Page 4 of Lady of Charade
Elizabeth, Phoebe, and Julia walked the few feet until they stood in the center of her makeshift parlor room and bedroom, looking around them in shock. Sarah nearly laughed at how out of place the three ladies looked in all their finery in the middle of this run-down room. She had done the best she could to provide color to the dingy interior with a few blankets, but there was not much to it — two mismatched chairs stood around the grate, her bed was pushed against the wall, and a wooden screen separated the two.
“Is this where you live?” Phoebe asked, turning her direct gaze on Sarah, who shrugged. “It is — for the moment.”
“How could you not tell us, after all this time?” Elizabeth demanded. “We had always assumed you lived with Lady Alexander!”
“I know,” Sarah said with a sigh, sitting down upon the bed herself, as she bid the rest of them to take a seat next to her in a ratty chair across the room. “I allowed you to think it.”
“But why here? Why don’t you live with her? And why didn’t you tell us? You could have stayed with one of us!” Julia said, and Sarah leaned back against the wall.
“It’s a long story,” she said. “But first, how did you find me here?”
“When you didn’t attend Lady Nuffield’s party this evening, Phoebe and I were worried,”
Elizabeth explained. “We asked Lady Alexander if you had taken ill, and she wasn’t entirely sure. As Julia and Eddie were in London, we asked her to accompany us to come to visit you to assure all was well. Lady Alexander’s butler was most confused when we asked for you at her home. It was her maid who followed us out and told us where we could find you. We didn’t entirely believe her, but decided to follow her anyway.”
“I’m sorry to have worried you,” Sarah said. “One of my neighbors’ boys took ill. I believe it was some bad meat, but we got it out right quickly enough and I think he should be fine. I couldn’t leave them and it happened so quickly, I didn’t have time to get word to Lady Alexander that I wouldn’t be attending tonight.”
She looked down at herself in chagrin. She hadn’t changed from her evening wear when she had been summoned, and now her beautiful pink gown would have to be laundered or the nobility would smell her coming from far away.
Her friends nodded. They knew of her work as a medicine woman or healer — whatever one chose to call what she did — but they weren’t aware of the entirety of it, that she used her skills to survive, although more often than not many of those who asked for her help could hardly afford to pay anything. She typically gratefully accepted whatever they had to offer, be it a loaf of bread or a bag of potatoes.
“You know that I left America to find my father,” she said, attempting to determine the best way to complete the story, and they nodded. “Only I didn’t come here with the intention of meeting Lady Alexander. It was once I was upon the ship to London that I met her. She was frightfully seasick, and I helped as best I could to ease her stomach pains. In return, she was kind to me, and we became friends. Near the end of the journey, she asked what I was doing in London. I provided a small portion of the story, and when no one met me in London as I assumed would happen, she offered to act as my chaperone. As the widow of a viscount, she has access to social events of which I could never dream of an invitation. I must admit, it has been immensely helpful in order to meet a wide variety of nobles who may be around the age of my father, to try to determine whether any of them resemble me or if they might have any connection to my mother. Not that my strategy is working overly well.”
“But why didn’t Lady Alexander offer for you to live with her?” Julia asked, and Sarah shrugged.
“She never mentioned it, and her help is incredibly generous as it is. Most people are under the assumption that I am an American relative of hers, and I have found that I do not have to lie about it much — most just accept the fact. Lady Alexander made the offer with the caveat that I ask for no money or further attachment to her, which is perfectly fine with me, for I have no wish for it. I believe she is a bit lonely but had no desire to disrupt her current lifestyle. It works for both of us. She wouldn’t want all manner of people at her doorstep in search of a healer.”
“That’s how you are supporting yourself here,” Elizabeth said, more in statement than question, and Sarah nodded.
“I am. Though I would do it anyway, for it seems I cannot help myself when it comes to attempting to heal what causes others pain.”
“Well,” Elizabeth said matter-of-factly. “I do wish you had told us sooner. Please tell me you have not been living here ever since you came from America.”
“I have,” Sarah said with a nod. “Nearly three years now, if you can believe it. Though… I have been thinking that it is time I give up on this quest and return home.”
“Three years!” gasped Julia as Elizabeth shook her head in disbelief.
“Sarah, you cannot leave us!”
“I cannot believe you have kept this from us,” Elizabeth said, as Phoebe sat in the corner watching them, patting her stomach, which had rounded once more with their second child.
“I am sorry to have deceived you,” Sarah said, “That was certainly not my intention. It just seemed… easier, and I didn’t want you to worry.”
“I suppose I can somewhat understand that, though I feel a fool,” said Elizabeth. “But now that we know, you can come and stay with me. Gabriel is eager to help you find your father, though we have not much to go on. He has made inquiries, and thus far, there are no connections to a woman and child who left for America — though I’m sure there are more than a few who had some liaisons to which they would certainly not want to admit.”
Elizabeth strode over to the wardrobe, opening it to reveal Sarah’s dresses, the only items in the room upon which she had spent any money. She had used the additional funds the letter-writer had provided her, though each season she stayed was beginning to stretch what she could afford.
“Do you have a bag into which we can pack everything?” Elizabeth asked, taking charge as she usually did.
“Thank you for your generously kind offer, Elizabeth, but I am not leaving.”
Elizabeth swirled around, looking at her incredulously. “Whyever not?”
“I’m comfortable here, and more than anything, those who need me know where to find me. They could never track me down if I were to move, particularly to one of the greatest manors in all of London.”
“You do not need to worry about providing for yourself,” Elizabeth affirmed. “We will support you in whatever you need, will we not Phoebe?”
Phoebe nodded, though she looked somewhat hesitant.
