“We were speaking of the good old days, Audrey. Alistair used to work as a stagehand.” Marguerite beamed at both of them.
“You knew each other before the workhouse?” she asked.
“In passing,” Marguerite said.
“You couldn’t get near her, Ms. Wakefield. Marguerite was a figure to behold. Beautiful, talented. She had many admirers,” Alistair said in a lilting Irish accent.
Marguerite brushed him away with her hand. “Nonsense, Alistair,” she said, but Audrey could tell she was enjoying the moment.
“I used to have a picture of her from a magazine,” he said. “She was the toast of the music hall theater.”
Audrey tried to picture it. “I would have liked to have known her back then.”
Alistair agreed and then began to cough loudly until Marguerite handed him a glass of water.
“Are you taking Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup?” she asked. “I gave you the bottle.”
He nodded and seemed to collect himself. “I am, but it doesn’t work.”
“I should be going,” Audrey said. “It’s getting late. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Hillby.”
“Likewise, my dear,” he told her.
That weekend, Audrey decided to treat Frances to an outing into town. Her mother refused to partake, but Frances was very excited. She decided to treat her sister to tea and then visit the local bookstore. They had just sat down to tea and Frances was fussing with her napkin and eyeing the surroundings when Henry and Theodocia came to their table.
“Audrey! My dear! So good to see you,” the older woman said, kissing her cheek in greeting.
Audrey greeted the woman and glanced behind her to nod in greeting to Henry. “This is my sister, Frances. Francie, this is Mrs. Ryland and her son, Henry Ryland.”
“Would you care to join us?” Audrey asked cordially. She always liked to spend time with Theodocia, though her son she preferred at a distance.
Theodocia hesitated. “Are we imposing?”
“Of course not,” Audrey said warmly. “I wouldn’t ask if you were.”
They shared a delightful tea with Francie asking numerous questions. Henry remained quiet much of the meal. Frances chatted about their home and life in Kingsdown. After all she had been through, Audrey knew she would be all right. It lightened her heart.
“If you will excuse me, ladies. I must return to work,” Henry told them. Audrey felt his warm eyes on her for a few seconds before he left.
“We should be going as well,” Audrey said. “I promised Frances a visit to the bookstore.”
“You must bring your mother and sister to tea. I’d love to meet her,” Theodocia told her.
Audrey stood and Frances followed suit. “I will. Very soon.”
When Audrey returned home and told her mother of their visit into town and meeting the Ryland’s, Augusta frowned. “I’m not sure I like you associating with people of that sort, and I do not approve of you bringing Frances into town without me.”
Audrey tried to stem her temper. Since her arrival in Norwich, her mother had become more self-isolated, and everything Audrey did she seemed to find fault in.
“Mother, you must have forgotten. You didn’t want to come into town with us, and I told you Mrs. Ryland is a respectable woman and her son is a solicitor. They are leading members of society here in Norwich,” she explained.
Augusta wasn’t immediately won over, though. “Are they Christian people?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but I imagine they must be.”
“Imagine. And Frances? What example do you set by taking tea with a man you barely know?”
Audrey sighed. “Mother, he was there but a short time.”