oven, Aunt Catherine rushed off, leaving Faith and Thomas staring at each other, their smiles a mirror image.