Chapter 9

The sound of banging on the bedroom door jolted Caroline from her reading. The afternoon was quiet, and she’d been enjoying it, especially after the long weeks of the term behind her.

The book in her hands fell to the floor.

“Caroline, are you there?” Charlotte Huckabee’s frantic voice sounded slightly muffled through the door.

“Yes, what is it?” Caroline sprang to her feet and crossed the room to let Charlotte in.

“This came for you.” She extended a folded piece of paper in Caroline’s direction.

Caroline unfolded the note.

Caroline, we need help. Mama’s sick and we can’t pay the rent. Don’t know what you can do at the fancy school, but maybe your rich friends can help.

Eleanor

Rich friends.

Caroline shook her head. She didn’t think more about that. Mama, sick? Her heart began thudding faster.

“What’s wrong?”

“My mother is sick. I need to help her.”

“As you should.”

“I won’t be long. I must see about a doctor.” She thought of the can that held her savings. She could bring money home as the family needed it.

And now, it seemed her family did.

Charlotte laid her hand on Caroline’s arm. “Pack and go. I’ll inform Mrs. Wickham.”

“My classes. I intend to return as soon as possible, but my classes—”

“They shall keep for a day. If anything, I can have your younger students in my class to complete their work. All I’ll need is your lesson book.” Charlotte waved her hands. “I shall order a carriage to take you.”

“Please don’t tell anyone else where I’m going. Other than Mrs. Wickham.” She couldn’t let Stephen know, not about her family. She wasn’t ready for that. Not yet.

“I’ll say nothing. You have my word.” Charlotte departed, shutting the door behind her.

Caroline immediately swung into action. She took her can of money. Thankfully, she wouldn’t have to pay for the transportation to Holyoke. She’d make sure she had enough to return home on Monday.

She pulled out her satchel and in went a couple of books and a change of clothes. She changed her shoes to her sturdiest ones, should she have to do extensive walking in town when she went home.

Home. But the walk-up apartment wasn’t her home. It hadn’t been for a long time.

How bad had things gotten, that her parents couldn’t pay the rent? Why hadn’t anyone told her?

She’d have answers soon enough. She wanted to get away from the academy before Stephen saw her and asked questions. She’d managed to avoid responding to questions about family, or at least giving him specific details.

She grabbed her satchel and her coat and headed downstairs. She hoped the carriage came quickly.

Caroline left the girls’ dormitory and scurried to the courtyard, to the porte cochere. She didn’t have long to wait before she heard the sound of hoofbeats on cobblestones. Thank you, Charlotte.

She glanced around the courtyard as she hurried to the carriage. No one around. She scanned the windows of the buildings. No one there either, as far as she could tell.

“Your bag, miss?” The driver hopped down, and she handed him her satchel.

“Thank you.”

Careful not to catch the hem of her dress on the step, she climbed into the carriage and shut the door herself.

She tried not to borrow trouble, as her mother would say. She glanced out the carriage window one more time and looked toward the house where the Wickhams lived. A figure, standing at the window. A man in a shirt and tie.

Did he see her? Certainly, if she could see him, he hadn’t missed the carriage leaving.

Maybe he didn’t know she was the one inside.

As the carriage swayed along, the memory came back to her of the almost-kiss they’d shared under the large oak in the moonlight last Sunday evening. Their little meeting under the tree never should have happened, as anything hinting at courting was against the rules of teaching at the academy. No gentlemen callers, and teachers must remain unmarried during the term of their contract.

Until now, she hadn’t had a problem with that. She’d managed to keep their conversations light and dealing strictly with school and classes, all week long. They’d had no more moments of being alone together, and it was just as well.

Especially with her family’s state now, she couldn’t risk losing her employment. If word got out, even if she left the academy for some reason, she might have difficulty securing another job.

No, anything further with Mr. Stephen Mason was entirely out of the question. She doubted Mrs. Wickham would approve of them embracing under the tree at night. She might not dismiss family, but she would likely send Caroline packing, if she knew.

She pushed thoughts of Stephen away as the carriage took her closer to Holyoke. It would not take long to go the ten miles or so. But it may as well have been ten thousand miles, as different as it was from the life she left behind.

She said a prayer for her mother, for the situation that lay ahead of her. For Eleanor to summon her, things had to be very grave indeed.

Stephen didn’t miss seeing Caroline wearing a wide-eyed and worried expression as she hopped into a waiting carriage, which then shot away from the academy. She’d handed a satchel to the driver. Wherever she was going, it wasn’t for long. Or so he hoped.

He recalled their embrace beneath the old tree during their walk after the bonfire. He’d known the attraction wasn’t just on his part—she felt the same way as he gently held her waist. She had willingly leaned on him as he inhaled the scent of the light, flowery perfume she wore.

It could never happen again, no matter how much he wanted it to.

Once they’d acknowledged the rivalry between them, it seemed as though something else had taken over. The academy directorship was within both their grasps. Aunt Marjorie had made it clear that the cream always rose to the top, and the two of them would decide the winner.

But now? What was happening with Caroline? This hurried trip didn’t appear to be a mere whim on her part. Something had happened. He hurried out to the street, his only thought concern for her.

The moment they’d both agreed to call each other by their first names had opened the door to a familiarity that was more than just comfortable. He didn’t ever want to be this comfortable with anyone else. Yet she still had a guarded manner about her.

He hailed the first carriage for hire he saw and asked the driver to follow Caroline’s carriage wherever it was going. His curiosity had gotten the better of him. If she was in trouble of some kind, he wanted to help.

The journey took them away from the town and along the road that led to the river crossing and to Holyoke. He had been to the city a few times, a mill town nestled along the Connecticut River, south of Northampton.

They rolled along narrow streets until the carriage drew up to a row of three-story homes, simple wooden affairs that had been divided into apartments. He asked the driver to stop a discreet distance from where Caroline’s carriage had stopped to let her out.

Caroline hopped from the carriage, almost stumbling in her haste. As she tugged her scarf more firmly around her neck, she glanced up and down the street and caught sight of the other carriage. That, and Stephen looking at her.

Her worried look was replaced by embarrassment, then consternation. He left the carriage now that she’d seen him and the idea of remaining hidden was no longer a viable one. He quickly approached her.

“What’s wrong?” He looked up at the house, then at her.

“This is … this is where my family lives,” she said. “My mother is ill, and I’ve come here to check on her.”

“How can I help?” Immediately he thought of money, anything he could do.

“No, thank you. I don’t need help. Please, go.” She waved him away. “I don’t know why you came here.”

“I’m concerned. You left so quickly….” He should have waited, should have minded his own business.

“My family needs me right now. I’ll thank you to go back to the academy.”

She dismissed him and the carriage she’d just arrived in. She reached for the satchel and, without a backward glance, headed to the set of stairs attached to the side of the building.

Stephen shook his head. He didn’t understand why she seemed almost ashamed for him to see her there. His shoulders drooped. From this point on, he would keep things strictly related to teaching only. They could not have a friendship, not at this moment.