Page 45 of The Sisters of Sea View
Georgie added, “You clearly love music, Mr. Hornbeam. You ought to go to the library with us on Monday evening. There’s to be a special concert to raise support for our new town band. It’s early days, but it’s coming along rather well.”
“Perhaps I shall.”
“I could walk with you,” Georgie said. “Take your arm, if it helps. Though I daresay you get along quite well with your stick.”
“A very kind offer indeed.”
Chips the dog came bounding across the lawn, and Georgie excused herself to go and play with him.
Mr. Hornbeam lowered his voice and said, “It was polite of your sister to offer, but I wouldn’t want to impose. I am sure you, Miss Emily, must have many admirers you would rather spend time with.”
“Perhaps,” Emily allowed. “Yet you are more than welcome to accompany us, just the same. No imposition at all. Maybe your son will be here by then and wish to go along.”
His smile dimmed. “Maybe.”
Emily saw the flicker of disappointment. “I thought he planned to stay here with you?”
“So did I. It seems his plans have changed. I trust I shall hear from him soon.”
“What does he do, if I may ask? Did he follow in your footsteps?”
Disappointment again rippled across the man’s face. “No. I had hoped he would pursue the law and a life of service to the Crown. But he has gone his own way.”
When he did not explain further, she said, “I am sorry. I do hope he’s all right.”
Another moment of silence followed.
Emily rose and lightened her voice. “Well, I had better get back to the correspondence. Those letters shan’t answer themselves.” She touched his shoulder. “And I will keep an eye out for one addressed to you.”
Emily felt sorry for the man. She knew what it was like to wait for a letter that never came.
———
When it was just the two of them, Viola said softly, “I wonder, Mr. Hornbeam, how you knew Emily was the one to have admirers? You are right, of course. Are you certain you cannot see?”
He turned toward her. “I cannot see you, Miss Viola, but I can hear you.”
Viola stiffened, feeling an immediate stab of mortification. Was her voice more unattractive than she thought? She had worked so hard to overcome her lisp!
He lifted a hand, as though to stay her offense. “Let me explain. When I listen to Miss Emily, I hear confidence. Self-assurance. When she meets someone, it is clear from her manner and tone that she presumes her impression will be a good one—that she will be liked and even admired. It was obvious from our first meeting. However, you, my dear, are all quietness and tentative uncertainty. Your diction, so studied and precise, is beautiful to listen to, yet one must strain to hear the words. In your manner and tone, I hear someone who expects rejection. Or at least indifference. Am I wrong?”
Viola pressed her lips together before replying. “You are not wrong. Did someone mention my ... defect ... to you?”
“Defect? No. Have you such a thing?”
Throat tight, she nodded, then realizing he couldn’t see the gesture, whispered, “Yes.”
“Can you describe it to me? Simply out of curiosity. Blind though I may be now, I was not always so, and like to piece together a picture of those I meet.”
Viola ordered her thoughts, then quietly explained, “I was born with a cleft in my lip. You may have heard it called a ‘harelip,’ but I despise that term. I do not, I assure you, look like a hare, nor is my lip hairy.”
He nodded his understanding. “And was your palate cleft as well?”
“No, fortunately. Children born with that rarely survive. They struggle to suckle and are prone to infection. I am told I should be grateful my case was relatively minor.”
“But you are not grateful.” He stated the words in a matter-of-fact tone, and she neither agreed nor denied them.
“I have suffered through several surgeries in my life. Some that made it worse and necessitated additional procedures to repair the damage.”
