“I do know how to cook,” Louisa said. “Do you think Lizzie would consider me?”
I bristled at the thought of Louisa in the kitchen of our house. She shouldn’t be our staff. We’d all gone to school together. She was one of us. I plucked a tall piece of yellow grass from the embankment. When I looked up, Cymbeline caught my gaze.
“Louisa can’t work in our kitchen,” Cymbeline said. “She’s our friend.”
Addie looked up from her book. “So is Lizzie.”
“That’s different,” Cymbeline said. “She’s always worked for us. It’s a well-established relationship, born from years of British tradition.”
Fiona laughed and poked Cymbeline with her big toe. “You sound very smart all of a sudden.”
“Am I wrong?” Cymbeline looked at each of us in turn.
“What would you like to do?” I asked Louisa. “If you could pick any kind of work.”
“I’d have liked to continue assisting Father at the church.” Her voice wavered. She placed a hand over her mouth as if to stuff the words back inside her.
“Oh, Louisa, we’re so very sorry.” Fiona draped an arm around Louisa’s shoulders for a quick squeeze.
“Why can’t you simply live with us forever and ever?” Delphia’s dark lashes fluttered as she blinked her round eyes.
“Because we can’t accept your charity forever,” Louisa said. “As kind as it is, we have to learn to survive on our own.”
“Well, we won’t find a solution today,” Fiona said. “Which means we should simply enjoy the afternoon. Who wants another swim?”
“Me, me,” Delphia said, before racing into the water.
Cymbeline and Fiona splashed in after her. Addie didn’t look up from her book.
I turned to Louisa. “What about you? Are you going in again?”
“No, I’m going to stay right here.” She lay back against the log and closed her eyes as if gathering strength from the sun that hovered low in the western sky.
I swatted away a gnat, content for now to watch the girls playing in the water. As Fiona had said, Louisa’s troubles couldn’t be solved today. Perhaps tomorrow an opportunity would arise. For now, we would be her friends and support her however we could.
8
Louisa
* * *
That evening after dinner, I strolled restlessly around the gardens of the Barnes estate. The temperature had cooled considerably from the hot summer afternoon we’d spent at the creek but was warm enough I didn’t need a wrap of any kind. The air smelled of roses in the aftermath of the setting sun. From somewhere in the yard, dueling crickets chirped.
We’d been invited to dine with the Barnes family for supper. Mother had declined. Making polite conversation would be too hard, she’d confessed to me. I’d not wanted to leave her alone. However, she was having none of it and insisted I go. She hadn’t said but I’d felt sure she wanted to curl up under the covers and have herself a good cry. Seeing her suffer in her grief made me want to claw at something. All through dinner I’d worried.
However, when I’d stopped in at the cottage after the meal, Mother was asleep. Too restless to stay indoors, I’d wandered outside. Now I came upon the fenced vegetable garden. I didn’t dare go too far tonight for fear of getting lost in the dark. A crackle caused me to turn. Theo, carrying a bucket, strode toward the barn.
I stepped out of the shadows, hoping I wouldn’t scare him.
He stopped abruptly and put one hand over his heart. “Louisa, you startled me.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“What’re you doing out here?” Theo asked.
“I wasn’t ready for sleep and needed some fresh air. Mother’s in bed already.”
He nodded before gesturing toward the barn. “Lizzie sent me out with some scraps for the pigs. Would you like to join me?”