Darkest Hour (Cutler 5)

"I'm glad you dressed up like this. It makes me feel you are at the party. Well now, Miss Lillian," he said with a sweeping bow, "might I have the pleasure of dancing with you or is your card filled?"

I laughed.

"Miss Lillian?" he asked again.

I stood up.

"I do have a spare dance or two," I said.

"How delightful," he said, and took my hand. Then he put his hand on my waist just the way I imagined he would have, and we began to move to our own music.

For a moment, when I closed my eyes and then opened them and caught sight of ourselves in my vanity mirror, I believed we were at the party. I could hear the music and the voices and laughter of other people. He had closed his eyes too, and we moved around and around until we bumped into my night table and sent the lamp flying to the floor, the glass shattering.

For a moment neither of us moved or said a thing. We listened for footsteps in the hallway. I indicated we should be silent and knelt down to pick up the bigger pieces of glass. One piece cut my finger and I cried out. Niles seized my hand instantly and pressed my wounded finger to his lips.

"Go wash it," he said. "I'll finish cleaning this up. Go on."

I did so, but I wasn't in the bathroom a moment when I heard footsteps outside my room. I poked my head out to warn Niles, who quickly went down on his stomach behind the bed just as Emily thrust open my door.

"What's going on in here? What happened?" she demanded.

"My lamp fell off the table and broke," I said, stepping out of the bathroom.

"What . . . why are you dressed up?"

"I wanted to see how I would look if I had been permitted to go to the party like every other young girl my age," I retorted.

"Ridiculous." She screwed her face into a tight, suspicious look and narrowed her eyes as she gazed over the room and then stopped when she saw the window open. "Why is that window open so far?"

"I felt warm," I said

"You'll have all sorts of flying insects in here." She started toward it, but I shot out before her and reached the window first. When I looked down, I saw that Niles had slipped under my bed. Emily stood in the center of my room, still gazing at me with interest.

"Papa didn't want you to go to the party; he certainly didn't want you dressing for it. Take off those silly clothes," she ordered.

"These are not silly clothes."

"It's silly to wear them in your room, isn't it? Well?" she said when I didn't respond.

"Yes, I suppose it is," I said.

"Then, take them off and put them away." She folded her arms under her small bosom and pulled her shoulders back. I could see she wasn't going to be satisfied and leave until I had done what she asked, so I went to the mirror and unfastened my dress. I slipped it off and stepped out of it. Then I took off Mamma's necklace and bracelet and put them in the box on my vanity table. After I had hung up my dress, Emily relaxed.

"That's better," she said. "Instead of doing all these silly things, you should be praying and seeking forgiveness for your actions."

I was standing there in my brassiere and panties, expecting her to leave, but she continued to stare at me.

"I've been thinking about you," she said. "Thinking about what I should do, what God wants me to do, and I have decided He wants me to help you. I will give you the prayers and the sections of the Bible to read over and over and if you do what I ask, you may be saved. Will you do it?"

I thought agreeing was the only way to get her out of my room.

"Yes, Emily."

"Good. Get on your knees," she ordered.

"Now?"

"There is no time like the present," she recited. "On your knees," she repeated, pointing to the floor. I did so beside the bed. She pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket and thrust it down to me. "Read and pray," she ordered. I took it slowly. It was Psalm Fifty-one, a long one. I groaned silently but began.