‘I am sorry, dear,’ Norma murmured.
Sissy offered her aunt a brave smile. ‘Well, we are all right here, aren’t we? We have enough to get by, don’t we? There is nothing to be sorry about.’
Norma nodded but when their eyes met, Norma’s were wise and unconvinced. ‘You will find someone who can bring you what you need, my dear, it just cannot be Morgan.’
In other words remember your station in life.
‘I am happy with my life as it is, thank you very much. I neither want nor need a husband. Father left me enough to live off, you know that. So long as I am prudent, there is no reason why I cannot live as I am for the rest of my life. Nothing has to change. I certainly don’t need to find someone to look after me. Times are difficult, but it is for everybody. We have managed all right so far, haven’t we?’
Norma looked sad. ‘But your life should have been considerably better. You don’t go out anywhere, or live. You exist. Those books of yours are really nothing more than an attempt to live someone else’s life, aren’t they? What about your own life?’
‘There is nothing wrong with reading. A person can learn a lot about the world from reading. At least it is safe, and not too expensive,’ Sissy objected. ‘I don’t see what the problem is. I see nothing wrong with my life.’
‘The problem, my dear, is that you have not stopped to consider what you are going to do when I am no longer around. Can you see yourself here, all alone, for the rest of your days?’
Sissy contemplated that. She tried to ignore the vague ache in the centre of her chest, and the urge to cry that came with it. Bravely, she squared her shoulders and turned her thoughts away from the endless days which stood out before her, cold and empty as the house.
‘Yes, I can,’ Sissy announced tipping her chin up and gazing defiantly at her relative. ‘There is no alternative for someone like me.’
Her gaze fell tellingly to the outdated clothing Norma was wearing, which matched her own. The faded cuffs on their sleeves, the holes which had been repaired more than once all spoke of a make do and mend lifestyle which afforded little in the way of new clothing.
‘I wish things could be different,’ Norma whispered sadly.
‘My life is what it is,’ Sissy protested more sharply than she intended. ‘I see no reason to change it.’
‘But we could have gone to the ball,’ Norma offered.
‘So people can look at us and gossip?’ Sissy shook her head.
‘Does it matter what they think? We are hardly likely to see them again, are we?’
‘But I don’t see why I should go to provide fodder for the gossips,’ Sissy replied. ‘I don’t want to be invited because of Morgan’s sympathy for our impoverished circumstance.’
There wasn’t much Norma could say to that. Slowly, she moved over to the dresser next to the back door and opened a drawer. Without saying anything, she removed the invitation and crossed the room to the fireplace.
‘No!’ Sissy cried just as Norma was about to throw it into the fireplace. But before she could snatch it out of Norma’s hand, Sissy hesitated. She knew that burning it was the best thing she could do just so she could forget about it but a part of her also wanted to keep it.
‘Are you expecting Maud?’ she asked her aunt when there was a loud knock on the front door.
Norma shook her head. Sissy threw one last look at the invitation before she hurried into the sitting room and peered through the shutter. A gasp escaped her when she saw who it was. Darting out of sight, she turned to look at her aunt with wide eyes. Panic threatened to overwhelm her. Sissy began to shake with nerves. She felt cold, hot, fearful yet excited all at the same time. She wanted to run but she also was wildly thrilled.
‘Who is it?’ Norma cried as she watched Sissy dart this way and that, flapping her hands wildly in an uncharacteristic display of panic.
‘It’s him,’ Sissy hissed. ‘Lord Campton. M-Morgan.’
‘What?’ Norma blinked and stared at the neat and tidy room in horror.
‘What do we do?’ Sissy cried, doing her best to keep her voice low. ‘He is going to think we have slighted him when he sees that we are all right. We cannot say that we have forgotten all about it.’
Norma’s wrinkled features adopted a mulish expression. She hurried to the stairs with an ease that belied her age and rushed upstairs. Halfway up she paused to glare at Sissy.
‘Wait until I am at the top and then answer the door,’ she hissed. ‘Tell him I am unwell and abed. I will stay out of sight until he has gone.’
‘But it isn’t appropriate for me to be alone with him,’ Sissy called softly.
Norma paused to glare at her. ‘So don’t let him in then,’ she snapped before resuming her climb.
‘But I cannot leave him on the doorstep either.’ Sissy glared at the door when Morgan knocked again. The last thing she wanted was to yank it open and see him, but with Norma hurrying up the stairs she had to.